Already Proud, But Aware, Too

My friend Linda Liebich sent me an e-mail today that touts a Navy Cross awarded to a Marine for Iraq-based duty. The forwarded e-mail, also suggests that the mainstream media is not telling such stories of the troops:

The odd fact about the American media in this war is that it's not covering the American military. The most plugged-in nation in the world is receiving virtually no true information about what its warriors are doing.

Like me, Linda thanked God for US soldiers. Why not? I was a US soldier for three years, but not in any duty that would have earned anything as glorious as a Navy Cross. I served three years in the First Cav Division during the Cold War, late 1970s.



Then I took those GI Bill benefits that I earned in uniform at Fort Hood down to Austin, to get a journalism degree.

At UT Austin's J-school I learned to rely on multiple sources of information. The New York Times is an easy target for the right-wing today, but the paper does cover the American military man. On the same day that Linda e-mailed me about that overlooked Navy Cross, the Times ran a big story on Company E, the Marine unit that sustained the highest level of casualties during 2004.

Marines are taking it hard in Iraq. But there's much more to read about field-level experience than some might believe. If the Times is too liberal for you, try Soldiers for the Truth, a Web site with reverence for the military. They're not very happy at SFTT about how those billions for Iraqi freedom are being spent in the field.

But SFTT has run a little venom about humanitarian missions, too. One column there made sport of the relief workers who provided relief for the tsunami victims early this year. In a rebuttal editorial at SFTT, another Navy pilot said the columnist got it wrong — relief is an important mission. If that kind of military mind can show respect for civilians trying to help, maybe those who bristle at any military point of view could learn to respect more militant service. We can hope.