Needles in a haystack
By ampdead

Sat Mar 01, 2008 - Sure, hitting Hollywood over the head with its own inanity can be fun - a catharsis of sorts. Pointing out stuff like this is much better; however, increasingly difficult. For one, it shows Hollywood isn't populated entirely by full-time losers. Plus, it points out a worthy cause.

While I'll never see the vomit-inducing shaky-cam fest that is Cloverfield, one of that movie's stars, Mike Vogel, is earning my respect.

Now Vogel, along with a coalition that includes pro cycling legends, veterans advocates and the Pentagon, is working to help wounded military heroes.

He is the chairman of the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans and is participating in a series of "Road 2 Recovery" bike rides across the country to assist wounded veterans as they leave the military and begin rehabilitation.

Mike McNaughton, a member of the Wounded Warrior Project and a Louisiana VA official, explains how the sport can help veterans. "The movement and independence cycling creates is a great way to treat depression, one of the biggest problems for wounded vets."

The first of two major fundraising rides will begin May 17 in Philadelphia and end May 25 in Charlotte, with a lap before the start of NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600.

The second ride is planned for Sept. 28 to Oct. 4 from San Francisco to west Los Angeles along the Pacific Coast Highway.

Given the climate in Hollywood as measured by such recent films as Redacted and In the Valley of Elah, Vogel is making a risky move this early in his career. These films haven't just been anti-U.S. action in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have been blatantly anti-U.S. military. They've all flopped as well - easy cudgels to pick up and beat Hollywood over the head with.

Ribbons come and go. Perhaps we should support the anti-establishment guys and girls, like Vogel, instead of trumpeting the latest Hollywood fashion trend. They are, afterall, putting their careers on the line to help out those who have put their lives on the line.

Vogel may think the actions in Iraq are a waste of time - I don't know and I can't tell. Even if he does, he has the sort of class that is sorely missing from Hollywood these days. Cloverfield is certainly no Casablanca, but like the movie stars of old, Vogel gets it.

The National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans
Wounded Warrior Project

h/t Libertas







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