a good idea gone wrong
I've gotten the same email twice today, so thought I'd do my myth-busting on my blog... http://www.usocares.org/
There is an email going around encouraging folks to send Christmas cards to "A Recovering American Soldier" at Walter Reed Army Hospital.
This sounds like a great idea, does it not? I was all set to do it, then something made me check Snopes, the best source for determining what is truth and what is not (on the internet anyway!)
Turns out, it can't be done.
The US Postal Service has said it won't process mail address to "A Recovering American Soldier" or "Any Soldier" etc. You've got to have a full name and proper address for a service person in order to send them mail.
Walter Reed Hospital has issued a statement urging people not to send cards.
There are several organizations that can provide you opportunities to show your support, though, so if the thought moves you, please go ahead a do something. Just do something that will actually have a result. :-)
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/tooursoldiers/
http://www.redcross.org
5 comments:
Can't we just hand deliver them? I used to have a Pagan soldier pen pal. Not sure why I chose a Pagan group but I figured he needed love too. But, then he stopped writing to me.
What a wonderful way to debug a myth!
That's great!! A while back I started checking out stories in mass emails via google and just about all turn out to be a hoax. I send the link debunking it back to everyone on the distribution list...I get so annoyed by that kind of stuff lol.
Thanks for posting valid links! Wonderful idea.
Beautiful quote you posted in your reply to me btw. :)
love the snopes.com! never seen it before, so thanks for the tip.
Oh I never knew about that site, thats great!
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