Sat. Dec. 2

For a long time now, we've seen the "Support our Troops" bumper stickers on SUVs and thought, "Yes, let's support them by bringing them back from another senseless, ill-planned war." This War-Without-End thing is getting really tiring, to say nothing of really, bloody. Vietnam redux: How do you get out of something you never should have gotten into? But that thought does not mitigate our feelings for the people doing the fighting - it didn't back in the Vietnam War era either. Their job is is and was to enact flawed policy - and try to come home whole. This is a long-winded way of saying, however you feel about the Iraq war, you can support the troops by watching the Army-Navy football game at the Rack Dec. 2 at noon. How so? Your $20 ticket goes to veterans assistance organizations, and the event raises awareness "of the challenges many young families face when one of its members is sent off to war." That comes from Bob Ahearn, Jr. president of the hosting (and non-political) Ahern Family Charitable Foundation, which has raised more than $100,000 to provide everything from pyschological treatment to financial grants. There will be a silent auction and raffle as well as food and drink galore.

24 Clinton St., 617-212-1508 ahernfoundation.org