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Letter to the editor

Send holiday cheer to troops

By Assocaited Press
Published December 19, 2007

WASHINGTON - Holiday cards addressed to "any wounded soldier" at a military hospital won't have to be returned unopened this year.

The American Red Cross is collecting, reviewing and delivering holiday greeting cards to recovering soldiers at military hospitals who aren't specifically named on the envelope.

Since 2001, it has been the policy of military hospitals to return all pieces of mail that aren't addressed to a particular soldier due to security concerns from the terrorists attacks that year, said Lt. Col. Kevin Arata, spokesman for the Army Human Resources Command.

Since the Red Cross announced its program around Dec. 5, about 35,000 pieces of mail have been sent to the organization that will be distributed to 30 military hospitals across the country, as well as five Red Cross offices in combat zones overseas, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, and a regional military medical center in Germany, said Joe Moffatt, executive director of service to armed forces at the American Red Cross.

This month's program, a partnership through the American Red Cross, Defense Department and mail and technology service provider Pitney Bowes Government Solutions, allows soldiers the comfort of a stranger's words, said Army Sgt. Charles Eggleston, who's being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

"You can get a letter from your brother, mother, sister any day," but a stranger's words offer broader support, said Eggleston, who was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

"(The mail) is very important because it's uplifting to know that somebody else is out there thinking about you."

The writers include some from universities, military units, girls and boys organizations, elementary schools and corporations, Red Cross officials said.

The program stops after this holiday season, but Red Cross officials say they will evaluate the success of the program to see if it will be continued in coming years.

In all, the completely volunteer effort could be measured in costs of "tens of thousands of dollars" for Pitney Bowes, said company spokesman Matthew Broder.

Eggleston, who returned from Iraq in December 2005, said the cards are especially important for troops who don't have family members around during the holidays.

"The only family they have is the general public, the American people," he said.

Fast facts

To send greetings

Send holiday cards to any injured service member at a military hospital to:

We Support You During Your Recovery!c/o American Red CrossP.O. Box 419Savage, MD 20763-0419

Remember:

-Mail and postmark cards no later than Monday.

-Include enough postage.

-Give a return address.

-No packages can be accepted.

[Last modified December 19, 2007, 01:39:42]