Ben Stein, an Open Letter
02/02/2007

Dear Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, National Guard,Reservists, in Iraq , in the Middle East theater, in Afghanistan! , in the area near Afghanistan , in any base anywhere in the world, and your families:

Let me tell you about why you guys own about 90 percent of the backbone in the whole world right now and should be happy with yourselves and proud of whom you are.

It was a dazzlingly hot day here in Rancho Mirage today. I did small errands like going to the bank to pay my mortgage, finding a new bed at a price I can afford, practicing driving with my new 5 wood, paying bills for about two hours. I spoke for a long time to a woman who is going through a nasty child custody fight. I got e-mails from a woman who was fired today from her job for not paying attention. I read about multi-billion dollar mergers in Europe! , Asia , and the Mideast . I noticed how overweight I am, for the millionth time. In other words, I did a lot of nothing.

Like every other American who is not in the armed forces family, I basically just rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic in my trivial, self-important, meaningless way.

Above all, I talked to a friend of more than forty-three years who told me he thought his life had no meaning because all he did was count his money.

And, friends in the armed forces, this is the story of all of America today. We are doing nothing but treading water while you guys carry on the life or death struggle against worldwide militant Islamic terrorism. Our lives are about nothing: paying bills , going to humdrum jobs, waiting until we can go to sleep and then do it all again. Our most vivid issues are trivia compared with what you do every day, every minute, every second.

Oprah Winfrey talks a lot about "meaning" in life. For her, "meaning" is dieting and then having her photo on the cover of her magazine every single month (surely a new world record for egomania). This is not "meaning."

Meaning is doing for others.

Meaning is risking your life for hers

Meaning is putting your bodies and families' peace of mind on the line to defeat some of the most evil, sick killers the world has ever known.

Meaning is leaving the comfort of home to fight to make sure that there still will be a home for your family and for your nation and for free men and women everywhere.

Look, soldiers and Marines and sailors and airmen and Coast Guardsmen, there are six billion people in this world. The whole fate of this world turns on what you people, 1.4 million, more or less, do every day. The fate of mankind depends on what about 2/100 of one percent of the people in this world do every day and you are those people. And joining you is every policeman, fireman, and Emergency Medical Technician in the country, also holding back the tide of chaos.

Do you know how important you are? Do you know how indispensable you are? Do you know how humbly grateful any of us who has a head on his shoulders is to you? Do you know that if you never do another thing in your lives, you will always still be heroes? That we could live without Hollywood or Wall Street or the NFL, but we cannot live for a week without you?

We are on our knees to you and we bless and pray for you every moment. And Oprah Winfrey, if she were a size two, would not have one millionth of your importance, and all of the Wall Street billionaires will never mean what the least of you do, and if Barry Bonds hits hundreds of home runs it would not mean as much as you going on one patrol or driving one truck to the Baghdad airport.

You are everything to us, as we go through our little days, and you are in the prayers of the nation and of every decent man and woman on the planet. That's who you are and what you mean. I hope you know that.

Love,

Ben Stein

So Ben, why don't you put away that 5 wood and get your ass over to Iraq and help out?

You could jog (you are overweight anyway, no?) ahead of those HUMMVEEs, triggering any IED's that might otherwise kill the servicemen you so admire.

Talk is cheap.

Bullsh*t is even cheaper.

So I don't guess that Ben will be guesting on Oprah any time soon.

I bet Ben Stein has the same probem I did when I tried for a reinstatement in the Marines. Since he's six years older than me, I bet they would turn him down when he asked to have his ass shipped over to Iraq for his age just like they did me, eh?

He is right about one thing for sure, about 90% of the backbone in the world resides in the ranks of the United States military. And those Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines got every right to be proud of what they do.

Why don't you boogey your ass down to the Peace Corps Jeff, they're a fine organization and you can serve your country too.

My re-occuring thought as I read the letter was, What a Crock!

Why don't you do something constructive and join the Peace Corps too?

Marine I sent you a PM!

In as much as I work at all, I work for Peace. I don't claim much success.

I work for orgs that work for peace.

It's really a much better alternative to war.

Got it, I'll look that site over tonight.

Neville Chamberlain had about the same success.

ditto

I did that for the 30 years I spent in the U. S. Navy - most of it with the Marines, eh? Now I've put that all aside and just work with the Girl Scouts and NGOs workin' to better the environment.Methinks most folks in or havin' been in the military, especially combat vets, would heartily agree. Unfortunately all too often politicians don't do their jobs right and war results.