Will the Real Celebrity Please Stand Up?

I don't watch celebrity awards shows too much anymore.  In my younger years, I wouldn't miss I minute of them.  As I've gotten older, became part of the workforce and realized just how hard it is to earn money, the harder it is for me to grasp why celebrities are paid such ridiculous salaries and then celebrate themselves with awards.  Don't get me wrong, I realize for most actors, they had to work very hard to get where they are and they do have hectic schedules, but does their salary truly measure up equally to the work performed?  I just can't help compare them to the American Soldier.  Our military, especially those deployed, work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, often for weeks without showers and a good warm meal.  They don't have fancy trailers to retreat to and catered meals at the work site.  They are thousands of miles away from their families for months, sometimes over a year at a time.  For many, they have children they don't get to see born, celebrate birthdays with, walk them to school on their first day, etc.  For every soldier, there's a family member at home, holding down the fort, worrying if they'll ever see their loved one again.  They don't have the privilege of on-set nannies to care for their children while they work.  The hardest part to grasp out of all of this, is that their salary in a year easily equals a one day shopping trip of the high paid actor.  Actors get praised by the public and their peers in articles, news programs and awards shows.  Our military faces harsh criticism by some and return home sometimes to protests.   How does this seem remotely fair? 

It's easy to think about our military in times of national crisis, but the true sacrifices they make year round are hardly noticed by most of the population.  Whether you agree or not with the orders they've been given by our government, they themselves deserve praise by every citizen in the United States.  They have chosen to work hard, physically and emotionally draining and extremely dangerous jobs to protect the freedom of this country.

Although I've always appreciated the incredible sacrifice of the American Soldier, never did it hit so close to home as it did on May 28, 2007.  That particular year, May 28th was Memorial Day.  My husband's friend since childhood, Staff Sgt. Thomas McFall, was killed in Iraq when an explosive detonated nearby during a dismounted patrol in Baghdad.  He left behind a wife and 3 children.  At his service, I sat behind his wife as she held their toddler daughter and their two sons sat by her side.  I couldn't begin to imagine what the road ahead of her would look like.  They were a military family, made little money and now had a short period of time to vacate their home on the military base, find a new home and figure out how to raise their kids as a single mother.  That family and the thousands like her and every member of the military are TRUE CELEBRITIES in my eyes!

I wish Hollywood celebrated our military. What an incredible event it would be to see our American Soldiers as the presenters and seat fillers at the Emmy Award Ceremony 2013.  I would love to see our service women and military wives dressed by the top designers and draped with millions of dollars in borrowed jewels.  If this happened, I for sure, would watch every second of the Emmys.  I'd be willing to bet that it would have the highest viewer ratings in the history of Emmy broadcasts.

In Memory of Staff Sgt. Thomas McFall