When a reader near Fort Hood sent us a photo of an advertisement in her local paper, the Killeen Daily Herald, I blinked in disgust. This advertisement is aimed at military families. And the people who wrote it should know better. Check it out:
“’HOME FOR GOOD’ SPECIAL PUBLICATION … As the last flights of troops return from deployment, we ask that you join us in saying thank you …”
Wow! Home for good? That is brand new information! Maybe this is just at Fort Hood. Maybe we should all PCS there pronto because, according to this, no one is deploying from there anymore.
I don’t expect people who aren’t in the military to know and understand every detail about military life. I don’t expect them to know that an Army post is not called a “base,” or even that, no, the military doesn’t just let you come home from war if your dog is sick. I don’t expect them to know the rules.
But I DO expect them to know that we are still in Afghanistan (not Iraq, but that’s a different story) and that people are still fighting and dying. Weekly. I expect them to know that these deaths, like the six this week in one incident, aren’t accidents. They are part of war.
And I expect them to know that people are still headed over – that servicemembers will continue to deploy, fight and die for the foreseeable future. Sure, we have a get-out “date,” but we all know better than to think that such a date means “home for good.” And even when we DO withdraw, it's not like we're packing up the Pentagon and putting it away.
As our reader said, the only people who are “home for good” are those resting in Arlington. Harsh, but true.
I don't know how to make the American public know this stuff. And I don't know how to make sure they are paying attention.
But I think a good start would be making sure that publications, including and especially advertising departments, aren't spreading misinformation
If you’d like to email the general manager and business manager of the Killeen Daily Herald paper – people who approved these advertisements -- you can do so. Click here to email the general manager, Terry Grandy, and click here to message the business manager John Kern. Let them know that your servicemember isn’t “home for good.”
