VOA常速英语:从好莱坞演员到充满激情的活动家

Something that has inspired me for many years is the Martin Luther King, Jr. quote which is “Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.”And being of service is, I think our greatness.
多年来，是小马丁·路德·金的名言激发了我的灵感：“每个人都能成为伟大的人，因为每个人都能去奉献”。服务与奉献，正是人们的伟大之处。

Well, I went to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and when I graduated I always knew that I wanted to go acting school after college, and that was kind of my deal with my parents.I would go to college and then I could go to acting school, which I did.
嗯，我去了费城的宾夕法尼亚大学，当我毕业的时候，我就打定主意大学后去上表演学校。这就好像是我的父母和我的一场交易。我会上大学，然后我才可以去表演学校，我做到了。

When I first moved to Los Angeles, it was the early nineties, struggling, like most of my friends were at that time.
我第一次搬到洛杉矶的时候是90年代初。像我的大多数朋友那样处于水深火热之中。

I also felt really strongly that I wanted to get involved in something in my community because I felt really disconnected.
我强烈地感受到，我想参与我社区的一些活动，因为我感到与社会脱节了。

There were two guys who had a similar desire and a great idea for a project and the three of us did it and it was called voices…we called it voices in Harmony and we designed and worked with at-risk teens on a mentoring theatre program.
有两个人和我有着类似的愿望和做一个项目的伟大的想法，我们三个做到了，它被称为声音……我们称它为“和谐之声”，我们的工作是帮助和辅导边缘青少年。

You know, then I got the “West Wing” and continued to do voices in Harmony through that entire time.
然后，你懂的，我得到了“白宫风云”的角色，并继续一直在和谐之声工作。

And, one summer, I went to South Africa and volunteered and, as a result, I had the opportunity to go to somewhere else too,through International Medical Corps, and I choose to go to Northern Uganda because I’ve been working with teens and there was a child soldier issue.
有一年夏天，我去南非做志愿者，结果我也有机会到别的地方去，通过国际医疗公司，我选择去乌干达北部，因为我曾辅导过十几岁的青少年，那里有一个儿童兵事件。

And I think that experience opened my eyes to the effects of war on communities, I get emotional thinking about it,but that really inspired me to feel like we actually have the ability to make change, all of us do if we work together.
我认为这次经历让我看到了战争对社区的影响。我对这件事很有感情，但这确实激励我觉得我们有能力做出改变，如果我们一起工作，我们所有人都会做出改变。

I’m Senior Director of Justice for Vets and our mission at Justice for Vets is to put a Veterans Treatment Court within reach of every veteran in need.
我是退伍军人中心的高级主任，我们的使命是让每一个需要帮助的老兵都能找到一个退伍军人治疗机构。

And I think if we say, and use the words, that we honor our veterans,thank you for your service and we are a grateful nation, those must be backed up by actions.
我认为，如果我们能对我们尊敬的退伍军人说出这些话：感谢你们的服务，我们是一个充满感恩之心的国家，并付出行动，那他们肯定会有安全感。

Tommy Rieman served in Iraq, shot several times, eleven shrapnel wounds, he used his body as human shield to protect his men.He refused to be carried off until everyone else was, returned home as, obviously, hero.
汤米里曼曾在伊拉克服兵役，多次被射伤，全身十一弹片伤，他用自己的身体作为盾牌来保护他的下属。直到其他人都回来他才撤离，他显然是个英雄。

President Bush acknowledged Tommy in the State of the Union address and the entire time Tommy was struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.His family life fell apart, his wife left with the children.
布什总统在国情咨文中表彰了汤米，而汤米一直在与创伤后应激障碍作斗争。他的家庭生活破裂了，他的妻子带着孩子们离开了他。

After a night of heavy drinking and pills, he drove his truck into a tree and survived.And during the time a Veterans Treatment Court opened in North Carolina,the first one in Harnett County, which was several hours form where Tommy lived.
在一夜的酗酒和服药之后，他的卡车撞上了一棵树，但他幸存了。同一时间一个退伍军人治疗机构在北卡罗莱纳州开办了，是哈尼特县的第一个此类机构，而这距离汤米住的地方有好几个小时的路程。

You know, in that program, Tommy received the accountability, the treatment, the structure, a mentor and he was able to get his life back.
你知道，在那个计划中，汤米接受了治疗中心的问责系统，治疗方法，结构调整，导师配置，他已经开始了自我恢复。

I think our country owes our military veterans to embrace them when they come home,and when I say embrace them when they come home, I mean be there for them with programs that work for them and for their families.
我认为我们的国家应该候拥抱我们的退伍军人，我说的拥抱他们是指，要和他们在一起，为他们做一些真正能使他们回归家庭的工作。

When the opportunity to play a deeper meaningful role came along,when I got involved in Justice for Vets and the National Association of Drug Court Professionals,which is the parent organization of Justice for Vets, I jumped at that chance.
当我有机会在退伍军人中心和其母公司全国毒品法庭专业人员协会，扮演一个更深层次，更有意义的角色时，我欣然接受了这个机会。

And I think it’s very rare in your life when an opportunity presents itself where you really can participate in something that is having a profound, deep and meaningful impact on people’s lives.
我认为在你的生活中，当一个机会出现在你面前，而你又能投身于此并因此对其他人的生活产生深刻而有意义的影响的时候，这是非常罕见的。