INDCJournal: 38,000

September 21, 2006

38,000

Posted by Bill

Unknown soldiers: With 38,000 Bronze Stars awarded in the Iraq war, where are the stories of heroism?
...
I've been following the war fairly closely for three and a half years, and I admit I can't think of 10 American servicemembers who have made headlines for their heroism.

One of the media's staggering failures in covering the past 5 years of war has been its relative ignorance of military heroism, particularly when that bravery involves killing the enemy. SFC Paul Ray Smith defied the trend and made headlines because his Medal of Honor citation and sacrifice were too amazing to ignore; SGT Leigh Ann Hester's aggressive defense of a supply convoy garnered attention because of the uniqueness of a female receiving a silver star in combat; Dr. Richard Jadick made the cover of Newsweek because his valor saved lives, rather than took them. These exceptions merely prove the rule.

Few Americans outside of the blogosphere have heard of CPT Brian Chontosh, CPT Dominique B. Neal or SGT Kenneth Conde Jr., unless they read DoD press releases, the Marine Corps Times or other military-centric information outlets. The reasons are simple: despite the gobs of narrative tension present in stories of combat, most mainstream media outlets take pains to avoid the perception of jingoism.

In contrast, when my grandfather shot down planes or destroyed ground targets, his exploits consistently made the Newark Star Ledger, along with the actions of thousands of others in combat during WWII. I always hesitate to mourn lost parallels between "the good war" and present conflicts: the country has changed, the press has changed and public opinion is much more sharply divided than it was in certain other wars. But despite the rational portion of these evolutions, the media's aversion to combat reporting that highlights acts of bravery does the country and the media outlets themselves a disservice, if at least for the reason that such features are terribly gripping human interest stories. Their rare exposition is a loss.

(Via DW)

Posted by Bill at September 21, 2006 01:09 PM | TrackBack (5)

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Comments

What do you think the odds are that any editor in the U.S. would invoke a defense like this:

"We can't do that Ernie Pyle-style of reporting any more, because we don't want to take sides in the war."

As if most of 'em haven't already picked a side.

Posted by: slotgun at September 23, 2006 12:44 AM

Bill,

Great post. It is so frustrating. When it comes to the men and women serving us with such distinction and courage, all the media wants to report is the body count.

Every Sunday at 9pm, Matt from Blackfive joins on on Pundit Review Radio on WRKO in Boston to bring his series 'Someone You Should Know' to the radio. Hester, Chontosh and so mant others have been honored for their incredible service to our country. You can find them all here,
http://www.punditreview.com/radio-archives/

Kevin

Posted by: Kevin at September 23, 2006 09:56 PM

ionolsen21 So interesting site, thanks!

Posted by: karel at October 18, 2006 09:55 AM

ionolsen23 Your home page its great

Posted by: preved at October 20, 2006 03:43 PM

I am so proud of our men and women who are serving our country, I just found out tonight that my brother was awarded the bronze star for bravery last night. Will it be on the news no, probably not but he is still my hero as are all the others

Posted by: tchrnan at October 25, 2006 03:51 AM

ionolsen40 Great website! Bookmarked! I am impressed at your work!

Posted by: stalin at November 6, 2006 12:12 PM