If you don't stand behind our troops

Supporting the troops sounds like a lovely idea... um, how does one do that exactly?

To hell with lipservice. That's not helping. On the same note, Curiousity and his notion that abridging the freedom of speech supports the troops is of no consquence to the troops, except that it disrespects the very constitution they sign up to defend.

Want to support the troops? I've got a few suggestions. You might consider getting your butt over there and watching their back. My friends were the troops, and that's how I decided to support them; I enlisted in the USMC and asked for infantry. A back injury put me out of the corps before deployment though.

Giving to the USO isn't a horrible idea if you're not the fighting sort, but of course that's only one of many little things you can do. Punishing the politicians who put them in danger by mismanaging this war would be a good idea. If you think the war was a good idea, fine, then voting out the war supporters would not be part of your idea of how to support the troops, but I assume you could agree that if bad decisions were made for political reasons (like not sending enough troops, not being preparing a plan for after the Iraqi government fell, etc) then the people who made those bad calls shouldn't be left in control.


Best of all though, and it's been raised earlier in the thread, how about living up to your end of the bargain even after you've gotten what you want out of them. The physical drawbacks to having a piece of your jaw shot off can be very problematic for a guy who is out of work: a friend of mine taught me that. The going price on a human face is a lot less than you'd think. You might want to keep in mind that YOU HIRED the people who decide how much or how little men are compensated for volunteering to go get shot at in your stead. If you're gonna vote in people who take us to war, and you're gonna vote in people who support the volunteer military, then what you are doing is sending people to fight in your place and you ought to be willing vote in people who will take care of the people who do that for you.

If you can't handle that then take the friggin bumper sticker off of your car. All that kind of support ever did was tick me off.

Hmmm this is a tough one. I am from a multigenerational military family. I have two brother -in-laws who are still in service, both have 18 years in and both are battalion commanders. They are smart, brave, and moral. I look up to them and tell them so. But let me tell you who I respect the most, my sister, my sister-in-law, my two little nephews and my two teenage nieces. These incredible people share there husbands and fathers with us, they do without so their Dads may serve. When this "support our troops" discussion comes up, I usually say, don't worry about the troops, they know why they're there. Support our troops families. How? By not spouting off in the grocery store about this being an illegal war when you see a friend, how about not bringing up "all the senseless deaths" while you're waiting for a haircut. Keep your freaking mouth shut next time you feel the need to yak about the foolishness of it all at the playground. You know why? Because in EVERY community there is a woman in that grocery store who sent her husband to war to protect you, because one of the gals in the salon has a brother in Afghanistan, because there are children at your local playground whose father has been away for months. You're opinion won't make a difference to those men, but it could really hurt one of their loved ones. So zip it, that's how you can support out troops. These women and children do more by waking up and living life than some of you will do all day by berating the war. And no, if you don't believe in this war speaking out about it on you daily trip to the grocery store will change nothing, it will make you feel important and self rightous. Go ahead write congress, answer a poll. But show these heros a little respect.

While my brother-in-law was in Iraq, my sister was boarding a plane to come home from Germany with my two nieces. She was wearing her husband's unit pin. A woman stopped her and said, "Is your husband in Iraq?", my sister answered that he was and the woman asked, "Has he killed any babies yet?" I would gladly strangle that woman.

How do I support the troops? Ask someone you know in service to find a soldier who isn't getting mail and adopt them, my brother in law had been in Iraq for 3 months and had soldiers who hadn't gotten any mail at all. We got their addresses and enlisted all of our friends who sent boxes every two weeks. We sent sports equipment, toiletry items and pillows to our soldiers. We sent multiple cpoies of Sports Illustrated and Maxim! We sent fresh socks and underwear. I teach my children to approach those men and women who identify themselves as vets, extend their hand, and say "thank you for your service." We were recently staying at a hotel that had an incoming VFW convention. MY five year old son ran from vet to vet shaking their hands and saying,"thanks." Some of these men were brought to tears by this little boy. You know it doesn't take much.

I found it interesting while our unit was ready to deploy to Saudi during Desert Shield, how many people became "Contientious Objectors" or tried to. The military was fine for their benefits and a paycheck but they had a PLEEASE don't expect me to serve in a 'real' combat zone attitude. I don't belittle those who didn't want to go (as if I was gun-ho about the opportunity of being shot, shooting someone or being maimed or killed) - but I question why they chose the militaryas an occupation. Unless you are in the medical field or religious field - you are a weapon toting person first and whatever your job is second. If you join the military - you may go to war. Fact! Now, it doesn't matter if you agree with your Commander in Chief or not - you signed the contract and you go and like the majority of us - we went.