Thank a Veteran in the Voting Booth

Got Your 6, the nonprofit organization that aims to inject the veteran perspective into Hollywood and popular culture, has an idea about what civilians can do to honor the sacrifices made by those who serve: vote.

Veterans vote. 70% of registered veterans voted in the 2012 presidential election, compared with 60.9 percent of registered non-veterans. That gap is even greater for local elections, where vets vote at a rate 15% higher than civilians.

Iraq War veteran and Got Your 6 Executive Director Bill Rausch believes that civilians can honor those who serve by doing their civic duty. “We know that veterans are more engaged in the democratic process, but even if all 21.8 million veterans were to cast a ballot in November, we still wouldn’t reverse the downward trend in voter participation,” he said. “Got Your 6 believes that voting is the most basic civic responsibility, and that disengagement is a sign of faltering community health. As veterans, we feel it is our responsibility to lead from the front by challenging Americans to not just thank us for our service, but to honor every veteran by voting.”

Got Your 6 made a PSA that drives the point home:

The clip features veteran actors Rob Riggle (The Daily Show, hilarious supporting guy in too many shows/movies to list), David Eigenberg (Chicago Fire, Sex and the City), and J.W. Cortes (Gotham), alongside civilian actors Tom Arnold and Joe Manganiello and veterans Rausch, Kate Hoit, Seth Smith and Corrina Ramos.

You can order a "Don't Just Thank, Vote!" t-shirt via an Omaze campaign. They won't be ready before November 8th, but there will be plenty of elections coming up where you'll find it useful.

No sides are taken, no endorsements are made or implied, so you can post this video to your social media pages in the weeks leading up to election day no matter which candidate you support.