Governor Pat Quinn launched the annual Illinois Heroes Holiday Card Drive.  The Governor encouraged students from across the state to take part in the annual drive by making holiday cards for service members at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.  Governor Quinn will personally deliver the cards during a visit to the troops later this year.  This year will mark the ninth time that Governor Quinn has visited Illinois troops and their families for Christmas.  For the previous eight years, Governor Quinn traveled to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, which is the largest American hospital outside of the United States.  Since many service members have returned home since the drawdown of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, Governor Quinn will be visiting those in Maryland this year.  For more information on how to participate in the Illinois Heroes Holiday Card Drive, visit www.OperationHomefront.org .