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I want people to get involved and to connect with veterans.

I work with a couple charities called Serving Those Who Serve and Rebuilding Together. Both are supportive of veterans when they come home.

Whenever I'm given a chance to support veterans' initiatives, I try to do that. Children and veterans - if they're involved, you can pretty much count me in.

I have family that are vets of the military. My grandfather served as well.

I do engage veterans. I meet with the veterans' service organizations monthly. It's a direct, no-holds-barred discussion. I travel to their conventions, where I speak to the veterans membership. I do travel. I've been to all 50 states. When I do, I engage veterans locally. So I get direct feedback from those veterans.

There's been nobody who stays in more communication and listens to veterans more than I do.

Veterans' issues are quite close to my heart. I find it quite hard to talk about, actually.

I talked to some vets in L.A. about what they go through and do they think about their experiences a lot. I got a wide array of answers. Some people get very emotional, which is understandable. Two of my best friends growing up are in the armed services, and getting to represent those guys was a big honor for me.

I've grown up, luckily, with only a distant relationship to war and soldiering.

My advice is for veterans to seek out mentors, people who are doing what you want to do. You have to decide what you want and have a goal. Don't worry about how you're going to do it. Just trust that you'll get there.