Veterans Day and the Kitchen Table Gang Trust

Baby Boomers like me grew up under the shadow of the Vietnam War. I was a child at the tail end of the 1960s and marched with my parents in peace and civil rights marches. Back then, police were called "pigs" and the military was hated because it drafted brothers, sons, and boyfriends to fight a war that most of us didn't want. I'm still a pacifist and wish our military had not gotten involved in the Middle East, but age and experience has tempered my views of the military. Having met young people who enlisted to make a living in this tough economy, with military enlistment their only hope for a college degree, I have compassion for our troops. Most of them are just kids, just out of high school, and probably naive about what lies ahead in the battlefield. So, when I heard a heartfelt message from Michelle Obama to support our troops, I looked at the Kitchen Table Gang Trust website, run by veterans, which can provide addresses for active military personnel serving in harm's way. I packed beef jerky, ziploc bags and wipes to protect from the dusty wind in Afghanistan, cans of tuna and salmon, nut bars, dried fruit and good Columbian coffee.
A friend of mine, Adam, just returned from half a year in Kabul working as a engineer for a contractor. He was in a restaurant next to the store that was blown up in June, so spent the rest of his time there either in the guarded compound or going out in the field in a heavily armored convoy. Life is precarious in Afghanistan--both for Americans and Afghans. It's difficult to imagine living in fear for one's life, another reason I feel compassion for our young people who find themselves there. You can read about Adam's experience on www.empowertothepeople.org/