I know this is off topic, but having a son in the Navy, I thought I'd pass this on to those of you that also have a loved one in the military:



From: Press Service



Special to the American Forces Press Service



WASHINGTON, March 7, 2003 -- U.S. troops deployed to the Persian

Gulf region and other overseas locations will soon receive

personal messages from family members, friends, neighbors,

colleagues and supporters via the pages of Stars and Stripes.



"Messages of Support," a daily section debuting March 17, will

give family and friends of deployed service members a chance to

pass their greetings, words of encouragement and announcements

free of charge.



"In the past few weeks, we've received a significant number of

e-mail messages from spouses, parents, friends and others trying

to get in contact with their loved ones serving in the Persian

Gulf region. Running messages from folks on the home front

seemed like a natural extension of our mission," said Stars and

Stripes Publisher Thomas Kelsch.



"Messages of Support" can be e-mailed to Stars and Stripes 24

hours a day at messages@estripes.com, are limited to 50 words or

less and will be printed on a first-come, first-run basis. Stars

and Stripes reserves the right to screen and edit all messages

and to omit any determined inappropriate.



Stars and Stripes is the editorially independent, Defense

Department-authorized daily newspaper distributed overseas for

the U.S. military community. It provides commercially available

U.S. and world news and objective, staff-produced stories

relevant to the military community in a balanced, fair and

accurate manner. Stripes is currently increasing its Middle East

circulation with the goal of providing one paper for every three

persons stationed there.



(From a Stars and Stripes announcement.)