Our Unheralded Heroes

The back page of the Local news section of my morning newspaper carried this story:

Background: During his two-week leave from Iraq, Marine Capt. Andy Christian of Carlsbad ran in the Rock 'n' Marathon for a special cause, finishing the 26.2-mile course in 3 hours, 23 minutes. At the finish line, he was greeted by 1st Lt. Justin Waldek, who was part of Christian's 10-man team that was attacked in Iraq on Feb. 20. It was the first time Christian had seen Waldek since that day, making for an emotional end to the race.

Running to remember: Christian, 37, dedicated the race to his injured and fallen comrades, including Waldek, Staff Sgt. Chris Claude, who lost his right leg, and Staff Sgt. Jay T. Collado, who was killed in the attack. Part of the reason Christian and his wife, Sarah, ran in the marathon was to raise money for an education fund for Collado's daughter, Kaiya. So far, they've surpassed $20,000 in donations.

Patriotic: Wearing red, white and blue shorts and carrying the American flag that was in the back of the Humvee destroyed in the roadside bombing, Christian ran the marathon to shouts of “flag man” and “go USA.” He shouldered the flag on a pole with a yellow ribbon bearing Collado's name, which many runners noticed and assured Christian that Collado would be proud.

Carrying the flag: On Memorial Day, the Marine officer did an early-morning test run with the flag, after which he decided to buy a pad for his shoulder. The pad didn't work well and Christian was scheduled to return to Iraq on June 12 still bearing a gash that started at his collarbone. The abrasion, he said, would go away, but the memories will last forever. Not once did he think of passing the flag off to his wife, who also wore stars and stripes on her shorts, hat and socks.

Touching, and true representation of what our servicemen do every day, personal risk or injury or death secondary to their duty to comrades, honor and country.

President Bush said in June 1989, “Ours would not be the land of the free if it were not also the home of the brave.” How long will we remain free if we don’t honor our brave?

Home of the Brave: Honoring the Unsung Heroes in the War on Terror by former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Wynton Hall brings to the printed page the honors, the highest military medals, awarded 19 of our warriors. It’s a fast read, and the most instructive correction to how their stories and those of the so many others who serve honorably and bravely in Iraq and Afghanistan is being ignored in the mainstream press.

Marine Navy Cross (second only to the Medal of Honor) awardee Justin LeHew, at the battle of An Nasiriyah in March 2003, says: "You can’t blame people for their ignorance; you just hope you can educate them.”

It’s 3-years later, and most of the media has stubbornly refused to be educated.

The authors comment:

It isn’t that liberal reporters are incapable of singling out the actions of U.S. soldiers and featuring them prominently. They do it all the time. The problem is that their knee-jerk response when covering the U.S. military is to portray members of our armed forces only as victims or villains….

But what about the words battle of Tarmiya?…

And the other battles and heroics of our servicemen and women, their daily grace under fire?

Many in the media find words like hero too black and white, too judgmental, too certain of our nation’s purpose and essential goodness. In a world where there is no distinction between good and evil, by definition, heroes cease to exist.

And so does our nation as we love it.