I write this as Veterans Day weekend draws to a close, and I want to call your attention to a vets’ organization that is doing important work. The nonprofit We the Veterans and Military Families has set the following goal as its mission: “Strengthening our democracy and ensuring misinformation and polarization don’t continue to tear at the fabric of our union.”
This group of former members of the armed forces, and their spouses and children, have been working in recent years to dispel the false myth that those who serve in the military tend toward extremist views—a myth that grew in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at our nation’s Capitol. They point to a study that shows support for extremist ideologies among veterans is far lower than what is found in representative surveys of the general public.
We the Veterans, which recruits vets to serve as local poll workers, is passionately committed to democracy, and stands ready to defend every American’s right to vote, as its leadership noted in a recent op-ed: “Generations of American servicemen and women, supported by their families at home, have shed their blood on foreign battlefields to defend that fundamental right.”
Learn more about We the Veterans here. I applaud them for their continued service.
