More than 5,000 Operation Dear Abby letters arrived on Okinawa this holiday season, addressed to servicemembers looking for new friends back home. Most of the letters have gone to United Service Organizations at Marine Corps sites on Okinawa, including Camps Hansen and Schwab, where there are a high percentage of single servicemembers, said Frank Herrmann, director of all USOs in Japan. For the past 16 years, syndicated advice columnist Dear Abby has encouraged readers to write letters to servicemembers stationed overseas or deployed on ships at sea. We get a lot of letters from children in elementary school classes or from veterans organizations.
Some people write some nice long letters.
We've had people in the past respond to the letters and form lasting friendships. It was from somebody who was against the military, and he used the letter to stand on his soap box and give his antimilitary manifesto. Herrmann said he threw them in the trash. The letters are getting a good reception at USOs on Okinawa, Herrmann noted. Operation Dear Abby letters will be available at local USOs for the next several weeks.