MARTIN SLOANE | Supermarket Shopper Here are some good reasons to support our troops with coupons

I want to thank the many readers who are sending grocery coupons to service families overseas. If you have been thinking about doing it, here are notes from readers to guide and inspire you.
Dear Martin: My fiance, Randy Wadsworth, and I just finished a coupon-clipping session and are so pleased, I decided to send you this e-mail. Randy's father was in the Marine Corps in WWII and that is why we are sending coupons to the Marines (Navy). I learned about your efforts to help service families overseas from Woman's Day Magazine. If I can't be out there fighting to defend our country, I need to do something to help our servicemen who are. It gives Randy and me a lot of pride to send our coupons to great Americans and their families. Anna Bessette, via e-mail
Dear Anna: Thank you!
Dear Martin: I have been sending coupons to military families in Germany for several months. In their thank-you notes they tell me a group of wives organizes and distributes the coupons. When they welcome new families to the base, it includes an envelope of coupons. I am glad to help. Barbara Smith, Buzzards Bay, Mass.
Here are two letters of appreciation from England:
Dear Martin: I am the Coordinator of Family Services at Royal Air Force, Lakenheath, England. I want to thank your readers for their coupon donations. Our Base Shoppette, Commissary and Base Exchange accept coupons for brand name grocery, household and personal products up to six months after the expiration dates. With the coupons sent from home our families save a lot of money. Have a wonderful day! Marlene Ponce, Lakenheath, UK
Dear Martin: My husband is stationed at the Royal Air Fore base in Mildenhall, England. We have three children. We use the commissary at RAF Lakenheath. It serves three bases and is very crowded. If you shop the weekend after payday, you are lucky to find everything on your shopping list.
Some items such as popular canned veggies, sodas and frozen pizza, sell out very quickly. I enjoy an occasional off-base shopping trip to a local supermarket. It is nice to see how the people live and shop, and trying new foods is fun.
Coupons are an important way to stretch our limited grocery budget. Our commissary has a coupon box and I go through the coupons before I start shopping. I want to thank all those thoughtful people back home who send their coupons to the Lakenheath commissary. Audra Welch, Mildenhall, U.K.
Dear Martin: I receive Sunday coupon inserts from friends and I wonder whether I could send the complete inserts to overseas military families. I am sure readers like myself, who have very little time, would rather send the inserts. M. Yamada, Long Beach, Calif.
Dear M. Yamada: You can send the complete inserts, but the weight of the envelope -- and the postage you are paying -- would be mostly for paper that is wasted and coupons that can't be used. This next letter mentions those coupons.
Dear Martin: On behalf of all of us at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, I want to thank your readers. It is nice to know that people back in the States are thinking about our airmen and their families stationed overseas. Coupons are very helpful, but not all of them can be used here. The following items are not available at our commissary: Lens Crafters, Pearl Vision and other optical services; Walgreens and other drugstore coupons; Safeway and other retailer coupons (coupons found in their ad circulars); Red Lobster, Pizza Hut and other restaurant and fast food coupons. I hope this will save people time and postage. Jennifer Beauchamp, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany
Dear Martin: On behalf of all our families and service members who use our coupon program, the MCAS Futenma Personal Services Center would like to thank your readers for their support. Their time and effort make a difference in the lives of so many of our people and is greatly appreciated. Jenna Leary Futenma, Okinawa, Japan
Dear Martin: At the Post Office, I was told that mail to military bases overseas must be addressed to a specific person. Mrs. Donald Smith, Bellaire, Texas
Dear Mrs. Smith: I have received several similar messages. In the past, envelopes full of coupons could be addressed to the family services unit or commissary without using a specific name. This prevents the envelopes from being mistakenly returned when servicemen and women are transferred. I am working with the communications department of the U.S. Postal Service to clarify this situation. Until further notice, please address your envelopes to a named person .
Lists of overseas military addresses are available on my column support Web site: www.martinsloane.com.
My sincere thanks to the many school classes, community service groups, Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion posts who are sending coupons overseas. Please write and tell me about your projects. Write to me, Martin Sloane, The Supermarket Shopper, in care of The Vindicator.
XSend questions and comments to Martin Sloane in care of The Vindicator. The volume of mail precludes individual replies to every letter, but Martin Sloane will respond to letters of general interest in the column.
United Feature Syndicate