Contribution from Mike Walker, USMC (retired)
Ernie Pyle Where Are you?
Marines,
I have been unstinting in both praise and criticism of our war efforts since 9/11 as an active participant and, upon reflection, have noted that there have been amply harsh words heaped upon our military and its leaders as well as elected officers of the highest rank, to include both President Bush and President Obama.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. "
Having seen first hand the horrors of war as a Marine, first in the former state of Yugoslavia and later during two tours in Iraq, there is a degree of humble honesty and decency that essentially ensures one's sanity and moral equilibrium in that most demandingly painful of all undertakings.
In seeking that honesty and decency, I find that our military commanders and our Presidents, both Bush and Obama, are worthy leaders. This is not to say they are ideals, or perfect, or above criticism, but as President Roosevelt said so well, they know the great devotions in complete service to our nation and will forever be, in my books, simple souls of honor.
After much searching, the same cannot be said of our media. Where is the Ernie Pyle of our generation? I believe someone is there to take up the challenge but that the media machine of today will crush them as a bug and silence anyone aspiring to his mantle in a fit of institutionalized and reactionary misjudgment.
Here is the source of my catharsis, a lead today by the AP: “Massacre at mosque shows Taliban strength.” It hit me as such a moral and ethical wrong that I could not shake lose its many offenses.
Since when did the ability to conduct a massacre deserve any other lead than one that describes the outrage? Is it a show of strength? Baloney. Is it a show of savagery? Yes. To characterize the mosque massacre as a show of strength is the moral and ethical equivalent as saying the trial of John Demjanjuk “shows Nazi strength.”
Next let us address the word “strength,” used here as a compliment. There are many words and phrases that those who have put our lives on the line in defense of our country expect to see in the US media. A complimentary use of “shows our strength” is too generous beyond hope from the US media when reporting on our men and women in combat.
In an earlier AP lead this was written: “US Marines launch offensive in Afghanistan.” No one in uniform (the lack of which on the battlefield hints at another unspoken step in civilization’s decent into savagery as led by Islamic extremists) could but laugh at the irony when comparing the two leads.
Every man and women who ever wore a uniform knows that similar verbiage blending the two leads would never be permitted. The AP would never allow: “Marine offensive Cobra Anger launched, in part, behind enemy lines ‘shows our strength’ in Afghanistan.” That type of complementary lead is reserved exclusively for our enemy, never for us.
Where is our Ernie Pyle? We deserve better.
Semper Fi,
Mike
