Daily Show's Stewart 'Quietly Visiting' Ailing Iraq Soldiers

Comedy Central's Jon Stewart was in Washington, DC Tuesday night for the USO-Metro Awards Dinner, where the Daily Show host was honored with a Merit Award from Joint Chiefs vice-chair General James Cartwright. If it seems an odd fit for a comic who consistently lampoons the Bush administration, the Washington Post's Reliable Source informs readers that all the comedic comfort Stewart gives critics of the Iraq War is matched by his efforts to comfort our wounded soldiers:

Turns out the comedian has been quietly visiting soldiers at Walter Reed and Bethesda hospitals, trips he began in 2004 to better understand the Iraq war. "I felt that I was living in a world of theory," he told the audience, "but I hadn't touched the reality and the humanity of it." The first patient he met was "funnier than I was" -- and Stewart's been a regular ever since.

Stewart told the Post, "I certainly get a lot more out of it than they do...If anything, it's made me angrier... You can be for the war, against the war, but you can't be uninformed about it. To see the human cost is part of the equation."

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Greg Mitchell: The 'Unsung Heroes' in 5 Years of War -- Even Stephen Colbert [HuffPo]
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Jon Soltz: Helping The Wounded During the Season of Giving [HuffPo]

The Bob Woodruff Family Fund

Comments

[Steverino]

He's a great guy, but I'd hardly say he's "quietly" visiting them if he's doing interviews about it! Still, kudos to him.

[Durango]

Four years later. And only after he received a public award.

[DRaymond]

The most impressive thing about this is how he did it completly quietly. Most of the time when a celebrity (or a politician) goes and visits the troops it is a photo-op to get their name in the press in a favorable light. But Stewart did it just to understand them. If the USO hadn't decided to give him an award we still wouldn't know about it.

[KRS1]

I don't really think that's true. They haven't been attention-whoring like politicians but a lot of celebrities have come to D.C. and we learn about it after the fact. Often, waaaay after the fact. Mellencamp is apparently a regular visitor as well..

I live about a mile from Walter Reed and see the wounded out, going to the movies and eateries nearby. It's a real blow to the gut to see young people who are missing limbs.

[wndrwrthg]

Would that all politicians emulate what Mr. Stewart is doing. No fanfare, no press releases, just doing what is right. I will admit I was in a bit of a snit this week because TDS was in rerun, now I humbly prostrate myself before someone whom I am proud to say is a far better man than I. Here is a candidate for our highest civilian award.

[sporcupine]

"If it seems an odd fit for a comic who consistently lampoons the Bush administration"

Okay, let's go over it again.

We, the people who oppose the President, are the regular patriotic Americans.

It's our country, and we love it.

It's our flag, and we honor it.

They're our troops, and we respect them.

They're our wounded vets, and we will, with pride, take care of them.

That's not odd. That's normal.

There was once a tiny, fleeting, fraction of a whisper of that not being true. It involved Vietnam and Nixon. It was over a very long time ago, and it was never more than a tiny portion of a bigger picture. The bigger picture has always been mainly about Americans loving their country, honoring those who serve in our armed forces, and conducting an honest debate about the best course for our future.

Our country. Our flag. Our troops. Our vets.

The way it ought to be, and the way it is.

[SeriousBlack]

Very well said.

[wisechild]

Bravo, you definitely got that right!

If the hypocrits who support this war and promote falsehoods about it did half as much as 'patriots' that we the real patriots who love our country and consistently question things did, the war would be over, the troops would be safe, supported and provided for.

I would add that Bill Maher makes regular trips to visit the troops in Iraq and he has opposed the war from the get go. Just another one who's 'patriotism' has been questioned.

How misguided and turned upside down has this country become in the last 8 years!

[jgirl]

I love your show, and I love you as human beings as well.

[GeeCan]

I, for one, could not have survived 8 years of Bush/Cheney madness without Jon Stewart and Stephen Cobert (soft "t"). Jon Stewart is indeed a true American hero and patriot (and a humble one at that since he would deny this) who not only offers comfort to our wounded vets but to so many of us who cannot stomach the lies, deceit, madness and absurd hype present in the government and the media. Thank you Mr. Stewart.

[HippieChick]

I'm with you on this one, GeeCan. I'm always amazed how Jon and Stephen are able to turn the Bush fiasco into humor, and make me laugh when I am so angry. They inform with satire and humor, which makes them so much more effective than the traditional media, which has failed in its mission to inform the public. I'm not at all surprised that Jon Stewart would "quietly" visit wounded vets...he'­s just that kind of guy. I'm just grateful he is on a network that doesn't bind and restrict him to a corporate agenda...s­o my thanks to Comedy Central, too.

[PerryWhite]

So when he told The Washington Post about "quietly visiting soldiers",
he was speaking very softly?

[stellanoir]

Bless him for doing so.

What a total mensch.

[BachelorJohnnyCool]

Wonderful story!

[OpusIsUnderTheBed]

Good job, Jon.

[robiform]

Jon Stewart truly "supports the troops"--unlike members of the Bush administration who got us into this quagmire. Thank you, Jon--as others have said, you are a REAL patriot!

[LorettaSingbiel]

BUSH'S legacy: Maintaining the "surge" in Iraq, til he leaves office ... protecting his "LEGACY", instead of protecting the TROOPS!!!

...and CHENEY says: "SO?!"

www.bodyofwar.com (Watch the trailer. Read the reviews.)

OBAMA '08!
HOPE & CHANGE!

Stay safe, healthy and happy,
Love, Loretta

[desmirl]

Jon Stewart: a REAL AMERICAN.

[KOisGod]

Has Olbermann done this? I'd expect him to follow Jon's example.

[nochickenhawk]

I think it is wonderful that Stewart is doing this, but I wouldn't want to force anyone to do so. Jon may have just the right personality to do this, and Olberman, whose heart we know is in the right place, may be more of an introvert or too reserved to be effective. Just saying. We only have the right to question whether we ourselves should follow Jon's example.

[OSUMercutio]

I wonder how many times Tina fey has visited the soldiers

[Cappy]

Definitely a class act.