As many you may have already heard this year's Soldier Show is being cancelled. Of course the budget is the excuse for this cancellation but we all know that what it cost to run these programs is a drop in a Very large bucket. However, the intrinsic value of the show cannot be measured. For each of the alumni who will see this can relate a story of an excited crowd or even an individual who's day we made better just for being there. For the cast of the 2001 show, we all experienced the true power of this show at Ft. Lewis, WA our first show after 9/11. I encourage each of you to reach out to other alumni that you know and anyone else who you can get to write, call, email your elected representatives and any other connections you have in the Army or DOD. If we allow them to stop the show for this year it will be that much harder to bring it back the following years. We have to be the squeaky wheel and there is enough of us to do just that. There isn't a single one of us that doesn't know how to fight for something we believe in and if you gained even one positive experience from your time with the show, you must do something. Most of us are civilians now so they can't do anything to us for speaking up. For all of my non-Soldier Show friends, if you have ever been to a good live show and it made your day just a bit better please help us out. The Army is trying to shutdown the Soldier Show for this year for they claim "budget reasons". The budget this morale program runs on cost less then most of the equipment in the inventory. What it doesn't do is make money for some congressmen defense contractors and they can't stand that. What the show does do is bring a few hours of good entertainment to soldiers, their families and the larger Army community at ever stop along the tour. For the installations stateside that get a show, it's a nice free night out for the family or even a break from training for new soldiers. For those people who see the show in some other part of the world, it's a piece of home that can make them feel as if they haven't been forgotten or left flapping in the wind. I personally have been with the show in places like Bosnia, Italy, South Korea and even Guam. Not once in any of those places did I not get thanked personally for coming all that way just to put on this show for that person or community. Please help us keep this show and its tradition of "Entertainment for the Soldier, By the Soldier" started by Irving Berlin in WWI continue to bring morale and support to our military communities. Thank you.~Lisa North Soldier Show Alumni 1998, 2001 Pass it on! ‪#‎SaveTheSolderShow‬