CPT Benjamin Summers on hero worship
Captain Benjamin Summers is an Aviation officer at Fort Campbell, KY and he felt a need to tell us in the pages of the Washington Post that not all veterans are heroes;
Over the past decade, a growing chasm between military and civil society has raised the pedestal upon which the United States places those who serve in its military. Too much hero-labeling reinforces a false dichotomy that’s commonly heard in our political discourse: You’re either for the troops or you’re against them. We badly need to find ways to bridge this civilian-military gap to cultivate a more nuanced appreciation of service and to produce better policy in Washington.
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[T]he widening civil-military divide intensifies the aura that attaches to military service, especially when the country is at war. Over the past decade, veterans did many things that the general public didn’t do and doesn’t necessarily comprehend fully: deploying, being away from home for a year, serving in war zones. During these years, it’s undeniable that veterans have received a hero’s embrace from their nation….
I know the Captain probably has the best of intentions, and that he’s trying to make the public debate over the future of the military in the country a bit more clear, but he’s not being helpful, especially when he writes in the Washington Post. Let me explain to the pup about my perspective on the issue.
I say “pup” because he’s not old enough to remember the post-Vietnam Era when the complete opposite was true – whether you were a Ranger in the bush rooting out the Viet Cong or you were a sailor floating off shore, and never saw a single Vietnamese tree, the American public thought of you as a “baby-killer”. Despite what the Left would have you believe, there were soldiers returning to this country to a shower of spittle.
There was no discussion of veterans getting the benefits they deserved. The war was over and no one wanted to talk about them. There really were homeless and substance-abusing veterans, and no one really cared. The Veterans’ Service Organizations shouted about the problem, but no one was listening. Some of the VSOs didn’t even recognize them as real veterans. Families were divided over their service. Hollywood portrayed them as lunatics who played Russian Roulette in their spare time. One movie used a legless veteran whose wife was cheating on him with a 4Fer as the villain.
No beggar on the street would tug at your purse strings with a sign that identified him as a veteran. Being a veteran was worse than being a homeless bum in that particular America.
Our military budget was slashed to the bone with no debate, so that we trained to fight with Korean War-era equipment and weapons. When I got promoted from E-4 to E-5, my pay shot up $22/month. We practiced assembling on the drop zone by jumping from the back of a duece-and-a-half as it drove down Sicily Drop Zone because there was no money for the 82nd Airborne Division to jump from aircraft.
On the other hand, just the other day, the “for or against the troops” thing saved the A-10 Warthog from the scrap yard for another year. I’d say that was a good thing…for the troops, those ground pounders who you admit really are heroes.
So, yeah, the pendulum is swinging wide in the opposite direction as it did after Vietnam, but you tell me, which direction is better in regards to our national defense? The American public that doesn’t go to war will never understand those who do…there will always be a divide. But the way it is now is a damn-sight better than it has been in our history. So, just leave it be, young buck.
And, the Washington Post is not your friend. The Post and their readers don’t need your help to bring the troops down off the pedestal.
Thanks to Chief Tango for the link.
Category: Veterans Issues
I was assigned to the 101st and Ft. Campbell after my “short tour” in RVN. The Division was just reforming after returning the Colors home. We started picking up our “new” Hueys from rebuild at Pensacola NAS and developing the Air Assault concept for the next great battle on the European plains. We stayed on post and only trusted our fellow aviators and those wearing right shoulder patches. Not happy times “outside the wire.” regards, Alemaster
Got harrassed and called a “baby killer” in ROTC at Kent State in ’89… stayed that way until 9/11.
Anonymous,
In ’89 I was just a ways down the road from you at AF Recruiting Office Cuyahoga Falls. KSU was in my zone for ROTC work, and I can attest to the ‘babykiller’ remarks. Interestingly enough, the lifelong locals treated me with honor and respect. The college…not so much.
Mike
Got baby killer after 9/11.
Hippies never change.
Surely don’t, they still call people that in Amherst, MA.
I got told that they don’t serve my kind at a restaurant in 2004. All I was trying to do was get lunch before going back to work.
A few years back, some Guard troops were trying to order food at an eatery on Canal Park in Duluth. The waitress told them they don’t serve murderers and when they asked to talk to the manager, the owner told them to get out. Duluth is the Berzerkly of the North and they pride theselves on their leftist/hippie bullshit. They turned down getting a retired battleship, because they didn’t want to promote war.
As for me……we were told that it would be best if we didn’t wear our uniform when out in public, for the most part, because we weren’t looked favorably upon by the civilian population. Vietnam had been officially over for several years at that point, but it didn’t matter. As someone mentioned; that hate lingers a long time.
I was called a baby killer after boot camp in San Diego in ’85 and then in Grad School in 2010.
Some things never change, douche bags are one of them
My son was spit on last year while waiting to pick his girlfriend up from a downtown Denver parade in which she was marching with her college band. Fortunately, the cop he reported it to happened to be a Navy vet. The punk got to spend 72 hours, the entire weekend in jail, thinking about what he did.
WaPo (like other liberals) likes veterans they can pity..
Good point.
Watch this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2L3skZ7FEw
Respect for those of us that have served is one thing, hero worship is another. I dont like it when it happens to me. I do not ask for or accept discounts for things because I am a Veteran and I do not like that others do. I do not like this trend to victimize what it means to be a Veteran. A simple thank you for your service is more than adequate.
Dave,
I’m taking a shot in the dark here, but were you ever a DI at PISC?
‘I will neither confirm nor deny any allegations against me’ I will take a shot in the dark myself Gunner, were you there somewhere around PLT 1053? Lets see…there are only a handful of CWO5’s. I will admit to being a part time admin clerk that is enough honorable service for any Marine.
I do remember this hard-ass we had as the ‘heavy’ in platoon 3066 back in 88. His last name was Hardin but he was a combat engineer or so the rumor went…. and it’s been 26 years ago….
Not me then, and you can not be Meyers either. So the list shortens. I was not at PISC in 1988. Semper Fi.
“And, the Washington Post is not your friend. The Post and their readers don’t need your help to bring the troops down off the pedestal”. Ain’t that the truth. I wonder, why hasn’t the captain already found that out?
He writes: “Too much hero-labeling reinforces a false dichotomy that’s commonly heard in our political discourse”. I beg to differ. It is not too much hero worship or even thank you fro your service from the policy “heads” in Washington. It is worse than even the opposite of hero worship. It is the “meh, so what, attitude” towards veterans. That or outright private, unspoken disdain, which is carried out in their policies and or lack of policies towards veterans. Their lack of care for what is happening in the VA for instance because as I wrote before, they see veterans as another brand of welfare recipient instead of the very small segment of society who actually earned their benefits. Veterans are given nothing, they earned what they receive. Guys like this writer only add pseudo intellectual, uninformed fuel to the fire of these same policy makers. From Obama, all the way down. So young man, stop and take stock of what you call misplaced hero worship. No one, not one veteran I know has asked to be called a hero. Most not even a thank you. They have asked to receive what they were promised and earned.
There has NEVER been any documented case of Vietnam vets being spit on.
I was spit on at the Seattle airport by people holding signs. I was in dress greens. I was flying from home on emergency leave for a funeral. You are uninformed. And a jackass.
The fact that no one wrote it down was typical of the times, nobody in the press gave a flying fuck about soldiers. And you are still a jackass.
Let me guess….golden dragon is the dumber, douchier brother of vietnam war protester uss douchebag….
Oh, and I almost forgot….go fuck yourself golden turd
as a Recruit at Greatlakes in the spring of 75, The Fondas would Line Up Out side the Bootcamp Gate and spit on Guys who were lessThan three monthes out of Mommies House… Made things Difficult for a skinny young sailor…”Are You a peace protestor or a Hooker?” was Not the best pick Up Line in the World….
Go take a flying fuck at a porcupine, shitbag.
GOLDEN SHOWER, (*OOPS*, Dragon)SHIT IN YOUR MOTHER’S FACE for raising such a sick, lying excuse of a human being as you!
Here’s a link for your little mind GD. http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/160444095.html
Please note the list of articles from NYT, WaPo, and a host of others. Thanks to Bob Feist of Medina who wrote and researched the article.
Fuck you Goldenshower. What constitutes “documented”? I saw it with my own eyes. So; who am I to believe? You or my lying eyes? Fuck off, moron.
A commenter, a California professor no less, responding to my Bergdahl piece over at American Thinker today called me a hero but counseled me not to rush to judgment on Bergdahl. Here’s my response:
Russ+Vaughn Robert Oscar Lopez • a minute ago
Professor, while I usually agree with your writings, I must differ with you here on two counts:
First, thank you for your kind words, but my service does not make me a hero, a term that has been so over-used in recent years as to render it meaningless. Yes, I served honorably and I am indeed a patriot, but not a hero. My roommate at Ft. Bragg who earned a Medal of Honor was a hero; you can trust me to know the difference.
Second, having served in infantry units for the better part of six years, from private to staff sergeant, in peacetime and wartime, I learned to respect the collective wisdom and situational awareness of the troops that I served with and led. When those young paratroopers swear to a man that Bergdahl is a deserter and a traitor, I do not need a show-trial to convince me otherwise. To me, those young warriors are a true jury of his peers, not the officers and NCO’s who will be appointed to hear the case.
And if you don’t believe a Bergdahl court-martial will be a show-trial then you don’t know much about military justice. Any legal proceedings against Bergdahl already have been heavily command influenced by Obama’s Rose Garden photo op. The appointment of a major general to head up the investigation, a job usually relegated to a much more junior officer, heaps even more command influence on the process as any person who has ever served can attest.
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Oh FFS, some people really need to relax. Not everything is an insult against those who have served, and the CPT is right. Unless you’re here to tell us there aren’t any criminals in the armed forces of the US. Not everyone who puts a uniform on is a hero, and just because you’re long in the tooth doesn’t mean you have some kind of special insight or wisdom.
Hussar…Once again you’re off. Not a veteran on this blog asks to be called a hero for serving. I don’t even ask to be thanked unless it is sincere in which case I say “you’re welcome”. Long or short in the tooth makes no difference. The Captain writing the article is short in the tooth and needs to rethink his advice and position. The wrong folks, like you, listen to him and it becomes yet another avenue for them to further degrade all military service people. By the way, if you served, thank you. If you didn’t that’s okay to. It just makes you part of the vast majority who didn’t. Not a veteran I know here or personally, believes the administration thinks they are heroes. To the contrary, the administration sees veterans and their benefits as a necessary evil to endure. They think more of and willingly hand out more to, illegal aliens and welfare recipients than veterans. It is veterans who have to fight for the benefits they earned. Illegals and welfare recipients only have to put out their hand and say “more”.
“The wrong folks” around here seem to be anyone who doesn’t follow some pre-formed pattern of “America, Fuck Yeah” and you know, use reason/logic and maybe even a little bit of a thought process vs a knee jerk emotional reaction.
Policy is always the result of popular sentiment. This is what the CPT was using as a basis for his argument. We can’t make cuts because if you propose that, you hate ‘Murcia, mom, apple pie and want to push Vietnam vets off of cliffs.
Never mind we aren’t fighting 3rd gen warfare anymore and don’t need division upon division of tanks or aircraft carriers out the ying yang. Whoops…..guess saying that makes me a commie.
Hussar so do you advocate we use the most modern weapons in the arsenal? Because if we do, there will not be much left of the enemies to have discussions with later. Or would you rather we use the 3rd generation arsenal and leave them intact and capable of change for the better? Personally, against terrorists and terrorist states, they have proven their desire to talk and have a better form of government and living. Their answer has and always will be Sharia Law. Let them had it then. If they export their terrorism beyond their borders or to American people and allies anywhere, then I say we do use our most modern generation weapons and put them back into the century they have shown want to live in.
Generation Warfare doesn’t specifically mean technology.
3rd Gen warfare is conventional, armor thrusts through Fulda Gap type stuff. 4th Gen is COIN, counterterrorism, etc..etc..
I am absolutely for the use of the most up to date technology to smash an enemy. So long as it fits the profile. Armored divisions don’t beat insurgencies. Etc…etc..
I’ve been saying it for years, sometimes this ‘hero’ label gets way over used especially when it comes to the military.
Just because an individual puts on a uniform, doesn’t automatically make him a ‘hero’ anymore than a police officer or fire fighter.
Tman…Please refer to my post reply to Hussar above. You too sir, are way off.
Sparks, your reply to Hussar has no relevance to my post, and I am hardly way off.
Nowhere in my post did I denigrate veterans past or present. I simply stated that the term ‘hero’ is over used by many in society today, particularly towards those who have worn the uniform.
And simply being in the military, or being a police officer, or a fire fighter, doesn’t automatically make one a hero. Just like others stated, a hero is someone that goes above and beyond in their duty to perform heroic acts, like jumping on a grenade to save your comrades, or going after Taliban fighters trying to take your teammate hostage in the Afghan battlefield.
I’ve served in the military, and have friends that still serve.
Tman as I wrote to Hussar I agree. Hero is reserved for those of exceptional valor. I also wrote that no one I know wants to be called a hero. Even they few I know who were “heroes” with decorations of valor, do not and would gladly give back those decorations to change the history which caused them. Nor do firefighters and police officers I know. So maybe we are on the same page and I misread your post. If so my bad. Hussar has a different Notion about our military though. He doesn’t believe we need all the divisions and naval strength we have, yet he would cringe at the notion of using not the 3rd generation war weapons we have but the modern kill all, leave nothing weapons.
How about you let me respond to your initial question before you run off and make (flawed) assumptions?
Got ya Sparks, sorry about that.
I certainly have the years but must be getting senile because I do not remember being spit on, insulted, or otherwise being mistreated for being a veteran. Even in college. I am sure it happened, but I never saw it.
P.S. I agree with Capt. Summers. That’s one reason I am in favor of getting rid of the all volunteer military.
Ditto for me, and I graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder – the “Berkeley of the Rockies.” Was never abused, disrespected or otherwise ill-treated because of my past service.
I agree with him that the word “hero” should be reserved for actual heroes who have shown true heroism. When I was maintaining radars in Uzbekistan and Iraq, I was doing a necessary job as well as I could. What my colleagues and I did was essential, but it wasn’t heroic.
radar…I agree all who serve are not heroes. Heroes are those who display true valor and sometimes are not awarded any medals for it. If you served in Iraq and other places honorably and did your job the best you could, that’s all anyone including our country asks of you or any of its service men and women. I thank you for your service. I don’t care what a person’s job was. It makes no difference. It only matters that you served well and did the mission assigned to you. Again, for that I thank you sir.
No one spit on me, but they did throw a beer bottle at me, and attempt to run me down with a car, and they told me how stupid I was for being a soldier and going to Viet Nam.
Here’s a song I composed, “WELCOME HOME, AMERICAN VET”:
I did not write this song, but it tells our story:
I served in the 80’s and mosied all over the world. I was part of the Anti Anti War Protests and saw the left in its weirdest unbridled Hate America First Fury in a number of places. Kennebunkport, West Point, New London, DC on several occasions and walked right up to talk with them. I was never called a Baby Killer and can’t say I heard anyone else called one but that is just my experience. Glad I wasn’t as I’m not sure what my reaction might have been.
As for hero…I think the term is being devalued by throwing it around to everyone who has worn a uniform, every firefighter that has put on a coat, every police officer that put on a badge. There are hero’s in every field and those that rise above the rest in displays of courage and valor are hero’s. Just my putting on a uniform and throwing my ass out of a plane does not make me a hero. Someone that puts his buddies lives before his own and does extraordinary things is. They earn such things as Bronze Stars, DSC’s, MOH’s and Navy Crosses.
What a cop out. There is far more victim hood and negative stereotypes towards veterans than there is any sort of hero worship. FFS if the whole “hero worship” was anything close to reality then veterans wouldn’t have shitty employment rates and being thought of as a threat to security in our own country. So instead of actually doing something useful the real problem is ignored and that is the negative stereotypes that actually affect veterans daily.
Maybe Captain Cynical should have addressed that issue instead of just adding fuel to the fire for turds to disparage the service and veterans.
I’d rather have feel good lip service “hero worship” than not be hired because some dumbass thinks all vets are a national security threat, victims/disabled, and uneducated.
I really don’t know how TAH lasted this long w/o the enlightenment and rationality provided by Hussar, the valedictorian of Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Junior Division.) Gems such as “Policy is always the result of popular sentiment” are proof positive he (or she) is truly a gift that just keeps giving. And who could argue with the logic of this non-sentence: “Unless you’re here to tell us there aren’t any criminals in the armed forces of the US.” In other words, no criminal (whether felon or misdemeanant) can be a hero. But that’s the sort of stuff I have come to expect from junior who, by the way, defends his silence in answer to whether he ever served in the military or is presently serving by claiming that his job would be compromised in some unspecified fashion. In other words, he is a Secret Squirrel, albeit a junior grade.
I’m doing things “backwards”, ie: finishing up a masters after having served and contracted. My concentration is offered at a grand total of 3 universities in the US. Not exactly a traditional student, and one could easily put things together and find me if they had the emotional acumen of a 14 year old girl, and nothing better to do than settle some weird ass internet drama in real life. A trait I don’t think is a stretch to guess you possess.
Not to mention stating fact has nothing to do with personal background.
Hussar you do not just state facts, as you ses and interpret them, you state opinion. Opinions, mine, yours and everyone’s are just like ass holes. We all have one and sometimes they stink like shit. I see you are a “higher than us in education” type guy who believes that due to your education your opinion and view of “facts” are somehow more valuable and in tune with the bigger truth of all things. Got news for you. There are folks on this blog with far more education than you will probably hope to have. More than that their education is seasoned with the reality of putting it to use in the world of work, whether private or military. So be careful how high you step up on that horse. Not all here are knuckle dragging ex military folks with “Love America or we’ll kill you” mentalities”. In fact no one here has every expressed that notion. Love America, yes we do, kill you if you don’t…nah. That is the free country most of us fought to preserve and defend. But take you to task over your statements we will do.
So, now, you are moved to allow that you have, as you put it, “served and contracted.” That’s great, whatever the hell that means. Ditto the rest of your odd comment. Anyone have a Hussar decoder ring?
Accidently ran into a comment he made some time ago in a long dead topic where he claimed to have “served” as a contractor in country, but was not a military veteran. He seems to have gotten cagy about it after than.
We may just be dealing with someone who has his nose out of joint because he is not a military veteran, so does not instantly command the sort of respect that comes with that designation.
A good friend served in the Merchant Marine, was issued an M-16 and made multiple deliveries under fire in VietNam. As far as I am concerned, he is a “combat veteran” in spite of not legally being one. He certainly has my respect for doing what he did back in the day. He earned it – as we really must all do if we want to receive it from anyone.
Military Veterans have military discharges. Civilian contractors have paystubs. He fancies himself to be clever and learned and he is neither. He’s just a guy who, despite having nothing of value to contribute here, persists in commenting here. He just can’t be honest. He knows he’ll be called on his bullshit. I wonder what he tells others, his classmates, perhaps, about his “service.”
Really? Where did I claim that? Exactly. You seem to remember it, so it should be easy to find.
Fact is, since I have to make it crystal to some here, I was active duty USMC as an 0311, discharged honorably,then worked as a contractor.
Of course, this was clear in my above statement, but you know…whatever.
Did your work for you:
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=35456#comments
I wrote:
“Don’t know the guy, don’t really care.That being said, when I began my current gig as an instructor, the CEO used to introduce me as a “combat veteran” and “combat medic”. Neither of which are technically true as I “only” saw action as a contractor, and while I have medic certs up the ying yang, I was never a dedicated medic on any of my contracts. I corrected him, and it stopped.So, it is not entirely out the question that his (or the show’s) civilian handlers displayed the same ignorance mentioned in my experience.”
Pretty much the exact opposite of what you just claimed. So, you’re either an idiot, or disingenuous.
Neither of which is a good choice.
I’m not surprised that most of the trolls have missed the entire point of the post. They usually do – they pick out one phrase and focus the whole discussion on that one tiny irrelevant, inconsequential part. This isn’t about calling anyone heroes or calling everyone heroes, you illiterate fucks.
Standard misdirection tactic when you have nothing. Pick one irrelevant and minor thing out of a whole story and go after that.
Kinda like cherry picking two paragraphs out of the article to assert your point, huh?
Doesn’t matter, you lost any credibility by “poo pooing” the CPT based on his age from the get go. I supoose if he had a point that fit your narrative, his age wouldn’t have been a factor.
Either way, the CPT is right. Opinion shapes policy, and if politicians are afraid of being labeled as hating on the troops, then all logical and reasonable political discussion goes out the window.
I kinda see your point in your last paragraph. I believe you are talking more about political expediency based on public opinion, rather than political discussion. The discussion happens elsewhere and it becomes political when a politician looks at it as the cause du jour and wants to win the election, or re-election.
With the general public, it has more to do with how the times and how public perception is shaped by the media. In the bad old days during Vietnam, old commies like Cronkite, could espouse their bullshit and be one of the sole authorities to the masses, even when they are famously wrong. Now, with the advent of the interwebs; they don’t have as much influence over the masses as they did, before, so people are getting their information from a wide variety of sources.
The left does the exact same thing.
Dems:Disagree with Obama and you’re automatically a racist.
Repubs:Don’t support an unneeded program for the military and you’re automatically hating on troops.
“…you didn’t build that.” – B. Hussein 0bama
“Nothing good happens without Government.” – “Blowjob Willie” Clinton at the DNC Convention that nominated him
“Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.” – Ronald Reagan the Great
Wasn’t intending to post on this thread as I was simply enjoying the debates, but your intentional bias against two “Democrat” presidents while calling Reagan “the Great” is amusing. Please tell me you really aren’t that biased simply on political party leanings that really hold no relevance in actual policymaking.
“The quicker we realize that, the quicker we start creating a political environment that can foster genuine debate and answer the difficult policy problems we face.”
To me this was the key take away from the article.
Veterans and military are being lubed up before being bent over and fucked. AGAIN.
Genuine debate means “the military needs to shut up and take the cuts so we can continue to fund the welfare state.”
Sounds like a follow up to LTC “I make too much retired pay” Bluefalcon
BINGO, Stacy 0311, I wonder if this CPT isn’t kissing up for the sake of playing politics?
The problem with being placed on a pedestal, for any reason, is that the pedestal severely limits one’s ability to move about freely. For one, the platform is extremely small and the fall can be deadly.
The saddest part of observing stinking hippies at work being disgusting is that they are training yet another generation to behave rudely in public. It still baffles me that they send their children to curse at and share body fluids with strangers on public streets. The subject matter really doesn’t matter – the simple fact that they deliberately teach their young to behave this way toward anyone is disturbing.
Meanwhile, we have those who deny that any of this has occurred in the past or is still occurring. Are these the same people who immediately assume the wildest, crazy stories to be true no matter how illogical as long as they support their agenda?
Add another to the list of those who have been spat at, verbally assaulted by children (at the direction of their adult handlers), called “baby killer” on multiple occasions, and a few other obscenities specifically directed at veterans. Difference is, on several occasions, the stupid behavior was indeed documented, and publicized widely among the local population. While not nearly as bad as what many of my brothers suffered back in the day, it’s pretty classic stuff.
I don’t know any veterans who want to be called a hero for their honorable service and I agree with poetrooper with respect to whom he identifies as heroes.
My problem with stupid articles like this are simple, a quick look at our popular culture will reveal what sort of people are valued in our society. We like misogynistic hip-hop/rap artists and drug addicted celebrities whose moral character would disgust the devil himself. We think genetically gifted and steroid enhanced athletes are important, we think the Kardashians are so important that more Americans can name each member of that family than can name their own congressional delegations.
We Americans tend to think about the people who actually build things as being important, folks like Patty Maes or Pranav Mistry, we don’t understand people like Kyle Carpenter.
Our society, as shallow as it is, benefits from the understanding that the 1% who choose to serve are a valuable resource to be treated with respect because to lose that resource is to lose the nation. Our current society at least attempts to understand that, even if it is not successful. I saw those Vietnam vets come home and the society that didn’t welcome or respect them. There is no doubt that our current favorable mood towards veterans is the better option for everyone concerned.
Great post Jonn, let the haters continue to hate, their inability to understand the benefit to a society to appreciate its service members is their problem, and their alone.
VOV…Again, well said sir. The depth of our nation’s collective intellect, concern for issues that matter to our nation’s future and definitions of who is important to observe and admire is like an ocean as vast as the Pacific, yet only one inch deep. I heard something years ago and each day it becomes more true.
“All of the world is watching America and all of America is watching…TV”.
On edit the line: “We Americans ten to think about the people who actually build things as NOT being important” is the correct version…
We all have ideals, and people that give those ideals a face. The title we use for those living examples is “hero.” I’d rather look up to a soldier than a rapper, for example. Can I think of someone I look up to more than I do a soldier? As a matter of fact, yes I can — that man is a leading medical researcher. But the fact of the matter is, it’s the SOLDIER that paves the way for the RESEARCHER to do his work. We owe the stability of our society to the contribution of our soldiers; the researcher wouldn’t make it five minutes in a place like Iraq or Afghanistan. We are a highly specialized society, and we all contribuute, but the soldiers are the bedrock, the foundation, of everything else. THAT is why they are held in such high regard.
And nobody but a fool forgets that they are all human, they make mistakes, and aren’t perfect. Come to think of it, so is that researcher I mentioned. That doesn’t lessen the value of their contributions, and their legacy is why we call them heroes.
Captain Bennie’s overarching point is that America ought not regard all servicemen and women as heroes because, in doing so, policy is skewed. This viewpoint is a curiosity for several reasons. First, it is an indictment of leadership, of policymakers, isn’t it? Sure it it is. Bennie is saying that our policymakers either cannot distinguish image from reality or are too weak to do so. That is, the policymakers either share the public’s regard for our military as a collective mass of heroes or the policymakers don’t, but they are too afraid to say otherwise. That speaks to the quality and character of the policymakers only. After all, aside from bond issues on local ballots and some state constitutional issues (e.g., recognizing marriage as only valid between one man and one woman), the public doesn’t get a policy vote, does it? Second, Bennie’s understanding of the policy process is wanting, and wanting sorely. What usually happens is that policymakers sell a rotten policy to the public after the policy is codified or otherwise effectuated. Bennie is complaining that the when it comes to certain issues related to the military and Veterans, the sale actually preceded the policy. Well, now, that’s just too bad. God forbid that policy support troops and honor Veterans because the overwhelming majority of the American public supports those views. I suppose that such a view is worthy of ridicule nowadays. Today, we seem to favor outlandish minority views.
Huh.
First off CPT Steven is a dumbass. Even though the article states the views are his own opinion it’s clear to me that he is using his title as leverage to add a level of credibility to his opinion…therefore dragging the Army into it.
If his opinion had merit to begin with we wouldn’t have to know right up front how super awesome he is (an Army Captain).
Second his article, IMO, just makes a bunch of statements.
1. The gap between civilians and soldiers is wide….duh. we know that.
2. The politicalization of the military
so what? Just to poke the bear and say not all vets are heroes? I mean it was a nice humble opening to say “I’m not a hero” but honestly it got contrite from there.
I served as an Army Captain in the Ordnance Corps in a peacetime army. no combat ribbons. Hell even in a peacetime army I made it out with only 3 AAMs and if I told you what I got one of those for you’d all laugh until you died, so I won’t be responsible for that.
I don’t know if that makes me a hero. But I am a dad, a father (to my 10 year old I am) and I live a simple life of handwork, friends, and love.
Fuck you, Captain. Go do PT.
Holy crap. that last line should have read.
I don’t know if that makes me a hero. But I am a dad, a father (to my 10 year old I am a hero) and I live a simple life of hard work, friends, and love.
fucking autocorrect.
OK, so I just read the article and I don’t see what the fuss is about. I certainly agree with Summers that the term “hero” has been overused with regard to current soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines to the point where it’s really lost all meaning. At first I appreciated the overt kudos given to the military but it’s gotten to the point now where it’s overdone, and a bit embarrassing to watch.
Not only that, I see “support the troops” being used by many who never served as a kind of half-assed proxy for service, as if “supporting the troops” (and by default anything and everything that benefits “the troops”) somehow makes up for the fact that the “supporter” stayed fat, safe and happy in civvie-land.
I think it’s also worth considering whether the modern orgy of troop-worship is a major contributor to all the “Stolen valor” incidents we see. After all, if people believe that anyone who served in the military (especially if the served in an elite unit) gets automatic respect and deference, then those people who seek respect and deference (that they can’t get from their normal lives) by either inventing or embellishing military service. Because every time a faker gets exposed, it erodes the public respect and confidence in those of us who actually DID put on a uniform and go into harms way.
Whoops, sorry for the broken English. Second to last sentence should read:
“If people believe that anyone who served in the military (especially in elite units) gets automatic respect and deference, then those people who seek respect and deference that they can’t get from their normal lives, will seek to do so either by inventing or embellishing military service.