The Real Hollywood Supports Our Troops

As a veteran, I want to say “Thanks” to Hollywood.

Too often, the only thing we hear about the Industry is that a new movie is coming out that portrays our soldiers as near mindless half-wits turned into raving murderers by America’s unjust wars. But that kind of nonsense is not the whole story.

Recently, J.J. Abrams, the director of the new “Star Trek” re-boot packed up cast members like Chris Pine, Eric Bana, and the lovely Zoe Saldana and flew off to premiere their film. This premiere was not for a bunch of overpaid, over-pampered movie stars in some gaudy theater. Instead, it was in a dusty hangar in the Middle East, and the audience was made up of our troops. And that is not the exception.

My experience with Hollywood as a soldier for over 20 years has been entirely different from what one might think. While deployed, I saw a steady stream of comedians and actors come through our units, doing what they could to bring a little happiness to the men and women serving overseas. A former stand-up comic myself, I was even shocked to see one of the guys I had performed with a few years before in LA walk out onto the stage and do a killer set for the eager troopers. Another time, I watched the wife of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have to nudge him to stop laughing so hard at Jeff Ross’s gloriously obscene set in front of a thousand troops in Kosovo.

Working in public affairs between combat unit assignments, I had the opportunity to work with a number of people in the Industry, like the crew and star of “Extreme Makeover.” They were thrilled to meet the soldiers, and especially happy to be able to help out military families in need. No one was ever too busy to sign an autograph, pose for a photo or just shoot the breeze.

Not only being among the first to see a huge motion picture like the new “Star Trek” but also getting to mingle with the stars – one report said Aussie actor Eric Bana jumped out of his reserved chair to go sit next to a soldier – is a huge thing for our folks deployed overseas. It’s more than just fun. It shows a level of respect and appreciation that mere words can’t. J.J. Abrams and his cast could have gone anywhere. They chose to go to a dirty, dangerous place because they wanted to show our troops that what they are doing matters. And, on behalf of every American veteran, I want to thank them for it.

There are certainly people in Hollywood who do not respect our troops, and I’ve deployed overseas twice to protect their right not to. I probably will again. But the real heart and soul of Hollywood backs our men and women in uniform. I know it, because I’ve seen it.