Support Resources

Americans are again asking what they can do to show their

support for service members, especially those serving overseas in this time of

war. Below is a list of Web sites for several organizations that are sponsoring programs for members of the

Armed Forces overseas. While it would be inappropriate for the Department to

endorse any specifically, service members do value and appreciate such

expressions of support:

Donate a calling card to help keep service

members in touch with their families at Operation Uplink at www.operationuplink.org

Send a greeting via e-mail through Operation Dear Abby at www.OperationDearAbby.net

Sign a virtual thank you card at the Defend

Make a donation to one of the military relief societies:

Army Emergency Relief at http://www.aerhq.org/

Navy/Marine Relief Society at http://www.nmcrs.org/

Air Force Aid Society at http://www.afas.org/

Coast Guard Mutual Assistance athttp://www.cgmahq.org/

Donate to “Operation USO Care Package

Support the American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency

Volunteer at a VA Hospital: www.va.gov/vetsday/ to honor veterans who bore

the lamp of freedom in past conflicts.

Reach out to military families in your community, especially those with a loved one overseas.

Please do not flood the military mail system

with letters, cards, and gifts. Due to

security concerns and transportation constraints, the Department cannot accept

items to be mailed to “Any Service Member.” Some people have tried to avoid this prohibition

by sending large numbers of packages to an individual service member’s address,

which however well intentioned, clogs the mail and causes unnecessary delays.

The support and generosity of the American

people has touched the lives of many service members, of who over 300,000 are

deployed worldwide.