Support the Troops is Not a Ribbon
I am amused and somewhat offended by all the people who drive around with these colored ribbon stickers on the back of their vehicles. Pink ribbons are for breast cancer awareness. I am aware of breast cancer and how pervasive and devastating it can be, and It wasn't any ribbon that made me aware. It was the fact that my niece got it before she was thirty, and one of my co-workers lost his wife to it at age 35. But the ribbon that annoys me most is the "support our troops" yellow ribbon.
Putting a ribbon on your car does nothing to support our troops. It may give you a feeling of pride, but what the troops need is real support. Letters from home, gift packages from home, sending them magazines and books to read, helping their families get along without them; that is supporting the troops.
Here is how you can help the troops:
1. Support the USO and send a Care package to a soldier.
2. Adopt a soldier pen pal.
3. Correspond with a soldier and send what he needs.
4. Donate to the American Legion Family Support Network.
5. Donate to Fisher House and provide a place for family members of wounded soldiers to stay near where they are being treated.
6. Help build and modify homes for severely handicapped veterans.
7. Donate blood for the wounded.
8, Provide phone cards to serving and wounded military so they can keep in touch with their families.
9. Ship books, DVDs and supplies to deployed and hospitalized soldiers.
10. Provide a satellite phone for a platoon in Iraq.
11. Donate your frequent flyer miles for use by soldiers on leave and their family members.
12. Help dependents of deployed military buy groceries at the commissary
And while you are at it, how about providing some additional support for the children of Iraq:
1. Operation GIVE. Toys and other items for Iraqi children.
2. School supplies for Iraqi children.
3. More help for Iraqi children.
Instead of wasting five bucks on a bumper sticker or car magnet, enriching an entrepreneur, send that same five bucks or more to one of the truly helpful organizations.
posted by Vic Fricke @ 6:39 PM
2 Comments:
I'm afraid I am going to have to disagree with you on this one, Pop. I think the magnetic ribbons are pretty, especially the shiny ones. If I had my druthers, I would post a rainbow of ribbons from boot to bonnet on my little Honda Civic. A sparkly ribbon to show I support overworked Astronomers everywhere. A furry ribbon for the dog walkers of America (may their leashes never snap - god bless). And most especially, a faux paper ribbon to support Bagstuffers Local #186 who have made many a casual get-together possible by facilitating the safe transport of valuable snacks and beverages.
What a great list of REAL ways to support the REAL needs of REAL troops. Congrats-- hopefully some people will follow through on these practical, and I might add non-partisan, tips.
Having said that, allow me a more cynical, but I also think real, response. These "I support our troops" ribbons and bumper stickers for the most part are partisan political statements intended to support George Bush and his foreign policy and only tangentially, if at all, the troops carrying it out. It is a cynical (but time honored) attempt by Republicans to equate disagreement with George's policies with a lack of patriotism or a lack of support for our men and women overseas. Or, said differently, it is a cynical attempt to USE the troops as a political lever that does NOTHING to actually "support the troops." If this were really about supporting the troops, then those behind the ribbons would be publishing things like your list everywhere. They are not, and 95% of those putting ribbons on their cars will do nothing more for the troops than that. Which leads me to this: here are some additional things we can do to truly "support the troops": 1) give them sufficient supplies (body armor etc.) to protect them; 2) give them enough other troops to do the job; 3) do NOT cavalierly send them into harm's way except as a true "last resort" (especially when those doing the sending did everything they could to stay out of the military themselves-- hearing Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield et al attacking the military records of Kerry, Murtha, McCain et al. is truly Kafkaesque); 4) have a real plan for "winning the peace" with a real exit strategy; and 5) execute that plan competently so they can come home safely and as early as possible. This administration has done none of those things. I truly believe that this administration views our troops as little more than a tool for their misguided foreign policy and their cynical political strategy and their "support" for "the troops" is limited to that. As to the comment that the ribbons are "pretty"-- well, that speaks for itself. Thanks for a great list of real alternatives.
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