A Mark Finkelstein goes after Reporter Chris Hayes of MSNBC for saying he is uncomfortable calling our war dead "Heroes". I am also, but not for the reason put forward by Mr Hayes; "uncomfortable, about the word because it seems to me that it is so rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war". Weak.
My reason is that war is Radom and quirky. My Pilot Training Roommate, Addo Kommandant, bought it very early in his first tour out of Cam Rahn Bay, when his Front Seater ran into a mountain in bad weather. My Freshman year roommate, Alan Trent, bought it on a low level weaPons delivery pass in South Viet-nam. The "Golden BB". The chap who sat next to me in the last row of the bottom section of third year EE, Karl Richter (actually, I think Lin Bothwell♠ sat between us) died on his 200th mission (100 being a full tour) when he was forced to eject, got a good chute and then smashed into some karst on the way down. They were men doing their job and were unlucky. They were like my wife's late husband, who died in an F-4C accident off Okinawa in 1965.
The thing about all of them is that they heeded the call to action and went. But I want to save the term Hero for the likes of Lance Sijan. A year behind me at the Air Force Academy, he was born only three days after me.
War doesn't exist because of heroes. War exists because a nation is afraid, or a nation feels the need to impose its ideology or religion on others, or, once in a while, to end cruelty. In the past wars have existed as nations tried to find living space. As Dead Carl says, "War is a trinity of the People, the Government and the Military". Heroes are a byproduct, but then we even have heroes in peacetime.
But, whether Heroes or the victims of fate, we should honor all our fallen, fallen in wartime or peacetime, because all were ready and willing to serve.
Regards — Cliff
♠ Aviator Earnest K Gann wrote a book, Fate is the Hunter, which looks at luck in the aviation dodge. Lin struggled with the hard sciences. As I recall, he was my roommate first semester of our senior year, when he busted not only EE (remember, last row, bottom section, and we sectioned and sat based upon our standing in each particular class), but also Aero and Astro. He was "that close" and washed out. He later went on to get a PhD from Harvard, but in a "soft" science. He was willing, but the Dean of Academics was not. Fate.
"Hero" being defined as "someone admired for courage and noble qualities" certainly applies to those who stand up while the rest are standing back. Splitting hairs about degree serves no one, least of all those who might be the consensus among us for "most heroic". Such sometimes leads to us criticizing some for their service failing to meet that highest standard, rather than leaving the discussion squarely focused on the higher truth, that serving is a high honor always worthy of our solemn respect.
ReplyDeleteI would say the fact that death remains so very random makes this honor all the more important to respect. These men and women aren't buying lottery tickets for fortune and glory--they are making a grave promise that all too often comes due to be paid.
"Hero" is the word I will always choose in this case. (Not the same as finding oneself in the wrong building at the wrong time as a part of conducting ones daily life).
I think that if all are heroes, then none are heroes. I was the "Awards and Decorations Officer" for my Da Nang based squadron (390th TFS) in the Fall of 1966. One of our pilots had gotten into a dueling match with a 37/57 mm AAA site in the Tally Ho section of North Viet-nam. John was armed with a 20 mm gun pod. As an aside, his back seater, also John, was known in the squadron for holding the world's record on the "high speed beads" (rosary). As John and John learned when they returned to base, they found out that they had been tagged. As they prepared for landing, dropping speed brakes, landing gear and flaps, the aircraft rolled sharply, but was recovered. A bit of bullet was found out in the wing.
ReplyDeleteI drafted up a recommendation for a Silver Star for John. However the aircraft commander of the other aircraft in the flight said that if John deserved a Silver Star, then so did he. In those days that medal was sparsely awarded and I saw a second write up as being too much. As it turned out, during my period as Awards and Decs Officer there were no Silver Star submissions for the "Blue Boars".
Regards — Cliff
Ed Brayton pretty much summarizes my thoughts. I don't think Hayes was out of line at all. The discomfort he feels at applying the term as a default adjective applicable to all who serve actually undermines the meaning of the term. Sort of like Reynolds Law as it were.
ReplyDelete"That doesn’t mean those who don’t show such heroism are bad or cowardly, nor does it denigrate those who join the military in general. And those who claim it does are engaged in exactly the kind of ostentatious, hyper-emotional, faux-patriotic ritual gesturing that rational people should find discomforting."