In July, our unstoppable team and dedicated volunteers will assemble and ship Operation Gratitude’s signature “Christmas in July” Care Packages to 20,000 deployed Troops in more than 30 countries and U.S. Naval vessels globally.

I know the civilian-military divide may be unthinkable to some, but it is real. And while I’ve heard from a few volunteers that they were upset to learn an overwhelming majority of our troops and their families feel misunderstood, we must ask “what more can we DO about it?” As we approach 9/11’s 20th anniversary, Operation Gratitude is redoubling our efforts to address this issue and taking steps to measure the impact of what we are DOING to solve it.

While it’s important to occasionally take pause and appreciate what’s been accomplished, the opportunity to catch our breath could only be but a brief one. We choose to press on because our men and women in uniform can’t catch their breath either.

On a recent staff call, our Senior Director of Military and Veteran Programs and retired Marine, Rich Headley, used a perfect...