THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 3, 1996 TAG: 9604030412
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: My Turn
SOURCE: Jack Dorsey
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Remember those letters many of you sent to ``Any Sailor,'' ``Any Soldier'' just before Valentine's Day?
Well, they got there, folks.
Thousands of pieces of mail reached the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines on duty in Bosnia and the Adriatic Sea in support of Operation Joint Endeavor. They loved them.
We were over there recently and watched the sailors aboard the carrier George Washington crowd around a mess deck table full of Valentines, pawing through every one, taking some that had return addresses. Others they pinned to bulletin boards or bulkheads.
Marines aboard the amphibious ships stopped doing push-ups long enough to sift through a stack of their own. They admired the sketches children had drawn of boats, animals, spring flowers and hearts. At night they wrote back.
Soldiers sloshing through the mud and snow in the fields near Tuzla, Bosnia, had the cards and letters taped to their tent walls.
``We divide it among the crew,'' said Marine Capt. Jeffrey Kenney, the commanding officer of a reinforced rifle company aboard the dock landing ship Portland.
``We just had our third mail call, and in the Ward Room we had a dozen or two of the letters, mainly from schoolchildren. They usually begin with, `Hi. My name is . . . Then they go on to ask questions about what we're doing; that their grandfather, or uncle, or fathers had been in the military.
``That goes over real well. A lot of the men here don't get mail. These cards and letters are tailor-made to be pen pals.''
Army Reserve Sgt. Kim Rich, assigned to the Joint Information Bureau near Tuzla, put out a special plea for the cards and letters to keep coming, whether it's Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, July 4th, or any special day or historical event. Any excuse. Just write.
``It has been said that the three most important things to a deployed soldier are money, meals and mail,'' said Rich.
``Here in Bosnia, we don't spend too much time worrying about money. Meals are not much of a concern either. We know we'll eat. So that leaves mail.''
It is under mostly gray, cloudy, snowy, or rainy skies that the troops on the ground and those at sea spend their days.
``But once in a while,'' said Rich, ``there's a bit of sunshine in the gray skies of Bosnia. Those are the days when the mail clerk smiles and says, `You got a letter.' ''
Many of the military members are fortunate enough to have family members and friends who write them frequently. Others, through, aren't.
``That's where you come in,'' said Rich.
``I'd definitely encourage it,'' added Kenney, the Marine captain. ``A lot of people don't get mail.''
The ``any service member'' mail program is an easy way for all service members to get some needed attention. In addition, service members deployed to Operation Joint Endeavor are allowed to mail their letters back to the United States for free. So a ``pen pal'' relationship has a good chance of developing.
There is no size or weight restriction for any soldier mail. Those sending mail are asked not to send perishables, glass, liquids or plastic containers that may break. Cookies and other similar snacks wrapped in plastic aren't considered perishable and have fared well in shipping.
MEMO: To reach any service member assigned to land forces, write to: Any
Service Member, Operation Joint Endeavor, APO AE 09397. For sailors and
Marines aboard ship: Any Service Member, Operation Joint Endeavor, FPO
AE 09398. For families in Germany: Any Family Member, Operation Joint
Endeavor, APO AE 09399.
by CNB