Heroes and helpless ones *UPDATED*
Bookworm on May 26 2008 at 10:18 am | Filed under: Media matters, Military
I don’t know how it is that I never got around to watching it before, but last night marked the first time I ever saw that classic 1941 movie Sergeant York. It’s a biopic, starring Gary Cooper as the eponymous Sergeant York, who was the most decorated hero of World War I. Unlike most biopics, a little internet research shows that the movie hewed remarkably close to Alvin York’s real story. York was born into an isolated, poverty stricken region of Tennessee. He was a hard drinking, lazy man who was the despair of all who knew him. He was also an expert rifleman, which wasn’t very surprising to those living in the valley that Daniel Boone first discovered.
When he was close to thirty, his friend’s death in a barroom brawl, coupled with his growing friendship with a local pastor, turned York from his wild ways and towards God. He settled down with a vengeance, giving up all forms of vice. He also fell in love.
Things were starting to turn around for Alvin York when World War I started. Based on genuine religious convictions (”Thou shalt not kill”), he tried to get himself exempted from the draft on conscientious objector grounds. Because his church was a small, local one, however, the government refused to recognize it (unlike the Quakers, for example), and he got drafted anyway. After some serious discussions with the Major and Captain of his unit, he determined that serving his country in war time was not an affront to his Biblical beliefs and became a committed soldier.
Once in France, York was pitched into some major fighting. His unit was part of a larger surge that was designated to storm a ridge that the Germans held. It started off as a turkey shoot, with the Americans as the turkeys, being mowed down by German machine guns. In the heat of battle, York’s group ended up separated from the rest, at the back of the German position. With most of his men dead, York was nevertheless able to sneak up on the Germans and, using the sharpshooting skills honed in the hills of Tennessee, start picking off the machine gunner’s one by one. Eventually, York picked off at least 9 gunners, with the remaining 8 men in his unit accounting for another 20 or so. They then convinced the Germans to surrender, and marched back to American lines with 130 German prisoners in tow.
Although York was by no means the single-handed avenger quickly portrayed in American popular culture, there was no doubt that it was his skills that (a) got the ball rolling and (b) enabled his men to continue what he had started in terms of taking out the Germans. His was an extraordinary act of courage and skill, and one that was fully recognized at the time. Although he originally received only a Distinguished Service Cross, this was quickly upgraded to the Medal of Honor. The French gave him a Croix de Guerre and Legion of Honor, and Italy and Montenegro awarded him the Croce di Guerra and War Medal.
Along with the military awards came other offers. Hollywood, Broadway, the Vaudeville circuit, corporate America — they all requested his services, with offers totaling into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. York rejected all of these offers, believing it was wrong to turn the sacrifices of war into his own personal money machine. Instead, he returned to his little valley, and set up an agricultural college as well as a Bible school.
I note Sergeant York’s service here, not only because it’s Memorial Day, but because of the way American popular culture celebrated his heroism. America was incredibly excited and inspired by the story of a small town boy, a redeemed sinner, who went on to become one of WWI’s greatest heroes. This was the American success story and people cared about it deeply.
Nowadays, the MSM does not report success stories. They don’t tell about the men and women who achieve in Iraq. Instead, they confine themselves to the stories of those who were the unlucky ones — the victims of gunshots and IEDs, as in this New York Times Memorial Day story.
As for me, you know that I applaud and respect every single American who willingly puts his or her life on the line, in peace time and in war, so that my family and I can live in safety and freedom. I am deeply aware of and grateful to those who pay the ultimate price by giving their lives for my freedom and safety. That holds true for those who escape death, but who nevertheless suffer any injury, from the minor to the grievous. I am not cavalier about those men and women. Nevertheless….
Nevertheless…. Does it strike you as strange that our popular culture cannot bring itself to celebrate the vast majority of our armed forces who have achieved success, whether that success is measured by a stirring gun battle or an extraordinary act of bravery, or just by serving a term of duty unscathed? To the MSM, the war is measured only by loss and pain and death. I’ve come to feel, more and more, that this is not a sign of respect for those who make the ultimate sacrifice, but that this attitude serves more as a form of emasculation, to erase the signs of success and leave American’s generally, and our military specifically, with a drab feeling of loss and failure.
As for me, on this Memorial Day, I give my deep, deep thinks to all American troops, regardless of the nature or outcome of their service.
UPDATE: By the way, I am aware that Memorial Day is when we honor those who fell in the service of this country, while Veterans Day is when we honor all who have served and are serving. I got started on this post, though, when I realized after watching Sargeant York that the MSM treats every day as Memorial Day, with an obsessive focus on fallen soldiers, and no focus whatsoever on the warriors who walk among us.
In this regard, it seems worth pointing to a wonderful Power Line post that highlights Obama’s inability to grasp the difference between the fallen and the walking, and his penchant to do precisely what the media does — treat our troops like helpless, mindless victims, rather than like the pro-active volunteer force that it really is.
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>>this is not a sign of respect for those who make the ultimate sacrifice, but that this attitude serves more as a form of emasculation, to erase the signs of success and leave American’s generally, and our military specifically, with a drab feeling of loss and failure.>>
Also a result of the feminist movement. It is true that our culture has progressed technologically to a point where brawn isn’t generally as important as brain, and although I think there’s a difference between how _most_ men think and approach problems and how _most_ women do the same, still I think that in brain power the sexes are generally equal, which in brawn they are not. It’s also true biologically that any species that is social (as opposed to asocial), the males are physically larger and their testosterone makes them more prepared to defend the family unit, as well as more capable of acquiring the family unit. The feminist movement has defined the social skillsand inclinations of the female as “good” and the more agressive protective skills of the male as “bad”. One of the results of this - along with the idea that females should enjoy the same right to promiscuity that males tend to - is that we have young males who mature physically, but not emotionally. They remain perpetual teenagers, always looking for sexual satisfaction, but never reaching the level of maturity where they are prepared for the responsibility of acquiring and protecting a family that is the purpose of that sexuality.
We need to encourage boys to become _men_. Society today seems to be working against them. The feminist movement has much to answer for, imo.
A lot of people don’t know that Alvin York served with the 82nd Infantry Division that went on to become the 82nd Airborne Division, The All-American Division. They were called that because they were made up of soldiers from every state in the nation.
I have many memories from my service with the 82nd, but some of the strongest are from what might not be so obvious. When a calamity occurs, hurricanes in Florida and New Orleans, riots, wildfires, the 82nd is often called.
We were once deployed to help quell a riot, having Regular Army soldiers on patrol in the US is a really serious thing when you think about it. But, what stuck with me was overhearing someone say, “thank God, it’s the 82nd.” I will carry that ultimate sense of trust in me all my days.
Medea, one of the leaders of Code Pink that was arrested during one of the Petraeus Hearings, said this on a conservative talkshow by Graham something.
She said that it is fine and proper for US Marines to defend Berkley, which is why she refuses to have Berkley contribute to the war in Iraq, which takes away Marines that could otherwise be used to defend Berkley and help Berkley out in natural disasters. She also said Berkley had as its charter something to the effect that they won’t help further war but peace. How they will further peace when the Marines have to go to war to “protect” them, is something she didn’t mention and the conservative talking head wasn’t informed enough to ask.
Ultimately, the sense I got from her is that she thinks Code Pink, and by extension Berkley and those like her, can decide for others what they will do with their life. Her primary excuse for excluding Republicans and conservatives from Berkley’s “diversity”, was that Republicans have many other towns and cities that are for them. Berkley is for the Left, however. She said the same thing to Marine potential recruits, that they could enlist online or in other towns and cities.
In effect, Code Pink, like all proper aristocrats, have decided for people what those people should and can do on the territory of the aristocrats.
Serfs don’t have rights on the noble’s land, you know. They only have privileges, privileges that can be taken away based upon a noble’s whim.
This is completely diametrically opposite to the US Marine, Army, Navy, and Air Force philosophy that teaches that peace is only achieved by allowing personal liberty to flourish. Which means that you must let people make choices of their own free will, otherwise they are just automatons that are worse than useless in war and peace.
Code Pink’s method of convincing people is slapping some chains together and saying “you can’t pass” like some Secret Police Gestapo force out in daylight.
I also heard Harry Reid offer his own personal view of Iraq and of life. I can assure folks, based upon my analysis, that Harry Reid is not so much an enemy of humanity or traitor, as he is just a useful idiot and tool. Reid’s opinions are informed by his advisers and the people that directly seek him out. Reid, because he is a Senator rather than a Governor, then starts making policy decisions based upon what these “advisers” and American citizens tell him.
Statistically, obviously Reid will always hear more negative things about a “broken Army” and a “worthless Iraq” more than he will hear satisfied comments and outcries.
PS.
Reid should appreciate that distinction I have given him, since I usually don’t advocate the executions of simple tools. Do you shoot the gun in the enemy’s hand or do you shoot the enemy’s brain?
PPS
Nevertheless…. Does it strike you as strange that our popular culture cannot bring itself to celebrate the vast majority of our armed forces who have achieved success
Given that our pop culture can’t even bring itself to properly mourn the dead without trying to find out “what is in it for ME, ME, ME”, why would they then be able to to celebrate the successes?
People celebrate the successes because they are directly and intensely invested, directly or indirectly, in the losses experienced. People instinctually know that success not only justifies the losses, but it prevents future losses. People who are victorious in war don’t need to fight too many more battles, while those that are losing will fight many more battles and still get jacked up in the end if they lose.
When you aren’t much interested in learning about the losses, then you also won’t feel too much special feelings when there are successes. Antietam was more of a stale mate than a victory for the North. Yet given what the people compared it to against, the numerous General Lee incursions into the territory of the North, the people of the Union saw Antietam as a great victory and used it to re-elect Lincoln back in.
The problem with American popular culture is that they truly don’t know what it means to lose in warfare. If they did, they would be reading up on Vietnam in their free time. But they don’t, do they Book.
In the spirit of Book’s post, and this day, I recommend visiting William Katz’s great blog site http://www.urgentagenda.com and reading his posting of the story by Ernie Pyle.
I read at one site, and I forget which, the story of Newton, Mass and the horrific losses this small town suffered in WWII. The story neglected to mention the population, described only as a small town, but they lost 269 men and boys killed and missing. The small town of Bedford, Va, where a large percentat of the young men were in the 29th Infantry Division which included the Virginia National Guard, suffered equal or even greater losses.
I reflect on my neighborhood in the early days of the war. In one block there were two young men in their very early 20s. One next door and the other across the street; they both became fighter pilots. Within two years of Pearl Harbor they were both dead. Both had younger brothers who served, and survived. My cousin, two doors away, survived the horrific losses suffered by the 8th Air Force over Germany–at that time the survival rate among bomber crews was less than 25%. His younger brother was a Marine. My Dad was in the Navy landing force at Okinawa. The level of grief and worry in that one block, although duplicated in many neighborhoods throughout the country, would be totally foreign to present day America.
I don’t think the country at this time really understands war.
Oldflyer
This was posted at Power Line.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/
suek -
I wholeheartedly agree with you. But I don’t think it matters much that brawn isn’t as important nowdays as it was before. There is still that essence of man that needs to be cultivated and celebrated. When it isn’t, my gut tells me that bad things happen.
Also, while men are responsible for some of this happening, I too think that it is the feminist movement that shoulders much of the blame.
Too sad.
Deana
Bookworm,
I love your blog for the local coverage it gives to the Bay Area and for its patriotic common sense. (And your good writing and. . .) I am a Cal grad and an active-duty naval officer.
Rest assured that what occurs in Berkeley does not happen all over the country.
Although I have never considered living in Alabama before, I would jump at the opportunity to serve there. On Thanksgiving Day back in 2005, I was in uniform because I was still in training over in Pensacola. I had Thanksgiving brunch at a friend’s house in Mobile and was driving back to the Naval Air Station. Alone, I sat at a Dairy Queen, eating dinner. I walked up to get a drink and a little girl came over to me and said: “Sir, I want to thank you for fighting for our freedom.”
I can hardly type this now, almost three years later without getting emotional. It was and is on my highlight reel of my time in the Navy. I managed to swing by the parent’s table and croak out a thank you, after first thanking the little girl.
Contrast that with California where an Airman I was training with (when I was enlisted) had a soft drink poured on/thrown at him when he was out in town with his parents. An Airman is like a private, a kid just out of high school. . .
I do not understand California. I have been all political stripes in my life and I do not make the big decisions for our country. I just follow my orders to the absolute best of my ability.
So, thank you for your gratitude today. May we remember those who gave all.
NavyOne: As I have been reading about the progress in Iraq, I’ve, of course, read of the new strategy, the superior training of our troops, the safety provided the civilians, and the brutality of our enemy. But I can’t help believing that the closer contact of ordinary Iraqis with our ordinary GIs has shown them somethig of the honor and generosity and humanity that represents the best of our country. We thank you.
My gratitude, NavyOne, is easy: All I have to do is look around at the privileges in my life and be deeply grateful. Your service is hard. You’re giving; I’m taking. How could I be anything but thankful for your willingness to give me and mine the gift of freedom?
One question, though: How in the world did you manage to go to Berkeley and go into the Navy? The Cal I attended 25 years ago worked out to beat out of all its students even the slightest desire to be anything but a card-carrying Marxist. It was only because I wasn’t that political to begin with that I was able to beat back the indoctrination and at that it took me 20 years to become both political and conservative.
Slightly off topic, I know…but for our good friend Echeccone to whom I did not respond on an earlier post, and directly from that famous bastion of Conservative Republican thought called NPR, we have…
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90805085&ft=1&f=1001
Thank you, NavyOne, and thank you to all your brothers- and sisters-in-arms. We sleep well knowing that you and your brethren man the barricades on our behalves. You will be forever honored in my memories and those of my children and grandchildren. All the other ankle-biters that would denigrate you will be forgotten in history for their passing. They will be to memory as dried leaves scattered by the cold winter winds.
God bless you!
I wore uniforms to my little brother’s college graduation last week, and this past weekend to a local bar to meet a friend and to church. I had a minimum of two people at each location come up and thank me for my service. Granted, this was in Western PA or NE Ohio, but it was definitely more than I expected at a bar around midnight.
As for Code Pink, their actions at Berkeley merely gave rise to more pro-Marine slogans, such as “United States Marine Corps: Protecting Pacifists since 1775.”
It makes a great t-shirt: http://www.oo-rah.com/store/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=864
It is always interesting to hear people try to justify how their skins are worth defending through the shedding of blood and toil, but not the brown skins of foreigners and Iraqis.
It almost never works, yet it does, for surely people believe it and not just the ones saying it either.
I participated in our towns Memorial Day parade. It’s a smallish annual rememberance of losses past and present. One of the family groups watching and applauding the parade had simple, professionally appearing signs reading “Thank you”. You can that to your collection, NavyOne.
And as Binder has reminded us, the Code Pinkos and the rest of the Lefties lack another American trait besides patriotism, a sense of humor.
Al
Book, it will be a shame if we lose the representation of our best schools in the military.
Not too long ago I was thumbing through the small school annual style book that was periodically put together by the Naval Aviation Training Command. There was a picture of each Officer, or Officer Candidate, who was in training during the period covered. Each picture was annotated with the college that person attended. I was struck once again by the eclectic mix. There were Officers and Cadets from most Ivy League schools, Duke, Northwestern, and others of the finest schools in the country. There were also young men from small, unknown schools; and since at that time the Navy only required two years of college to enter flight training, there were some from Junior Colleges. To use a hackneyed phrase; Naval Aviation was truly a “melting pot”. I wonder what a current book would look like.
In the interest of full disclosure. It was 1955 and we were all subject to the draft. If you attended a public university you were certainly in ROTC. Our society was structured to ensure that nearly all (men) served the country in one way or another. Not such a bad idea.
Note: Come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing anyone from Berkeley. I will check again
Being a lifelong Red Sox fan, this thread about pilots and the schools attended reminded me of Ted Williams, an American hero. He had only a high school diploma, but completed flight school during WW2. Many who knew him remarked that he was the brightest person they knew. He later was a flight instructor during WW2. He flew 38 combat missions in Korea, some with John Glenn, the future astronaut. Although his war service took nearly five years out of his baseball career, he never publicly complained about his military service.
For the benefit of the diversity people, William’s mother was of Mexican and Basque ancestry. His mother was also a devoted Salvation Army worker. Williams was a graduate of Herbert Hoover High in San Diego, and his politics might be described as Hoover Republican. However, Teddy Ballgame did not fit the PC stereotyping of Republicans. At his Hall of Fame induction speech in 1966 he called for recognition of Negro League players such as Josh Gibson who because of racism were excluded from major league baseball. This was not a change of heart on Teddy Ballgame’s part. Larry Doby, the first black player in the American League, said that Williams was one of the few players to make him feel welcome when he first came into the league. Pumpsie Green, the first black player on the Red Sox, said the same.
Williams devoted a lot of time to sick children, but with one rule: any publicity about it, and he would cease all such efforts. Williams, like all of us, had his faults. As a father and husband, he had his shortcomings. However, his positives greatly outweighed his negatives.
I recommend Leigh Montville’s biography: Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero.
Gringo, I wonder why you stereotype by differentiating Ted Williams’ racial tolerance from other Reublicans. Remember please, that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, while Strom Thurmond was originally a Democrat, and Robert Byrd still is.
But, Ted Williams is a poster boy for my contention that career records in baseball are meaningless. Many legendary ball players lost years of their prime to military service; and Williams, as you say, stepped away from the game twice to serve. No one can project what his records might be.
Oldflyer, you did not read carefully what I wrote: “Teddy Ballgame did not fit the PC stereotyping of Republicans.” I did not imply that I viewed Republicans as racist. I implied that the Politically Correct view Republicans as racist, which is a correct implication, I believe. As my posting was about Williams, I saw no need to go into further discussion on the matter.
One of my Republican set of grandparents had a family member who had died fighting on the side of John Brown at Harper’s Ferry. One of my Democrat set of grandparents was agin’ the Civil Rights Bill, and was the descendant of a slave owner.
While Teddy Ballgame might broken Ruth’s HR record had he not served in the military, he was not the greatest ballplayer who ever lived. That would have been the Babe, who would have made the Hall as a pitcher had he never picked up a bat. BTW, Montville also wrote a good biography on Babe Ruth.
Book et al,
Thanks for your well-wishes. The secret about us in the military is this: We love to serve. I would say that applies to 90% of us. Some are grumblers and in it for a myriad of wrong reasons, but the great, great majority could imagine no better job. We are no different from civilians other than the fact we are serving. We are you. I loathe the divide that liberal Berkeley puts on communities. Of course, I cannot expect the reverence Alabama places on military service to be the norm. But we should not separate our military from society.
On the same day that the little girl wished me her thanks, our pre-Thanksgiving Day breakfast was bought out in town. Me and my three Shipmates never did figure out who footed our bill. I tell you there is no nicer gesture than that. I look forward to buying a meal anonymously for some other service-members in the future.
I came from a liberal family where my father was the silent conservative. But we were patriotic and loved the military. I think those days are over for liberals. It is sad.
My brother is a professor at another UC campus. I introduced his wife to a Marine living in his area so that the Marine could go into her class and share his wartime experiences. She is a history TA, about to get her PHD. The students were in awe of him and his humbleness and his intellect. I think they may have been raised to view Marines as morons, albeit dangerous ones.
I joined (enlisted) in the military because of 9/11 and the fact it fit my life. I love Cal, but wince at the silliness up there. There are many patriotic students at UCB, but the town itself is not.
Old-flyer: I saw some of those same yearbooks over at OCS when I was there. It was surprising how Ivy League heavy the Navy was in those days.
Thanks for the follow-up info, NavyOne. I know only one other person like you — a young man who went to one of the premier colleges and then, after 9/11, decided it was payback time. He’s the opening anecdote in one of my personal favorite articles at American Thinker.
Book,
I don’t want to make myself out to be someone who was sacrificing a 6-figure job to serve. I was working in a cubicle for a large company when 9/11 happened. (It was not a great job.) I also have known people from good schools (although not the top Ivies) who join the military. I work in one of the nerdier fields and I know/knew people from Cal Tech, Williams, Oklahoma State, UCLA, etc.
Thanks for the American Thinker link. If you get a chance, check out this Marine’s book. He is a Dartmouth grad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Fick
I love the Navy. I look at myself as an ambassador of sorts, representing the Navy when in uniform, or in civvies. . . The big lie from the Berkeley pink types is that they support us. We know they don’t, nor do they want us to win in Iraq. We may not be Yale grads, but we are not stupid. Still, I would never say anything to them in uniform or otherwise. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if they choose to lie about it.
>>We are no different from civilians…>>
Disagree. Maybe not those who serve some years and get out, but the career military person _is_ different from civilians. I’m not exactly sure what the difference is (but I know it when I see it!), but there’s a difference. Maybe it’s because they’re “married” to the military. Duty comes first. Always. And that isn’t a burden for the careerist - it’s just a fact. There’s a military mindset - and it seems to be in some men’s personality even if they’re not in the military…they seem to be looking for that lifestyle that is demanding and requires dedication and sacrifice.
Woe to the woman who marries the military man if she’s not prepared to share that dedication…if she’s not, he’ll get out - either from the military or the marriage. More likely, the marriage.
I tend to agree with NavyOne, but also with suek; most, if not all, of the career military people I’ve met can’t think of any job in the civilian world that they’d enjoy working. That’s the way I feel, myself. I didn’t attend a great school, but I ranked in the top ten of my class, and now in my company there’s one Harvard grad and a few other officers from Ivy-league schools. At first they got a few odd looks, but then it simply became obvious that they weren’t any different from the rest of us in the Corps.
I do love a world, Binder, where it’s the Harvards and Ivy-Leaguers who get the odd looks and have to prove themselves. In my world, the contrary is true. As the product of top public universities (and a fairly high-ranking product at that), it’s amazing how hard, as a big firm lawyer, I had to work to push past the “problem” that I didn’t have an Ivy League degree. The cachet associated with those degrees is amazing and, for a couple of years, it’s used to excuse away the fact that the degree holder, while probably a person of many, many virtues, may not be the brightest legal gun in town.
Did you get your discrimination bennies, Book?
>>We are no different from civilians…>>
>Disagree. Maybe not those who serve some years and get out, but the career military person _is_ different from civilians<
My point may have been stated inelegantly. I had wanted to write that we were civilians when we joined. We do not come from some warrior class. And I will return one day to being a civilian. I am no different from you in that we are Americans. . .
Yes, the military is a calling for most and a great responsibility. It requires sacrifice, yet I could not imagine doing anything else with my life. No civilian job (9 to 5-type) would really satisfy me like the Navy does.
Code Pink and some of the folks in Alabama both have strong feelings about the military, just polar opposite from each other. I do not need reverence, but I also would not want to have a soda poured on me.
The military self-selects and segregates people of different caliber out through what is known as a meritocracy. The traditions in the military has been built up to such a level that people of high caliber go in and thus the traditions are set even higher.
The military also has war to keep them on their toes, so this is a multiple order of magnitude increase over purely economic competitive motivations.
What is different is not the basic fundamental matrix, which is the nature of humanity or Americans. What is different is that Americans selectively pick only their best to go to the military. The best raw materials make the best finished products. If there is a flaw in the raw material or fundamental nature of a person, then it’s a crapshoot whether the end product will be glorious victory or disastrous defeat. It will depend upon the craftsman then, meaning the military leader. A great craftsman can make excellent goods from sub-standard material. Take steel for example. It helps to have Damascene steel material, which is steel with various impurities like Molybedenum or some other long chemical name. This gives the finished product the “water mark”, the lines of waves that make a sword extremely beautiful. However, that’s not what makes good sword steel. That has to involve the skill of the craftsman.
I do not need reverence, but I also would not want to have a soda poured on me.
Many military members are examples to civilians in that this is the standard to which not only Americans should hold themselves to, but all of humanity.
Of course, true masters at a craft or skill or a profession did not do it for public adulation or reverence and thus would rightly feel uncomfortable with too much of it. However, it is also a mark of distinction and is a requirement to all those that succeed to beyond the top 1% in human affairs to acknowledge and recognize the respect people will naturally wish to provide them.
What really matters is whether praise has been earned or not. There have been many of the 1% top of humanity that have not earned their way there. Instead, they got there via brutality, exploitation, or socialist promises that manipulated the masses to give them such status and power. The US military has truly earned their place in society, humanity, and history.
We will know when the military fails to earn the praise they are given, when the military leadership makes proclamations or expectations about such things. For the true Enlightened individual, they became Enlightened and superior because of their humble views toward themselves. They know how far they have yet to go, and thus this provides them motivation and also embarassment should others tout them as being the best of the best.
If you believe yourself worthy of praise and adulation, then there will be far less of a motivation to excel over and beyond the normal standards.
Code Pink, because they feel themselves intellectually and morally superior to conservative Americans, do not deserve any praise or respect. Code Pink members like Medea want peace and protection in Berkley, yet will deny and exclude conservatives from enjoying the benefits of Marine protection with the excuse that “conservatives can go somewhere else”. They feel no internal motivation ot excel, just a motivation to become a better parasite. They are not only beggars, but they are also choosers.
Those Medal of Honor award winners will often take every chance to tell you that the real heroes weren’t themselves, but their buddies that died and allowed them, the survivors, to live.
Here is a person that has held himself to an extremely high standard, and all he can do is to look at an unattainable standard that is even higher. Unattainable because it requires dying to acquire.
Compare this with John Kerry and you get a fundamental different in not just raw material, but personality and quality.
>>Many military members are examples to civilians in that this is the standard to which not only Americans should hold themselves to, but all of humanity.>>
I suspect this is the nub of the problem. If you have standards, you also have the possibility of failure. Libs don’t want anyone to fail…hence, they don’t want standards. Life is _so_ much easier if you have no standards.
Even moreso if - as you point out - they “feel themselves intellectually and morally superior to conservative Americans”, by birth, I suspect. Hence they consider themselves the new nobility…the new ruling class - also by birth. The Conservatives are the peons…the “working class”.
There’s also a factor of Americanism here. America - as in the United States of - deliberately discarded the ideas of hereditary class…the royalty, the nobility, the gentry etc. They established a new nation based on a meritocracy - earn it and it’s yours. Anybody can do anything - just work for it. Much easier to inherit it. The military is - as you indicate - also a meritocracy. There is without a doubt a certain amount of the old boys’ club, but while it may get your foot in the door, it won’t get you into the main room - you have to earn _that_ on your own. That’s the heart of Americanism - and it’s contrary to Liberal ideas, which will give to you based on what group you belong to…and which group is considered “most oppressed” at the moment.