Welcome back from Comic Con. Did you get to enjoy a little bit of the Cali sun while you were out here or were you stuck inside for the most part?

and thanks Tara, I didn’t see your post before about it, but I really wasn’t sure what they were talking about either. I have a lot of friends in the military so I don’t think apologizing, atleast for not realizing that she insulted them, would be too much and acknowledging that she did not insult anyone intentionally. Because as much as I want the war to be over, I’ll still support my friends and the other soldiers until they come home.

On to Mia’s jacket. I posted this earlier but I’m not sure if anyone read it. Mia had the Marine insignia of Lance Corporal upside down on her sleeves. I know, to 98% of Americans, this means aboslutely nothing and they don’t get the big deal. But to a Marine, this is a huge insult. A Marine has to earn everything that is sewn onto their uniform. They don’t even get their names on their uniforms until after they complete something called The Crucible - a 62 mile hike with a 75+lb pack on their back over 3 days. And the hike is just a small part of what they do over those 3 days. A Lance Corporal is an enlisted rank, one of the lower enlisted ranks. If you look at the Marines who have gotten killed in Iraq, a fair number of them are Lance Corporals. I’m sure there are a lot of people who saw her jacket and wondered it if it was some backhanded slap at the Marines, or even just a more subtle way to get a point across than to wear an American flag upside down. Unless you’ve been in the Marines or worked with the Marines, I don’t think I can really make you understand what that insignia means to so many people. But trust me, it’s huge.

Of course, I don’t think Mia meant a single thing by it. But I do think it was good that it was addressed after the fact. The wives of Lance Corporals are going to be young, probably like 20 years old, the target audience of this show. I’m sure there were plenty wives of Lance Corporals (maybe even some husbands of Lance Corporals) watching the show and wondering if Mia was insulting these men & women who are currently away from their families on the other side of the world risking their lives. For her to take 20 seconds to state that she didn’t know what the symbol meant and to apologize, I really don’t think is asking too much.