AT&T and the USO Support Military Families with Free Phone Calls

By Johanne Torres

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

AT&T (News - Alert) has joined forces with United Service Organizations (USO) to distribute an additional 10,000 free prepaid phone cards to U.S. military members currently stationed overseas in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The move will enable these dedicated military men and women to communicate with their family members here in the United States during this holiday season.

The organization and AT&T have been making these cards available to the military groups, and this is the third batch donated and sent overseas this year. The batch is comprised of more than 30,000 prepaid phone cards valued at $270,000. This holiday phone card donation follows ones made during Father's Day and the Fourth of July.

“Many military members will be away from their loved ones on Thanksgiving and through the December holiday season, a time typically focused on families spending time together here at home,” said AT&T’s Cathy Martine, senior vice president, National Mass Markets, in a statement released on Monday. “We want to help connect these families as the holidays approach; and to honor the many men and women who sacrifice so much.”



AT&T plans to send about half of the cards to troops stationed on military bases in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Spain, and the USO will assist with sending the rest through USO distribution centers in South Korea, Japan Germany and Italy.

Distribution of the phone cards has already begun, and the troops should have them in time for Thanksgiving this week.

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Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet and Internet Telephony magazine. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit Johanne’s columnist page.