Conference turris::womannotes-v3

    I have two addresses:
    
    Any Soldier/Airman
    Operation Desert Shields
    APO New York, NY     09848
    
    
    
    Soldiers of Operation Desert Shield
    HSC, 3-101 AVN, 100 First ABN BIV (ASSLT)
    APO New York, NY     09309
    
    
    
    
    My 14 year old son wrote a letter last night for 'any soldier'.  Upon
    reviewing it for him, I actually cried that this child was so sympathetic
    and caring about the situation.  I hope many more people write and let
    our soldiers know that we care and support them.
    
    WE AT HOME 'CANNOT' LET THIS BE ANOTHER VIETNAM!!!!!!!!!!!  
    
    My husband was a Vietnam Vet and he still feels the effects of the lack
    of support from home.  Let us all learn from that mistake in our
    history!
    
    

    	Does anyone have information on what is permissible to send to our
    	troops (using these addresses)?  Last night, I bought several boxes
    	of stationary - I'm going to write as many letters as I can (as long
    	as they're over there.)  I want to show my support for their efforts.

    	I know that the Saudis screen their mail - would they have objections
    	to things like comic strips, for example?

    	Is it necessary (or advised) to include return addresses?

    I feel that, at the moment, they don't have much time to write... and
    excessive mail would get into the way instead of helping them, but of
    course that is my personal opinion.  I believe that at the moment, they
    need all their attention and time to the job and to finish and get out
    of there as quickly as possible.
    I normally write to 4 of them and I no longer do but I pray a lot and
    think of them constantly, I refrained from writing when "the date"
    approached so not to get into their way, BTW, they're not iddle any
    more... GOD BLESS them and everybody who is there!
    

    That's great, I am sure your letters will keep, but we are not in the
    Civil War now, (this is 1990's not 1700's,) we have very dangerous and 
    impressive weapons, this WAR can easily deteriorate into a "NUC" war and
    my hope was that... it should finish even sooner than the time it
    takes the mail to reach them.  I honestly hoped that the operation,
    once started, would be swift, hard, and return right back home. I never
    envisioned a long struggle.
     I pray for everybody... and I'm frightened to death.
    
    Ana
    
    

re:               <<< Note 653.2 by CSC32::CONLON "Woman of Note" >>>         -< If my son were there, I know he'd want personal support. >-

>>    	Does anyone have information on what is permissible to send to our
>>    	troops (using these addresses)?  Last night, I bought several boxes

I'm not sure what is or isn't permissable, but some show (either CNN or
Channel 9 in Manchester) suggested that we limit what we send to letters
and tapes. No packages of any kind. The soldiers over there were asked to
ship a lot of their stuff home.

The Manchester Sunday News (1/20) had the addresses of a whole bunch of NH
citizens. They also had the generic addresses of each branch of the
military. Sorry, I don't have the paper anymore.

Jenna

Here's a tangible way to show your concern for U.S troops in the Persian Gulf.

An Internet address has been established to route personal messages to U.S.
military personnel involved in Operation Desert Storm and can be addressed
from within Digital.
 
Since there is presently no known direct Internet route to
Saudi Arabia, these messages will be uploaded to the Saudi Connection,
a BBS network. Traffic on the Saudi Connection ends up with a sysop in
Saudi Arabia who prints the messages on a laser printer and delivers
them to the U.S. military postal system there.
 
Although the routing is very complex, these messages are now
being delivered to the addressee in Saudi Arabia in less than a week.
In comparison, there have been reports that snail-mail is taking six
to ten weeks.
 
While the contents of these messages are not available for
public viewing, they are also not private. One or more sysops in the
system will censor the messages for racial slurs, profanity and
obvious things of that nature. The Saudi Connection is a private
endeavor and those involved in it feel strongly that it should only be
used to send "positive" messages. No message will be passed which
might adversely affect the morale of the recipient.
 
This is presently a one-way deal. No system has been
established for return mail, so be sure to include your snail-mail
address, especially if you are writing to ANY SERVICEPERSON.
 
To send a message via Vax Mail, using the following addressing ...
 
To: decwrl::"[email protected]" 

(You may wish to use nmail, as DECWRL is often very busy and sometimes not
available.  To do so, put nm% in front of decwrl.)
 
Include the serviceperson's name and address in the body of
your message as shown below:
   
        Specific Individuals:
 
        Name, Rank, Social Security Number
        Operation Desert Shield
        Organization/Unit (Deployed)
        APO NY ZIPCode
        Local Forces <----THIS MUST BE INCLUDED OR IT WILL GET SENT
                          TO NEW YORK AND THEN BACK TO SAUDI!!!!!
        Any Serviceperson:
 
        Any Servicemember
        Operation Desert Shield
        APO New York 09848-0006
        Local Forces <----THIS MUST BE INCLUDED OR IT WILL GET SENT
                          TO NEW YORK AND THEN BACK TO SAUDI!!!!!
  
It is important that you put "Local Forces" as the last line
of the address. If you don't, it will take a very long time,
indeed, to reach the addressee.
  
Please try to limit messages to 20 lines.