Congress, please spare Stars and Stripes
I consider Tribune columnists John Kass, Mary Schmich and Paul Sullivan close friends. I don’t know them personally. But I share coffee with them every morning. That was, however, until I deployed to Afghanistan. Thankfully, my family still sends copies of the Tribune in care packages — usually three to four weeks old. But I read them anyway. In fact, David Haugh’s “Is next year here? The White Sox are ready to contend again” (Dec. 25) hangs in my room. His column is more than just a piece of pulp — it’s a reminder of home.
On the other side of the world, I now read the military newspaper Stars and Stripes. With limited internet, this paper keeps me connected to everything going on back home. Its independent reporting informs me about the policies and decisions that directly affect me in Afghanistan. It helps me stay abreast of current events around the world. For us deployed overseas, the Stars and Stripes serves as a vital link to our lives back home. But the Pentachildren. gon plans to cut its funding.
Elaine McCusker, the Pentagon’s acting undersecretary of defense, said “that newspaper is probably not the best way we communicate any longer.” She is right. But the Stars and Stripes is an independent newspaper, not the Pentagon’s soapbox. My leadership tells me everything I need to know — the Stars and Stripes tells me everything else. In a $705 billion budget, cutting the paper’s allotment of $7 million will rob America’s fighting men and women far more than it will save the Pentagon.
If you support our men and women overseas, tell Congress to fund the Stars and Stripes. Our very own Sen. Tammy Duckworth sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the body responsible for forwarding the Pentagon’s budget. Tell her that the Stars and Stripes offers our deployed servicemen and women more than just the news — it’s a piece of home we can hold in our hands.