Agreed- I think it should be in the headlines everywhere when it is awarded, every single time. To consider it “not newsworthy” is, in my opinion, shameful.
Thank you for bringing this up Chacoguy. I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t know the answer and saddened to know that they were all awarded posthumously. The only CMOH recipient I can name is Audie Murphy from WWII. And that’s only because he made movies.
Maybe we should petition congress to reserve a national day of recognition for our “true American heroes”*. And regardless of what your views on this or any other war are, you must accord these soldiers the title of heroes.
*Yes, I know we have Veterans Day, and Memorial Day but I am a veteran and in no way do I consider myself in the same category with a CMOH recipient. (And I ain’t dead yet)
Peanuthead - US Navy 1968 - 1972
EJsGirl: I like you
The way to keep politics out of it is to call the thread “Medal of Honor recipients/honorees” and not “Real American Heroes,” which implies a contrast with other sorts of heroes counting for less.
Speaking of contrasting one kind of hero unfavorably over another, I’d like to note the CMOH is our nations highest military award, not necessarily higher than civilian awards.
That said, I think it’s amazing what the CMOH honorees have done, and they have my respect.
I also think that counting either medals or body bags is, in either case, needlessly reducing a complex issue to bean-counting.
They are thugs engaged in an occupation of a conquered and ruined land. Nothing they do is admirable; none of them are heroes. Using your “it doesn’t matter why they are there” definition, a Nazi SS thug who shot a Jew to keep his fellow genocide from being shot or stabbed was a “hero”. The cause people are fighting for does matter, and nothing done for an evil cause is heroic. And our cause in Iraq is evil.
Calling our soldiers there “heroes” cheapens the term.
Der Trihs, save your bile for those who got us into this war. That was an ugly thing to bring into this thread.
May I add this, written better than I could ever do
::: raises a glass to these mens memory:::
[Moderator Admonition]You know this isn’t appropriate for IMHO[/Moderator Admonition]
I used to watch G.I. Joe all the time. Does that count?
Ah, “real” American heroes. I’m interested to know about the fake ones for comparison?
It’s not real unless it was G.I. Joe the Plumber, from real America.
Without reading any farther than the first post (the op) I would venture a way-off guess of 12 MOH awarded during the current Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. Since this post will be appearing so late in the thread I may look like quite a fool, but I thought it would be fun to take a stab at it from the very start of the thread.
But if all men were cowardly and selfish, there would be no more wars. Ironic, isn’t it?
But that makes them “just following orders”, not heroic. Blindly following orders regardless of the mission or outcome isn’t heroic. And if people didn’t allow themselves to be used as cannonfodder, maybe the administration would have to use other more peaceful means.
The OP asks, Are we paying attention to the war? To the estimated 1.2 million Iraqi civilians killed?
No, Gigi, that’s not it at all. “Blindly following orders” does not earn a man the CMOH. If you were to read the citations of the men who have earned it in the last 20 years, you would see that.
For example, here are the citations for Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart, two Delta operators who earned the CMOH attempting to save the life of a fellow soldier in the face of overwhelming force.
It’s not about the cause, it’s about the man.
This is an ugly thread, at least for someone who doesn’t automatically see America as the good guy in this.
Nitpick - it is not the Congressional Medal of Honor. It’s just the Medal of Honor. And you get it, specifically, for going above and beyond the call of duty, not for following orders.
Unfortunately, it seems to be an unofficial rule now that you have to be dead first. There was a thread a while ago where examples were given of obvious Medal candidates who haven’t received it, presumably because they didn’t die.
ETA - Seriously, Der Trihs, tacky. There’s a time and a place, and this isn’t it.
I don’t automatically see America as the “good guy” in any situation. I think you need to pull your head out of your ass.