A Common Man's View

Have you ever heard of Whoopi Goldberg? I would bet that at least 95% of Americans would answer yes to this question. You would probably go on to say that she is that outspoken celebrity on the View. Or didn’t she play in such and such film? She is that obnoxious comedian right? Well have you ever heard of Paul Ray Smith? No he wasn’t on MTV’s Real World or Road Rules Challenge. No, he wasn’t a soap opera heart throb and he wasn’t on the top 12 of season four of American Idol either. Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith was the first soldier in the Iraq war to be awarded the Medal of Honor! He was killed in action when his outnumbered unit was attacked by Iraqi forces at the Baghdad airport on April 4, 2003 and is credited with saving hundreds of lives.6 He was a real Hero in the true sense of the word but most would probably never even have given his name a second thought. To me and I hope to many Americans this is a tragedy. Too many times the brave Men and Women of our Armed Forces barely even get a mention in today’s mainstream media. We all know about what Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are up to but when it comes to real life heroes like Sergeant Travis Pfister or Captain Jennifer Harris their name means nothing to a large number of Americans. Both were members of my old squadron the Purple Foxes who were shot down over Iraq just weeks before coming home. But why would anyone remember their names because most of America was too enthralled with the death of an ex-stripper by the name of Anna Nicole Smith. You see Sergeant Pfister and Captain Harris gave their lives in the defense of freedom around the same time that Anna Nicole Smith overdosed on drugs. Not that a story of their lives would have been on the mainstream anyway but I can not express how much this saddened me to watch every news channel covering the so called tragic death of Smith and without so much as a mention of my friends who actually gave their lives doing good. This is the reality of our society today and it really is a crying shame.

Our military men and women from the inception of this great country to today’s military that are at this time fighting the War on Terror, have always given selflessly to support and defend our way of life in order to preserve our freedom and to help others gain theirs. I mentioned earlier that my father was a Vietnam veteran and spoke briefly of how I was appalled at the treatment these American heroes received from the “Hippies”. They should be utterly ashamed of their behavior and owe each and every one of the Vietnam Vets an apology. Instead of remorse, these Hippies had children and instilled the same warped views in their children. While I was in college I was a member of the Marine Corps reserves and actually had a blind date call me a baby killer! First of all where in the world would she get something like this? Secondly why would you ever think that way about anyone, let alone someone in the Military? Then it dawned on me that she was a product of her upbringing and was told by her parents that is what the US Military does - kill babies! Now that is about as warped a point of view as you can have. It baffles me to think that somehow, somewhere along the way, our brave men and woman that for generation after generation have fought and died to keep this country free became the bad guy.