OpsLens

These 20 Celebrities are Avid Supporters of Our Troops and First Responders

Country music star Miranda Lambert has poured her heart into supporting members of the military.  She’s given performances at concerts benefiting veterans and service members, as well as toured the country to visit some of them.  She also delivered one of the most touching performances ever given on stage.

During a concert, she noticed a sign in the audience and it caught her eye.  The sign read, “3 combat tours..Your voice was the last thing I listened to every night!  Thank you!”  This literally moved Lambert to tears, forcing her to pause for a moment as her audience continued singing the song she was performing.  She brought the soldier to the stage and held up the handwritten sign for everyone to see and finished the performance with the sign by her microphone.

Mark Wahlberg is something like an icon among the military community not only for his real life support, but for the roles he plays in movies.  The star also doesn’t mince words when it comes to defending the Armed Forces, as was evident when another famous actor compared filmmaking to being in the military.  Wahlberg has this to say, “For somebody to sit there and say ‘my job was as difficult as someone in the military’s’ how f***ing dare you? While you sit in the makeup chair for 2 hours.”

In addition to his fiery remarks in defense of the military, Wahlberg has taken time to visit Afghanistan during the holiday season, without any fanfare.  He remarked that he went not to receive publicity for doing so, but to visit with the troops and let them know how much he appreciates their service.  He ate with troops, visited hospitals, posed for pictures, and signed autographs.  No doubt he made Christmas memorable for many service members deployed to Afghanistan that year.

Denzel Washington has shown support for the military community in his own way.  Upon visiting wounded warriors in the hospital, he decided to donate a sizable amount of money towards funding a brand new Fisher House.  The Fisher House program is basically a hotel with incredibly cheap rates offered to families to ease the burden of caring for their wounded warriors who are hospitalized.

He has also spoken out about how starring in movies is a blessing, rather than hard work and recognized that deployed service members work hard and have grueling tasks to complete.  Denzel Washington is a man of great wisdom not only in his own area of expertise, but in subjects beyond his comprehension.  He’s not a man of words without action and has given generously to the military community.

Stephen Colbert is another outspoken comedian who has shown great dedication in supporting the United States military.  He has made several appearances in combat zones and met with thousands of American service members.  He even taped his former show The Colbert Report in Iraq for a week, featuring service members and many laughs.

Colbert has also been an advocate and strong voice in the political arena where service members are concerned–voicing his support for transgender service members and going head to head with other political commentators.  While he may not be everyone’s cup of tea, Stephen Colbert has shown that the United States military has special meaning to him.  He has gone to great lengths to bring laughs to deployed service members in some of their darkest hours.

Country music performer Toby Keith is another name that stands out within the military community.  For the past 15 years, Toby Keith has been visiting members of the military worldwide and putting on free shows for service members and their families.  He has traveled to dangerous locations such as Afghanistan and Iraq to bring entertainment to US Armed Forces.

His patriotic music was the soundtrack for many service members who chose to enter into military service.  Toby Keith has also teamed up with the VFW, donating proceeds from his various business ventures to the organization, which advocates for veterans.  He has received awards for his incredible leadership and work working with the US military.

Katy Perry is no stranger to the spotlight. Her successful career as a singer and performer have cemented her name as one of the premiere superstars in the pop world.  One little known fact about Katy Perry is how much she supports the military.  In addition to modeling some of her performance style and fashion to reflect a military image, she has also featured actual service members in some of her music videos.

Katy Perry is also a supporter of the organization Veterans Matter, which works with the VA and HUD in efforts to house homeless veterans.  Through her personal donations, the organization was able to house over 400 veterans in need of homes.  From her efforts to raise awareness addressing the very important cause of helping homeless veterans to showing support for those currently serving, Katy Perry has done her part in lending her name in support of the United States Armed Forces.

Despite her controversial antics that have recently shocked the nation, Kathy Griffin has surprisingly put in a lot of effort into supporting the troops.  The comedian has made numerous appearances touring with the USO, visiting service members around the globe.  She has dedicated much of her time to performing for the United States Armed Forces, and speaking in support of the military community as a whole.

Griffin has even been honored with an award for the work she has done for the military.  In addition to visiting places like Iraq and Afghanistan, Griffin has also donated tickets to her shows to members of the military community. She has spoken on the importance of bringing laughs to the troops during their time of hardship and how she enjoys bringing happiness to them as they work hard serving our great country.

Love her or hate her, Tomi Lahren has been one of the biggest supporters of military personnel.  The social media star and political commentator has used her own personal fiery brand to show her support of service members.  The often-controversial public figure has made a career out of speaking her mind, and among those near and dear to her remain service members and veterans.

Lahren has used her platform–with a sizeable following–to advocate for the military community.  She’s addressed issues pertaining to VA reform, as well as voiced outrage over various difficulties military members face.  Although she may not be a performer or a big money name, Tomi Lahren has earned a nod for her loud and proud support for the United States Armed Forces.