Celebrate Memorial Day: Send Books to Troops

by Raelene Gorlinsky

It's Memorial Day. Please honor our troops, especially those on active duty overseas. GalleyCat has a list of ways you can donate books (including ebooks/ereaders) to soldiers overseas.

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/how-to-share-books-ebooks-with-our-troops_b52089

I do. You can too. It isn't simple or easy -- what with security concerns, restrictions on types of material, shipping costs, and such, it takes time and effort. But compare that to the time and effort being put out by our troops sweating and dying in inhospitable places.

And here's my personal rant or plea: It doesn't matter what you think about the war itself (whichever one), these soldiers didn't start the war and have no choice in their service. Don't blame them. Scream at your elected politicians, not at the servicemen and women. I'm old enough to remember the soldiers returning from Vietnam -- never, ever again should this country shame itself by treating our veterans like that. Just recalling how those men were treated by the public and by the government brings me to tears, forty years afterward. So remember that soldiers are individuals, give them personal support -- surely you can find some way that you can bring a spark of light into a soldier's day, to let them know we care.