One Way to Help the Troops: Send Them to Vegas - The Wall Street Journal

The war in Iraq war spawned all sorts of charities to help returning soldiers. But Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino king, has decided to help the war effort in his own way: by bringing wounded soldiers to Vegas.

According to this Associated Press article by Oskar Garcia, Mr. Adelson brought 40 wounded soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center to Vegas for Memorial Day weekend. The soldiers flew out in a private jet, met Wayne Newton at the airport, hung out backstage with the Blue Man Group and got rooms at the Venetian, Mr. Adelson’s mega-casino.

Mr. Adelson picked up the tab for everything, except the gambling.

The soldiers said they loved it: One said that “on a scale of one to 10 I gave this trip a 15 when I got on the plane.”

Kyle Riley, a 21-year-old solider from Catlett, Va., who lost part of his leg to an IED, decided to make the trip his wedding weekend and got married. Mr. Adelson and his staff picked up the cost of that too.

According to the article, Mr. Adelson plans to extend the trip invite to all veterans who have been through Walter Reed or the Naval Medical Center.

Is sending wounded soldiers to Vegas tacky? Maybe. Are there better ways to help the soliders? Probably. But the important thing is that the soldiers enjoyed it.

Mr. Adelson has become a lightning rod for critics of the war, since he’s been a huge supporter. He is one of the richest and most generous Republican donors, and he helped fund a multi-million-dollar media campaign to support the troop surge.

But whatever people think of his politics, at least he’s reaching out to the soliders. While everyone talks about supporting the troops and helping the wounded, Mr. Adelson has backed up his words with actions. He did something. And for that — politics aside — he should be commended.

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