Maybe it’s because I have strep throat and am doped up on vicodin, but this post on Steve Gilliard’s News Blog made me cry. The upshot: the soldiers lying in beds at Walter Reed Army Hospital with broken bodies and missing limbs, can’t call their families. Because the damn government doesn’t provide them with free long distance. Is that too much to ask–that the people who come back from BushWar III (that’s Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iraq, if you’re counting) should be able to call their families? A lot of the poor kids (and I mean that literally) who are there now will be stuck there through the holidays.
I’m going to go to Costco and get a whole bunch of phone cards– you can get 100 minutes for $5– and write “From a Democrat in WA” on them, and send them to this address:
Medical Family Assistance Center
Walter Reed Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20307-5001
It’s not much of a Christmas present, but it’s a start.
They’ve got more cards than they can use now. See that link for other ways to help servicemembers.