Yeah, the inter-service rivalry is meant as a motivation. But c’mon, folks, we’re talking about getting voice-assisted laptops for wounded troopers who could use them to keep in touch with loved ones and hold onto their grasp of the world. Do you really need motivation to give?
Well, if so, here’s a little bit of the reality faced by those whom you could help, courtesy the Gun Line (hat tip to the Gunn Nutt):
Take a look at your hands… Go ahead, take a look…
You can do some amazing things with this construct of four fingers and a thumb:
You can:
1. Pick your nose.
2. Scratch an itch.
3. Communicate (on L.A. highways it can be done with one digit.)
4. Scritch the cat, dog, ferret, ect. behind the ears…
5. Pat your loved one on the derriere.
6. Caress your loved one’s… (well, you get the picture…)
7. Shoot a pistol.
8. Throw your kid a baseball (your accuracy varies…)
9. Write a letter.Let’s write a letter, shall we?
First you have to clear off a place at the dining room table or your desk. Then you have to figure out where the kids hid all of the pens. Then you have to find a sheet of paper that hasn’t been scribbled on. Then you have to kick the cat off of the chair. Then you have to get up and find your address book. Then you have to kick the cat off of the chair (again.) Then you take pen in hand, shoo away the cat who has migrated from the floor to the tabletop and wants to help check your spelling.
And then you can actually start writing.
Takes – what?- about ten minutes…
Now let’s write a letter after being hit with an IED…
Go read the rest. And then give. Please. You can give at Blackfive, who is heading up the efforts of the Army branch.
You can give here at Target Centermass, also supporting the Army branch:
You can also visit a centralized listing of the blogs involved by branch, and the opportunity to see the latest donation totals and to give your share to any branch you wish. It may be a rivalry, but it’s all for the same team in the end.
As of this writing, over $14,000 has been raised between the four branches in a little over a day. Hooah! But there’s still a ways to go — the drive will continue until Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11.