I'm StrandedWind but I am posting this from the Blog Worker's Industrial Union account as a show of solidarity with Netroots for the Troops.
I got drafted, Kossack style, for this duty. The email from Spedwybabs simply said "So, what's YOUR Netroots For The Troops diary going to be about?"
Duly served, my thoughts turned to the service my father's generation did for this country ... and what my son and his friends may yet have to do.
My father was born just weeks after the last massive crash of the economy, coming home to a clapboard sided log cabin on the banks of the West Fork of the Des Moines, just a few miles south of Emmetsburg, Iowa. He was later among his eight siblings and his older brothers rushed to enlist, one going off to build runways as a Seabee and another coming home from the Battle of the Bulge with a back full of shell splinters. Glen, a first cousin, was on Corregidor when it fell. They said he died on a prison ship that was torpedoed by a U.S. submarine. I suspect he met a rather different fate.
My mom was one of the younger among nine and her older brothers went as well, most memorably my uncle Leo, who was in the 325th Glider Infantry. He survived the disastrous airborne drop into Normandy on D-Day and was involved in liberating one of the Nazi death camps. I shake my head at those that deny the holocaust; the one I knew who was there would only talk about the delicious cider in the huge barrels they found at the Eagle's Nest. I only asked once before I understood this wasn't a topic for conversation, not even between those who'd been there. My godfather married one of my mother's sisters and he always walked with a limp, the result of two German machine gun bullets they never took out of his back.
My father's headstone plaque says 'Korean War' but his service was in the German Occupation, falling tidily between WWII and catching just a tiny bit of the Korean War years before he mustered out. The biggest hazards he faced were boredom and its handmaiden, youthful enthusiasm. He came home with scars, but they were those a teenager tasked with disposing leftover supplies in a massive ammunition dump would be expected to have.
He died seven years ago leaving a box full of small tarnished military brass, a small collection of black and white photos, and a triangle folded U.S. flag my mother is holding for my son.
My son, now a teenager, is quickly approaching the ten year mark for handling firearms, owning a .22 rimfire rifle as well as the Winchester Model 37 break action shotgun that was mine for the previous thirty five years. We start young out in the country. He is a 'mini-me', eyes a bit bluer and hair a bit curlier, but even now I see more discipline in him than in me at that age. It comes out in strange ways: I've always preferred the simple to maintain, slightly sloppy Russian AK-47 assault rifle. He was eight the first time he handled an AR-15, the civilian version of the M4 our troops carry.
He grinned crazily after the first shot; 'This doesn't kick at all dad!" He ripped through two magazines in a few minutes, sometimes carefully aligning the unfamiliar ring sight, and delighting in handling a powerful semi-automatic rifle. I finally pried it out of his hands and ran through the last ten rounds of the box myself. He is old enough and responsible enough that if my personal economics improve a bit I'll gift him such a thing this coming holiday season.
Boys wanting to shoot is as natural as the interest they develop in girls around that age but he shows signs of wanting to do more. We've spent late nights at grandma's house, watching the Band of Brothers series several times through. If quizzed about the geopolitics of Iraq or Afghanistan I daresay he'd have more sensible answers than most Fox News viewers. This young man, if he goes in the direction of serving our country, might just be an officer in the making.
I'd be proud of my son if he chooses this path in life. I hope he won't serve in wartime, but this is a dwindling hope in these troubled times. If he does go he'll go carrying his grandfather's flag ... and if I have anything to say about it he'll come home to the same quality health care and educational benefits we provided to those men and women who hunted fascism to extinction in the middle of the last century.
I completely disapprove of the Bush administration's disastrous war of choice in Iraq. This means nothing in terms of the debt we, as a country, owe the men and women of our armed services. I support Netroots For The Troops both because it's the right thing to render comfort to those who are deployed, and because it smashes the talk radio canard that "liberals hate our troops".
We don't hate our troops. We provide for them as best we can when they're away. We work tirelessly to make sure they'll have something to come home to when their service is done.
Well, that's my (Stranded Wind's) piece. Here's the official word on NFTT.
Although we started our fundraising several months ago, we're about to kick it into high gear. Netroots For The Troops is introducing NFTT 2010 Personal/Team Fundraising Pages. The idea is to empower each of you to multiply your personal donations by creating a Personal NFTT 2010 Fundraising Page. Through this page you will be able to approach your friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers and colleagues etc to donate to NFTT via your page. We're asking you to sign up to personally raise $1000.00. If you were a small donor last year but wanted to do more, this is a way for you to increase your donation via your contacts.
While we're encouraging this to be individual efforts we're not going to discourage teams. For example; we have a mother/daughter pair who's last name is Hobbs and they're going to call the pairing "The Hobbettes". It was that or the Hobbitts and they liked the "ettes" better than the "itts".
Getting Started
There are two ways you can help: 1)Make an individual donation by clicking on the Donate button and/or 2) Register to be a Personal Fundraiser by clicking the Register button to the left. We're ready to help you get started by creating your own personal fundraising page! Once you've signed up, we will email (within 36 to 48 hrs.)to you a Fundraising Kit that includes sample solicitation letters, how to order business cards, and tips for how to ask people to support your cause.
Use your imagination to raise funds. Last year we had a kossack and her daughters raise funds at a neighborhood event by selling lemonade. Ask your church, temple, synagogue etc. to assist you in your effort. Approach a small retailer about "putting up a jar". Have fun with it. Make up a flier to put on every car you see with a "Support Our Troups" magnet on it.
What Can I Do On Daily Kos?
We're asking you not to post a diary for your personal pages on Daily Kos. Daily Kos is NFTT's home base and we'll still be posting general diaries for fundraising on Daily Kos. We're also asking that you refrain from posting comments within the general NFTT diaries promoting your personal page.
What you can do, is post a comment in Open Thread and other open forums requesting someone to go through your personal page to make a donation.You can also make your sig. line your donation page link. Just be courteous and polite in whatever you do for NFTT. People love supporting the troops, so you don't need to be overly aggressive in soliciting for their benefit. Your actions reflect upon all of us.
Netroots For The Troops mission is two-fold: annual shipment of CARE packages to US soldiers and Marines serving in hostile regions of Iraq and Afghanistan for the duration of their deployment, and on-going financial assistance for veterans and their families upon their return to the states.
UPDATE
All recurring donations that were set up at the old link have been canceled. Those donations were for NFTT and NAEI has had suspended them for us. If you want to continue to support NAEI you will have have to go to their link to continue to do so.