Andrew Sullivan just presented a gut-wrenching exposé on Dispatches (Channel 4) last night. Although most of the country does not support the war, the soldiers are all heroes. They are not being treated as such, and the UK gov’t is not taking care of their medical needs on the field or here at home when they return with injuries. Some of the UK soldiers end up in Iraqi civilian hospitals and abandoned by their units for days, and American military medical teams also treat a lot of our injured. Yet when they return home, their wounds, both physical and emotional, are being ignored. SO, we need to open our homes and other venues as safe places just for these soldiers to come when they are left behind to fend for themselves. It’s really heartbreaking.
On a personal note, the son of my friends has just arrived south of Kandahar, where he commands 3rd Para. My friend sends him a weekly care package and I just found out she needs shoe boxes and non-chocolate items. So guess I’ll be baking. 
Thanks for raising us into action!
Or you can watch FoxNews
Seriously, several of our members go to the airport and volunteer at the USO, which cares for the soldiers AND their families as they travel.
great post. visiting veterans, fighting for better benefits, care packages, volunteering...sounds like something we should all have been doing in the first place.
I guess i'm boring because i would have said exactly as you have EP :o)
okay..I didn't know that I could vote Democrat and Republican..finally an answer to my indecision...
I am guilty of omitting many of these things from my daily life. I pay taxes and I vote--well, voting does distinguish myself from a lot of other Americans, and that's sad.
I personally think the best way to support soldiers is with better pay, benefits, etc. I read an article about how many military families qualified for food stamps. I think that is disgraceful. I will admit I haven't done much this time around. I have a toddler and a baby eating up my time. Also it might help to lesson our dependence on oil and expedite things like the hydrogen cell cars...
Beverly, you can't. And I don't believe that slapping a magnet on your car is supporting the troops, either, btw. A few of those were meant to be provocative.
oh...hahahaha
In the end, winning the war and ending it, is probably the best thing people can do for the deployed military members.
Hi EP!
Always wondered if one could support the troops if one didn't approve of what they are doing.
What are your thoughts?
-Jack
I like Jack's question. I contemplated it on my blog, though I didn't do near as much contemplation as I could have.
It is very gratifying to receive the support of the people you live among in doing what you've chosen to do regardless of your profession. In the U.S. we live among a prosperous, relatively free and well-educated population. What is amazing to me as a soldier is how little understanding there is in the U.S. of what it means to serve.
Anytime somebody spouts that bumper-sticker line, "I support the soldier, but not the mission," it's an indicator of a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to provide support. If you support the soldiers, that means you want them to succeed in their mission. If you don't support the soldiers, you don't care either way or you may even desire that they fail in their mission.
In the case of Iraq, it seems that many who claim to support the soldiers are cheering for the other side to win. The major newspapers, news magazines and broadcast networks certainly seem to want failures to occur to the point of near advocacy of defeat. Our enemies must take great comfort in knowing their every success is trumpeted in the headlines of the Washington Post, New York Times, Newsweek, Time, ABC News, CBS News and NBC News.
There exists in this country a large disconnect between those who serve and those they serve. There are about 26 million veterans and maybe another 2 million serviceman either on active duty or in the reserves. That's not even 10% of the nation's population. How many reporters or lawyers have served? Doctors or professors? Politicians or businessmen? Far less than 10%. It's no surprise, then, that there is a misunderstanding of what the war in Iraq means, because to a soldier the mission is everything. If a mission has no meaning or if the mission is invalid, then the soldier's purpose is in question.
It is possible to dislike the need for war and still feel pride and respect for soldiers doing the right thing. But it is not possible to support somebody by cheering for the other side or by quietly sitting on the sidelines not taking sides. Once soldiers are committed to battle, it is a nation's responsibility to support them and their mission.
It is also possible to seek a change in leadership when a mission seems to be flawed. We've had a national election since the beginning of this war and our leadership was re-elected. Once that choice has been made, it's time to resume support in the direction the nation's leadership has taken until the next election.
Soldiers in the U.S. aren't allowed to campaign for elected officials or try to influence the outcome of elections in anyway other than by their individual votes. We take our orders from leaders who are elected by the rules of our Constitution and who are sworn to protect and defend our Constitution. We fight just as hard whether Democrats or Republicans hold the reigns. In the case of Iraq, our mission is to defeat an insurgency that threatens our interest in a region of the world that is vit
Your idea of sending a care package addressed to "Any Soldier" is not possible to do.In Nov. 2004 the DOD announced that it was no longer accepting care packages addressed to "any soldier"
http://www.grunt.com/usmc-web/ma...eb/
mailinfo.asp
However, there is a website called Anysoldier.com where you can get up to 3 addresses per day of deployed soldiers, to send care packages and/or letters.
There is also a website called America Supports You
http://www.americasupportsyou.mi...syou/
index.aspx
which lists many ways to support the troops,both locally and nationally.
I found your blog via your May post regarding Soldiers Angels.While I'm sorry you came to feel it was a charity you couldn't support?
I have been a member of Soldiers Angels for over a year now,and it has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had.
I think my experience with them has been different from yours in that I was not in a position to make a charitable donation to enable care packages to be sent. I was not even in a financial position to send care packages myself.I'm a single mother on a tight budget.
So I joined Soldiers Angels as a member of their Letter Writing Team, and later joined their Cards Team, and their Wounded Cards team. I have sent over the past year more than 200 letters and cards.
I say that not to toot my own horn, there are members who do far more than I do.And there are of course people who do as you once did, and send a charitable donation to support the work Soldiers Angels does.
I say I have sent all those cards and letters to point out that I have been enabled through Soldiers Angels to tell 200 people that someone is supportive of them,and they are not forgotten.
And I have been privileged to receive replies from some of the troops I have written, and corresponded with a number of them on an ongoing basis.
So I was distressed to see your post discouraging people from considering Soldiers Angels as a way to get involved in supporting the troops.
And I just wanted to present my own experience with that organization, as a late reply to your May post.
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