What Should Letters Look Like
Letters can look just about anyway you want. We suggest that you make it as personal as possible. Include things like a handwritten letter of appreciation, drawings, photographs, etc. Share a little about yourself, your hobbies, school, and stuff like that. Of course, thank them for their service. Try to keep the size of the paper within 8 ½ by 11.
Say Farewell To A Service Member
Canada: Canadian Armed Forces Messages
Those in Canada can use this official government website to write to CAF troops. Click Post Message on the page above to write a brief message . It will then appear on the message board for servicemembers to see.
For some inspiration, you can use the View Messages link to have a look at notes that others have posted, too. This makes it more of a message board than a way to write letters to specific soldiers.
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Start Sending Your Letters Today
Now you know exactly what to say in a letter to a soldier.
Letters to service members dont have to be too long, elaborate, or fancy. Sure, you can decorate care packages and use calligraphy for letters if you want, but any letter a soldier gets will make them smile.
When youre short on time, dash off a short letter via the Sandboxx app. You can even attach a photo inside to add a pop of color and excitement.
Whenever you do decide on what to say in a letter to a soldier, just keep it positive. Lighthearted messages are best when theyre away from home and in combat zones or challenging training.
Still think you dont know how to write a letter to someone in the military? Its simple, really. Just start with hi and the rest will usually start flowing.
What are some of your favorite topics to cover in letters to soldiers? Share in the comments below!
Feature image courtesy of Unsplash
Writing And Receiving Letters During Deployments
Nothing is better than a letter from home, especially handwritten, so your Marine can read and re-read it at any time. Some facts about sending letters to deployed Marines:
- The time it takes for a letter to get to your Marine can vary greatly
- Sending a letter to a deployed Marine costs the same as first class domestic mail stamp
- You can include photos from home if you would like
- Deployed Marines can send letters to the United States without postage they write “Free Mail” at the top where you would normally put a stamp
- Deployed Marines DO need to affix postage to anything they send to the U.S. that is NOT in a letter size envelope
- Deployed Marines that send mail to addresses other than the U.S. will need to affix postage
- You do NOT need to put your Marine’s social security number on the envelope as part of the mailing address
- You DO NEED to put a return address on the envelope your Marine may remove the return address after receipt however, this is for security purposes.
- You can get your Marine’s mailing address from the unit’s Deployment Readiness Coordinator or you can wait until your Marine contacts you to give you the mailing address. Be patient, sometimes it can take a week or two before your Marine will have time to contact you.
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Support Our Troops Write A Letter
Do you get excited when you open your mailbox and find an expected letter from a friend or family member, or when you get a random text message from an old friend? Now, take that feeling and amplify it tenfold. That’s what it feels like to receive a letter when you’re deployed.
Writing letters is a great tradition and becoming a pen pal to an American troop overseas is one of the many ways you can support our men and women in uniform.
Read All Of The Comments Here:
Bette: I always wrote as though they were my own child, or brother or sisterspoke about home , shared our favorite foods and I always asked about their friends and comrades.
Lisa: Wrote a bit about my life. Thanked him, let him know how proud I was of his service, told him to extend it to all. Asked if there was ANYTHING I could do for him and his family. Turns out we are both Pastry Chefs and have rescue animals. So now we have so much to write back and forth about! Letter writing is a lost art which makes it so special.
Pamela: Be positive, encouraging, definitely send hope. Let them know people will be here supporting them when they get home. Ask if there are any special wishes they would like granted while they are there.
Tracy: You dont always have to know what to write. Sometimes short and sweet is the way to go! Taking 5 minutes to thank them and letting them know you are praying or thinking of them
Cathy: Keep it positive! Tell a little about yourself and thank them. I have written lots of letters and write just like I would talk. The main thing is, keep it light hearted, upbeat, and non-political.
Elise: I start off by offering my thanks for their service. I then explain to them how long Ive been adopting/penpal and what it means to me. Then I write a short paragraph about myself. I then write a few generic questions for conversation starting. I close with an encouraging quotation. Thats my standard first letter.
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Card And Letter Guidelines
Letters, cards and coloring pages go into a Ziploc bag and are packed on the top of a Comfort and Care Package. They may be the first thing Service Members see when they open the Comfort and Care Package. Since the contents are meant to be shared, multiple letters, cards, and coloring pages are included in each Comfort and Care Package.
Here are the guidelines for cards, letters and coloring pages.
How To Write Letters To Our Military
Even though many of our troops have come home, there are still men and woman deployed overseasaway from their families. People dont realize that writing letters to our military is still important today. In the earlier years of the War on Terror, everyone sent letters to the military. Now, without the media constantly reminding us, its easy to forget that we still have troops around the world and the War on Terror has not ended.
Our troops are still homesick, anxious and sometimes bored. Letters, cards and care packages remain the best diversion a soldier might have during the day, week or even a month. And remember, some of our personnel dont have families. They only receive mail from grateful citizens.
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What To Write To A Soldier
I’ve been meaning to write you for a few days now, but we’ve been busy. Here’s what has been going on since I wrote you last. Michael had one of his projects selected to be shown in a display at the library because it was part of their “Art of Reading” theme. I’m proud of his humility. He’s really good with his art, but he also encourages other kids who aren’t yet at his level. Reagan got second place in the 100 backstroke. She said she thinks she did so well because she’s gotten better at her turns. I don’t know how she can tell when she needs to turn over and do her flip turn. We’ve all been missing you. We are praying for you at every meal and night before bed. I say a few extra prayers in between any time I start to worry about you. I love you very much, and I can’t wait to see you. You inspire me every day even though we are apart.
Send Letters To Soldiers In Afghanistan
Afghanistan is undoubtedly one of the most difficult locations that our armed forces currently have to visit and writing to soldiers in Afghanistan can really improve morale during a tour of duty there.
Mail bags arriving at a military base filled with letters from people who have been writing to soldiers is bound to put a smile on everyones face.
Writing to soldiers can be a very special thing to do after all, you are under no obligation to keep in touch with servicemen and women if you do not have a personal connection.
But this show of support for military personnel really can mean a lot to people who put their lives on the line every day.
Of course, writing to soldiers is not just a one-way street, you may well find that you receive letters back, allowing you to strike up a new friendship, or even a relationship if that is what you are looking for.
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How To Get Started
The best way to send letters to military members overseas is through an organization that supports our troops. The troop who receives the letter will then have the choice to write back.
There are a few organizations that coordinate pen pals. Each has a different method for doing so, so it’ll help to read a group’s policies to ensure the success of your letter correspondence.
Keystone Soldiers is located in Pennsylvania and they support overseas service members by coordinating letter correspondence and care package mailings since 2002. They’ve sent an average of 5,000 letters a year.
AdoptaPlatoon has served troops since 1998. They hold a variety of campaigns that support our uniformed men and women in a variety of ways.
Soldiers’ Angels was founded in 2003 and volunteers assist veterans, wounded and deployed personnel and their families in a variety of unique and effective ways.
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How To Write Your First Letter
Maybe youre thinking about joining the letter writing team and adopting a soldier, maybe youve already joined and havent written your first letter yet. Either way, sometimes writing your first letter can be a little daunting. What do you say? How do you introduce yourself? How much do you talk about you?
There are no rules to writing letters to soldiers, and as long as they come from the heart theres really no wrong way either. Sometimes its just hard to get started so we asked our Soldiers Angels Letter Writers to give us their tips to share with new letter writers. Heres a summary of all of their tips. You can read what they all wrote at the bottom
Write A Letter To A Veteran Active Duty Servicemember Or First Responder
Communicating through letter writing is a great way to send a special message or say thank you to Veterans who have served our country, active-duty servicemen and women deployed all over the world or first responders in our community like EMT, police officers and firefighters.
Who would you like to write a letter to? Lets look at some definitions. Who is a Veteran? A Veteran is a man or woman who has served in the U.S. Armed Forces during a time of war or peace. The six branches of the United States Armed Forces are the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Air Force and Space Force. Who is an active-duty serviceman or woman? An active-duty service member is a man or woman who is currently deployed serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Who is a first responder? A first responder is a person, usually a team of people, who are the first to respond to an emergency situation. Examples of first responders are firefighters who put out fires, EMT, emergency medical technicians, who respond to someone having a medical emergency and police officers, who respond to people who need help from law enforcement.
Each one is atrue hero, and that is why we enjoy writing letters to all of them.
Now, lets getstarted writing your letter. Here are three simple steps to writing yourletter.
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