NEWINGTON, CT, Nov 6, 2002--The holiday season offers plenty of opportunity for good deeds by hams in general and members of the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) in particular. "Operation Holidays," sponsored by US Army MARS, marks its 12th year in 2002.

THE program offers the chance for families and loved ones to send US servicemen away from home free MARSgrams and phone patches. In addition, "any servicemember" messages also will be delivered to selected overseas bases, and "any veteran" messages now can be sent to veterans in participating Veterans' Administration hospitals. The "any veteran" program inaugurated in Michigan and California two years ago is the newest wrinkle in MARS morale and welfare traffic.

"WE felt that the 100,000 hospitalized vets across the country needed to know that someone cared about them and that maybe a MARSgram could provide a genuine expression of that concern," said the initiator of the program, Frank Wegori, WD8NIK/AAA9AX, the Army MARS auxiliary membership coordinator. "This has proven to be a fact."

THE number of participating medical centers has grown to 47, Wegori reports. while the state Army MARS organizations handling the messages now totals nine. The new--and expanding--program is aimed at bringing recognition and hope to the 100,000 hospitalized veterans who may not have family or friends nearby during the holiday season.

ANY Amateur Radio operator can participate by either initiating or relaying traffic through a MARS member or via the Internet. For many, the simplest way to send a MARSgram is to connect to the United States Army Military Affiliate Radio System Web site, click on "MARSgrams" in the lefthand column and follow the instructions. Regardless of the entry point for a MARSgram, each message must include the full military address and, if available, the addressee's telephone number. Radio phone patch connections must be arranged by the overseas service member, and, in most cases, are available only where there no public telephone or e-mail link exists.

IN recent months, Army MARS has handled phone patch traffic from the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe, where Americans are stationed on peacekeeping missions. MARSgrams can be used to facilitate the connection.

SENDING an "any servicemember" message is a worthy gesture for those who do not have loved ones of their own in uniform--a sort of pen pal arrangement. MARSgrams will be delivered to participating installations or organizations for forwarding to a serviceman or servicewoman. The largest overseas deployment is in Europe, and the active MARS organization there has challenged its members to initiate 100 "any servicmember" messages during the holiday season.

DURING any time of year an "any servicemember" MARSgram may be mailed to USO Regional Office Atlantic ATTN: Any US Servicemember Unit 29623 APO, AE 09096 USA. MARS asks senders to limit individual MARSgrams to 50 words each. There is no official limit on the number of MARSgrams a person may send, however.--Bill Sexton, N1IN