During Monday night’s Grammy Awards, millions of Americans received a much-needed wake-up call from the most patriotic Hollywood actor since Ronald Reagan.

“I’d like to take one brief second to send a special thank you and shout-out to the men and women serving our country around the world who are in harm’s way,” Gary Sinise said before presenting an award. “Thank you very much.”

Sinise, who unforgettably portrayed a wounded combat veteran in Forrest Gump, doesn’t just talk the talk when it comes to supporting our troops. He’s dedicated countless hours and millions of dollars to helping veterans and spreading awareness about the military community’s sacrifices.

Actor and U.S. military supporter Gary Sinise.

The fact that Sinise used one of the world’s biggest stages to spread such an admirable message speaks volumes about his character. Conversely, the fact that eight Republican and Democratic presidential candidates almost completely ignored the ongoing struggle in Afghanistan at last week’s debates says a lot about the sad state of American politics.

Afghanistan is not old news. Not only are 9,800 U.S. troops still deployed there, but President Obama just sent 500 U.S. troops back to the country’s very dangerous Helmand Province. That’s not a statistic; that’s 500 military families worried about the safety of their loved ones.

Was this important development a topic at the most recent presidential debates? Not even close. The respective debate moderators failed to ask a single question about Afghanistan to any of the eight remaining candidates who are vying to become our nation’s 45^th commander-in-chief.

As for the politicians themselves, “Afghanistan” was only uttered a grand total of three times at the last two debates. At least Sen. Marco Rubio, Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Bernie Sanders found the conflict worthy of being mentioned.

I’m sure that campaign operatives for Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Dr. Ben Carson would point out that their respective candidates mentioned the military or veterans in the debates, which is true. Still, none of the eight candidates should be awarded points for barely acknowledging a conflict where 2,381 Americans have lost their lives, including three so far this year. Sorry.

Republican presidential candidates Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump argue during the Feb. 13, 2016, GOP debate in Greenville, S.C.

Frankly, I can’t believe that there is still a need for columns like these. If the prospective commanders-in-chief won’t talk about a war, you would think that journalists who are paid to ask tough questions would at least make a minor issue of Afghanistan during the debates.

Sadly, though, the media — which is heavily driven by politics and ratings — has mostly given up on quality Afghanistan coverage. It’s another reason why so few of us trust journalists, or politicians, for that matter.

I refuse to accept that a conflict involving almost 10,000 U.S. troops will be a non-issue in the 2016 presidential election. I also refuse to accept that a vast majority of Americans no longer care about deployed service members and their families.

Time and time again, our country has responded with patriotism and compassion when asked to support our military. The problem is that many of the people carrying the loudest microphones — politicians, journalists and celebrities — have largely stopped asking us to do so.

Thank God for Gary Sinise. If it wasn’t for him, the ongoing war on terrorism would have been invisible during yet another major U.S. television event. Let’s pray that at least some of Sinise’s fellow celebrities will follow his lead.

Politicians and journalists should also take note. If you want to re-gain America’s trust, you can start by being more like Gary Sinise.

Tom Sileo is a Senior Editor of The Stream. He is co-author of FIRE IN MY EYES: An American’s Journey from Being Blinded on the Battlefield to Gold Medal Victory and BROTHERS FOREVER: The Enduring Bond Between a Marine and a Navy SEAL that Transcended their Ultimate Sacrifice.