![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I've been hesitating over this, so it's a bite late. But it might be useful to someone, so I'm posting it.
Support the troops, oppose the war. This is something I've heard many, many times at anti-war protests, on bumper-stickers, out of my own mouth. But when I've thought about how I could actually support the troops, I was at a loss. And so many people equate hatred for the war with hatred for the soldiers, that it can be hard to challenge. This is what I spent Veterans Day reading:
Veterans Against the Iraq War
Army of Dude Blog
From his Veterans Day post:
Whether a brother or sister, father or mother, grandfather grandmother, friend or foe, go out there and thank a veteran today. Do your best to understand what they had to do for the country and the comparative ease in which you live. Ask about their good friends they still keep close to their hearts. Don't approach the subject of what they did and saw in combat. It is the ultimate insult to the memory of our fallen... Rather, ask them their most cherished memory during their time in the service. [...] Tell a veteran you are proud of their commitment, service and sacrifice, and that you're forever in the debt of the men we couldn't bring back home alive, and the men who came back forever changed.
I've often found it hard to talk to veterans about the war, even if we generally agree politically. I found this advice helpful. It's something concrete to say. I don't think that so many lives *should* have been sacrificed for this war, but I still want to appreciate the ones that were.
And finally, I went and looked for information on how to send care packages to soldiers (that you don't know personally.)
Any Soldier
How it works: a soldier writes in and lists what they need/want and where to send it. You send a package and they pass it on to someone who doesn't get much (or any) mail from home. Read all the information - there's a number of things that shouldn't be sent (for example, homemade food.) You can also send letters, they're very appreciated.
Also, Operation First Response
An organization that helps wounded soldiers and their families cope financially.
You can donate money to both of these organizations.
Thank you to all those who have served.
Support the troops, oppose the war. This is something I've heard many, many times at anti-war protests, on bumper-stickers, out of my own mouth. But when I've thought about how I could actually support the troops, I was at a loss. And so many people equate hatred for the war with hatred for the soldiers, that it can be hard to challenge. This is what I spent Veterans Day reading:
Veterans Against the Iraq War
Army of Dude Blog
From his Veterans Day post:
Whether a brother or sister, father or mother, grandfather grandmother, friend or foe, go out there and thank a veteran today. Do your best to understand what they had to do for the country and the comparative ease in which you live. Ask about their good friends they still keep close to their hearts. Don't approach the subject of what they did and saw in combat. It is the ultimate insult to the memory of our fallen... Rather, ask them their most cherished memory during their time in the service. [...] Tell a veteran you are proud of their commitment, service and sacrifice, and that you're forever in the debt of the men we couldn't bring back home alive, and the men who came back forever changed.
I've often found it hard to talk to veterans about the war, even if we generally agree politically. I found this advice helpful. It's something concrete to say. I don't think that so many lives *should* have been sacrificed for this war, but I still want to appreciate the ones that were.
And finally, I went and looked for information on how to send care packages to soldiers (that you don't know personally.)
Any Soldier
How it works: a soldier writes in and lists what they need/want and where to send it. You send a package and they pass it on to someone who doesn't get much (or any) mail from home. Read all the information - there's a number of things that shouldn't be sent (for example, homemade food.) You can also send letters, they're very appreciated.
Also, Operation First Response
An organization that helps wounded soldiers and their families cope financially.
You can donate money to both of these organizations.
Thank you to all those who have served.