As ex-military, I support supporting the troops. One of the ways of doing so, widely written about on the Web, is to address a letter to "any servicemember" or "any wounded-recovering warrior". While they were nice programs when they were originated, it turns out that after 2001 these programs were suspended. This suspension has not been widely reported however. In a similar vein, the Dear Abby program has also been suspended. There appear to be no current plans to reinstate these programs any time soon.

Any mail addressed as above should be rejected by the Post Office but, if it happens to make its way to military channels, the mail will be rejected there.

There are citizen programs available in all the states and they are linked to on the DoD website. Take the Community Relations link and then the Citizen Support by State link to get to organizations who will be glad to work with you in ways you can show your support.

[Information source: Retiree Times (a Lee Central Coast Newspaper), Vol 9, No 2, Spring 2009]