I loved the Dixie Chicks documentary “Shut up and Sing”. As a veteran and it really made me feel good that there were individual courageous enough to speak their minds and not bite their tongue or recant their position. It was even more refreshing that they were very successful celebrities with what appears to be the “wholesome mainstream image” and they were unapologetic about their stance against the war! I completely understand what they meant by they support the troops but not the war or former President Bush. I am glad that the Dixie Chicks decided to make their ordeal public and document their decent from “fame” and the wrath of “the good’ole boys/girls club” better known as the Republican Party. They were all but banned from radio play, even though it was never publically declared. It is so unfortunate that their careers suffered, and that they were censored because of their views regarding an incompetent “leader” and a war we should have NEVER been engaged in.

As someone who was forced to spend several tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, I was elated that they stood their ground, held firm to their position and never wavered even when it seemed as though their career was over. I remember clearly Sept 11th…I was sitting in a training class and the base commander came over the base loud speaker and instructed everyone to turn on the TV immediately. That was THE most scary day of my life, knowing that I would soon be in a foreign land where the loss of my life was a very real possibility.