Even The Yellow Ribbons Answered Our Question

We asked The Yellow Ribbons [above, getting to know Chris at Walter Reed] also to Support Our Troops by encouraging any healthy heterosexual 41-or-under male civilians at their fund-raising event, if they Support President Bush, to volunteer for military service.

In other words, if these young men appeared eligible to serve, but have not, and support the war, that others are fighting, we asked that The Yellow Ribbons urge them to demonstrate the courage of their convictions by signing up!

Here's what we heard from The Yellow Ribbons:

We make a point that our organization is nonpartisan and therefore try to steer clear of dialogue regarding the war and President Bush. The purpose of our fundraiser was to encourage support for the men and women serving our country in whatever way our attendees felt called to do so. We recognize that patriotism comes in many forms and want to serve as an outlet for those who feel that [military] service is not the right choice for them[selves], yet still want to show support for those who do and for our country. Therefore we feel that discussing political inclinations and encouraging enlistment would be counter to our group's objectives.

OYE Comment:

We Thank The Yellow Ribbons for considering our request, and for their response. We respect their right to define exactly how they remain non-partisan, just as Operation Yellow Elephant focuses on our topic and has not, as a group, taken a position on the war.

We still can, and certainly do, hope that The Yellow Ribbons' Support for Our Troops has, at least indirectly, inspired some young man to do the right thing. And we will continue to Ask The Question ourselves, to include on-the-record responses from "those who feel that [military] service is not the right choice for them[selves], yet still want to show support for those who do and for our country."

We appreciate everything that The Yellow Ribbons are doing and wish them, and Our Troops, all the best.