RE: “Those Who Say "I Support the Troops" Should Just Stop” -RSN January 4, 2013:

Michael:
Thank you: for trying, for poking, for prodding, for slinging the ironic rock between the eyes, for taking another angle at the apathy curve -frankly just for trying.

However, we actually live in a culture that really can care for our Troops, as fellow citizens doing an impossible job keeping at bay the underbelly of the world that would take all we have from us in a heartbeat. Our Military’s mere existence intimidates those bad elements in this world. However and consistently unfortunately, our civilians and businesses simply do not know where to exercise that care where it counts, and so their subsequent non-engagement and inaction cannot be easily differentiated from simple, shameful apathy –because nothing coming out of the pipe is still nothing coming out of the pipe.

There are countless great charities, large and small, which have sacrificed much to open doorways for our civilian population, business and foundation sectors to help our Troops cope with the ravages of Military life, from the beginning through retirement, from physical to mental stress.

So, it would be a great, productive legacy to work to couple those countless people who could care with the countless charities who do care. Helping more folks to understand where to care, would be a sustainable and curative gift for our Military.

These people who can care need to be coupled with charities that can efficiently translate that caring potential into serious and lasting impact on our Military and their Families. No one is really helping to make this coupling happen. Our media mostly covers the most harmed, or the most horrifically damaged, or those aging Veterans, or those coming home. Most who served or serve are given little attention.

Celebrities like yourself tend to latch onto a favorite cause and rarely take on the legacy task of using their power to seek portals for civilians to help and then drive them through those doorways.

Simply shaming the public into realizing that they should care, historically does not work. Finding and showing them ways to use their caring does work. Unfortunately, few celebrities or media organizations take this more laudable path, using their power of leading.

A systemic problem is the subject rhetoric polarizing folks (the responses to your writing are perfect examples). Controversy takes up most of the “airwaves”, and almost no effort is made to research out great charities and start dialogues on how to help them.

Traditionally, folks would rather debate apathy than to do anything about it. Our fellow citizens doing this horrific job to protect us all, downrange or not, are lost in the endless, mindless debates on the merits of our Military and political misuse of human lives. Certainly, as a society that wants to be healthy, we could forge a more progressive way. The other debates need to exist but not at the cost of efficiently helping our Military and Families cope with their lives.

Find the large and small charities doing progressive things to increase the wellbeing of all our Military, and then promote and fund them. Stop telling people they do not care, when they could but simply are given only cliché ways to do so. It’s not apathy, it’s ignorance of the paths. Educate them. Use your pulpit to get other celebrities to do the different thing and show the nation where they can plug in to all these charities doing the great work for our Military.

When you badger the public, whether they deserve it or not, you follow the way of the status quo, even though you do not believe so. People just don’t do much for the Military, but they are happy to complain about it whenever they get an opportunity. Meanwhile, great charitable entities struggle to even get enough public exposure to be seen as real gateways of help for our Military.

Mostly the larger, well funded charities can get the celebrities’ and medias’ attention, while the small charities are trampled by the fact that no one knows they exist. Complaining that the public is apathetic does nothing to help all those who are already doing all they can to help our Military but who are for the most part invisible to the public. You and others like you could change that game.

You certainly have the right heart. You also have a strong insight into the problem. Nevertheless, please consider using the power you have to immediately change the charity exposure rhetoric rather than punish the apathetic with the slim hope of change.

Clearly, it would be nice if we all did our parts to help our Military (active, retired, discharged, reserve, Veterans). However, some folks’ “parts” could be to match the extraordinary charities already helping our Military with those in the public who could care but do not know where to plug in to make a real difference.

Few people have the power and insight to promote more than their opinions. You have that power and the ability to draw others to not be concerned over who cares or not and to just help.

The deep caring for our Military and their Families is a sleeping giant in our nation. You probably cannot tease it to the surface with any value, if once it gets there it is not clear where to go. Find the ways and show them. The ones who do nothing already know they do nothing. Telling them so just gets them pissy, and they start mistakenly mixing helping our fellow citizens doing this mean job to protect us with the merits of war, politics and conflict. We have no shortage of such behavior. All that leads to people trying to prove their relevance to the subject. A lot of energy is wasted, and our Military and Families lose in the process.

These are good people who just do not know where to plug in to really help our Military in fundamental and meaningful ways; so, they look and act like they do not care. Assume they care but are paralyzed, and then you have a good start at the solution.

Thank you again for really giving a damn.

Military Family Voices