Skip to footer

Operation Got Your 6: Michelle Obama's tribute to veterans, via penguins

Michelle Obama sends the 'Penguins of Madagascar' off on a mission to help kids grasp how veterans make communities stronger, even when the battles are over. The short film's release is timed to Veterans Day. 

There are no turnips in the latest short film featuring Michelle Obama. But the makers of “Operation Got Your 6” with the "Penguins of Madagascar" hope it will help spread the word about the contributions of veterans.

The video, in which Mrs. Obama sends the penguins on a top-secret mission, marches children through some facts versus myths about veterans in a way that only the penguins can. For teachers, it’s a fun way to start off lessons leading up to the Nov. 11 Veterans Day holiday.

“Veterans Day is a reminder that those who have served should not only be acknowledged for their time in the military, but also empowered to serve at home to help make communities stronger across the country,” said Chris Marvin, managing director of Got Your 6, a coalition of nonprofits, Hollywood and government partners, in a statement. The Got Your 6 coalition, which seeks to bridge the civilian-military divide, released the film Wednesday with DreamWorks Animation. 

The second annual Got Your 6 Storytellers event is taking place Thursday in New York, with veterans giving TED-style talks on innovations in their various fields of expertise.

The new video will also be part of HISTORY’s Take a Vet to School curriculum.

The film starts off with a straight introduction from Obama at the White House. “I want to talk to you today about a group of people that inspires me every day: our troops, veterans, and their families,” she says.

But she’s interrupted by a penguin who’s “tired of the SEALs getting all the attention.” That’s when she hands over the top secret Operation Got Your 6, a reference to military slang for watching each other’s back.

The penguins bumble their way through some kid-friendly misunderstandings – no, not animal doctors, those are veterinarians! – and learn that veterans have leadership skills that pay off in all walks of life.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Operation Got Your 6: Michelle Obama's tribute to veterans, via penguins
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2014/1106/Operation-Got-Your-6-Michelle-Obama-s-tribute-to-veterans-via-penguins
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe