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There has been an (in)organic rise in the online celebrity veteran community over the last few years. This has had deleterious and negative consequences on the broader or average veteran community. Among other things, the celebrity veterans, who have absolutely done amazing things in their respective service, have overshadowed the worthiness of the non-special forces war fighter.
I will discuss the valor that does not make it on the podcast circuit or yield $100k speaking engagement fees.
Not everyone who put their boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan was able to carry a backpack full of 50 grenades. War and valor were different for those who never earned the title of “Coalition Asset.”
The stories of the celebrity veterans from particular groups end up eliminating the discussion of what war was like for the vast majority of those who deployed. The popular community has ended up romanticizing the twenty years of wars in a way that silences the reality of the wars. The civilian and non-initiated end up thinking that the wars were so freakin’ cool because we were flying to a target with the best gear, dropping bodies for an hour or two, flying back to base, and getting a killer workout in before sunrise. Those who did that are way cooler than I can ever dream to be even if I lived one hundred lives. Those men are valorous and deserve every medal pinned to their chest. However, their overrepresentation paints a false perception of the war and it takes away from the majority of war fighters.
Most veterans who did the fighting, door kicking, and running medevacs do not speak of their service. This is especially true for the conventional forces, although most operators are silent professionals as well. There are many reasons for their silence. One reason for their silence is because they would prefer to move on with their lives. Another reason is because their stories of valor aren’t high-speed like those of the celebrity veterans. A conventional war fighter telling you something they are proud of does not stack up against the SOF bros, so maybe, “My silence is better than admitting and confirming I wasn’t very cool.”
I was the average (at best) Marine on the ground. I was a member of the conventional forces, which were the majority of war fighters, and none of my personal awards are worth writing home about. However, serving amongst the conventional war fighter is one of the greatest privileges of my life. Let me speak on the valor of the average boots on the ground that has largely gone unspoken. The list will not be sexy, but valorous nonetheless.
-The point man in a patrol using the foot powder from a care package to leave a trail on the ground to mark where it is safe for the rest of the patrol to walk.
-The countless Dustoff pilots and flight crews who would fly into the middle of hell to pick up a wounded soldier, sailor or Marine.
-The Corpsman who ran outside of the patrol base by himself, without a weapon, and without body armor to rescue a wounded kid. (This man did not receive an award and was reprimanded.)
-A Marine horse trading and bargaining to take point on patrol for the next few days in order to use the Sat Phone to call home on his daughter’s birthday.
-Sleeping in a two-man patrol base for six month that is made of wood, sand bags, and up armored with chicken wire.
-Going three months in between taking a shower but remaining a sturdy professional.
-Marines using their own money to buy chickens, vegetables, fruit and rice from the Afghans as the only way to eat fresh food.
-Corpsman stuffing an Afghan kid’s brain back in his skull and stapling it shut. (Kid survived and the Corpsman did not receive an award.)
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