Support our Troops

Today after work some of my co-workers and I are going to be packing boxes to ship to 10 servicemembers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. Regardless if you support the anti-terror campaigns in those places it its important to remember that these men and women not only volunteered to serve, but made it through a number of "gates" to wear the uniform. Anyone can volunteer, but only a few can serve. In fact, only about 28% of America's youth (18-25 years old) are fit (physically, mentally, no felonies) to serve in the armed forces.

I was reminded today about the dedication of your young people when I received an e-mail from a young friend serving in Iraq who was wounded last week. He's back in the fight after having been patched up. That's dedication.

There are lots of different ways to support our troops. The easiest way is to donate to a number of organizations, such as the DAV or the Red Cross.

A friend of mine started an organization a few years ago to support our troops called Operation Care and Comfort (www.operationcareandcomfort.com). She has no children in the military, but wanted to make a difference in the lives of our deployed troops. Her volunteer organization has sent something like 100TONS of care packages in the past few years.

The other thing I remind folks, especially those not in favor of the war or the President, is that supporting the troops is about showing care and empathy for your neighbors son or daughter, husband or wife. Of the 1.5 million men and women serving in our active armed forces (and almost 1 million in the reserve forces), about 10% are in the combat theater of operation at any one time. The rest are providing humanitarian assistance to Tsunami and earthquake victims, fighting forest fires and floods, and continuing to train to defend our nation.

We cannot afford to forget what HG Wells said (and I paraphrase): "We sleep safely in our beds at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence upon those who will do us harm".