Remember, and remember well
I'm not a big fan of Memorial day being turned into another excuse to sell stuff, and I'm definitely not a fan of lists of fallen soldiers being published by groups and organizations as a way of pushing an anti-war/anti-military agenda.Let's remember that war is horrible, and that in that horror, amazing acts of courage and valour can be found. Here's a few:
Sgt. 1st Class Ray Smith, Congressional Medal Of Honor, Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The Distinguished Service Cross/Navy Cross /Air Force Cross Recipients for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The Silver Star Recipients for Operation Iraqi Freedom (including the first woman to win a Silver Star in Combat since WWII).
And countless others. Heroes, all.
It amazes me that in all the hoopla and hype over Operation Iraqi Freedom, I had to go digging for this information.
And on a semi-related note, I was one of those who thought that Adm. James Stockdale was a bit... buffoonish as Ross Perot's Vice-Presidential candidate in 1992. Then I read this:
"Stockdale...deliberately inflicted a near-mortal wound to his person in order to convince his captors of his willingness to give up his life rather than capitulate. He was subsequently discovered and revived by the North Vietnamese who, convinced of his indomitable spirit, abated in their employment of excessive harassment and torture toward all of the Prisoners of War."
I'm sorry, Jim. Rest in peace.
CMOH, Silver Star, Medals, Memorial Day
posted by Kevin Creighton @ 8:29 AM
1 Comments:
KC, ditto on those comments. My observation about warriors who become politicians is that most are not cut out for it. Stockdale, McCain, Hegel, Murtha, Inoue, Cunningham, US Grant, Perot, Gray Davis, Wesley Clark, McClellan, and countless others shows that brave servicemen do not always make good politicians. It is sad but some former soldiers just don't belong in the political sphere. Stockdale in particular was a VERY brave man, but he was out of place as Perot's running mate in 1992.
Just think, US Grant was one of a few Union generals that could take the fight to the CSA and beat Robert E. Lee. As President, he was an absolute disaster! I could go on an on but there are many examples of this throughout our history.
There are very few Washington's and Eisenhowers out there who are adept in both realms. Too often the electorate chooses an Andrew Jackson or a US Grant and history judges the decision harshly.
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