BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Hundreds of thousands of holiday cards and letters thanking wounded American troops for their sacrifice and wishing them well never reach their destination. They are returned to sender or thrown away unopened.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the anthrax scare, the Pentagon and the Postal Service have refused to deliver mail addressed simply to “Any Wounded Soldier” for fear terrorists or opponents of the war might send toxic substances or demoralizing messages.
Mail must be addressed to a specific member of the armed forces — a rule that pains some well-meaning Americans this Christmas season.
“Are we going to forget our soldiers because we are running in fear?” Fena D’Ottavio asked. The suburban Chicago woman was using her blog to encourage friends to send mail to unspecified soldiers until she learned of the ban, which she called a sad commentary on society.
Last season, despite the rule, officials say as many as 450,000 pieces of mail not addressed to anyone in particular managed to reach Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. But they were returned or, if they had no return address, were thrown out altogether, because the hospital lacked the manpower to open and screen all the mail, spokesman Terry Goodman said.
“A lot of this is because of security concerns because it’s unsolicited mail that someone is going to have to go through,” Goodman said. “Also, being a democratic society, there could be inappropriate mail from someone who, say, doesn’t support the war, and then you’ve got a wounded soldier getting it.”
Candy Roquemore of Austin, Texas, was also promoting the idea of sending cards to wounded soldiers until she found out about the rule. She suggested the ban is an overreaction.
“I think there are some wackos who might do something, so I can understand that. But I think with a Christmas postcard it would be pretty easy to see it doesn’t have anthrax in it,” Roquemore said.
She added: “I just wanted to say, ‘Thank you, sorry you’re hurt, and happy holidays.’”
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