Id be remiss if I didnt put this out there... First of all, Tom Cruise is an idiot. Nothing he does or has done compares with what anyone has done in the past 12 years of war in Afghanistan. That said, its clear that hes just ignorant and chose a poor analogy. He didnt do so with malice. Some people respond to this kind of story in a way that demands civilians constantly bow their heads when we pass by as veterans. Lets temper that just a little bit. Poke fun at Cruise. Hes an idiot. But lets not demand constant genuflecting by the population. Humility goes a long way. Its what made previous generations of vets that fought in wars like WWII, Korea, and Vietnam so well-respected; they didnt put their service on blast. It was for their buddies, not the public, that they wore that pride. I think we as veterans have to be a bit less reactionary on everything civilians say about the wars as if we own some primacy over the domain of war and sustain a right to be offended. Too often recently I have seen service members claiming the right to be offended, demanding special treatment, and demonstrating an air of entitlement. Its dangerous. Soon there will be a backlash against veterans if the largesse of those speaking are acting as if we should be afforded special treatment. I despise special interests and lobbies... if we dont, as a group, maintain a sense of humility the public will be begin to resent us instead of admire and respect us. Lets wear our service a bit more proudly on the inside and less loudly on the outside. We did something the overwhelming majority of the population refused to do: stand up and defend the Republic in its time of peril. We dont have to constantly demand that the public reinforce that pride. Just wear it in a way that puts your shoulders back and your chin up. Theyll figure out what they owe those that sacrificed so much. We owe that to the guys and girls that didnt come home. Theyre the ones worthy of constant genuflection. We have an obligation to remind the public of their sacrifices, not ours as individuals. Just ignore Tom Cruise. Hes ignorant. Take the time you would spend on deriding his air-headedness and spend it instead on reminding the public of those great people in uniform we have lost to the cause of defending the United States. We owe THEM that. -Fi
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 16:12:35 +0000
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