Stars Earn Stripes

Throughout the Olympics, we’ve been seeing previews for the new reality show Stars Earn Stripes. We thought it might be interesting, but I honestly didn’t pay that much attention until I received a media release that talked about something that, in my opinion, should have really been played up in the advertising. While these stars who are being challenged to execute complicated missions inspired by real military exercises, they are also each competing for a cash prize during the challenges that will be donated to one of these charities that benefit military members and/or their families:

• MILITARY CHILD EDUCATION COALITION, which works to ensure quality education opportunities for military connected children.
• WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT, which provides medical care to injured service members after their period of active duty.
• THE PAT TILLMAN FOUNDATION honors Pat Tillman by providing education scholarships and community opportunities to military veterans and their spouses.
• THE BADGE OF HONOR MEMORIAL FOUNDATION hopes to provide the families of officers who have been killed in the line of duty a lasting symbol of recognition for the life of service, as well as providing the survivors of officers with statutory benefits.
• ARMED SERVICES YMCA OF ALASKA provides educational, recreation and social programs and opportunities to all service members and their families.
• HIRING OUR HEROES helps to find jobs and maximize job opportunities for veterans and military spouses.
• GOT YOUR 6 is a campaign led by the entertainment industry to support veterans and military families, promoting their societal role as leaders and civic assets.
• United Service Organization, or USO, privately funds programs in an effort to lift the spirits of America’s troops and their families.

The show is hosted by General Wesley Clark and Samantha Harris. It features the following stars:

• Four-time undefeated world boxing champion Laila Ali
• Actor Dean Cain
• Actor and former National Football League player Terry Crews
• Multi-platinum recording artist, actor, producer and television personality Nick Lachey
• Alaska businessman and four-time Iron Dog snowmobile race champion Todd Palin
• NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” trainer Dolvett Quince
• Olympic gold medalist Picabo Street
• WWE diva, Eve Torres

Now that we know that these stars have each picked a charity to benefit from the show, we’re even more interested in watching it all play out. Stars Earn Stripes premieres on Monday, August 13th at 8 pm Eastern.

A few thoughts about the show…

I recently learned that there is some controversy over this show as some military members and their families feel that the show is making light of what military members and their families go through during deployments. They feel like this show is just a money making thing, and that it is in poor taste due to the current deployments. D and I don’t see it like this which is why I chose to share a little about it. I’m fairly certain that the stars know that there is no way they can truly walk in the shoes of a military member. This gives them just a tiny taste of what these men and women go through during their missions. It also gives them an opportunity to highlight some of the great charities out there that support military members and their families.

I think it’s fairly safe to say that most people are going to realize when watching this show that it’s primarily for entertainment purposes. Aren’t most shows? I wonder if the same people who are so against a show like this are also against war based video games and/or movies. Whether we’re in a time of war or a time of peace, there are always military members who are deployed and in harm’s way. Even stateside, military members are injured/killed during training exercises.

The fact of the matter is that many people are fascinated by military training and the military lifestyle. For military families, we know how real it is. We know the heartaches that it can cause. We know the difficulties we endure. We know the challenges are great. We also know the rewards and pride that come with serving our countries. Is it wrong for others to want to get a peak into our world – however brief that glimpse may be? We know that unless you’ve lived the life of a military family, you can never truly understand, but it’s not a bad thing to bring to light some of the things that our military members go through or highlight some of the charities that help our families.

What do you think?