Don’t call Uncle Sam a Scrooge. It isn’t that he doesn’t want those gift-laden holiday care packages to get to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan; he just wants to make sure they’re safe.

That means that the packages must be addressed to specific GIs at specific overseas addresses, said Maj. Peter Rogers.

“I can help people with addresses,” added Rogers, the public information officer for the Maine Army National Guard, “but they need to have the name of the service member.”

The Defense Department has halted what was known as the “any service member” program. Under it, people could address a card, gift or package to “any service member” and the military would see to it that the mail was delivered.

“That ceased because of concerns over weaponized anthrax,” said Rogers.

Some of his counterparts elsewhere say it was also a nightmare to administer the program.

Lt. Col. Timothy Donovan, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Army and Air National Guard, said that often donations were put on the back burner so specifically addressed mail could reach the intended recipients. He said a case of lip balm was buried when units passed on the donation.

“The troops have plenty of ChapStick available to them,” he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently.

He also said commanders have higher priorities than getting generic mail delivered.

“We’re fighting a different kind of war, a war on terrorism. Somebody has to take responsibility on the other end of the delivery and officers don’t want that risk,” Donovan said.

Rogers said cards and packages that are properly addressed to specific soldiers are welcomed. He said that if packages contain multiples of anything, the soldiers make a point of sharing the goodies with their buddies.

“In Maine, it seems that everyone knows someone who’s either serving in the military or someone who’s related to someone who’s serving,” Rogers said. He suggested that if people want the name of a soldier, they should ask people they know for names and addresses, then direct a card or gift that way.

People can also donate gifts to veterans organizations, such as the American Legion, to be forwarded to soldiers at specific units.

And he had a gift suggestion for anyone who’s interested.

“The gift perhaps most cherished by Mainers serving overseas are telephone calling cards,” Rogers said. “It allows them to call home and speak with loved ones,” he explained.

The major also asked that people remember the families of Guard members on active duty, “not with monetary support, but just check in on them, make sure they’re all right.”

Rogers said members of the 133rd Engineer Battalion, the Army National Guard unit with members from the area around Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties, are expected to remain in Iraq through “March or April.”

The troops departed from the region starting last Jan. 3.

“I’ve received no indication they’ll be extended” as of Sunday night, Rogers said.