What our other readers are saying:
Where are the new enlistees?
I have two active duty Marines in my close family – one is a daughter. Among a large group of friends, my church, and even extended family members, there is no one else who has a family member serving. The war doesn't seem to closely touch anyone else I know. Questions wanting to know how my Marines are doing seem very superficial, especially when this is followed up with their political views on the situation. The impact of the war on my life has been so huge that I feel closer to strangers who share the same experience.
My son-in-law just returned from Iraq (before that he was in Afghanistan). In 7 months he'll go back to Iraq. My daughter has been to Iraq twice. As another poster noted, they are TIRED of the frequent deployments – it's wearing them down. I'm amazed at their positive attitude in life and how hard they work at helping younger Marines in their care. But the frequent deployments are causing good Marines to leave the service. Who is filling the void? Are your sons and daughters enlisting?
Sarah Sonke, Richmond, Va., USA
Separate the troops from bad decisions
Supporting the troops means an end to the Iraq war and bringing the troops home to their families. End the war as soon as humanly possible so that our troops are not only no longer dying for an unjust war but also no longer adding to the ever-increasing death toll and misery of Iraqis. On a personal note, for me, supporting the troops means keeping them in our daily prayers and thoughts and remembering to separate the troops from those who falsely led this country into an unjust and unethical war.
Catherine Ross, Kansas City, Mo., USA
Prayer, action, and remembrance
First, I think we can support the troops by praying. The young men and women of the military face dangers and doubts everyday and there is no way to know what they are going through daily, but God does. He can protect, defend, and preserve. We also need to pray continually for our elected leaders. They have the daunting task of making the decision of first authorizing and ordering our troops for missions in harms way and then commanding and overseeing those missions to the best of their ability. The burden of knowing you have just ordered some father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter to their deaths is an awesome one. Pray that our elected officials are men and women of true Godly conviction – that they will stand up and do what's right, not what's popular or politically expedient. Pray that they will not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine or for that matter public opinion.
Second: we need to get involved. Talk doesn't encourage someone huddled on the cold ground in a war zone, but a letter, card, or care package can. Talk doesn't provide comfort to a young spouse with all the pressures of keeping the house going and taking care of the kids on the home front, but offering to fix a car, watch the kids for a weekend, or being there to listen, and yes even cry with them can bring comfort.
Third and finally, we can never forget. I can't tell you how frustrated I feel when I see politicians get on television and essentially try to rewrite history about their votes to authorize this war. I get just as frustrated hearing the buyers remorse from citizens who first screamed that we needed to do something after 9/11 and now are equally as shrill for their condemnation of the president and the war. We as citizens of the greatest country on this earth can never forget that freedom is not free. We can never forget how important it is to choose elected officials with strong character and rock solid morals. We can never forget the sacrifices of our courageous all voluntary military. They stand in harm's way to protect our way of life. We can never forget that some have been wounded and some have paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Our show of gratitude to them can't be here today and gone tomorrow. It must be sustained and genuine. And we can never forget how the terrorist acts of 9/11 made us feel. We felt vulnerable then and still do. We were hated then and still are. We were moved to prayer, action, and compassion then and we still should be. We support our troops by prayer, by action, and by never forgetting that we are still one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Clarence Campbell III, Layton, Utah, USA
Bring them home
Support the troops by bringing them home. They are dying in a civil war. What does victory mean? Will it be victory when either all Sunnis or all Shiites have been killed? We were led into this war (now occupation) by a series of lies and now don't know how to remove our troops.
Don Couser, Milford, Ohio, USA
'You support this war? Enlist...'
My husband is a US Army soldier. He's brave, he's loyal, and he's dutiful. The other thing he is is TIRED. Since 2002, he's been deployed almost non-stop, with the tiny exception of a short time period from late Spring 2005 to early Fall 2006. He's in Iraq again as I type this post. I'm tired too. So are our three young kids, who are proud of their father, but miss him terribly. Stop telling us you support the troops. Those words often ring hollow to those of us who serve. You support this war? Enlist, so that the soldiers who are on their third and fourth year-plus deployments can have a break and stay home long enough to get to be acquainted with their families. Then and only then will your claim to support the troops have any real merit.
De Lozada, Ft. Hood, Tex., USA
'Remember us'
Having served from 2005-2006 and now going back this year, support to me is those at home remembering us. Nothing fancy, just saying prayers, telling our nation's young children where we are and what we are doing. Reminding the post-draft generation that they too could be here if they didn't have a professional army instead. Supporting those Congressmen/women and Senators who support us and especially not using us as political pawns. Finally, respect.
David McGaughey, Kingwood, Tex., USA
Share the sacrifice
Why haven't Americans been asked to sacrifice for this "war"? Surely there is something that average people can sacrifice beyond using hard-earned money to send care packages for those serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. How about a $1 gasoline tax that would severely decrease consumption and our dependence on Middle East oil? Half of the profits from this tax could go directly to the families of those serving in hot spots around the world. There is a price to pay for our global misadventures – let's start paying it now because it is immoral to put this burden on our children and grandchildren.
Pete Chandler, Boulder, Colo., USA
Support by avoiding blind loyalty
I served and was proud to serve. But now I'm a civilian and I consider it my absolute duty not to waste the patriotism, loyalty, and hard work of our volunteer army. You don't ask someone to die unless you have no choice. The Iraq war, built on a pile of lies, was a strategic and tactical mistake of a magnitude that is hard to overstate. Nobody is "supporting the troops" by giving blind loyalty to the compounding of a mistake.
Whit Selert, Sparks, Nev., USA
Prayer, generosity, and smiles
To me, supporting the troops means daily prayer for them. It means giving to organizations that help them and their families. It means saying thank you with a simple smile when I pass a soldier in the airport on his way to his next duty station. It means having magnets on my car that say 'support our troops.' It means wearing my "Proud to be a soldier's girl" t-shirt and having strangers say to me "Tell your soldier thank you." It means writing countless letters and sending as many care packages to my fiancé as he heads back to Iraq. So that is what support our troops means to me.
Dawn Michelle Jones, Carmi, Ill., USA
Use troops only for worthwhile causes
We command our troops to do our nation's most dangerous work. They must be properly trained and adequately equipped for their assigned mission. If this mission is unworthy or ill-conceived, the result will be likewise. So maybe the greatest support we can provide them is to use them only for things that are obtainable and worth the price. If we find we have done otherwise, we should end the mission as quickly as possible.
Lonnie Yearwood, Edmond, Okla., USA
Media's role
As a high school teacher in urban Los Angeles, very few of my 180 students could tell you much about the 'wars' that now involve our nation. How can we talk of supporting our troops when the public is so distracted by meaningless 'news'? It's a disgrace to our troops to be so distracted while they submit their lives. Support could begin with exhaustive coverage of the conflicts. Support should include a forced reminder by the media, daily. Who wants to pay a tax? As if we're not paying already!
J. Latsko, Los Angeles, Calif., USA
Bush agenda and troops are separate things
Supporting our troops is totally, completely, and absolutely different from supporting the current administration's misguided, misrepresented, ill-conceived, and dangerous foreign policies. Our young men and women are being killed and wounded for an agenda that has nothing to do with containing the threat of terrorism – in fact we are only increasing that very risk. We must not let this administration continue defining support for the Bush agenda as "support for the troops."
Norman Isaacson, New Brighton, Minn., USA
Speak with one voice
Supporting the troops means giving them our moral support for their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their families. I believe in this regard, the vast majority of Americans speak with one voice. However, passing resolutions against a troop surge already in progress sends the wrong message to our troops. It says we're sending you off to your demise for no reason, at a time that these brave young men and women should not be doubting themselves or their objectives.
Joe Kuehn, Phoenix, Ariz., USA
Actions speak louder...
To support the troops, regardless of your feelings about the war, send them mail. Girl Scout cookies. Snacks. Holiday cards. As one who served in Iraq, I can tell you it was quite a boost to find a wall on base covered with hand-made greeting cards from kids.
Just as important, help out the families back home. Offer to help the Reserve / Guard spouses with ride-sharing. Shovel walks. Rake leaves. Mow lawns. In any case, to really support the troops you have to do something more than put a magnetic ribbon on your car. Otherwise you are all talk.
Paul Sherbo, Lakewood, Colo., USA
Prepare and support, before and after deployment
Support for the troops means only two things:
1. A careful and orderly decision-making process preceding their deployment into combat. The ultimate decision must include a clear set of objectives and a regular process of review to see that those objectives are being met.
2. Once they are deployed, we must ensure that they have the best resources available to carry out their work, the best facilities to treat them if they are wounded, and a fair rate of rotation (i.e. adequate rest between tours of duty in the combat zone). If we cannot guarantee that degree of support, we have no business continuing the action.
Let us not forget appropriate support to all military people upon completion of their service, whether that is by normal end of enlistment or due to a disability which requires an end to their service. That is part of the price we must pay for their service.
Philip Murphy, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Civilian leaders needed
The most successful wars have been when civilian leaders were actively engaged in asking the generals tough questions, testing assumptions and demanding performance. Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln were two such leaders. War is too important to be left to the generals.
John Wilkins, Bradfordwoods, Penn., USA
Reinstate the draft
Our troops need more men and women. The draft should be enacted immediately. The draft is the only way to bind up our broken nation. Also, it would show the younger generation we have a country that needs defending.
Pauline Hill, Abilene, Tex., USA
Let the military do its job
Don't politicize the war against terror. Let the men in the field and their commanders determine the dates for withdrawal, not the politicians. They are not in the field. In my opinion it would be a bit like a coach of a team having a difficult time with an opponent, and having the school hierarchy say "let's quit, you get no more money for equipment and supplies. You and your team are losing anyway, so lets just leave and let the opponents have the game."
Dennis Dykstra, Sacramento, Calif., USA
Demand accountability from the top
As someone who has served in Iraq as an adviser and in Vietnam as a Naval officer, I believe that the best way to support the troops deployed there is to demand honest appraisals of purpose and current situation from our President, his generals, and our legislators. We must demand that our deployed forces never be placed in positions where they are asked to violate our constitution, national principles, or treaties guarding conduct in time of war. We must demand that the risk of personal loss including one's life in the protection of our nation be shared across all families in this nation regardless of income or political access. Without a commitment to truth of purpose, firmness on principles, and a just sharing of the ultimate risk, all statements or actions of support of the troops are merely palliative actions to cover murderous hypocrisy.
William J Keller, Basking Ridge, N.J., USA
Support from veterans for current soldiers needed
I'm a soldier and I haven't been to the combat zones yet. But I feel that it may be a betrayal of us, especially in light of our sacrifices, to not support our success. It may also be a good idea for our WWII allies to remember our love and sacrifices, as soldiers, for them. We carry the same spirit as our brothers and sisters who have gone before us.
SFC Dewey Barker, Okla. City, OK., USA
A higher calling
What does supporting our troops mean to me? We have a son in the military and he wants to protect those that don't have the means or ability to protect themselves. He's willing to put his life on the line for someone he doesn't know. I think that imitation is the best form of flattery and our son is imitating the most important person in the world – Jesus Christ. Right or wrong, moral or immoral, agenda or plan. Our son is serving for the right reason and we'll support anyway we can for the same reason.
Dan McGough, Logan, Utah., USA
Donations for body armor
I have donated money to help purchase body armor and personal items for the troops several times. It's a shame that our Government sent these men and women off to war with sub-par protection.
Fred Rouse, Rock Port, Mo., USA
Participate in a 'common citizen's lobby'
Supporting our troops means first recognizing that they are brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, friends and they should only be put in harm's way when there is no alternative. This makes it imperative to exert every effort to reverse the poor judgment on the part of their Commander in Chief so they can come safely home. Our family spends a fair portion of our income travelling 3000 miles to DC as a "common citizen's" lobby to make sure those in power never forget how their decisions affect our soldiers. We write letters to the editors, opinion pieces in the local papers, and speak at gatherings. Until the troops are home, we are committed to supporting their right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Michael Evenson, Petrolia, Calif., USA
Support the USO calling card program
Although I do not support the war in Iraq, I give money each year to the USO's program that supplies calling cards to soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan so they can call home during the holiday season. The war is not the fault of those serving in the military.
Elizabeth Burke, New Providence, N.J., USA
Choose our battles
As a veteran of WWII, supporting our troops means, first of all, not sending them into an area or country where the mission is not of great importance to the health and well-being of the inhabitants of the United States. To send them into regions where the wealth of only a few citizens is at stake means that they have become a private arm of the wealthy. There are many means of enhancing the health and well-being of our citizens by peaceful actions here in the US without sending them to their death or pain. Supporting our troops means, to me, bringing them home alive and well and putting their energy into the welfare of our citizens and others in foreign countries.
Gene Wooldridge, Fort Collins, Colo., USA
Everything they need
Support means giving the resources, training, and motivation to get the job done. Our military is fighting the fanatics over there, so we don't have to do it here.
Doug Houston, Wichita Falls, Tex., USA
Vote, write letters, speak out
Supporting the troops means doing everything you can to get them back home and out of harm's way as soon as possible. For me, that has meant voting for candidates who will hasten the end of the war in Iraq, writing letters to the editor in favor of ending the war and against prolonging it, and engaging in respectful dialogues with people who believe differently. I have not yet engaged in any protests against the war, but I believe that is an important component of supporting our troops. I also supported the troops on a more personal level. When my brother was in Iraq (twice) I supported him by sending care packages and notes and by keeping in contact with him as much as I could. And I'm sure he shared those care packages with his fellow soldiers. All of these actions are small ways that each of us can support our troops.
Tony Milillo, Latham, N.Y., USA
Above all, it means bring them home safely
Supporting the Troops means realizing that they have a tough job and don't get to pick the wars in which they fight. It means realizing that one can "support the troops" without supporting a particular war. It means giving the troops clear mission objectives and realizing that they are solders and not police. Mostly, it means bringing as many home safely, as possible, once that mission is accomplished.
Larry Dillon, Billings, Mont., USA
USO, frequent flyer miles
I strongly recommend supporting our troops through the USO.
You won't find any red tape at USO, which is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide morale, welfare and recreation-type services to our men and women in uniform. My favorite program is United Through Reading.
Donate your frequent miles to our troops. Why bother with all the red tapes the airlines put you through when you want to redeem your miles? Give them to our troops so they can visit their families on their days off. You will be glad you help somebody make that trip. Check this out!
Jose Card, New York, N.Y., USA
Patriotic approach
The best way to support the troops is to be well informed about the so-called "War on Terror" and to use the channels the Constitution gives us to make a difference. This is the highest form of patriotism.
Marcia Truesdell Smith, Williamsburg, Va., USA
Praise for a volunteer army
Regardless of whether you support the war or not, our troops are a volunteer army who carries out the will of this country. I am proud of Americans for finally realizing that many of our troops are simply carrying the policy of this country. If they are antiwar then they need to change our leadership (Congress and the President , because both supported this decision). Many join out of a sense of patriotism and duty. So lets support them and not punish for the mistakes of our leaders. Our troops represent our society. They are the best of us and the worst of us. They make mistakes. They are not perfect. They try to the best they can in a bad situation. Whatever their personal beliefs are they set it aside to do what our government orders them to do. The troops makes many personal sacrifice to carry out their jobs. They endure bad living conditions, terrible bathrooms, they missed home cook meals, long hours of work, they risks their lives and limbs daily. So, God protect the men and women who served this country!
T. Faith Viajar, Lansing, Mich., USA
War is not free
I believe that supporting the troops means willing to make sacrifices. A war is not free. It is not cheap, either. It costs money, and money has to be paid. If citizens truly "support the troops," then they should also be willing to pay higher taxes to pay for it.
Alex Yang, Statesboro, Ga., USA
Support Congressional steps to bring troops home
My husband is currently serving over in Iraq. For my husband, and most of the people in his unit, support not only means taking time out of your day to write letters or send basic necessities, like toiletries and snacks, but to support whatever measures Congress is trying to take to bring them home. My husband sees his time away from his family as a waste, since no matter what the troops try to improve over there, nothing is really being done. They are trapped in the middle of a civil war, and there seems to be no end in sight.
I personally oppose the war, and this current administrations policies, as is my husband and many of the people he is serving. I never fail to be supportive of him, or the people he is over there with. They are just innocent pawns. Anything I can do to try to get him home is the kind of support him and others like him appreciate. Although some people feel that if you don't support the war you don't support the troops, I can tell you from personal experience that that is completely false!
Jenna Ladd, Fort Knox, Ky., USA
Support military families
I always appreciated the countless care packages my husband received in Iraq. It meant a lot to me to know that he was receiving support from the American people. That said, my husband and his fellow soldiers were always frustrated and angry over the lack of support that their family received back home.
Before my husband deployed to Iraq we moved to a new community that had no military connections. I found a small family support group but had a very difficult time finding child care so that I could attend the meetings. No one was interested in providing part time care to a young toddler, not even to someone in my situation. It was heartbreaking to say the least. This is one small example of many disappointments that are felt by wives and children left at home.
Care packages and words of thanks mean a lot to our soldiers, but so does knowing that their family is being taken care of. Very few seem eager to roll up their sleeves and inconvenience themselves to help when help is needed. Military families are strong and capable but there are also times when the support of the community and the American people would make life a little easier during a time when every day is a struggle.
Marissa Baker, Portland, Ore., USA
