Join Andrew Breitbart and Melanie Morgan for Troopathon 2011, today from 4pm to Midnight EDT!

Troopathon brings together famous celebrities from radio, television, the movie, musicians, journalists, and more to create a one-of-a-kind event with one purpose – to support our troops on the front lines in the war on terror and honor their service and sacrifice for our nation.  Guests include: Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Mark Levin, Kelsey Grammer, Former President George H.W. Bush, Gary Sinise, Dennis Miller, Former Ambassador John Bolton, Greg Gutfeld and many more!

Click here to send your care package or call 866-866-6372.

On Thursday June 23rd celebrities from Hollywood, radio, and TV will gather at the Nixon Library for a one of a kind event with a special purpose: to support our troops on the front lines in the war on terror and honor their service and sacrifice for our nation.

Troopathon 2011, as it is called, has the focused goal of sending as many care packages as it can get sponsored during an eight hour event. It its first year (2008) Troopathon brought in over $1.5 million for care packages for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. A $25 donation buys and delivers one care package.

One of the scheduled speakers is war hero and marine Nick Popaditch. Nick (a frequent guest on FOX’s “Red Eye”) was the tank commander and platoon sergeant in Baghdad during the historic fall of the statue of Saddam.

Recently Nick and his wife April joined me to talk about Troopathon and the significance it has for our troops serving in the Middle East. The YouTube video of the interview is below:

Troopathon Facts:

What: Troopathon 2011, the largest care package drive in America in support of our troops.

When: Thursday June 23rd, 4pm-midnight EDT / 1pm-9pm PDT

How You Can Watch: Right here at the Bigs!

How To Donate: Donation page.

Hosts: Andrew Breitbart and Melanie Morgan

Who Will Be Participating?: Several famous celebrities including actors Jon Voight, Gary Sinise and Robert Davi, media personalities Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, SE Cupp, and many others including yours truly. (more…)

Tomorrow, July 1st, I have the honor of co-hosting Move America Forward’s 3rd Annual Troopathon to raise money for care packages for our troops. The eight-hour broadcast, which will air live across the World Wide Web, will stream here at Big Hollywood, Big Government, Big Journalism, and Breitbart.TV from 4 p.m. to midnight, EDT. Please join us to show your support for our brave men and women fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere for our safety and for the freedom of people around the world. Here are the details from MAF:

The concept behind Troopathon is not a new idea, put on a Jerry Lewis style telethon to benefit a worthy cause, but a Troopathon is groundbreaking and innovative in that we bring together famous celebrities from radio, television, movie stars, musicians, journalists, and more to create a one-of-a-kind event with one purpose – to support our troops on the front lines in the war on terror and honor their service and sacrifice for our nation. (more…)

In October 1864, a 38-year old farmer from Story County, Iowa enlisted with Company I of the 8th Iowa Volunteer Infantry. With a wife and five young kids to feed, and with no certainty of return, it must have been a difficult choice. The unit he was joining had already sustained heavy casualties at Shiloh and Vicksburg, and many had died in Andersonville prison. But he also a patriot and a Christian abolitionist, and so felt it his obligation to join the cause of the Union. With the harvest over and his eldest boy old enough to take over the chores, he marched south, seeing action at Spanish Fort the following spring. In Fall, following Lee’s surrender, he returned home and kept on farming until he died in 1908.

That farmer was my great-great-Grandfather. The bible he carried off to war now resides at my parent’s house, and I have had occasion to carefully turn its pages, looking for clues to what drove him. Other than his name and a few notes on the inside cover, he left the answer to posterity. I imagine, though, the answer wouldn’t be much different than some of the other Iowa farmers I’ve known who’ve answered the call. Farmers like my great-great-uncle Billy Stebner, who as an old man used to thrill my brother and me with his tales of pursuing Pancho Villa into Mexico with General Black Jack Pershing. (more…)

I’m sitting at the desk in my hotel room after just completing our eight hour Troopathon at the Reagan Library. I’ve gone over and over in my head trying to figure out why this year, even though we had a better set, added celebrities to our line-up, and had better media coverage, our final funds raised to support the troops were half of last year’s.

I turned on the TV and clicked through the channels trying to find coverage of our event. I had heard earlier in the day that Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett both had died. As I clicked through the channels, I found every single channel had coverage of Michael Jackson’s death, even Fox News.

As I am not an “Idol” worshipper, it always amazes me how engulfed people can get in the lives of celebrities. I had an “ah hah” moment and realized that could be part of the reason our event was not as successful as we had hoped. We had lost viewers to the “Breaking News.” (more…)

Troopathon 2009 is shaping up to be far more than a marvelous day of thanks offered to our brightest, bravest, and best. It’s also turning into a grand culmination of sorts for the first six months of Big Hollywood’s existence.

Click over to our Contributor List, and marvel at how many people from all walks of life have stepped up and made themselves heard in the half-year since Andrew Breitbart unleashed his newest brainchild on a somnolent Hollywood elite. Actors, directors, producers, screenwriters, artists, cartoonists, critics, talk show hosts, documentarians, newspaper columnists, comedians, bloggers, congressmen, authors, military personnel — together they have written thousands of posts thunderously proclaiming the return of a popular culture that unabashedly respects our history and our heritage, our traditions and our troops. Whether it’s the Road to Recovery, the Wounded Warrior Project, the G. I. Film Festival, or today’s magnificent Troopathon, no web site has done more to create a powerful nexus between conservatives of all stripes and the Tinseltown mandarins that for too long have mocked everything good and noble about the country we call home. (more…)

Certain phrases come to mind when I think about the military: Our boys, our men and women in uniform, our guys. The key being the word “our.” They represent us in uniform, or to be more specific, they represent me.

I can’t fight because I have a different job to do as an American citizen. But my rights, my personal property, my family and my life are all fought for by proxy… our guys.

When I see any military person of any age I tell them, “Thank you for your service.” Recently, I’ve had a few ex-military friends try to dismiss my gratitude by expressing their own regret for having joined, “Don’t thank me. I’m not for these wars. I just joined to get a free ride to college.” I still thank them, because they did their time. That’s their neck on the line, riding in a helicopter in Afghanistan in my place. (more…)

A Mighty Warrior Willingly Sacrifices His Life

Aug 2, 2006, would be a day that would completely change my life forever. On that dreadful day I heard the disparaging words, “We’re sorry to inform you that your son Marc Alan Lee was killed in action in Iraq.”  Just typing those words now brings me to tears. I would learn in the hours that followed of the heroic actions of my son and that he chose to sacrifice his life so that others could live.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Marc A. Lee

Marc was the first Navy SEAL killed in Iraq. As a mother you would love for your child to aspire to many firsts. The first man on the moon, the first doctor to transplant a heart, the first man to fly, but not the first SEAL to give his life defending his buddies in Iraq. Yet I am just as proud of him as I would be for any other first he may have accomplished. I miss him very deeply, but it gives me great comfort knowing he gave his life because he valued others lives as more important than his own.  (more…)

I’m a pansy when compared to the men and women of the United States military. I know it, you know it and most likely they know it. Yet, surprisingly, the majority of encouraging letters I receive on a daily basis come straight from the members of America’s armed forces. Their letters are consistently uplifting, conveying to me that what I do is “just as brave as fighting for our country in a foxhole,” Or that, “I use a gun, you use a microphone.” 

The truth is that these people should be emailing me with slurs like, “Until you’ve been shot at, you should shut your mouth and let the real soldiers do the fighting,” or “Come out to Iraq smart-ass, and bring a change of pants with you”… Yet you never run into that kind of vitriol spewing from these commendable folks. Contrary to what most of Hollywood will tell you, the men and women of our armed forces are the best among us. Not only because of how they serve, but because they are able to find the best in each other… And they are able to encapsulate the best in all of us. (more…)

When my son was in high school he was a member of the Air Force ROTC.  As the young men and women drilled around the campus, leftist teachers would slam the doors on them in hate and anger, thus putting the lie to the oft-stated canard, “We support the troops but not the war in Iraq.” 

When we hear about “the culture war” this is the war that we’re in at home, it’s between those who believe in things bigger than themselves and those who fear things bigger than themselves.  Why do they fear patriotic children?  Because patriotism is, to the Modern Liberal, an act of bigotry.  As you watch America’s new Commander-in-Chief running around the world belittle America, apologizing for “wrongs” that weren’t even committed by us (such as “colonialism” which was the Europeans) and literally bowing down before the “Keeper of the Holy places,” the Saudi King, you must recognize that he does so because he believes that love for America is bigotry and if there’s one thing a Leftist is not (in his own mind) it’s a bigot.  (more…)

I got a phone call yesterday from my buddy who is currently commanding a combat arms battalion in Iraq.  Things are calm – at least, they were yesterday.  He’ll be coming home in the next few months just as a bunch of other folks I know will be going over themselves.  And I know there’s another ungodly hot and shooty place in my future too. 

Just because our fighting men and women disappeared from the nightly news and off the front pages does not mean that the war is over.  Far from it – there are hundreds of thousands of Americans out there right now, and that’s easy to forget when all the media is talking about are cheating governors and Perez Hilton beatdowns. 

That’s why supporting Troopathon 2009 is key.  Every package is a loud and clear message to our people that we remember them, we honor them, and that we will not forget them.  (more…)

Not long after our present wars began in Afghanistan and Iraq the letters started to arrive.  One a month, two, sometimes more… We received one just last week. They come from most every military organization you can imagine. Some are about care packages, others are about air conditioners, and a few have to do with adopting a soldier to share correspondence with. None ask for money. They’re thank you notes, thanking “Mr. and Mrs. John Nolte for your generosity.”

Only through these letters do I ever learn of my generosity. This is my wife’s doing.

Since the arrival of the first letter we’ve had some lean years and some flush, but still they come. Only the amount we’re being thanked for ever changes. Frequently, during those leanest of times, my wife would get angry because what she could afford to donate barely covered the costs involved in the sending of the thank you.  So she’d scrape up another donation and send it along with an attached note politely advising: “To Whom It May Concern: No reply is necessary. Please use the money for the troops.” (more…)

I’ve never robbed a house.  Nor trashed one.  And I don’t plan to take up breaking and entering as a second career.  But as a screenwriter, with an active imagination, I always have an excuse to do a “what if…” 

So, what if there are two houses next to each other.  Fairly similar in size.  In the first driveway is a Prius with a bumper sticker “War is not the answer.”  In the second is a Ford Explorer SUV with a gun rack and a bumper sticker “Proud Member NRA.”  

Which house would I rob, pillage and trash? 

Duh.  (more…)

I just wanted to drop a quick note to all members of the extended military family: active duty personnel, veterans and those who stay behind to keep the home fires warm.

Thank you.

To those on active duty, I say thank you for your continued service. Many of you signed up knowing full well that there are two shooting wars going on. That takes a special kind of guts. Your performance in defense of freedom continues to be an inspiration to me, personally. Thank you.

To all the veterans, I remind you that your service and sacrifice have not gone forgotten. Whether you served in war or in peace, you had a hand in keeping America safe from some of largest threats in history. You also, by your very existence, kept other dangers from materializing. Thank you. (more…)

My father is the child in the back row with eyes closed. Next to him, right, is Miriam, my grandmother. Poland, 1921.

My father, Rabbi Abraham Avrech, reached his 90th year two weeks ago. Born in Poland, he came to America with his mother and older brother Chaim, when he was 4-years old. My grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel Avrech was a shochet, ritual slaughterer and mohel, specialist in ritual circumcisions.

I come from countless generations of scholarly and pious Rabbis, thus my screenwriting career represents something of a rupture in a noble family tradition.

Sigh. (more…)

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For more on my work, please visit my blog

I lost the biggest job I ever had as talk show host on KFI in Los Angeles largely because I called out another host on the station for flip flopping on the Iraq war in a move that I was sure was designed to pander to the audience who at the time had been duped by the media into thinking the effort was a failure.

While I have suffered greatly because of this stance I took, I have tried hard to not complain too much about what happened because I know to do so would be embarrassingly selfish and shortsighted. After all, the tiny risk I took and the price I paid is absolutely nothing in comparison the risk that every single member of our military takes on a regular basis and the real price that far too many are forced to pay every single day. (more…)

Thank you.

My buddy Dave came back from Iraq without his leg. He was willing to die to keep my family and the rest of America safe. I can never thank him enough for his sacrifice. All he ever says is: “I was just doing my job.”

Just doing my job? My kids sleep safely every night because hundreds of thousands of  men and women like Dave stand watch for us every night. 

Last week a bunch of us helped out at “Operation Gratitude.” Operation Gratitude puts together care packages for the troops. They are approaching the 500,000 package mark. They aren’t just sending gifts. They are sending their love and appreciation to those who would protect us. It was an honor to be a part of their project. I wish that I could bottle the emotion and love that was in that building and share it with every serviceman, women and veteran in America. To you guys over there, we love and appreciate what you are doing for us, to our core. To us at home, if you love our troops, please let them know.  (more…)

Her thumbs danced over the tiny keyboard of her cell phone, glumly texting a friend.  I reached over and, uncharacteristically, snapped it shut.  Gently, but firm.

“Not today, hon.”

With a loud sigh of disgust she slammed the phone back into her purse and sat there in the fold-out chair and sulked. My wife’s look to me of indignant expectation (You going to put up with that?) was met by my practiced calm of everything-will-be-fine (She’s a teenager, that’s what they do). 

Hoping against hope that my doubting Thomas wife was wrong and that I was right, I settled in to listen to the Memorial Day program at the Los Angeles National Cemetery.  It was May 30, 2009, and as we sat there on the lawn that cloudy morning, our little family was a whirl of dysfunction.  It had been building for some time; petty problems had ruined our peace, and small arguments and squabbling set my wife and my 16-yr-old daughter at mutual odds.  I sat there amidst the several thousand gathered feeling alone, distant, isolated.  And completely alienated from my family.  How could three so close seem suddenly so distant?  (more…)