It seems like a nice gesture to send a Christmas card or even a holiday care package to a soldier overseas or an injured soldier recovering in the hospital, and each year, chain e-mail messages go around encouraging people to thank the soldiers who risk their lives every day with a token of holiday appreciation. They instruct you to address the card or gift to “Any American Soldier” or “A Recovering American Soldier,” with addresses overseas or at military hospitals.

Unfortunately, these e-mails are part of a pervasive myth, due to heightened military security for incoming mail and packages. Under the military’s current rules, no mail sent to unnamed soldiers will be delivered. Instead, it is discarded without being opened or returned to the sender.

This doesn’t mean you can’t send Christmas greetings or gifts to soldiers-it just means that you need a name and a specific address first. This shouldn’t be too hard, as churches and other civic organizations often have lists of local soldiers that are deployed or in military hospitals, recovering from injuries. Contact these groups to obtain names and addresses, so you can send all of the holiday cheer you want, without the worry that it will simply be thrown away.