How to Support Our Troops

1. Donate a calling card to help keep service members in touch with their families at Operation Uplink a Click Here
2. Send a greeting via e-mail through Operation Dear Abby at Click Here
3. Sign a virtual thank you card at the Defend America web site at Click Here
4. Make a donation to one of the military relief societies:
   • Army Emergency Relief at http://www.aerhq.org/" target="_blank">Click Here
   • Navy/Marine Relief Society at http://www.nmcrs.org/" target="_blank">Click Here
   • Air Force Aid Society at http://www.afas.org/" target="_blank">Click Here
   • Coast Guard Mutual Assistance at http://www.cgmahq.org/" target="_blank">Click Here
   • Donate to "Operation USO Care Package" at http://www.usometrodc.org/care.html" target="_blank">Click Here < li> Support the American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services at http://www.redcross.org/services/afes/" target="_blank">Click Here
   • Volunteer at a VA Hospital http://www.va.gov/vetsday/ to honor veterans who bore the lamp of freedom in past conflicts.
   • Support families whose loved ones are being treated at military and VA hospitals through a donation to the Fisher House at http://www.fisherhouse.org" target="_blank">Click Here.
5. Reach out to military families in your community, especially those with a loved one overseas.
6. Send a personal message via "Stars and Stripes"- U.S. troops deployed to the Persian Gulf region and other locations can now receive personal messages from family members, friends, neighbors, colleagues and supporters via the pages of the overseas newspaper "Stars and Stripes" as well as "Messages of Support," a daily section that debuted March 17, giving family and friends of deployed service members a chance to pass their greetings, words of encouragement and announcements free of charge. "Messages of Support" can be e-mailed to "Stars and Stripes" 24 hours a day at messages@estripes.com, are limited to 50 words or less and will be printed on a first-come, first-run basis. "Stars and Stripes" reserves the right to screen and edit all messages and to omit any determined inappropriate.
7. Red Cross: Click Here
8. Salvation Army: Click Here
9. USA Freedom Corps: Click Here
10. Support our deployed sons & daughters: Click Here
11. Send your thanks to the US military: Click Here
12. Purchase "Gifts From the Homefront" gift certificate - These can be redeemed by troops in their local exchange. Anyone may purchase these "Gifts From the Homefront" with a U.S. credit card or check, but only authorized AAFES customers can redeem them at any PX or BX. Sold by CertifiChecks, these gift certificates can be purchased 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year, and they come in denominations of $10 and $20. At this time military authorities have advised that CertifiChecks can only be sent to a specific service member at his or her APO or US mailing address. AAFES officials said they are currently working to find a solution to allow CertifiChecks to be sent to units or non-specific troops.

Due to security concerns and limited transportation space, the military can no longer accept mail to "any service member." Many generous people have tried to avoid these prohibitions by sending large numbers of packages to an individual service member's overseas address, which, however well intentioned, clogs the mail system and causes unnecessary delays.

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Further Support Our Troops Links

The Pentagon is discouraging individuals who are not family and close friends of deployed soldiers from sending packages - for Force Protection reasons. Instead, they ask that you show support through specific websites created for that purpose. These websites are:

• Defend America: Click Here
• USO Cares: Click Here
• Army: Click Here
• Navy: Click Here