The other day I listed the top five military supporters. A few blogs have picked it up and I have seen some great feed back. (Dirty Harry's Place, Free Republic) I have to say I agree with them that Gary Sinise should have been ranked higher.

I mentioned that I would like to have put him in the top five but there just was so much competition. However, since getting the feedback I have done more research. I knew he had done a lot for the troops but I didn't realize it was this much. So let's acknowledge that moving forward he should have been in the top five. Let's call it tied with Toby Keith for second place.

I also see a lot of folks have heartburn about Al Franken. I get it. It caused me physical pain to put him in the list. But here is my reasoning. It's easier to show your support for the military while their work generally supports your world view. This is not to diminish the work of the celebs who support the war against Islamic extremism in principle.

But knowing that in the case of Franken, he absolutely disagrees with everything about the Bush administration, conservative philosophy, and the War on Terror, the fact that he still does so much for the troops earns him bonus points. Besides, if conservatives are going to complain about all the liberal celebs who don't support the troops, they should give credit where credit is due (and yes I consider myself a conservative but not doctrinally so, I supported Fred Thompson for the nomination but I was probably closer to Guiliani in my political positions).

Some folks said Jon Voight should have been on the list. I like him greatly and he has done some good things for the military, but I think they are confusing political activity with military support. I try not to equate the two here.

I am much more impressed with celebs who consistently take time from making all that money to do personal visits. Especially in a war zone. From what I have found, I don't see him doing this all too often, though it may just be under reported.

One more thing, I think I erred. I should have put Pat Tillman as number one. I decided not to because I was focusing on the present and since he has passed on, that kind of pushed him off the list. But the man gave up a highly successful career to serve as a Ranger in the US Army. So let's call him the honorary number one. Fair enough?

With that out of the way, here is the rest of the top ten list:

10: Will Smith

Will has visited troops though not in a war zone (that I could find). As one of the worlds biggest celebrities, he gets a lot of credit for taking the time. In addition, his films often portray the military and our soldiers as heroic, unlike most Hollywood films which take a more cynical view. Could there be a better recruiting poster than his roles in "Independence Day" or" I Am Legend"? Both roles he played with toughness but humanity, unlike the typical Hollywood portrayal of soldiers as either dupes, stupid, or brutal. Will received an award from the cadets at West Point for his portrayal of the humanist military officer in "I Am Legend" for its display of military leadership qualities. Advice to Will though, get over to Iraq buddy, they would love to see you.

9: Denzel Washington and Arnold Swarchenegger

Denzel has often visited the troops and has made substantial contributions to vet causes. His military portrayals are  very sympathetic, reality based figures. Nothing irritates me more than military movies which stereotype soldiers as brilliantly lampooned in this years hit Tropical Thunder. You have a squad with the “redneck or farm boy”, the “Brooklyn of Jersey” guy, the sympathetic minority, and the hardcore psychopath, and that's the personality menu Hollywood picks from. (see Three Kings, The General's Daughter, Basic, and Shooter as some of the worst offenders). But Denzel makes his military characters three dimensional, sympathetic, and smart. Denzel needs to get overseas more to visit the troops though.
 

Arnold made a huge splash during the Gulf War for being such a vocal advocate of the troops. His military roles were always pro-military and done in the 80's at a time when the cynical media and Hollywood were trapped in a bad case of Vietnam Syndrome. His work to make the military popular again while the rest of the media was kicking it around has gone largely unrecognized. He made it cool while others were trying to discredit the military. Frankly, his awesome portrayal of a soldier in “Predator” when I was thinking about serving helped me make up my mind.

8: Bruce Willis

According to Rotten Tomatoes, Willis is the son of a soldier and was born on a base and:

“Willis has said that he wants to "make a pro-war film in which American soldiers will be depicted as brave fighters for freedom and democracy." [3] The film will follow members of Deuce Four, the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry, who spent considerable time in Mosul and were decorated heavily for it. The film is to be based on the writings of blogger Michael Yon, a former United States Army Special Forces Green Beret who was embedded with Deuce Four and sent regular dispatches about their heroics.”

Willis has made many visits to the troops, including war zones and has many memorable military roles in his movies, though I note his characters are too often unsympathetic military figures. But his work for the troops more than makes up for it. His portrayal of a Special Forces team leader in “Tears of the Sun” who had to face the ethical dilemma of going off mission to do the right thing for innocents was brilliant.

7: Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham

All of them are radio and TV pundits who consistently support the troops and went into war zones to meet with the troops. Hannity has begun a series of concerts to support military families called Freedom Concerts that runs, I think, every July 4^th. He has raised big cash for the families of troops killed in war.

Rush was the victim of a smear campaign that claimed he called Democrat leaning soldiers “phony soldiers”. I was listening when that happened and it is a complete falsehood. Rush is one of the military's most ardent supporters and his words alone, carried to an audience of some 20 million keeps our troops in the minds of a lot of people. I am willing to bet you that he has also done far more than we will ever know, because Rush is a secret philanthropist.

Number 6: Jessica Simpson

Has visited the troops in war zones many times. Clearly she could have used that time to make more movies, albums, or TV shows and made some serious cash. Here is what she has to say:

“So I’ve been to Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Germany, all for the USO,” she says. “It’s been amazing to be a part of that. Even like Fort Hood in Texas and in San Diego, I’ve really tried to meet as many troops as I possibly can just to say thank you. There’s nothing you can really ever do to thank them enough.”

Simpson continues, “It is a very spiritual thing. What they’re doing is a very spiritual thing — that you’re sacrificing your life for people you don’t even know. So it’s pretty unbelievable to be up there and sing ‘God Bless America’ and have everybody sing it along with you. People are like weeping. And that was one of my favorite times to ever be on stage. I looked out and I saw all these people crying, and I’m like, ‘This is a prayer.’ It’s like ‘God Bless America’ is something you grow up singing and you don’t really realize that it’s a prayer until you’re actually in a war zone and see these people asking God to bless America. It’s pretty powerful.””

5: Gary Sinise

Gary has probably given more of his time and spent more time in war zones than any other celebrity. In addition, he promotes charities to help our troops and even the victims of al Qaeda, Taliban and other Islamic terror groups in Iraq and Afghanistan. Here is an excerpt from an interview:

“I just wanted to be able to do something and not just sit back and watch the news, but actually get out there to help somebody out,” Sinise said. “After Sept. 11, I just really woke up and realized there is a lot more I can do and it’s clear we’re at war with a serious enemy who wants to do everything they can to destroy our country.”

 

Sinise’s first USO trip to Afghanistan also included a visit to Camp Lacey, the combat support hospital at Bagram. The Emmy-awarding actor said he is proud of the service members who volunteer to not only serve their country, but to help others as well.

 

“I’ve very impressed with how people are dealing with their mission and how much they believe in it,” he said. “Going into the hospitals and meeting some of the doctors who are performing some of the surgeries on Afghan kids that come in from stepping on landmines -- the doctors really feel like they are doing something for somebody.”

 

People feel that there are bad guys who need to be chased, but there are Afghans here who understand the Coalition is here to help them, and it’s a very positive thing that’s being done over here.

 

Sinise contributes time, not only through the USO, but also through a Department of Defense program called America Supports You, a network of organizations sponsoring deployed service members.

 

One organization is called A Million Thanks, started in 2004 by then 16-year-old Shauna Flemming. Her goal was to collect 1 million letters to send to deployed troops. She has succeeded in gathering more than 1.5 million letters from across the country and plans to gather 2.6 million letters in 2006.

 

“If you are ever feeling down out there in the field, away from home, thinking that nobody’s supporting you, all you have to do is go to www.americasupportsyou.mil and you’ll change your mind,” Sinise said. “There are dozens of organizations that have been started by American citizens who want to do something besides just sitting at home and watching TV just to hear bad news from around the world. People are actually out there doing something active to get behind you.”

 

Sinise is co-creator of Operation Iraqi Children, another program in the America Supports You network. OIC collects school supply kits through donations and ships them to troops in Iraq to distribute to Iraqi school children. The actor hopes to expand the program to Afghanistan in the future.

 

“We have a lot of school supplies ready to go, but our only issue is shipping,” he said. “Now that I’ve been here to Afghanistan, I’ve talked to a lot of good folks here who want to help and believe our program can help them here and help the Coalition reach out to the people of Afghanistan by handing out these supplies.

 

“If one of the (Coalition) convoys pull into a village and start handing out those supplies, it will be a good day for everybody,” he added.”

Thanks to all of these folks!