31 May 2013, 2:49 am
A little bit of wisdom, I think , from a seriously wounded ex-soldier:
"But the soldiers in our society, the wounded warriors, become the dead goat in this game between the left and the right. The left has a natural inclination to view them as victims, like, 'Oh, you poor thing, you got sent to war against your will and now you're maimed, and so because you're maimed, society should take care of you forever and you're a victim.' And that's dead wrong.
"On the other hand, the right has the same problem, where they say, 'Oh, because you served, in whatever capacity, in whatever job, whether you were a file clerk or an infantryman, because you served, because you put on your uniform, a uniform, you're a hero.' And the problem with that isn't that it honors people who served, because that's great," Gade said. "Look, I mean, if you're a file clerk, you're serving your country and that's super. But the term 'hero' should be applied very carefully, selectively, to people who are truly heroes.
"So for instance, with respect to myself and my very serious injuries, I don't use the term 'hero,' and I don't like it when others do. Because I was a soldier doing a hard job, but for which I volunteered, knowing the consequences and knowing the potential consequences, and I went and did my job, and I got seriously injured. But being seriously injured doesn't make me a hero any more than it makes me a victim," Gade said. "And so I just think that it'd be great if both sides could take a step back -- you know, put the dead goat down -- and say, 'Let's treat these people for who they are, for what they are. And let's not pretend that everybody's a hero. And let's certainly not pretend that everybody's a victim, because neither is true. They're both caricatures.'"
From an article about Former President Bush. http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3359824? ... id=mobile3
"But the soldiers in our society, the wounded warriors, become the dead goat in this game between the left and the right. The left has a natural inclination to view them as victims, like, 'Oh, you poor thing, you got sent to war against your will and now you're maimed, and so because you're maimed, society should take care of you forever and you're a victim.' And that's dead wrong.
"On the other hand, the right has the same problem, where they say, 'Oh, because you served, in whatever capacity, in whatever job, whether you were a file clerk or an infantryman, because you served, because you put on your uniform, a uniform, you're a hero.' And the problem with that isn't that it honors people who served, because that's great," Gade said. "Look, I mean, if you're a file clerk, you're serving your country and that's super. But the term 'hero' should be applied very carefully, selectively, to people who are truly heroes.
"So for instance, with respect to myself and my very serious injuries, I don't use the term 'hero,' and I don't like it when others do. Because I was a soldier doing a hard job, but for which I volunteered, knowing the consequences and knowing the potential consequences, and I went and did my job, and I got seriously injured. But being seriously injured doesn't make me a hero any more than it makes me a victim," Gade said. "And so I just think that it'd be great if both sides could take a step back -- you know, put the dead goat down -- and say, 'Let's treat these people for who they are, for what they are. And let's not pretend that everybody's a hero. And let's certainly not pretend that everybody's a victim, because neither is true. They're both caricatures.'"
From an article about Former President Bush. http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3359824? ... id=mobile3
