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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! November 27, 2005 Time For Heroes?By Greyhawk"Heroes Abroad, Unknown At Home" - In today's New York Times David Brooks (a conservative columnist) describes the heroics of Marines in combat in Iraq, then bemoans the fact that Americans aren't getting the hero stories from the frontlines. He blames Americans. Second, why aren't there more stories about war heroes like Christopher Ieva? The casual courage he and his men displayed is awe-inspiring, but most Americans couldn't name a single hero from this war. That's because despite all the amazing things people are achieving in Iraq, we don't tell their stories back here. That's partly because in the post-Vietnam era many Americans - especially those who dominate the culture - are uncomfortable with military valor. That's partly because some people don't want this war to seem like a heroic enterprise. And it's partly because many Americans are aloof from this whole conflict, and couldn't tell you a thing about Operations Matador and Steel Curtain and the other major offensives.He partly has a point - and that's more evidence of failure on the part of those who are supposed to be informing the public - (newspapers, once upon a time, had that role) but if that was spelled out in the original piece then an alert editor excised it, leaving only the "stupid Americans" part behind. (Though that bit about "those who dominate the culture" may be an oblique and and self-aggrandizing reference.) We're left with a rather astounding example of those who have failed utterly in their responsibility to the public blaming that public for their failure. As noted, Brooks is not an "anti-war liberal" in the tradition of the majority of current Times staff, but hearing those with the power to "make heroes" complain about their failure to do so disturbs me even more coming from someone with "pro-war" credibility. Readers might be a bit confused if they recall the similar New York Times story from August bemoaning the fact that there are no hero stories from the Iraq war. But the difference between it and this latest version is that in the earlier example the Times blamed the Pentagon for their lack of heroes. Still, kudos to the Times for finally telling the story of a hero in Iraq. Definitely a baby step up from their normal efforts at changing the words of any quoted soldier to make them appear to say the exact opposite of what they really did. Too bad this story is only told in the context of a complaint, and worse that its only available to "Times Select" customers who are willing to pay an annual fee for this sort of stuff. But don't give up hope. While Americans might be missing out, the British aren't, as the London Sunday Times reports for free today: ANGERED by negative portrayals of the conflict in Iraq, Bruce Willis, the Hollywood star, is to make a pro-war film in which American soldiers will be depicted as brave fighters for freedom and democracy.The film isn't even past the idea stage yet, but no doubt the New York Times movie review has already been written. Update: For a hint of what the actual hero story was about, here's a Chicago Tribune report and here's a Marine Corps account of a Bronze Star award. Posted by Greyhawk / November 27, 2005 2:47 PM | Permalink 5 TrackBacksMost Americans couldn't name a single hero from this war. It's partly because many Americans are aloof from this whole conflict, and couldn't tell you a thing about Operations Matador and Steel Curtain and the other major offensives. And whose fau... Read More At a time when many in Hollywood are anti-war and anti-Administration, this is a breath of fresh air. Read More Some things I intended to excerpt in individual posts if I hadn't run out of time:Uncle Jimbo: Beyond Neocon- Rise of the Rational Hawk Michelle Malkin: Protest Photo Of The Day Dafydd ab Hugh: Give Me That Old Time Religion Read More Why is it that the liberal media (that's virtually ALL of the MSM with the occasional exception of Fox) is so uncomfortable with military valor. Read More I met Dan Swift briefly this past summer at the NYPD-FDNY rugby match dedicated to Sgt. Engledrum and his family. But I didnt get the chance to really talk to him. I wish I had. I still want to thank him, soldier to soldier for doing his best to sav... Read More 26 Comments |
November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
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The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
There aren't many movies that convince me they're worth the price of admission, but if this one makes it to theaters I'll plunk down my money, happily.
According to a flyer produced by the 1st Cavalry Division Public Affars Office after the Division returned from OIF II in MAR 05 (which I am now holding in my sweaty little hands), the Division awarded as of 9 FEB 05, 175 awards for valor. How many of these citations have YOU heard of?
This situation doesn't just apply to this conflict. Ask around your office or school how many people know who Alvin York, Audie Murphy or Roy Benavidez were and what they did for this country?
At least the blogs are getting out many of the stories, often in great detail. Of course, the vast majority of the public remains more interested in "Lost" than in the realworld situation in Iraq. For many, Iraq is just a soap opera that has outrun their interest.
BTW, while our troops are fighting so bravely for freedom in the Middle East, it's being quietly stolen away in some places people don't seem to care very much about. Check out my posting at http://datatroll.blogspot.com (you might at least like my London Tube Rider T-shirt :)
The President pins the Medal of Freedom on a draft dodger like Mohammad Ali, {who embraced Islam so as to better trash his country and avoid the war, another real hoot was that his adoption of Islam meant that he embraced NON-VIOLENCE}. But when have we seen the President recognizing by bemedaling the men who are making his vision a reality.
I don't blame the media, they are lefties, what do you expect.
Rather I blame the White House communication team, which is a sad joke. As Mort Kondracke said on Fox, "this White House communication staff is the worst I ever saw...."
The President needs to rhetorically wage this war.
"Most Americans couldn't name a single hero from this war. It's partly because many Americans are aloof from this whole conflict, and couldn't tell you a thing about Operations Matador and Steel Curtain and the other major offensives."
(Excuse my editing for the sake of brevity.)
And whose fault is that ? Our "press" doesn't tell us these things. It's not "Stupid Americans", it's "Stupid American Press".
I don't go to movies very often these days, but I will be there standing in line opening night for this one. Thank you Bruce !
Hey Dan? While I agree some stuff the CiC could do in a more public way he's basically caught between the Devil and The Deep Blue Sea. If he does personally pin awards then he's grandstanding. If he doesn't then he's a heartless SOB. Go figure! 'Sides, he's been doing things you just don't hear about and the 2/2 Warlords appreciate it:
http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051125/NEWSREC0101/511240330
I'm still wondering how the 1st Battle of Fallujah movie will turn out. Haven't heard anything since the announcement it was going to be made. Probably rate right up there with "Over There" I'd imagine. (and no, I won't take a potshot at Sites although it's so very Pulitzer-like tempting in this context! heh!)
A couple of comments. First off, it could have something to do with the fact that, in typical Bush administration fashion, the Pentagon lied through its teeth to the American public about Jessica Lynch and that Tillman guy. The former who didn't do what the liars in the Pentagon said she did, and the latter who the liars in the Pentagon forgot to mention was killed by friendly fire.
So, if there are no hero stories from the war it can be pinned directly on the Pentagon, which time after time after time has proven that it cannot be trusted with even basic facts.
As for the Battle of Fallujah, I hope Bruce Willis's "pro-war" movie will show the U.S. using white phosophoros as a weapon and then going to the public and lying about it.
No wonder two-thirds of the public thinks the Iraq War was a waste, and a majority of the public thinks the Fake President is personally dishonest.
Wilson? You don't belong in this conversation. Spew your bile somewhere else on a political thread. This is a thread about American Heroes. Something of which you are not, never will be, nor qualified to speak about. You couldn't even sniff "that Tillman guy's" shorts! You young squire wouldn't understand Honor, Duty, Country if it bit you on the butt.
You cannot even get your facts straight to begin with. The 1st Battle of Fallujah will star Harrison Ford. The battle was a Marine OP Apr04. The 2nd Battle of Fallujah was a combined OP Nov04. Bruce Willis will be starring in a movie on the heroes of Deuce Four which is an Army unit that did an amazing job in Mosul. You simply have no clue. Or intestinal fortitude.
Go away pantywaist. Take it to another thread and leave this one alone.
JarheadDad, nice try at sidestepping the Pentagon's premediated lying in the Tillman and Lynch cases. So why do you think they did it, anyway, i.e., lied about Lynch and covered up Tillman's being killed by friendly fire while releasing out a lie? What is it about these people that makes them such liars, anyway, and what is it about you that makes you so willing to lap up their lies?
By the way, your Fake President has never attended a military funeral. He couldn't possibly care less about the dead and wounded. He is totally indifferent to their fate, which is probably a function of his own cowardice during the Vietnam War + his knowledge that his lies to get us into the Iraq adventure have killed tens of thousands of people.
One thing I don't wonder is how he sleeps at night George W. Bush is a drunk, and I'm sure he drinks himself to sleep.
No sidestepping here Wilson. You're a whiney little keyboard warrior that likes to pick on women. Military wives at that. You have no guts, no scruples, no morals, no class, and no nads. I think that pretty much covers it.
You basically are a worthless little boy with delusions of grandeur and nothing to back it up. What part of this do you not understand?
Jarhead: He'd have to have a sense of shame to understand. Since he has none, he'll spew anything so long as it annoys or hurts the people he hates.
He'll meltdown eventually, cross the line and get banned for a few months. Like he did last July or so. The fact that he's using older smears might indicate he's getting closer to that point.
Understood Patrick. He can spout off all he wants as far as I'm concerned. It shows how easily led he is and how weak his mind is. Typical of the gilded youth of his age and circumstance. I just ignore it for the most part.
But when he starts spewing his bile and denigrating young men of character that have given their lives for something for which they had the moral fortitude to fight for, well, then he's crossed a line with me. And his threatening a military wife puts him so far over that line that it's time for him to understand that words have consequences. Easy to be a big man behind a keyboard!
I'd love to bend him over my knee and wear out his backside like his parents obviously refused to do. Now that could even be fun. We could sell tickets and donate the funds to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund or FbL's ValourIT program. Would you buy one? ;-)
Annoyed? Yeah, a bit maybe but then I'm easily amused! :-o
Michael Yon is a great writer and is himself a hero as far as I am concerned because he tells the stories I want to hear that few others are telling.
Kudos to Micheal and to Deuce Four.
I can't tell you anything about hero's but from watching Fox I can tell you anything you want to know about Natallie Holloway.
Wilson ... if President Bush did attend one of those funerals, I can predict your responses:
> "Let me guess -- the dead soldier was the son of one of his oil buddies (though I don't see how that happened -- a rich guy's son joined this Army?)".
> "There he goes again ... using our dead to score political points."
Ever thought, Wilson, that if he attended, the funeral would end up being focused on his presence ... and not on the fallen warrior?
Now, he has met with the families to console them ... despite the contradictions of your fellow-traveler in lies, Cindy Sheehan.
However, not attending individual funerals -- a policy practiced by many other Presidents, on both sides of the politcal fence -- has its roots in common sense, not crassness. These events should be about the fallen warriors themselves, and not become press events around the CINC.
Go peddle your garbage on another thread ... the others are right; you have no place here.
Well if we get back to the topic at hand as opposed to Jarhead Dad's S&M fantasies, my point was and remains the following: The biggest reason we don't have any widely recognized Iraq War heroes is that the stories of the first two trotted out by the Pentagon were transparent, cheesy military lies. Beyond that, the practical reality is that you tend to get heroes from wars you win as opposed to those you are losing.
By the way, Jarhead Dad, what's the deal with the S&M fantasies? They seem to be ever-present in your cohort. You're into spankings. Others are into forcing other people to masturbate. Some seem to go for plain ol' male-female rape, while others like the anal thing with chemlights.
There are the voyers who take videos of translators raping young boys, and then there are the really creative (the Pentagon's word, not mine) who do elaborate "scenes" where they dress a guy in women's clothing, tell him he's queer and have him dance with an American soldier.
You know, I always thought there were bars in L.A. for this sort of thing, but it seems you folks party hearty yourselves. Learn something new every day, don't we?
Isn't it amazing how the American public continues to trust the US military more than the media? And they continue to re-elect George Bush?
Being right is better than being like Wilson...
Were the Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman stories wrong? Yes. The reasons they were put out were different (with Lynch they mistook the eyewitness statements about a "blonde soldier" fighting to the end as Lynche. With Tillman, wouldn't be the first time the guys on the ground have lied to cover up a goof-up).
BUT...the rest of Wilson's crap is just that. Most Americans wouldn't know the truth if it bit them on the ass. And to qoute another movie "you can't handle the truth." So keep living in your little make believe world Wilson, and let the grown ups take care of the real boogie men.
Well "nurseboy," it would be nice if the "adults" could "take care" of the boogeymen without creating more of them, and without turning themselves into Rightwingnut Perverts and Liars for Armerica. Face it, you hate everything about this country and what it stands for. You should declare your allegiance to the other side, given how thoroughly you've been fighting on their behalf.
Wilson, what you call "making more of them" ("them" being boogeymen) is better phrased "bringing them out into the open".
They aren't new -- they were already there.
As I've said before, these men are not freedom fighters defending hearth and home ... they are terrorists seeking to subjugate others to their will ... or seeking to end the lives of those who will not submit.
You don't learn how to hate that way overnight; i.e. in response to recent actions on our part. IMO, it takes too long to warp the nature of that many humans, that much.
IMO, they were already inclined towards hating us, well before we set foot in Iraq ... thanks to the rhetoric and fanaticism from that part of the world ... and further motivated by the perceptions of perversion and decadence that is seen in the West.
A perception you are wrongly helping to feed ...
I notice you are slipping into more and more sexual innuendo -- and as a result, stepping closer and closer to the abyss of troll "martyrdom" -- right along with straining at every gnat of news you consider bad for this Administration, and/or using propagandists like Atrios to prove your point.
Running out of ideas?
Wow, THAT is probably the most blatant example of projection from Kolb I've seen so far.
Rich, when George W. Bush reopened Saddam Hussein's rape rooms under American military management, he created more boogeymen. And you helped.
Incidentally, Rich, it's well, rich that YOU would accuse ME of "sexual innuendo," when in fact it's YOU and "Jarhead Dad," who doesn't appear to have any military background, who are all in favor of sex games by our troops. As long as they're rape, and as long as the "enemy" is the victim.