Military Families: The Real Home Front

DailyKos has a diary with lots of information about military families, i.e., real people with a loved one actually wearing the uniform, and likely serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. Money quote:

How many military people, military families do you know? If you're like the majority of Americans, the answer is probably, "Not many."

Back during World War II, chances were pretty high that you and your family (if none of you were serving yourselves) were well-acquainted with some of the men and women serving overseas at the time. Because 25% of America's WWII-era men served overseas (12 million in uniform from a nation of 130 million), the plight of the military family was well known and the struggles they faced were clearly visible through the lens of shared experience.

That's no longer the case.

Today, 1.3 million Americans have served in Iraq culled from a nation of 300 million. Chances are most of us don't know anyone serving overseas. Many of us might have difficulty in honestly empathizing or understanding what it's like to be a member of a military family left behind. And it might be all too easy to forget that these people desperately need our advocacy and help. Operation Yellow Elephant thanks all military families for their service and sacrifice.

Here's some other facts that Operation Yellow Elephant does know about military families:

No military family is part of the Bush Clan. [OK, Tony, we welcome your counter-example.]

No military family is closely connected to any Bush Ranger (raised $200,000+) or Bush Pioneer ($100,000-$199,999), or otherwise close to the national leadership establishment of our governing party. [OK, Ken, please prove us wrong.]

No military family is closely connected to high levels of our national conservative establishment, including neocon think tanks and right-wing media. [OK, Heritage Foundation, name one.]

A handful of military families include Members of Congress whose adult sons are serving. [Any adult daughters? Please let us know.]

Some military families include College and Young Republicans and other credible citizens who Support Our President in the Global War on Terrorism and had the courage of their convictions actually to consider volunteering for military service and contacted a recruiter. They have earned our respect for their opinions even if we do not agree with them. We thank them for their service to our nation and wish them the best.