[Dr. Eckleburg]

I can understand the Purple Heart, but the Bronze Star?

xzins, what do you think?

[Rodney King]

To be clear, of course she deserves the Purple Heart. What bothers me is that she seems to be getting a medal solely for being a pretty white woman. What about the Apache pilot who was a POW? He's a man. What about the black lady who was a POW? She's black. I'm not saying that the Army takes that view, they are giving her the medal because she became a celebrity. But the reason she became a celebrity over the others is because she is a cute white woman. Oh, also because she lived. Her comrades who died did not have the opportunity to be POW's and celebrities, so they don't get any medals.

But hey, watch what is going to happen here. People will go absolutley nuts that by not favoring a bronze star for her, that we are attacking her. They will completely ignore that the awarding of a medal to someone who is undeserving is a much greater slur to those who died to earn theirs and those who did far more yet received nothing.

[xzins]

Bronze Star has two varieties: for valor or for service.

I have no problem at all with the Bronze Star for service. She certainly endured a lot and no one can say that wasn't exceptional service. (The peacetime equivalent of this is the Meritorious Service Medal -- given for exceptional service during a period of time with a particular unit. The service Bronze Star is the equivalent of that in a war zone.)

The Bronze Star with V for Valor is all of the above PLUS their must be an element of valor displayed on the battlefield. My understanding of her encounter was that she and one of the other troops with her kept engaging the enemy until they ran out of ammo. I heard her beatings were a direct result of her male islamic captors being offended that she had engaged them for so long.

IF the above is true, then I have no problem with the Bronze Star with "V" device.