When I was in the Navy (and dinosaurs roamed the earth) we were all chomping at the bit to go to Afghanistan. There was no Taliban and nobody had heard of Osama bin Laden. The aggressors were the Soviets.
Unfortunately, President Reagan's CIA outsourced the job to the Mujahadeen ("holy warriors"), pouring billions into arming and training the very troops that would later bite the hand that earlier had fed them.
Secrecy isn't good for democracy, and sticking a yellow ribbon on your car doesn't do anything for troops half a world away. What troops really want is contact from the home front. "Care packages" with toiletries, sweat socks, food items, books, or whatever are nice, but it is even better to give a little of your time and actually write.
The typical servicemember is young, a little brainwashed, and committed to their mission and chain of command. So even though I'm absolutely convinced that Bush is a liar, Cheney is a thief, and Rumsfeld is a ghoul -- it never comes up in correspondence. It's "off topic" and not constructive.
Better topics include appreciation for their sacrifice, the weather (mostly bad), the hope that they can come home soon, and so on. Think of what you would say to a homesick kid at summer camp, and you won't go too far wrong. If you don't personally know anyone serving in the mideast, you can "adopt" a unit at anysoldier.com
Another thing about typical enlisted personnel is that they often signed up at least partly for the education benefits. We've been promoting the DANTES Subject Standardized Tests for years. Our free service (unlike many "me too" sites), is supported only by a small commission from Amazon.com in the event someone chooses to buy a book from us.
No comments:
Post a Comment