Hero Worship

If ever there was a single word that could link the X-Games to ancient Greece it must be “epic.” Picture Odysseus, sporting linen robes and leather sandals, nailing a wrong-footed 900 during the medal round of the half-pipe jam session . . . everyone there hailing the moment as being “epic” just before taking a long pull from an energy drink.

Awesome, radical, wicked, cool, and, of course, epic are all tired examples of adjectives that have taken on new meanings very different from their original ones. Everyone can provide an example of such bastardized words that annoy them in particular. Linguists will tell you that languages are fluid and ever changing however much we may wish otherwise, that the younger generations will always change some aspect of the common culture so as to find a point of delineation between them and their parents’ generation. Language is one such aspect susceptible to their changes. Some words, though, cannot have multiple meanings because they serve such very important roles in our society. Such important words include “guilty,” “innocent,” “oath,” “duty,” “legal,” “illegal,” et cetera. “Hero” is a label I’ve heard and seen all too often, in literally every form of news and entertainment media, since the attacks on September 11th.

In my days as an enlisted soldier, I had the honor and pleasure of being in attendance when all the surviving Medal of Honor recipients gathered in Arlington Cemetery. And, yes, I would like to emphasize “recipient” because no one “wins” the Medal of Honor; it’s not a lottery. Every bit of those medals is earned. The point being that those men are heroes because they have acted heroically. It seems that any person who flashes across the television screen these days is labeled a hero as long as they are dressed in some sort of military uniform. As a former soldier, let me issue the guarantee to all those who hold a contrary notion that there are a great many men and women in military uniforms are anything but heroic.


The issue, I believe, stems from over-done patriotism by the Right while the Left’s intentions are to marginalize military personnel into yet another group of victims. Sean Hannity held a drive to provide military families with turkeys and other foodstuffs one Thanksgiving. I don’t know if he still hosts the program, but I wonder if Mr. Hannity is aware that every person and their families, if they have one, is given a monthly allowance of hundreds of dollars to specifically to purchase foodstuffs in addition to their base pay. It is called BAS: basic allowance for sustenance. The only military personnel who don’t receive this benefit are those who reside in barracks and they are provided more than three meals a day without charge in the on-base dining facilities. And let me tell you, back in my early Army days I would go to a nearby Airforce base for the occasional late-night meal. The food was better than any restaurant that doesn’t require a jacket and tie.

I applaud Sean Hannity’s desire to express appreciation to those who have voluntarily taken on the duties inherent with the military; but, the source of that desire cannot derive from pity because pity is the emotion we reserve for those whom we detest. Soldiers are not pitiful. They are well-paid, well-equipped, well-housed, well-trained, and given staggering amounts of benefits to bolster their base salaries. Sure, they may suffer the inefficiencies and miles of red tape within the massive bureaucracy that is the United States military; but, there is no need to waste any pity on the plight of soldiers or their families for they are not pitiful.

Now, what I have experienced are soldiers who recognize the generosity of people like Sean Hannity and will pour on the drama so as to take advantage. Those same soldiers are the ones seen maxing-out their credit cards at the local department stores and then filing for bankruptcy. These soldiers will also be very gracious to the elderly couple that offers to pay their bill while dining out and oh-so-humbly accept thanks for serving the country. Odd, though, that these soldiers are seldom if ever seen with a rifle in their hands or with muddy boots and are certainly never found serving in the ranks of the Infantry, for instance. Because it is so difficult to be ejected from the Army’s ranks, they know they can soak up all of the many pays and benefits – while making their pay stub seem sickeningly small (there are ways, trust me) – and during the standard work day they can worry themselves with anything but work. Just about the worst they can expect is . . . wait for it . . . yes, a counseling statement.

No, these are the soldiers who cannot manage their finances and have no shame in siphoning from the generosities of people like Mr. Hannity; and, yes, they are quite pitiful.

Then there are those who see news clips of wounded soldiers and, instead of shaking the soldiers’ hands and then leaving them alone, feel the need to coddle and coo and dump loads of pity all about the poor, little soldiers. The professional soldier doesn’t need and certainly doesn’t want exceptions and sympathies and empathies, but they’ll appreciate a simple thanks or nod of the head. They do their job for many different reasons but they don’t do the job so as to be made an object of pity.

A fellow called in to Rush Limbaugh’s program recently and admitted to feeling guilty for having participated in the Cash for Clunkers scheme. The man went on to say that the new car was for his daughter and her husband was in Iraq and Presto, Whammo! Rush promptly absolved the man of any wrong-doing. Why? Because of the poor, little soldier suffering in Iraq who qualifies for exceptions that other Americans don’t.

It’s strange to me that military people and their families would be treated so differently than any garden-variety civilian. Were it up to me, military people and their families would be held to a far higher standard than the garden-variety civilian. Somehow, though, the military has been shouldered with the stereotype of being a last-resort job for the bottom-of-the-barrel type of people. While there may be a healthy amount of dead-beat soldiers who do nothing but use the military as a welfare fund, the professional trooper is far from bottom-of-the-barrel because the job of fighting and waging war could not be performed as well and we do with low caliber people.

Ever met a West Point graduate? I have and I’ve served with them and under them. Sure, I’ll admit that the love-making they enjoy with their class rings is obnoxious, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a higher quality employee anywhere. Now picture it: an active duty soldier who likely drives a German luxury car or two, has graduated from The United States Military Academy – which offers one of the finest educations in the world, if not the finest – and has a golden ticket for a resume. And you want to take a collection to buy this person a turkey for Thanksgiving? Does this soldier really sound like a victim in need of special exceptions and pity?

No, no pity. But this soldier isn’t a hero, either. He or she is just a soldier and that’s all.

The political and ideological Left, on the other hand, treat military people and their families as pitiful creatures for various reasons that do neither the soldier nor the lefty any good. Just as the left has taken it upon themselves to shelter their many pet victim groups from the realities of daily life, they try to extend the same shelter to military folks. Victims and minority groups and trod-upon people who can’t do for themselves require assistance – see, this is all political – and who better to provide that continuous, never-ending assistance than the big, federal government? The more the left can divide people into groups and then isolate those groups and then convince those groups that they have been wronged in some way or are victims of the system the more reliance on the “generosity” of the leftist politicians and thus, more votes.

There are also those on the left who simply feel outright disgust and pity for the poor, dumb military folks.

To all those who feel pity for anyone in the military, I say, “Go blow it out your ear!”