How can a civillian write a thank you letter to the troops? Does a handwritten letter mean more than an email?
609046
Hi. My husband was in the marine corp. and now he is in the army. You can call or email the USO  or the post office and ask them if they still do care packages for troops. You can go to school/church/or around your community and collect snacks, toiletries, international calling cards, big quantity of items can be sold in Sam's club. for women and men to Iraq. Thank you for thinking of our soldiers and troops. God bless you!
402268
There are countless organizations that specialize in supporting the troops. This is the official site from the Department of Defense that gives you links to such organizations. Just sending small items can mean a lot to some people.\n\nhttp://www.americasupportsyou.mil/americasupportsyou/index.aspx
892005
My brother served in Iraq until July when he was killed there.  But one of the things he always mentioned was the letters, cards, and little tokens of appreciate that total strangers sent to the troops.  A little something like a card can brighten someone's day.  When I was going through boot camp I got cards from people I didnt know but appreciated them just the same. Especially with the holidays coming up.
722212
Dear Ms./Mr. ___________,\nThank you for __________.  I appreciate _________.  You helped me _______.  I will always remember _________.  I hope _________.  I will always keep working to make you proud of me.  Thank you.\n\nSincerely,\n_________
512585
anysoldier.com, anymarine.com, anysailor,com and anyairman.com.  The letters are sent to the unit, and people who want to respond can take them and write back.  It's usually the people who aren't getting any mail from home and are glad to have someone to write to.  It's a nice idea and can really make someones day.
423706
Telling them how they've made a difference in your life is most often thanks enough.  You can do this in person or in a letter.  I don't know about others but I feel that this should be unaccompanied with the usual cookies or small token of thanks because that would be trivializing the thank you.
809769
This used to make my day even when wounded it was the highlight!  Thanks for asking.  \n\nThe United States armed forces cannot recieve cards to "any serviceman" this year due to fears of terrorism.  Instead, the Pentagon has set up a secure email system that allows anyone to send a message to "any serviceman." Just pick the branch of the service, type your message and click send.\n\nThe story behind the "to any serviceman" cards:\nSince 1967, when Sgt. Billy Thompson wrote Abigail Van Buren and mentioned that a wonderful Christmas present to our armed forces would be "just a letter from home," American citizens have been sending holiday wishes to servicemen and women stationed overseas every holiday season. Dubbed "Operation Dear Abby," the program has brought holiday joy to hundreds of thousands of U.S. military personnel deployed away from home.\n\nTo access the site, visit http://anyservicemember.navy.mil/\nMilitary Exchange Prepaid Calling Cards\nThe Department of Defense Military Exchanges have been authorized to sell the following prepaid calling cards to individuals and organizations who wish to purchase these cards for our troops serving overseas in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.\nhttps://thor.milexch.com/scs/default.aspx\n\n12 Ways to Support Our Troops\nBy Lance Helgeson\nhttp://www.aarp.org/bulletin/yourlife/Articles/a2004-12-07-12support.html\n\nYou can adopt a specific or random service person for a prayer circle.\n\nhttp://www.presidentialprayerteam.net/troopsadopt.php  \n\nYou can write to a service person.\n\nhttp://anyservicemember.navy.mil\nThere are dozen of organizations, which allow you to purchase items and present it to a service person, but there are other options you might consider.  Visit the closest VA Hospital or for something really unique try: \nwww.snipersonline.org (They ask for contributions to buy items that the Government refuses or that is out of stock.\n\n\nGod Bless You and The Southern People.
1151838
if you want to send his something patriotic go and visit a local elementary school. talk with the principle and see if there is a way he could have a class write little letters or make cards for your friends platoon.  your could send the cards or letters to your friend and he could pass him out to those in his platoon.  i did this for my husband while he was in Iraq.  it did wonders for him, especially since it was from people he didn't know (makes there day basically since there from the little people).\n\na military wife
289217
Can you write me back?
737943
Good day..young Lady.... when writing to anyone ,,,basically be yourself..as .your grand mother will be delighted to hear from you..!!..  the basic's ..are called F.O.R.M.   \nFamily and friends....\noccupation...what do you do...and the nice people around you...\nrecreation...what do you do is your spare time....how to have fun..\nminor or major events ..in your daily life ..that you think anyone would find interesting..\nI find it is a good start ..and just build on it from there...\nGood Luck with your letter ..have an awesome time..no regrets..
857740
You can only send through anysoldier.com.  The military is not taking any unsolicited mail at this time due to the terrorists threats.  Please go to www.anysoldier.com to send you wishes and thanks!
1015864
Probably a little rude. Would it really matter to write a letter back? A postcard that says the basic mundane things. Thanks for the card, hope you're well, life is so busy these days it's hard to find time to write, sorry I don't see you very often. Stuff like that. It's polite, and not technically a lie. The mention of short time normally discourages on going mail chit chat. It would be sort of rude to blow them off when they ask specificly for you to write. good luck
406413
Welcome to the rewrite e-mail club.\n\nNot long ago I spent a good amount of time giving my oldest son, that's in the military and was in in Iraq at the time, some well thought out advice.  I left the e-mail compose area of hotmail to reference something on the Internet and when I returned, I returned to a new, blank e-mail compose page.  Man, was I pissed!\n\nI complained about this to the hotmail staff and they told me that it is standard procedure for hotmail for the sake of security, that is, any unfinished e-mail is erased.  Who thought this one out I'll never know.\n\nAnyway, my remedy now is whenever I do write something that I put an extra effort into, or is vital, I run a copy of it onto an MS Word page.  This new habit has turned out to be a blessing because with my style of writing, which is to brain-storm first and edit a whole bunch later, I can correct then paste and repaste to the e-mail.\n\nIf you don't have MS Word, use Notepad or Wordpad.
304932
I think it's great that you really...really, really, really appreciate what a medic did for you.  A thank you letter goes a long way, we rarely get them so when someone writes one it's noticed.  If you want to go the extra mile write to your local paper (opinion page, letter to the editor, things like that) and mention how you liked the service, don't go in too much detail just say thanks and they're doing' a great job.  We rarely get mentioned in papers, if we do it's usually bad news.\n     Anything further than that gets a little creepy, especially if you don't know the person.  Don't think for a second that a small thank you isn't a big deal.
967302
Good for you. \nThe Army's website has a lot of great ideas and good links, check out:\nhttp://www4.army.mil/ocpa/tooursoldiers/\nhttp://www.lettersfromhomeprogram.org/\nhttp://www4.army.mil/outreach/support/\n\nThey have letter writing, e-mail writing, and gift giving programs.
704380
www.anysoldier.com    You can send packages or letters. You can pick a female or male soldier. There are plenty of them on this website.\n\nThank you for supporting the troops!
857032
I've been a letter carrier with the Postal Service for the past 18 years and volunteered to answer the letters our office recieved from the children in our town. I know there is alot of "professional" places you can get "Santa" to write to your child but they are usually a common response to every child. Theres nothing like getting a hand written letter addressing your child's actual Christmas wishes. It shows the child that Santa really read their letters. Good luck and an early Merry Christmas! Leave the letters in your mailbox and, hopefully, someone in your local Post Office will take care of it.....