Solicitation of Holiday Mail for U.S. Troops

Netlore Archive: A message posted on the Web and circulating via forwarded email asks for holiday mail and packages to be sent directly to U.S. troops

Description: Email flier
Circulating since: Dec 2003
Status: Not sanctioned by U.S. military
Analysis: See below

Email example contributed by David R., 15 Dec. 2003:

Comments: There's no reason to doubt the sincerity of this effort to garner holiday mail for U.S. troops (its authorship by a retired marine has been verified by an independent source), but its distribution is neither authorized nor supported by the U.S. military. In fact, the Department of Defense has urged that unsolicited mail and packages not be sent to forward-deployed sevice members except by family members and close friends.

The reasons, as stated in a March 18, 2003 DoD press release, are compelling:

To bolster force protection, the general public is urged not to send unsolicited mail, care packages or donations to service members forward deployed unless you are a family member, loved one or personal friend.

On Oct. 30, 2001, the Department of Defense (DoD) suspended the "Operation Dear Abby" and "Any Servicemember" mail programs due to force protection concerns. Although these programs provide an excellent means of support to friends and loved ones stationed overseas, they also provide an avenue to introduce hazardous substances or materials into the mail system from unknown sources. Unsolicited mail, packages and donations from organizations and individuals also compete for limited airlift space used to transport supplies, war-fighting materiel and mail from family and loved ones.

Recently, DoD has become aware of organizations and individuals who continue to support some form of the "Any Servicemember" program by using the names and addresses of individual servicemembers and unit addresses. These programs are usually supported by well-intentioned, thoughtful and patriotic groups who are simply unaware of the new risks facing deployed military forces. Some individuals and groups publicize the names and addresses of service members, ships or units on Web sites, with good intentions. The result, however, is a potential danger to the troops they wish to support.

I might add that the above list, which has been posted on numerous Websites in addition to circulating via email, contains unverified personal information about many of the soldiers that could be regarded as a violation of their privacy, as well as a security risk.

As an alternative to sending unsolicited mail directly to U.S. soldiers, the Defense Department recommends using the options on the following Websites instead:

DoD "America Supports You" Website
http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/

Operation USO Care Package
http://www.usocares.org/

Operation Iraqi Freedom FAQ
http://www.army.mil/operations/iraq/faq.html

Sources and further reading:

Officials Warn Against Unsolicited Troop Email
DCMilitary.com, 28 March 2003

Pentagon Limits Gifts to Troops
Washington Post, 15 December 2004

How You Can Show Your Support for Our Heroes
About.com: U.S. Military

Last updated: 12/16/04

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