Tomorrow is Veterans Day. Support the troops.
To be honest, I feel a little uncomfortable saying that. "Support the troops" has become such a meaningless phrase - a vague slogan that's easy to print on magnetic yellow ribbons but seemingly difficult to translate into anything substantive - that it almost sounds insincere speaking it aloud, the same way a reflexive, thoughtless "I love you" can mean just the opposite.
The phrase is too often used as a rhetorical weapon, as shorthand for questioning someone's patriotism and taking an unearned moral high ground. When used this way, telling someone to support the troops carries the implication that the person to whom you're speaking isn't supporting the troops and that you - by virtue of being able to accusingly repeat three words - are in a position to evaluate their appreciation for their country and those who serve it.
Maybe worst of all, saying "support the troops" makes it sound like "the troops" is a single, monolithic entity - that the troops act and think uniformly, have identical beliefs and values, and have the same experiences and backgrounds. Not only is this clearly false, but it helps foster the notion that supporting the troops is a black-and-white proposition - that there's only one political position, course of action or worldview that constitutes being pro-troops, and everything else is anti-troops. And thinking of the troops in this way dehumanizes them. It's easier to send a vague, abstract notion of "troops" to war and read in a breaking-news graphic that "troops" have been killed if you forget or ignore that they're individual people with individual lives.
I've found that the way to make saying "I love you," which has been appropriated and monetized by countless Hallmark cards and jewelry commercials, less cheap and more meaningful is to explain what I mean when I say it. And while I'm not sure the same holds true for "support the troops," it's worth a try.
By no means is this a definitive or exhaustive list, and I won't even pretend it's an inarguable list. You are more than welcome to disagree, you are more than encouraged to create your own list, and you have my thanks for indulging me:
I think supporting the troops means not trivializing the plight of those serving overseas and the heartache of their families by using those feelings to promote a discount retailer or an defense contractor in a TV commercial. War and those involved in it do not constitute an IMC strategy.
I think supporting the troops means saying something when you think military action is imprudent or unnecessary, and when you think the lives of servicemen and servicewomen will needlessly be put in danger. It's patriotic, even if you disagree. I think supporting the troops means getting outraged when women in the military are disproportionately more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted when serving than the general population. It's inexcusable when a service member has to feel as wary of someone serving alongside them as someone against them.
But perhaps most importantly, I think supporting the troops means remembering that each member of the military is a person with his or her own story. Each joined the military for his or her own reasons. Each has family and friends who are hoping for a safe return. Each has his or her own views on the war. And each has hopes and dreams that extend beyond the battlefield. Supporting the troops doesn't mean the deification of the troops. In fact, I'd argue that any deification does more harm than good. Whatever our beliefs about war or the military, supporting the troops means acknowledging that they're real people doing a really difficult job that we all wish didn't have to exist.
Support the troops.
Joe Dellosa is an advertising senior. His column appears on Tuesdays.
