Donate Frequent Flier miles to a Soldier, ..it works

[G_j]

from moveon,

As we enjoy the holidays with our families, our thoughts naturally turn to those who can't: the 150,000 American soldiers who are spending the holidays in Iraq and Afghanistan. We've run across a great way to support them and make a real difference in their families’ lives -- by turning your unused frequent flier miles into trips home for our troops.

We've checked out this website -- created by Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) -- and it really works. If you have frequent flier miles with virtually any U.S. airline, you can participate by going here:

http://moveon.org/heromiles/

Do you have a family member serving in the military? Or are you a veteran? Heromiles.org is a great example of citizens looking out for those who have risked everything for their country. Help us do the same by letting us know who you are and how your family member in the military is doing at:

http://moveon.org/military/

[Kathy in Cambridge]

1. We did this through Heromiles already

my parents are going to do the same.

[Must_B_Free]

2. but aren't you facilitating a murderer?

just because he's just "following orders" doesn't mean he's representing me... I don't want any arab children dead.

I'm not going to support murderers.

[G_j]

4. people perceive things differently

I don't really equate helping these people to see their families as supporting the war or killing of anyone.
I actually think the honorable thing for a soldier in this situation to do would be to disobey orders and not cooperate with the illegal occupation. even if it means imprisonment. That's what I would do. Still, I do not think assisting a young person who is very likely traumatized, stressed and confused to spend some time with their loved ones, is validating the war.
Bush and Rummy who don't seem to be footing the travel bill, are home and safe.
Anyway, I don't see this as supporting murder or war. But each to their own.
on edit, I might note here that a number of soldiers who have been on leave have gone AWOL. So you just never know...

[Mudcat]

3. Created by who?

Great site, excellent purpose... but you say it was created by Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger?

I checked the site too, but didn't see Ruppersberger mentioned anywhere. Just to give credit where credit is due, the founders are listed here: http://www.moveon.org/about/staff.html

The site lists the creators as Joan Blades and Wes Boyd.

EDIT: Huh! upon further checking, the www.moveon.org site was created by Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, while the hero miles program that it links to was indeed created by Dutch Ruppersberger... the "real" hero miles site is at http://www.heromiles.org/