John Kerry sent us email! Operation Phone Home + Holiday

[WebeBlue]

Look what I just got from John Kerry in my email. I was so excited to see the name John Kerry again in an email. (We are military family with loved ones deployed, so don't know if this email was specific to that factor).

Did anyone else get this email? Curious and wondering what's up as I remember earlier folks at DU talking about an email or several they'd received from John Kerry campaign yesterday. I didn't get one and was feeling left out. But now look, we got this one instead.
***********************

Dear xxxxx,

I hope this message finds you and your loved ones enjoying the holidays. I have been thinking a lot about what our johnkerry.com community can do to mark the end of what has been an extraordinary year. We have formed bonds of friendship and commitment that I know will extend far into the future.

So, in addition to thanking you once again for all you have done, I'm writing to invite your participation in one final 2004 act of collective generosity. As a soldier, I remember how much it meant to hear from loved ones - especially at the holidays. So, I thought you and I could work together to make it easier for our soldiers serving in Iraq to phone home and hear a friendly voice.

We've found a program that does just that. Operation Phone Home is run by the USO, which has been an extraordinary friend to American soldiers for decades. The USO buys phone cards at cost and provides them to our soldiers free of charge. You can help the USO help our troops this holiday season right here:

http://www.uso.org/carddonations

In January, I will go to Iraq to see the situation firsthand and personally visit with our courageous troops who are serving America so well. Nothing would please me more than telling them that hundreds of thousands of us have expressed our thanks to them in this concrete and personal way.

Your gift can help a soldier phone home.

http://www.uso.org/carddonations

In the New Year, I will be writing you about our 2005 projects and priorities. In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy this special time of year. Thanks so much for your constant acts of friendship and your special consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

John Kerry

P.S. There are 140,400 U.S. military members serving in Iraq. Any calls they make home to those anxiously awaiting their safe return are at their own expense. A gift of $100 will provide 20 soldiers with a 100-minute phone card. A $1,000 donation would do the same for 200 soldiers. Please help. A friendly and familiar voice can mean so much to a soldier serving America so far away from home.

http://www.uso.org/carddonations







Paid for by Friends of John Kerry, Inc.

[sojourner]

1. I got same email re: phone home

But I don't have anyone "over there"...not military or military-connected.

Was hoping for something a little more substantial, what with Will Pitts' announcement and all.

[Benhurst]

2. Yeah, another BIG disappointment. NT

[NMDemDist2]

3. MCI is giving free long distance to any troops overseas to call home

ASHBURN, Va., November 16, 2004 - MCI, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCIP) today announced that as part of its continued effort to support U.S. Armed Forces personnel stationed in Iraq, it will provide them free phone calls November 21-27 and December 21 through January 1. In addition, MCI is distributing prepaid calling cards and making resources, technology and employee support available to military personnel and their families around the world.

"Enabling families to communicate during the holiday season is our way of saying 'thank you' to the men and women of the armed forces and their families," said Jerry Edgerton, senior vice president of MCI Government Markets "We want our men and women stationed in Iraq to know we appreciate the work they're doing and the sacrifices they're making."

In Iraq, MCI has deployed a mobile communications trailer to Camp Victory. This communications facility will be outfitted with phones and Internet connectivity, allowing military personnel to make free calls and send email 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In an effort to help U.S. troops traveling through, stationed or recuperating in the United States, as well as their families, MCI has provided pre-paid calling cards to military support groups for distribution this holiday season. Calling cards have also been provided to Walter Reed and Bethesda Medical centers and for distribution at Baltimore/Washington (BWI) and Hartsfield airports. These calling cards will enable troops and their families to make free local, long-distance and international calls from anywhere in the United States.

http://global.mci.com/about/news/news2.xml?newsid=12450&mode=long&lang=en&width=530&root=/about/&langlinks=off

[TrueAmerican]

4. DUPE!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2861911&mesg_id=2861911

[AuntieM1957]

5. i GOT the same one, too

betcha anyway who registered on his site or gave him $$$ got one.

[Stew225]

6. I got a couple from Kerry and one from

MoveOn today. Interesting.