Mr. President, Senators, and all supporters of the Coalition Forces,

 

As you are possibly all well aware we have supported both our troops and the coalition forces throughout Operation Iraqi Freedom, and were very strongly voiced in our support for the administration in the proceeding weeks to the outset of war.....and we will continue to do so, even after Helen and the rest of her group are safely back home. We maintain a huge website for this purpose, and are actively involved in family support groups, the ArmyMumsUSA group, and in all other ways that we feel will support the military overseas and their families here patiently awaiting their arrival home, we have also attracted local media coverage for our strength of support.

 

In the past two days President Bush has signed two important bills, one giving something in the order of 350 $BN in tax cuts, the other giving much needed financial support in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

 

In the light of this, one has to ask "Where is the money needed for basic morale and welfare support for the troops?".

 

The authorities cite security measures as the reason for delays in the mail service, and logistical problems....but does that have to result in some members of the military not receiving mail from their loved ones?.....we think not !!....Is it a question of vastly under funded and under manned logistics?....we believe so !!

 

Our men and women in uniform are giving their time and freedom to help protect that of others......and each and every one of them is doing so voluntarily !!.....some at great personal and financial costs, and how do we reward them?..by delaying their mail!!..for many thousands this is their ONLY contact with family back home !!...One wonders how much it matters to the authorities that in some cases military members are giving their lives without any contact with their loved ones in the time they have been deployed..those final letters are not getting through.........some are even being redirected back to their home base here in the USA to await their return home!!...we get information of opened packages with certain items missing.....we now number each package and list the contents on the inside of the box to try to ensure that this does not happen......

 

We have been lucky so far, letters are taking about 14 days in each direction, care packages about a month.....but we are aware, and several newspapers have already addressed the issue,  that some of the military members have been away from home for several months and have yet to receive their first letter or care package!.....others are reporting several weeks of delays.......the official response to all of this?.......the USPS and the DOD are now trying to persuade loving parents, spouses and other family members to stop sending letters and care packages because they are clogging the system....maybe they would think in a different light if it was THEIR family members who were half way around the world and without effective communication.....the phone that was set up where Helen is based was removed because of over use (or so we are informed)....over use?....they had to be in a line for up to four hours to use it, then were restricted to a 20 minute call....all of which (as far as we know) were placed with AT & T International collect.....at NO cost to the authorities.....they now rely on unofficial internet to get messages through...or await a visit into Kuwait to place a phone call.....eventually that internet access will be stopped no doubt !!......and maybe the visits to Kuwait will dry up......

 

We pose the question..."Just when is the Administration going to take some positive action that will help the military men and women that the President speaks so highly of, and yet rewards in very unsatisfactory ways?"...other than the postal service (or what passes as an apology for one) other conditions are abysmal...they are now working in temperatures that are in the order of 140 degrees once the heat factor is taken into account.......have they large and airy air conditioned escape shelters?.NO !!......they are supposed to receive 11lbs of ice per day per soldier, they are lucky to receive that between the whole platoon.....!!...our daughter's favorite saying?......."The Army hates me, and I hate the Army"....definitely an Army of One !!....she was very seriously considering joining up full time instead of the reservist status she now holds before they were sent out to Kuwait, and later into Iraq......the way they have been treated, completely avoidably and undeservedly most of the time, has changed her mind completely......she like many thousands more were lured into the reserves by the promise of education, and whilst they were under no illusions that they could be deployed, they were not expecting to be treated like second class citizens...!!

 

We ask that you pass this on to others who may take positive action in the support for the troops......it is not one of the "get nowhere" petitions, it is a direct request that you contact your elected members who are perched happily on Capitol Hill with all the luxuries they can muster.....

 

As a help we are giving a pro-forma email/letter at lower in this message, we hope that you will find time to forward it to the people who are responsible for our loved ones.....please take a few minutes of your time to do this.....it is now almost a month since the President announced that the combat operation was over.......in wave of glory and PR spin.........it is time that the important people in all this were given the respect they so richly deserve.....please SUPPORT OUR TROOPS !!

 

You may find the contact information for your elected members at the following URL's.....

 

 

 

 

Other useful "snail mail" addresses are given later in this email, as is a copy of an open letter to the press that Jeanne has penned today.

 

Thank you for your time in reading this, we hope that we have spurred you into action, and that eventually the administration will treat these heroes as such !!

 

God Bless you, your families and friends,

May God Bless and continue to guide the troops and their families and friends, and May God continue to Bless America.

 

Jeanne and Trev

 

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Pro Forma email/letter.......please copy and paste this into a new email.....or into a word processing software program for a letter to be sent....

 

Dear Representative,

 

I am writing to you to try to persuade you to look into the way that our brave men and women in uniform who are daily putting themselves in harm's way to protect our freedom are themselves being treated.

 

Mail is either not getting through to them, or is being seriously delayed, sometimes tampered with, and again, sometimes being redirected back to their home base (even if correctly addressed) to await their eventual return home.

 

The conditions under which they are serving the administration and the country and general world community are in many cases worse than the people whom they are trying to help.

 

This is not the way to reward such heroes, and we urge you to try to bring about a timely change in these matters, our soldiers are not second class citizens, they are first class heroes, and should be treated as such.

 

Thank you for your time, and in anticipation of your help.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

************************************************************

Army Chief of Staff
200 Army Pentagon
Washington, DC 20310-0200

Chief of Naval Operations
2000 Navy Pentagon
Washington, DC 20350-2000

Air Force Chief of Staff
1670 Air Force Pentagon
Washington, DC 20330-1670

Commandant of the Marine Corps
Headquarters USMC
2 Navy Annex (CMC)
Washington, DC 20380-1775

 

****************************************************************

 

An open letter to the media.......written by Jeanne today...and already sent to various recipients.....

 

Dear Editor,
I am a very Proud Army Mom (PAM) who is quite fed up with the mail
situation for our soldiers in Iraq. It seems that MANY of our
soldiers have not received ANY mail since they have been
deployed...some as long as EIGHT months!! How ridiculous is this?
We have just been informed that if packages cannot be delivered,
they are returned to the soldier's home base...again, I ask, how
ridiculous is this?? My daughter has been fortunate to receive many
of the packages we have mailed to her, but as I listen to the
stories from other PAMs who's soldiers have not received ANY mail,
packages or letters, it is enough to break my heart. Our soldiers
need to know they are loved, missed, and supported. They do not
need to return home to find tons of boxes waiting for them with
spoiled food, clothes they no longer need, foot powder that could
have bathed their precious feet, mosquito spray/nets that are not
needed in the US, and many other items that have been sent with loving care. It seems to me that if we can send troops over there to restore lawfulness in Iraq, we can also send some postal workers over there to help with the outpouring of care packages which are SORELY need to keep up the morale and faith of our soldiers serving to defend this country's
freedom. We need to remember that each and every one of these
soldiers have volunteered to serve their country...and THIS is how
we reward them? They need to know that people at home support them,
love them, are thinking about them, and are waiting for their safe
return. Come on, Rumsfield...let's get the support moving over
there!!
Jeanne Evans