Why don't we hear more about the heroes?
Ellen Goodman isn't one of my favorite columnists, but one point she made in her Second Opinion article today (not posted) grabbed my attention.
"Who knows the name of Leigh Ann Hester, a 23-year-old from Kentucky who fought her way to a Silver Star for valor?"
Goodman was focusing on women serving in Iraq, particularly Lynndie England. But she raised a larger issue.
Who knows the name of any soldier who has earned a Silver Star for valor in Iraq?
It seems that very few of our men and women in uniform are receiving media attention for their bravery. (I'm making a notable exception for our own Allison Perkins' outstanding reporting from Iraq.)
Here's Hester's story, which did receive front-page attention in the Washington Post June 26.
Add Hester's name to the handful that might be widely recognized.
They include, of course, Jessica Lynch and Shoshana Johnson, both famous for having been captured in the early days of the war; Lori Piestewa, a Native American who was killed in action, also in the war's early stages; and England and others implicated in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
Is that it?
I didn't know until I did a little research about Paul R. Smith, posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in Iraq. Why isn't his name as well-known as Lynndie England's?
I'm not writing this in support of the war but in support of the brave Americans and allies -- including Iraqis fighting to build a democratic country -- who have served there.
Of course, it's easy to believe the worst if you don't hear about much except terrorist attacks, casualty reports and protests. Lately, the most prominent faces associated with the Iraq war are those of Lynndie England and Cindy Sheehan. I think our military men and women deserve better than that.
Comments (4)
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This is from a recent interview of a soldier in Iraq by NBC's Matt Lauer. Lauer questioned the soldiers' claim that troop morale was good:
"LAUER: Don't get me wrong, I think you're probably telling the truth, but there might be a lot of people at home wondering how that might be possible with the conditions you're facing and with the insurgent attacks you're facing... What would you say to people who doubt that morale could be that high?
CAPTAIN SHERMAN POWELL: Well sir, I'd tell you, if I got my news from the newspapers I'd be pretty depressed as well."
I think that pretty well sums up the situation. As they say in the TV news industry, "If it bleeds, it leads."
The public in this country forms it's opinions mostly from the news it receives through the media. If the news is continually negative, then the opinions resulting from that news will reflect that negativity. In effect, perception becomes reality, no matter if it's accurate or not.
I spent most of 2004 in Iraq, and saw the operations of the US Embassy offices on a daily basis. The unbelievable amount of work we're doing in conflict resolution, local government and infrastructure building, women's rights, refugee rights, and general public welfare projects is rarely reported. Negative incidents occur, but rarely.
News media coverage does not show an accurate picture of what the US does there on a daily basis in the humanitarian arena.
Posted on October 4, 2005 8:55 AM
Thanks for your comments, John. And thanks for your work in Iraq.
The rebuilding and the transformation of Iraq from a hostile dictatorship to a democracy is an amazing undertaking. It's also terribly underreported. But if it succeeds -- a big if -- the long-term benefits will be immense.
Posted on October 4, 2005 9:19 AM
Because Doug the media, press and other would rather make a hero out of Cindy than out of Leigh Ann or Paul. The media would rather focus on negativity than on positiveness and that has been true since the 60's when we were bombarded while at the supper table each nite with news from Viet Nam. The media still has not overcome the VietNam mentality. On top of that they dislike an administration so badly that they refuse to report anything positive. You heard nothing of the nuclear treaty or disbanding of such in Lybia, the India/Kashmir short fuse, little on N.Korea except that the media seems to want to report only the times it appears to be falling apart and dwell on that, not on the joint efforts of all the other countries that the US has. involved in this. All the rest is focused on Iran and Iraq and negativity. I'll stop, you've heard it all before so why continue beating a dead horse.
Posted on October 4, 2005 12:00 PM
Doug, et al.,
So Iraq is going to be a democracy? Are you smoking wacky weed? I guess the fact that under the referendum going to be voted on that the ultimate law will be Islamic Law kinda blows that out of the water.
It was a mistake to invade, and a mistake to stay. All the wonderful war stories about our brave men and women sent into harms way for lies does not change that. I appreciate heroism as much as the next person, and believe that we ought to report those stories also- but don't tell lie about what we are there for, and what type of government they are creating.
They are creating another Iran.
As if we needed two.
Posted on October 5, 2005 5:18 PM