The best illustration of how shared sacrifice can be used to bring people together is the nation's response to World War II, which produced what has become known as The Greatest Generation for the lengths individuals went to in order to protect their country.
Today, the notion of shared sacrifice, especially when it comes to war, is largely forgotten. With an all-volunteer military force, war doesn't touch as many families as it did in the past, and sacrifice is limited to the men and women in uniform and their families.
Last week, a group of three families announced plans to change that, and their idea is one that every citizen should pause to give thought to.
According to The Associated Press, Philip Green, president of health care consultancy PDG Consulting, and his wife Dr. Elizabeth Cobbs, head of geriatrics at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington; Glenn Garland, head of Texas-based CLEAResult energy consultancy, and his wife, Laurie; and Jim Stimmel, CLEAResult's executive vice president, and his wife, Patty have teamed up in an effort to raise money for five groups that help veterans, and they have kicked in $1.1 million of their own to get the ball rolling.
The Greens have three children, and told the AP that they are glad none of them made the decision to enter the military and serve in a war zone. The children, Philip Green told the AP, "are devoted to doing very, very good things around social justice; and we could not be more proud of them."
At the same time, Green told the AP, "I realized that there were parents just like me down the street, down the block ... who did not have that luxury." Those parents were suffering sleepless nights and anxiety, "which I was able to avoid."
In Green's eyes, and in the eyes of the others who have started the fundraising effort, those who have military-age children who aren't serving in the military have an obligation to the members of the military and their families.
Jim Stimmel summed up the need for national shared sacrifice when he told the AP, "We feel that supporting our troops is more than sticking a yellow sticker on the back of your car that says 'Support the Troops.'"
Thousands of groups exist across the U.S. dedicated to helping military families and veterans. Whether supporting the effort started last week by this group, or contributing to other groups, we all could take a lesson from this fundraising effort and commit to sharing the burden.
