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i I | j I I J I I i : | I 1 ? l 1 ! 1 4 Mail for Armed Forces During recent months, complaint* from the public of delayed or lost mail addressed to members of the armed forces IndicaU that there is wide misunderstanding of how this mail is handled and of the difficulties encountered in its delivery. Mail for members of the armed forces is delivered by the Postal Service to Army and Navy authorities at post offices convenient to camps or stations in this country or to ports of embarkation when addressed to persons overseas. The Postal Service then | has no further jurisdiction over the mail, and responsibility for its delivery from that point on lies entirely with the Army and Navy. Likewise, the Army and Navy handl* , mail from members of the armed forces until it is delivered to civilian post offices in this country, and the Postal Service has no jurisdiction over the mail until so re- ceived. Army and Navy post offices are, technically, branches of civilian post offices in this country, but they are not under the jurisdiction of the Postal Service, being maintained and operated by the War and Navy Departments and manned by military and naval personnel. For instance, A. P. O. 1234, care Postmaster, New York, N. Y., would be a branch of tha New York post office, although it may be located with troops in Africa or elsewhere. Mail deposited in that post office for delivery in this country would carry the return address Of "A. P. 0. 1234, New York, N. Y.," although it came from abroad, and the postmark on the envelope is placed thereon at the over- | seas location and not in New York. Directory service, through which improperly addressed mail is readdressed and forwarded, is provided by the Army and Navy. Delays in the mail to the armed forces may be caused by various factors. Transportation of the mail sometimes must be postponed so that more urgent needs for arms, food, or more military and naval per-j sonnel may be filled first. Ships must travel in convoys, in the interest of safety, and a convoy can start only when the last ship is loaded and can travel only as fast as the slowest ship in the group — all of which consumes time. Transfers of per-i sonnel from one point to another also add to the time required for mail to catch up with the men shifted. Censorship, which is done by the Office of Censorship or military authorities, may also cause some delay, although this is held to a minimum. The Post Office Department do«s not have jurisdiction over the censorship of mail. Ship sinkings by the enemy account for much of the lost mail. Many thousands of letters and packages have been on ships loet by enemy action. Many postal patrons hare wondered why j there is more rapid and regular mail service j from the armed forces overseas than to them. This is because less mail comes from I overseas than goes to our armed forces over- 1 seas; ship* and planes on return trips have more space available; and the location of addressees in this country is more stable than that of overseas personnel. V-mail letters are given priority in transportation by the Army and Navy over ordinary mail, and, when possible, are sent by plane. Some of the public are under the misap-- prehension that the Post Office Department can provide the addresses and locations of soldiers, sailors, and marines abroad. The Postal Service has no such records. When it is necessary to obtain such addresses of soldiers they may be had from the Office of The Adjutant General, War Department, Washington. D. C; of sailors, from khe Bureau of Naval Personnel, Navy Department, Washington; and of marines, from the Marine Corps Headquarters, Navy Department Building, Washington.
