When a reader near Fort Hood sent us a photo of an advertisement in her local paper, the Killeen Daily Herald, I blinked in disgust. This advertisement is aimed at military families. And the people who wrote it should know better. Check it out:
“’HOME FOR GOOD’ SPECIAL PUBLICATION … As the last flights of troops return from deployment, we ask that you join us in saying thank you …”
Wow! Home for good? That is brand new information! Maybe this is just at Fort Hood. Maybe we should all PCS there pronto because, according to this, no one is deploying from there anymore.
I don’t expect people who aren’t in the military to know and understand every detail about military life. I don’t expect them to know that an Army post is not called a “base,” or even that, no, the military doesn’t just let you come home from war if your dog is sick. I don’t expect them to know the rules.
But I DO expect them to know that we are still in Afghanistan (not Iraq, but that’s a different story) and that people are still fighting and dying. Weekly. I expect them to know that these deaths, like the six this week in one incident, aren’t accidents. They are part of war.
And I expect them to know that people are still headed over – that servicemembers will continue to deploy, fight and die for the foreseeable future. Sure, we have a get-out “date,” but we all know better than to think that such a date means “home for good.” And even when we DO withdraw, it’s not like we’re packing up the Pentagon and putting it away.
As our reader said, the only people who are “home for good” are those resting in Arlington. Harsh, but true.
I don’t know how to make the American public know this stuff. And I don’t know how to make sure they are paying attention.
But I think a good start would be making sure that publications, including and especially advertising departments, aren’t spreading misinformation
If you’d like to email the general manager and business manager of the Killeen Daily Herald paper – people who approved these advertisements — you can do so. Click here to email the general manager, Terry Grandy, and click here to message the business manager John Kern. Let them know that your servicemember isn’t “home for good.”
About Amy Bushatz
Comments
AMEN
I think this article is an over kill on the good intentions of newspaper welcoming home the troops. Not everyone knows how much we move in the military and it probably does not really matter if a company knows or not unless they have employees in the reserves… If the statement is such a big concern to Amy Bushatz then she should contact the Killeen Daily Herald and work out the minor grammatical infraction, otherwise find something relevant and interesting to write about.
Ken Hogan, USN(RET)
I think anyone who emails these people needs to find something better to do with their time. Obviously, we know there is never a certainty of being "home for good". They probably just had a unit come home and in contrast to R&R they are in fact, home for good, for the time being. The same way when we PCS we are "home for good" until we move again in three years. RELAX. Stop worrying about what the "American Public" thinks and focus on your own life.
Sarah I was confused too. While I agree we all know we aren't "Home for Good", I didn't understand what exactly was being advertised and why I should be mad? They weren't deliberately attacking service members and from what I can tell its not a scam advertisement to somehow dope service members into forking over their money for something.
It does say "contact your sales rep" with a phone number and is advertising a special section. I can only GUESS that it will be a section of a paper similar to a graduation or birth section with pictures and messages from families for those who return? Yes, it is a way to make money off returning soldiers families. Oh well, if you don't like it, don't do it.
Well said. As an Army wife and a professional journalist, I agree with your statement. I’m sure it wasn’t meant the way it’s being taken.
Don’t forget to add that there are still
Deployments
To Kuwait that is still a 12
Month tour and considered a combat area.
I agree that it's probably not meant as it's being taken. I'm from that area, and Killeen is an amazing place. The city is incredibly supportive of and involved with the military community. Because of the intense involvement, I'm sure that they knew about large units returning from deployment or something like that. I'm pretty sure that the newspaper wouldn't print something with the intent of it being taken as it is here.
As a previous poster said, it's not like it's an ad that's trying to swindle military members or anything. It's asking people to come out in support of welcoming home the troops!!! How can that be bad!?!
If you're hurting this badly for blog topics, just take the day off!
AGREED!
Well said Sarah. As an Army wife and a professional journalist, I agree with your statement. I’m sure it wasn’t meant the way it’s being taken.
Elena — I'm also a professional journalist. I have worked with advertising departments at a variety of publications over the course of my career. And I know that sometimes they dont really understand the readership.
I believe that's what happened. A lack of understanding of Military life and perhaps a little over reaction by the Military (spouse) community. It's understandable. We know people who have died in service, we hear about the recent deaths, and with loved ones still deployed sometimes we can be a little sensitive. A solution? Get out in your community so people begin to understand what Military life is like and while we provide volunteer services for others we are less likely to fall into the pit of self.
Amy-I believe this is all the more reason why you shouldn't have posted this. It happens. As a journalist and spouse you should understand sometimes people don't "get it", but in this case they aren't really doing anything wrong. They thought they were doing something right. Everyone is so easily offended!
Speaking as an ex-reporter from this paper who knows all too well the sad, greedy tactics of their business department, let me tell you how wrong you are. I'm thrilled she posted it. It's been circulating amongst current and ex-staffers like myself, all of whom feel like this is just TYPICAL of the GM's general attitude, and a great representation of the old guard business mentality in Killeen. It's all "WE SUPPORT THE TROOPS (so they can give us their money.)" He is the worst, greediest kind of pig, take it from me and those of us who left, disgusted by tactics and practices just like this.
All of you who are saying "they didn't mean it", listen up. They did. They sat around, had a meeting and went "Gee, a bunch of troops are home. How can we make money off that?" I've sat in DOZENS of horrible special publication meetings at the KDH and anyone who dared to question "What is the journalistic value of this?" or "What purpose does this serve our readers?" were met with outright disdain or point blank told that this is to make money, period. I have been there. Don't try to sit on the outside from some laptop and tell me what goes on in a job I as, a reporter, gave several years of my life to. Please. DON'T.
Thank you for posting this and thank you for showing the world how low businesses will stoop to make a quick buck.
Thanks for your note!
I want to point that not every inaccuracy like the one I've written about here is the result of willingly ignorance … well, beyond the fact that they do not take action to be knowledgeable. It is a sin of omission, not a sin of commission, if you will. It's NOT an overreaction to ask that the media – and I do mean every arm of it, including advertising — be educated on the subject they are writing on.
OK even if that is true, they have a business to run! And it happens EVERYDAY! As soon as deployment ended here new car lots started popping up everywhere. They're making money off military, they just happen to be in close proximity to the base. Don't like, it don't buy it! Again, everyone is too offended by everything. CNN actually made a HUGE mistake last week by reporting early on the healthcare ruling and nobody jumped to take them off the air. I just think we have better things to worry about in our own lives than policing these people. It just shows we are as low as them, they wanted attention and now they have it. Just let it go!!
I disagree about the CNN characterization. I heard at least five different news shows discuss and berate them for their inaccuracy. It's our responsibility as the media to accurately report and educate the public. They trust us to do that. This newspaper failed its readers by allowing its advertising department to produce and then by publishing it in their paper.
It was an advertisement, not an article or any reporting of any news. I am sticking to my original opinion on what your first post was about. It is not offensive and if the unit was returning from a deployment then they are in fact "home for good" for now. We should be better than this.
Exactly. They don't understand the readership, nor do they really care to. Having witnessed it for the past few years, this is just one
We did a 9/11 special publication that was equally as vile and nauseating, in terms of how the GM pushed it on us "because it would be a good money maker. " People need to stop kidding themselves.
I would get this same type of question when people heard my fiancé was coming back from Afghanistan: “Is he coming home for good?” Some people meant “is it the end of his tour?” and not R&R…but still, the term irks me, no matter what people mean. He is never home “for good” until he retires (or, God forbid, is laid in his final resting place before he’s lived out all his years). Even after the AFG draw-down, there are always threats that could materialize. Maybe the newspaper should’ve said “home for good FROM IRAQ.”
But then it still wouldn't be accurate — because they speak as if this is happening right this second. And no one is coming home from Iraq anymore …
Oh no…the wording isn't exactly how it should be. A large number of troops have returned from overseas over the past year, and all the Killeen Daily Herald is trying to do is thank the soldiers and welcome them home. Relax!
No person nor business should profit from a soldier for "coming home" no matter the reasons. A soldier does not want that ad, the banners, the parade, the glamor, they want peace and quiet with family and their self. I think it would have been nice to offer free ad space to say such, but there is a business to run. Not there (anymore) as an employee but I would HOPE people would do the right thing in the long run.
Um… seriously? I am really not seeing the reason to be offended here. So they didn't word something to your exact specifications. This means that as milspouses we should all rise up and complain that every advertisement or news article be worded EXACTLY HOW WE WANT IT? Please. That's what gives all of us a bad name. Relax.
Let's try this exercise…how about each one of us show that picture at the top of this blog post to our husbands (and/or wives in case there's a manspouse reading this) and ask them if it offends them. I already know what my husband is going to do. Our service members will probably do what I'm doing right now…rolling my eyes and thinking "wow, and this is why MilSpouses have a bad reputation for complaining about everything little thing that isn't to their specification.".
Seriously, it's the Kileen Herald. MOVING ON.
Exreporter, as a retired soldier and active duty wife, AND someone with some education in marketing and advertising, I would say that their intent to market to those soldiers is to be expected-it's there job. yes, you can say that the GMs said "Gee, a bunch of troops are home. How can we make money off that?"
that's true and that's their job-to figure out how to reach a demographic. That doesn't mean that they intentionally tried to offend anyone by creating an ad about being home for good. let's keep this in perspective.
And my response to that is VOMIT. Try working for Terry Gandy for a year and then tell me your skin doesn't crawl at how slimy and cruel he treats everyone and everything. Of course businesses try to sell things. DUH. But what TG does is unconscionable. Please don't try to talk to me or anyone else about their "motivations" unless you've lived it first hand, like I have. You sound like someone trying to tell an Eskimo that Alaska "seems like it would be a little chilly."