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| Home Front: WoT |
| The Home Front Comes to Life |
| 2004-11-29 |
| America supports the troops--privately, and online. From the Wall Street Journal Online. Posted in entirety so you don't have to register. At last for the troops fighting the war on terror, there is a home front. There are no victory gardens on this home front, no Rosie the Riveter. It's on the Web. When this column appeared last Friday--praising the high quality of the modern American soldier and knocking the government for not rallying the home front--an official called from the Defense Department to draw attention to precisely such an effort. Better late than never. The Defense Department has created a space on its Web site called "America Supports You." But once you click onto this link, you notice that the government itself isn't behind the creation of this home front. The DoD Web site collects in one place a partial listing of groups that have sprung to life all over the country to help the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the past year, I've chastised the government for not giving the American people some official way to show support for the troops. I see now that this was a wholly misguided thought. Support for the U.S. soldiers fighting the war on terror is coming together in a traditional American way--as spontaneous, private, voluntary pro-soldier groups of like-minded citizens. This is the real American home front in the war on terror. It properly has little to do with Homeland Security, Defense, the White House or any other part of the government. The groups have names like Adopt a Platoon, Homes for Our Troops, Soldiers Angels, Operation Mom and Operation Gratitude. The larger, traditional organizations are also there--the VFW, the American Legion and the USO. The Intrepid Museum Foundation, which runs the famous battleship site in Manhattan, has a strong program called the Fallen Heroes Fund. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |