Thousands of Americans are asking what they can do to show their support for service members, especially those serving overseas in this time of war. Below are Web sites for several organizations that are sponsoring programs for members of the Armed Forces overseas. While it would be inappropriate for the Department to endorse any specifically, service members do value and appreciate such expressions of support.
 
 

Make a donation to one of the military relief societies: 
 

Army Emergency Relief at http://www.aerhq.org/ 
 

Navy/Marine Relief Society at http://www.nmcrs.org/ 
 

Air Force Aid Society at http://www.afas.org/ 
 

Coast Guard Mutual Assistance at http://www.cgmahq.org/ 
 

Volunteer at a VA Hospital to honor veterans who bore the lamp of freedom in past conflicts. Support families whose loved ones are being treated at military and VA hospitals through a donation to the Fisher House at http://www.fisherhouse.org/ 
 

Reach out to military families in your community, especially those with a loved one overseas. Please do not flood the military mail system with letters, cards, and gifts. Due to security concerns and transportation constraints, the Department cannot accept items to be mailed to "Any Service member." Some people have tried to avoid this prohibition by sending large numbers of packages to an individual service member's address, which however well intentioned, clogs the mail and causes unnecessary delays.
 

The support and generosity of the American people has touched the lives of many service members, over 300,000 of whom are deployed overseas.

Last updated on 3/14/2013