Rob Riggle: An Actor Who Loves His Country and His Fellow Marines

At times, it seems Hollywood is but a caricature of all things Left: an image created by the most flagrantly non-patriotic and anti-military celebrities imaginable. It seems the mainstream media flocks to stars that fit such criteria, and those stars, in turn, are given an open microphone with which to spew their opinions on the supposedly naïve and uneducated masses in this country (i.e., you and me and the salt-of-the-earth folks who live their lives in flyover country).

Occasionally, however, Hollywood gives us something else: something so far out of the norm for the Left coast, so utterly pro-American and purely patriotic, that we have to pause and take note. We saw this with comedian Vince Vaughn, who launched Chicago’s 52^nd annual Air and Water Show by parachuting out of an airplane over the city with one of the Army’s elite parachute teams. We saw this with Sylvester Stallone, who refused to apologize for his pro-American film “The Expendables,” and who told his antagonizers that “America apologizes too much,” just for good measure.

And to give credit where credit is due, we’ve also seen this kind of grit from Robert Duvall, Larry the Cable Guy, and Nick DiPaolo, among others.

Now we’re seeing it with comedian Rob Riggle (from the movie “The Hangover“). What few know is that Riggle is not only an accomplished actor but also a Marine Corps Reservist who holds the rank of Lt. Colonel. And he recently told Marines Magazine that one of his proudest accomplishments is of “serving his country” as a Marine.

Wow – who saw that coming?

I know such sentiment was common back in the Hollywood of Ronald Reagan and John Wayne, but this is 2011. Now it seems the idea of serving one’s country largely equates to a bunch of utopian chatter about being nice to our enemies so the rest of the world will like us. Not so with Riggle. Instead, he said two other things he’s extremely proud of in his life include taking part in “liberating Afghanistan from the Taliban rule” and “helping evacuate and secure the embassy in Liberia.”

On top of all this, Riggle volunteered to work in the “Bucket Brigades” at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks on NYC. (If you’re familiar with the “Bucket Brigades,” you know it’s hard to think of a more selfless act than that. If you’re not familiar with the “Bucket Brigades,” here’s a video of some anonymous volunteers at work.)

Riggle said one of the reasons he joined the Marines was to learn about “honor, courage, and commitment,” and it looks to me like he’s mastered all three.

Thank you Rob Riggle for not only making us laugh, but for also reminding us that America is great and freedom isn’t free.

There are too few of you in Hollywood.