Time for REAL Hero Worship

What a week. What a week.

While I was waxing poetic about silly things like the , President Obama had given the order to take down Osama bin Laden. I don’t know what you were doing over the weekend, but I know it gave me some perspective about all that whining I did when I was ripping up the poison ivy growing up the side of my house. Yeah. I’m not so brave.

You know who is brave? Navy SEAL Team 6.  We’ll never know who they are. We'll never be able to fly flags for them or build them monuments. But we are all so thankful. Truly our bravest and finest. A-M-A-ZING!  That’s what my daughter said.

So, we all agree. They are heroes.

Wikipedia reads heroes are “characters who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self sacrifice—that is, heroism—for some greater good of all humanity.”

On Monday, the President had a scheduled presentation of two Medals of Honor. It was only covered by the media because they were hoping he might say some additional words about the previous days' mission. Both of the honorees served in Korea. Private First Class Anthony T. Kaho’ohanohano, from Hawaii, saved his men by providing cover as they fell back from an enemy that outnumbered them. When he ran out of ammunition, he grabbed a shovel and engaged in hand-to-hand combat. He held them off long enough that his men were able to regroup and retake the hill. They found six dead enemy soldiers around him. Private First Class Henry Svehla, from New Jersey, led his men into enemy territory and after taking a wound to his face, threw himself on a grenade to save the others.

I watched the entire ceremony with tears streaming down my face. (I encourage you to click on the link above and watch the actual ceremony.) I cried not only because of the amazing sacrifice of these men and what is courage beyond anything I can imagine, but for the anger I felt at realizing I’d never watched one of these ceremonies before. Shame on me. The Medal of Honor is the highest honor that can be bestowed on a member of the military. It takes years and an act of Congress. They research the story from all angles to test its validity. Families must convince their senators and representatives to take up their cause to Congress. These men were also heroes.

America's volunteer armed services defend us all over the world. But I think we only give them lip service. There is a lot of talk about the “cost” of war. (By the way, to date...the total cost of war allocated by “Congress is $1.26 trillion, with $815 billion to Iraq and $445.1 billion to Afghanistan. The numbers include both military and non-military spending such as reconstruction,” according to CostofWar.com.) BUT... Did you know that since the Iraq War started in March of 2003, almost 4,500 American service men and women have died and another 33,000 have been wounded? They will not all receive a medal of honor, but they gave their lives. 

And instead of honoring them by being civil to one another, or having a real conversation about where we go from here or how to bring them home, we’ve spent these last few days squabbling over whether or not to release the photo, who should take the most credit (really?), how we got the intel and how the poll numbers look.

I've heard a lot about what we think we deserve and what we think we're owed. More info, more pictures, more bang for our tax dollars. (The last one makes me sickest of all.) What have you had to sacrifice since 9-11? Taking your shoes off at the airport? Those who lost no one have sacrificed very little. "We" are owed nothing. We owe our gratitude.

Families lose sons and daughters, fathers and mothers. Some are gone forever; some are injured beyond repair. It’s not about whether you like Obama, or blame Bush; it’s not assuming things will go back to the way they were before 9-11; they won’t. It’s not arguing about who’s more patriotic or who supports our troops more; it’s about being a country that pays attention to our troops. We should be a country with NO homeless veterans. A country that gives the best medical and emotional care to the ones who return. A country that teaches the meaning of being silent during taps and taking hats off during the National Anthem. They deserve our undivided time and attention. Not just on Memorial Day. Not just on 9-11. Not just when they do something A-M-A-ZING—because spending their lives protecting us makes them all heroes.