To let my veil of journalistic objectivity (an oxymoron if there ever was one) slip a bit:  At times I get annoyed with people who say they support the military.

Sometimes the people who talk the most and mean the least are military officials, but I digress.

Talk is cheap.  Talk is hot air.  Talk is, well, talk.

Meet Charles Bens, a man who talks a lot, wears his hair in a ponytail, and writes left-handed.

Refreshingly, the monster truck driver meant every word he uttered to a group of wounded warriors on Jan. 13 before a Monster Jam event at the Tacoma Dome.

How do I know this?  His actions spoke louder than his numerous words.

"There ain't no show without what these men and women have done for our country," Bens exclaimed as he shook the hands of Soldiers assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord's Warrior Transition Battalion.

Did I forget to mention the tears in his blue eyes when he talked about the wounded warriors surrounding him?

"For these guys to give us a show, this is really great," Staff Sgt. Stan Tucker said as he stood in front of one of the 12-foot tall, 12-foot wide, fiberglass bodied, 10,000-pound, supercharged monster trucks with a methanol-injected 575 cubic inch engine. "This is a welcomed, truly welcomed, event," Tucker continued, "and Bens over there means what he says."

Nearby, Bens was busy signing jackets, hats and shirts and talking to each Soldier. "Thank you (for) what you've done," he said to Spc. Cayle Foidel.  "I am so damn proud of you."

Put on by Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam, a Feld Motor Sports, Inc. production, these JBLM wounded warriors were treated to a night of dirt flying, car-crushing action.  

"I truly do admire and respect what these Soldiers have done for me and this country," Bens said before climbing up into Monster Mutt, one of the two trucks he drives. "Every time I make a move out here tonight, every time I hear the crowd cheer, I want these brave men and women to know that I am doing it with them in mind."