What this guy is saying in the article is true. CARs (Combat Action Ribbons) are supposed to be given out when you individually take enemy fire. I don’t know the story of the U.S.S. Bunker Hill in Desert Storm to know whether they took fire or not.
I actually have a CAR with a star from the Gulf and Beruit. However, what’s funny about that is that when I was in Somalia we took a lot of fire and sometimes returned fire but were not awarded CARs there. We were told that it was because we were on a humantarian mission. Go figure.
Anyways, my point is that I agree with him that the word war hero gets thrown around way too often nowadays. I say this because I have had the priviledge of meeting real war heros. I got the priviledge of hearing MSgt Pittman speak and nearly break down in tears while re-telling how he received the CMH in Viet Nam.
I would consider what John McCain did while being a POW qualifies as a genuine war hero. However, this guy does seem to be puffing up the ole record. He’s not unique though. All politicians puff up the ole record, be it war record or community organizer record. I think that the writer of this article is probably more concerned with having a Democrat elected to office than he is that some Republican is puffing up his war record.
This issue is escalating though because, since Mr. Hart has pointed out the ‘puffing up the war record issue’, the puffing Republican is taking steps to report bloggers to the FEC as campaign violators.
The puffing republican just held a press conference on it too.
So, I thought I would start tracking this here. Because if he gets anywhere with his puffing, it will affect a large amount of websites/bloggers.
It's like being lucky enough to survive in combat somehow gives you the right to get into congress, senate or the Presidency.
That's a crock.
What I think bravery in combat shows is CHARACTER.
Now since "character" doesn't matter to democrats, only how you "feel" about things....well they shouldn't ever use a combat veteran for poster boys.
The ability to suppress the overwhelming fear and do your job in order that your men and yourself survive and accomplish a mission shows "character". To do so with no fanfare and a "you're welcome" after a thank you from others is what I'm talking about.
There are 3 guys I knew on a fire team that held a right flank that should be the President, speaker of the House and Senate majority leader if combat were prerequisites for public office. Instead of picking shrapnel out of themselves, drinking some beer and laughing about how lucky they were to be alive.
Instead we're going to see JAG lawyers, NCIS investigators, rump kissing REMF and guys like this squid throwing combat ribbons around like coupons in order to "cash in" on the great election giveaways.
Bravest guy I knew was one of my uncles who was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam war due to his inability to kill someone. He became a Navy corpsman and saw 2 tours in country up close and more combat than most of us.
Did his duty, served his country, saved lives and came home raised a family and didn't make a big deal about what he did. Of course having 6 other brothers that were in the armed forces made bragging about anything a little difficult.
I'm always wary about guys that make a big deal about their war exploits. Most of the meat eaters I knew were actually quiet guys. They didn't have to prove anything..... they already did. Heck , look at Audie Murphy and Carlos Hathcock.... fairly level headed and quiet guys, but if I was going outside looking for bad guys, I'd like them with me.