Weekend Edition: Operation Patriot Christmas

We have only 6 more days to do our best for those who ARE the best and we’re counting on you to help us make a Merrier Christmas for our troops.

Operation Patriot Christmas is in full swing.

Friday December 7th is our deadline to get Christmas cards, THOUSANDS of them, to our troops both in the field and in hospitals recovering from injuries.

All you need to do is…

Get 20 Christmas cards and follow these simple guidelines:

  • Ensure that all cards are signed. Please also write Operation Patriot Christmas somewhere on the card.
  • Use generic salutations such as “Dear Service Member.” Cards addressed to specific individuals can not be delivered through this program.
  • Only cards are being accepted. Do not send or include letters.
  • Do not include email or home addresses on the cards: the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.
  • Do not include inserts of any kind, including photos: these items will be removed during the reviewing process.
  • Please refrain from choosing cards with glitter or using loose glitter as it can aggravate health issues of ill and injured warriors.
  • If you are mailing a large quantity of cards, please bundle them and place them in large mailing envelopes or flat rate postal shipping boxes. Each card does not need its own envelope, as envelopes will be removed from all cards before distribution.

Here’s the address:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Now, I know there are other addresses floating around but, I know this one IS valid and the team at the Red Cross and Pitney Bowse will make SURE that YOUR Operation Patriot Christmas cards ARE delivered!!!

By the way…If you see an address at Walter Reed Medical Center…Know that Walter Reed CLOSED its doors a year ago and THAT address is NOT valid.

Last night, we had dinner with friends. Doug served in Vietnam. I told him what we were up to and what he told me makes Operation Patriot Christmas even MORE important.

Doug said that HE wished there was something like this when HE was in-country.

It didn’t exist then and no organization was delivering Christmas Cards from home to soldiers. If you were lucky enough to get a Christmas Card, it came from your family.

Operation Patriot Christmas is a way for ALL of us to let those who wear our uniform know that we’re thinking of them and their families at Christmas.

Just imagine what it will mean to a soldier in some faraway place or in a hospital this Christmas to get a Christmas Card from someone they have never met. A Card from a Patriot who understands what they’re going through.

As Patriots, when we see someone in uniform at the airport, on the street or in a restaurant we stop, shake their hand, maybe buy them a meal and we tell them thanks for their service.

That’s tangible.

So is Operation Patriot Christmas.

Those who receive these Christmas cards will read them and many will display them in their barracks.

The Christmas card you send will get passed around.

Some will be taped to the wall of a tent. Others displayed on the wall of an Army mess.

Ready rooms, lockers and on board ships…The Christmas cards you send will be seen.

Some soldiers may well tuck that Christmas card into their pack or inside their uniform as they go about their dangerous duty.

Think of the card you send near a wounded warrior’s hospital bed or on the wall on a rehab center.

For US…It’s a few dollars and a few minutes of our time.

To those who serve or those recovering from injury, the Christmas card you send is a true gift. It means that they are NOT forgotten. It boosts moral and lifts spirits.

Yes, Operation Patriot Christmas is as tangible as a hand shake.

Maybe more so.

The National Patriot asks that you share this important Weekend Edition today.

Share it on Facebook and Twitter and all social media sites.

Click the “Like” button below.

LET’S MAKE THIS GO VIRAL!!!!!

If 1000 of our great readers participate and each sent 20 Christmas cards to the address above…THAT’S 20,000 BLESSINGS TO OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM!!!

We CAN and WILL make a difference this Christmas and my friends, Operation Patriot Christmas is only the beginning!!!

We are already working on plans…BIG plans that will make a difference for years to come.

Through Operation Patriot Christmas we CAN and WILL make Christmas a little brighter for those who protect our freedoms and don’t forget…THE DEADLINE IS FRIDAY DECEMBER 7TH TO GET YOUR CARDS SENT!!!

LET’S ROLL ON THIS PATRIOTS…LET’S ROLL!!!

Craig Andresen

The National Patriot

Weekend Edition 12/1/12