“You truly are an American hero,” Chief U.S. District Judge Frank Whitney said before sentencing Litteral. “But just because you’re an American hero doesn’t mean you’re excused from the laws of the land.”
Very sensible, but unless this jackass had earned a chestful of Bronze Star Medals with "V" devices, he's not necessarily a hero. To say that everybody who served was a hero denigrates the idea of heroism and, for that matter, service.
For instance, here's one citation picked at random from Medal of Honor recipients:
I would argue that you don't need medals to be a hero at all. Military service isn't the only route to hero-hood. Muhammad Ali was more of a hero than chickenshit Cheney for being a conscientious objector, loudly, with a good argument, and going to jail for his principles.
Also, that "all folks who served are heros" crap meme that gets spouted these days- how about taking care of these folks better when they get back, or better, not sending them to places like Iraq where we didn't need to be already? I've got a nephew in Fallujah right now…ugh.
Yer right, "heroism" doesn't belong exclusively to the military, and my military medals (affectionately known as "been-there buttons") attest to the fact that heroism is not required just to get medals. But if you say a guy is a hero because he was in the military, then he ought of have been a hero by their standards, which they adhere to scrupulously.
This is all part of the Vietnam hangover, I think, because so many people refused to serve. When the next war came around in 1991, people wanted to honor those who did go, even if they were all volunteers. They're not wrong to want to honor them.
He didn't take the service oath Litteral-ly.
Very sensible, but unless this jackass had earned a chestful of Bronze Star Medals with "V" devices, he's not necessarily a hero. To say that everybody who served was a hero denigrates the idea of heroism and, for that matter, service.
For instance, here's one citation picked at random from Medal of Honor recipients:
http://www.history.army.mil/moh/vietnam-m-z.html
I would argue that you don't need medals to be a hero at all. Military service isn't the only route to hero-hood. Muhammad Ali was more of a hero than chickenshit Cheney for being a conscientious objector, loudly, with a good argument, and going to jail for his principles.
Also, that "all folks who served are heros" crap meme that gets spouted these days- how about taking care of these folks better when they get back, or better, not sending them to places like Iraq where we didn't need to be already? I've got a nephew in Fallujah right now…ugh.
/rant
Yer right, "heroism" doesn't belong exclusively to the military, and my military medals (affectionately known as "been-there buttons") attest to the fact that heroism is not required just to get medals. But if you say a guy is a hero because he was in the military, then he ought of have been a hero by their standards, which they adhere to scrupulously.
This is all part of the Vietnam hangover, I think, because so many people refused to serve. When the next war came around in 1991, people wanted to honor those who did go, even if they were all volunteers. They're not wrong to want to honor them.