Thousands of Americans are busy crafting care packages for troops overseas, gathering donations of food, toilet paper and other comforts of home.

On Sunday, the Pentagon asked the nation to stop sending unsolicited mail to the troops, requesting mail be limited to immediate family and friends.

Although the care packages of cloth wipes and Girl Scout cookies are loving reminders of home, the tremendous crush of boxes that must be screened through heightened security and routed through a complex delivery system have made it very difficult to get packages to the intended recipients.

That shouldn’t stop people from collecting donations. Care packages would be most welcome at any Veterans Administration hospital or nursing home and, as the situation in Iraq settles down, the Pentagon has indicated care packages sent over in bulk would be welcome.

That doesn’t mean the well wishes from home must stop.

Since 1967, when a sergeant wrote Abigail Van Buren and asked her readers to send Christmas presents to the troops, Operation Dear Abby has facilitated the delivery of cards, letters and packages. Although the Department of Defense has asked people to temporarily refrain from sending these items, electronic mail is still welcome and can be sent through Dear Abby. Servicemen and women who have access to e-mail can download the messages themselves; those who don’t, rely on company commanders to print and distribute messages.

Until the Department of Defense lifts its request to limit regular mail, we encourage anyone who wants to express support for or establish a friendship with someone in the military to use the information highway to forward messages from home.


Flags, flowers
It’s not too early to think about Memorial Day, which may be more poignant this year than in recent years.

A number of veterans groups in Maine regularly adorn veterans’ graves with flags each May, but some groups have struggled to continue this patriotic community service as members have grown frail with age.

This year, Maine 4-H clubs are available to help.

The Flag & Flower Project is a new community service program for youths to help veterans plant flags and flowers at graves in time for Memorial Day observances. It is also intended to introduce young people to living veterans, to meet and help people who have served this country.

The University of Maine Cooperative Extension offices recommend that veterans and 4-H clubs meet soon to organize these projects and we encourage clubs to participate in this true community service by calling 877-444-8623 or going to www.maine4h.umaine.edu.


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