There are many men and women in the military who view this time of the year as very depressing. They are not home with their families and they want to be.

Sending them a card of encouragement will mean a lot. Eighteen years ago, Dr. Laura Landerman-Garber, of New Hampshire, handed out Holiday Cards to her Family at Thanksgiving, asking them to write messages to our Military Heroes; once they finished and turned it in, they got to have their Thanksgiving meal.

She is not the only one doing something like that but was one of the first. Now there is a national place you can send cards to be sent to the military. Please know when you send these cards they may go to any branch so keep it generic and call them service person.

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The troops deserve our appreciation and gratitude is the way I feel and I had heard about people writing out a few cards and sending them. So I looked up a place to send them.

This would be something each person could do, or everyone you know at work, or even kids in school can hand out cards and have everyone in their class write out a few cards. When the troops have had a hard day and they come back for a little personal time, they have cards waiting for them on their bunk and it brings a ray of sunshine and lets them know we appreciate the job they are doing.

There are a few tips and rules to follow, here are a few:

  • Be positive. Write an uplifting message or funny story (short).
  • Be thankful. Tell them how you appreciate them, just put it simply, thank you for your service.
  • Be respectful. These are people that have volunteered to fight for you if they need to and do a job that keeps you enjoying your freedom.
  • Be kind. Most of us have no idea what these men and women go through, give them compliments.
  • Be encouraging. Tell them there are many Americans that are behind them.
  • DO NOT include your email or mailing address
  • DO NOT use your last name
  • If it is a classroom or workplace or group project, you CAN include a group photo.
  • Leave them unsealed for inspection or they won’t go

Send them to:
Support Our Troops®
13791 N. Nebraska Avenue
Tampa, FL 33613.

Now keep in mind, this address is where you can send Christmas cards and you can write letters to the troops following the same rules. Any time of year is a good time to write to our service people to let them know they are doing a good job, we appreciate them, and we are thinking of them. It is lonely on the front lines and they would love to hear that their country appreciates them.

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