When We Say "Support The Troops"...

WAMU 88.5

Published November 9, 2017 at 10:06 AM CST

Paradegoers attend the annual Veterans Day Parade on November 11, 2016 in New York City. Known as 'America's Parade' it features over 20,000 participants, including veterans of numerous eras, military units, businesses and high school bands and civic and youth groups.

No other collective group of Americans receives more respect, honor and admiration than members of the U.S. military. But those who serve are also used by politicians to press sided perspectives on all kinds of hot-button issues, from medical benefits to NFL protests.

These days, there are all kinds of ways to show support for America’s troops — a donation at the store register tacked onto your purchase, a yellow ribbon strategically placed in your front yard, televised tributes to war heroes — but what exactly constitutes “support”? We talk about what active servicemembers and veterans need in terms of financial, medical and emotional assistance. And we learn to recognize when “the troops” are being played for political gain.

GUESTS

Kristen Rouse, Veteran, United States Army; director, New York City Veterans Alliance

Terron Sims II, Veteran, United States Army; vice chair for Recruitment for the Democratic National Convention’s Veterans and Military Families Council

David Finkel, Author of “Thank You For Your Service,” and “The Good Soldiers”; national enterprise editor, The Washington Post;

winner of a Pulitzer Prize and 2012 recipient of the MacArthur Fellow “genius awards.”

Eric Eversole, Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; President, Hiring our Heroes

For more, visit https://the1a.org.