Recently military wife, Angelajean, wrote a diary about Military Spouse Appreciation Day and the phrase they and their loved ones in the service often hear repeated: Thank You For Your Service. She pointed out that military families who are making so many sacrifices could use a little more than a “Thank You”: (If you didn’t read the diary, it’s worth a read, IMHO).
“…That means you actually need to get to know us before you say thank you... A lot of us live where there is no base support at all... we've either gone home to find support while a military member deploys or we are the husbands and wives of Reserve and Guard members…
What I really want to accept is your friendship. I would really rather hear, "Do you have time for a cup of coffee? I would love to get to know you better." Or, "Do you live in my neck of the woods? I would love to invite you to the next neighborhood potluck?"...
But—that’s not all we can do. Many of those in the military and their families need something more from us: They need us to step up and do our jobs as citizens, just as they are doing their jobs as service members and the families who sacrifice so much to support them. There are many who serve who have been worn down and worn out with the endless wars in two nations, and the repeated long deployments—with no foreseeable end. TexDem recently posted this diary: Troop Morale at Five Year Low, that quoted Gen. Peter Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff:
..."We have never fought for this long with an all-volunteer force that's 1% of the population..."
The diary also cited a study that reported:
"...Mental health strain was most severe among veterans of three or more deployments..."
We really can, and, IMHO, should be more proactive as citizens regarding our military. We can do more for them, their families, and for ourselves than just merely saying “thank you”. As I commented in Angelajean’s diary:
“We can demand that our leaders not send our military into quagmires. We should not send our military into war without overwhelming justification, and as a last resort.
When our leaders do send the military into war, we should demand that they do so with a clear unchanging mission, and a clear exit strategy. When our leaders fail to do these things, we should hold their feet to the fire.
Once we do send our troops into war, we should support them long term--for life--when they come home injured, and not make them have to fight for needed care. We should support their families as a nation, as communities, and as individuals. As individuals we could indeed get to know the families, and ask if there is anything we could do to help them, especially when the service member is deployed.”
On this Memorial Day, while we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice, may we reflect on how we can make an effort to give some time and tangible support to military families.
We can do even more--we can call and write our Representatives and Senators and tell them it’s time to begin to wind down the wars.
We can also, as TexDem mentioned in her diary, (one of the Netroots For The Troops Group diary series) participate in sending a "morale boosting" care package to service members via Netroots for the Troops. It's the least we can do for those who give so much.