An idea- Care Packages

[eilen]

You know, my husband is busy busting himself with guilt because at a big event he went to today, there was a booth that was asking for donations for care packages for soldiers. He said he felt really conflicted and if this makes him a horrible person, so be it. He said that all our tax money pays for dept. of defense--everything like food, clothing, and salaries and when he was flying last he saw lots of military who seemed to be doing well-- electronic gadgets etc. He said he felt there should be more booths raising money for care packages for unemployed people, kids in poverty, people who can't get HEAP, foodstamps or enough busfare or gas to get to work and the homeless.

Now, I don't deny the need for our soldiers to know that we have not forgotten them and that we miss and appreciate them but he did have a point. Technically they are employed and have food, housing and medical care. I don't wish to eliminate troop support but think food bank booths at the Nationals might be a good idea. Maybe our unemployed would like to know they are not forgotten.

[grasswire]

1. got news today that the husband of cousin's daughter is being deployed...

...to Afghanistan. I didn't even know what to say. I wanted to say "I will do everything I can to bring him home." but suspect that would not be welcome.

[brewens]

2. That's kind of the way I look at it. I support the troops both by

paying my taxes and especially having not supported Bush. Anyone that voted for Bush twice (I'll cut them a tiny bit of slack for the first time)should have "fuck the troops tattooed on their forehead.

I never hold anything against the troops, at least the ones that are out there for the right reasons and following lawful orders. You inevitably have some assholes in any large army.

One thing I don't say is how I feel about those killed or wounded in Iraq. It wasn't their fault they were misled but dying to make Dick Cheney and his buddies rich(er) is about as honorable as being drowned in an outhouse. That is what Iraq was really all about.

[eilen]

5. dh doesn't have anything against the troops, he just feels

there are needier people I guess. I cannot imagine the horror that parents feel in their gut when they find out their child was killed overseas. I also think that service people get lonely out there and if they don't have family and friends, a care package from strangers back in the world make them feel more connected.
It is my thought that we should be helping the least of us because they are in a battle too, just to make through the day without some essential life service being cut off.

[ashling]

3. I teach government at a community college (online)

and usually have firefighters and others in my classes who recently left the military.

In the introductions in class there are usually several students who fall all over themselves "thanking" the ex- military students for their "service." However, they just don't get it when I turn the topic to community service , civic engagement, and public service ... and make the connection to shared economic sacrifice.

[elocs]

4. This is apples & oranges, it's a mistake to compare our soldiers' situation

with that of the needy or unemployed here. They may appear to have some similarities, but they are very different. It's not an either/or situation, but people may feel a calling more one way or another.

My godson did a tour in Afghanistan when he was just 20. He was stationed in the Korengal Vally where the unit from "Restrepo" was and in fact he got there just a month before they left. One of his first duties there was to be part of a funeral detail there from a unit that had almost been overrun and had 4 soldiers killed.

He was stationed there for a year, in what was the worst place to be in Afghanistan and a place from which we have pulled out. He was hardly living with everything he needed and everyday he had to live with maybe seeing a friend or someone he knew injured or killed. He was living in incredible stress and without everything he needed.

His mother and I sent numerous care packages to him and other soldiers there and they were very thankful and grateful. Imagine sending a package to a soldier who sent back a thank you note and then finding out he was killed in battle. That happened to my godson's mother.

I have been unemployed for 9 months now and I have not even remotely experienced what my godson experienced in Afghanistan or any soldiers out in the front lines. I don't live everyday with the thought I might be killed, or know someone killed (and have to pick up the pieces--he did), or that I would have to kill someone myself (that changes a normal person forever). I manage to get by, but my situation is much better than his was.

The right and the Republicans would love to see the poor and needy cared for privately because they believe government has no business doing that. I see nothing wrong with private people and the government both doing what they can to help those in need, but it should not be an either/or situation and I would not equate it with helping soldiers.