ACA American Citizens Abroad

The Director, National Security and Foreign Relations of The American Legion, has assured close to five thousand American veterans living abroad who lost their APO and FPO addresses at US embassies and consulates at the end of 2009 that “The American Legion has written letters to both the Department of Defense and Department of State urging that mail privileges through the US Embassies concerned be restored."

He also suggested that a Resolution be submitted to the National Headquarters of the American Legion to be considered for adoption at the Spring National Executive Committee Meeting.

Only a small portion of veterans living abroad are affected by the State Department’s inability to assume costs of forwarding to military retirees with mail service via embassies and consulates. Other veterans, fortunate enough to have APO or FPO addresses at military installations – and Defense Department personnel officially assigned to embassies and consulates – will not be affected.

Gilbert Wells, military retiree and ACA Country Contact in Portugal, is serving as ACA focal point on this issue.  He reports that in some instances – Madrid, Rome, Italy and Portugal, for example – a local military base has given affected veterans a military PO box.