The Feminization of the Medal of Honor

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The Feminization of the Medal of Honor

Editors Note: Read Part II, Part III, and Part IV.

By Bryan Fischer

The Medal of Honor will be awarded this afternoon to Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta for his heroism in Afghanistan, and deservedly so. He took a bullet in his protective vest as he pulled one soldier to safety, and then rescued the sergeant who was walking point and had been taken captive by two Taliban, whom Sgt. Giunta shot to free his comrade-in-arms.

This is just the eighth Medal of Honor awarded during our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Sgt. Giunta is the only one who lived long enough to receive his medal in person.

But I have noticed a disturbing trend in the awarding of these medals, which few others seem to have recognized.

We have feminized the Medal of Honor.

According to Bill McGurn of the Wall Street Journal, every Medal of Honor awarded during these two conflicts has been awarded for saving life. Not one has been awarded for inflicting casualties on the enemy. Not one.

Gen. George Patton once famously said, “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other guy die for his.”

When we think of heroism in battle, we used the think of our boys storming the beaches of Normandy under withering fire, climbing the cliffs of Pointe do Hoc while enemy soldiers fired straight down on them, and tossing grenades into pill boxes to take out gun emplacements.

That kind of heroism has apparently become passe when it comes to awarding the Medal of Honor. We now award it only for preventing casualties, not for inflicting them.

So the question is this: when are we going to start awarding the Medal of Honor once again for soldiers who kill people and break things so our families can sleep safely at night?

I would suggest our culture has become so feminized that we have become squeamish at the thought of the valor that is expressed in killing enemy soldiers through acts of bravery. We know instinctively that we should honor courage, but shy away from honoring courage if it results in the taking of life rather than in just the saving of life. So we find it safe to honor those who throw themselves on a grenade to save their buddies.

Jesus, in words often cited in ceremonies such as the one which will take place this afternoon, said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). So it is entirely right that we honor this kind of bravery and self-sacrifice, which is surely an imitation of the Lord of Lord and King of Kings.

However, Jesus’ act of self-sacrifice would ultimately have been meaningless – yes, meaningless – if he had not inflicted a mortal wound on the enemy while giving up his own life.

The significance of the cross is not just that Jesus laid down his life for us, but that he defeated the enemy of our souls in the process. It was on the cross that he crushed the head of the serpent. It was on the cross that “he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).

The cross represented a cosmic showdown between the forces of light and the forces of darkness, and our commanding general claimed the ultimate prize by defeating our unseen enemy and liberating an entire planet from his bondage.

We rightly honor those who give up their lives to save their comrades. It’s about time we started also honoring those who kill bad guys.

(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)

The Moral Liberal contributing editor, Bryan Fischer, is Director of Issue Analysis for Government and Public Policy at the American Family Association, and is the host of the daily ‘Focal Point’ radio talk program on AFR Talk, a division of the American Family Association. ‘Focal Point’ airs live from 1-3 pm Central Time, and is also simulcast on the AFA Channel, which can be seen on the Sky Angel network.

Editors Note: Read Part II, Part III, and Part IV.

Post Published: 16 November 2010
Author: admin
Found in section: Judeo-Christian America

Tags: Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, feminization of military, heroism, medal of honor, military

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http://www.facebook.com/artgr Art

It is because of the lack of “duty” in the hearts of Americans … “duty” being the desire, in fact the need, to serve one’s country. People in general have begun to think that they are “just as good” as those who have served, and because they haven’t served, have no concept as to the sacrifices made by those who have.

And the FANTASY that the world is a nice place, that we don’t NEED to HAVE a military at all, that if we just open ourselves the world will be a friendly place … is BS.

But people actually believe it.
http://www,blackfive.net McQ

You are completely and utterly wrong as is McGurn.

For instance – the first MOH in Iraq:

Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy near Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad, Iraq on 4 April 2003. On that day, Sergeant First Class Smith was engaged in the construction of a prisoner of war holding area when his Task Force was violently attacked by a company-sized enemy force. Realizing the vulnerability of over 100 fellow soldiers, Sergeant First Class Smith quickly organized a hasty defense consisting of two platoons of soldiers, one Bradley Fighting Vehicle and three armored personnel carriers. As the fight developed, Sergeant First Class Smith braved hostile enemy fire to personally engage the enemy with hand grenades and anti-tank weapons, and organized the evacuation of three wounded soldiers from an armored personnel carrier struck by a rocket propelled grenade and a 60mm mortar round. Fearing the enemy would overrun their defenses, Sergeant First Class Smith moved under withering enemy fire to man a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a damaged armored personnel carrier. In total disregard for his own life, he maintained his exposed position in order to engage the attacking enemy force. During this action, he was mortally wounded. His courageous actions helped defeat the enemy attack, and resulted in as many as 50 enemy soldiers killed, while allowing the safe withdrawal of numerous wounded soldiers. Sergeant First Class Smith’s extraordinary heroism and uncommon valor are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the Third Infantry Division “Rock of the Marne,” and the United States Army.

Don’t know about you, but the death of 50 enemy soldiers and the wounding of many more certainly speaks of “killing people and breaking things” so you can sleep safely at night.

You ought to review Robert James Miller’s MOH as well. It was recently awarded.

Instead of taking McGurn’s word for such things try reading the citations.

The MOH is not something which has been “feminized” for heaven sake.
http://doctorpsycho1960.blogspot.com doctorpsycho1960

I was a Corpsman in the U.S. Navy, and trained to serve with a Marine unit as a company aid man (though I never served with Marines). My primary assignment in that MOS was to save lives.

And you know, I never felt the least bit feminine while I was doing it.
Sted

Mr. Fisher should brush up on some earlier Medal of Honor reipients.
I suggest he start the 15, yes 15, Army medics who were awarded the Medal during the Vietnam war, then go to the story of WW II MOH honoree Jacklynn Lucas and conclude with Desmond Doss. Mr. Doss was also a pacifist.
Mr. Fisher proves that old adage, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”
whitman477

How dare you suggest the Medal of Honor, the most prestigious U.S. military award one can receive, has become “feminized.” Can you truly call the deeds of Sgt. Giunta feminine? Yes, he did put his life in danger to save another, but you looked over the fact that he shot the two Taliban men that captured him, killing one and wounding the other. That was one of the main points of your article: we should be giving the medal to those who have attacked the enemy rather than save the ally. Also, you mentioned that the actions of Christ would have been meaningless if he did not also physically harm the enemy in addition to his sacrifice. Well, buddy, Sgt. Giunta did hurt the enemy, and you still describe his actions to be “feminine.”

Sure, the medal may be awarded to soldiers that have committed different actions than what past recipiants have done, but can you really rank those actions’ masculinity?
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Pingback: UrbanGrounds | SSG Salvatore Giunta: First Living MoH Recipient Since Vietnam War
http://urbangrounds.com RobbieC

Doc — I was a Combat Medic in the United States Army. And while I was trained to save the lives of my fellow Soldiers, I was also highly trained on how to destroy my enemy. I was first and foremost a Soldier and only secondarily a Medic.
Pingback: MOH has been "feminized"? Really?
Actuallyserved

Just a thought–try serving and experiencing combat instead of just reading and writing about it. In your own article you even stated that SSG Giunta shot two enemy combatants. He not only saved lives, but also took lives at the same time. This becomes the extraordinary situation which deserves this honor. The actions of SSG Giunta does not cheapen or “feminize” the MoH.
Derf

The MOH has not been femizied, it has always been and will always be about doing something exraordinary in battle, doing shit that normal people would and could not do. SSG Giunta ran head on into a hail of gunfire killing the enemy to save a buddy of his with no thought for his own safety. He deserves it just as much as the hunders that have come before him.

Going out one day and getting in a firefight and killing 50 enemy troops isn’t hard, just takes luck and bullets. Doing that while running head first into danger to save you buddys life take balls of steel and true courage.

The comment you used from Patton is wrong. The object of war is not to kill or destroy anything, it is to accomplish your goal and complete the mission so that your small part of the big puzel gets done to accomplish the overal mission of winning the war. If Soldiers can do that without being killed then thats even better.
groo

So you belong to the ‘Kill ‘em all, let g-d sort ‘em out.’ school, eh?

Feminized? I think you do your fellow men a disservice. Men are capable of more than simply killing.

Saving lives, rebuilding, restoring the sovereignty of a repressed people are as, if not more, honorable than a body count.
Midori

Respectfully, you have entirely misread William Gurn’s article on the MOH. Nowhere in the article does he suggest that the award has been “feminized” — your interpretation and your word. Instead, he acknowledges the exceptional nature of the men who have received the award, their courage and their bravery — and if you read the citations, you would know that in addition to saving lives, those men took out quite a few of the enemy in the process. Shame on you for suggesting that the men who have been recently awarded this medal did not kill a sufficient quota of bad guys in your estimation to merit such an award.

As a military mother, whose child daily faces down an enemy and engages in battle, I find your “nostalgic” — it was better in the old wars — quaint and out of touch with reality.
Vasya

iI was a Combat Medic in the United States Army. And while I was trained to save the lives of my fellow Soldiers, I was also highly trained on how to destroy my enemy. I was first and foremost a Soldier and only secondarily a Medic.

And that mentality is precisely why, as a Marine grunt, I’d rather have a Corpsman than a Medic on a patrol with me any day. Part of the Hospital Corpsman Pledge reads “I will not knowingly permit harm to come to any patient.” Anyone who even implies that Corpsmen aren’t fighters needs to have a squad of Marines enlighten them. Barring that, I suggest RobbieC read the MOH citation for HM2 David R. Ray.
Spigot

Wow…you really need to stay in your lane, Bud…as does McGurn.

Ditto to what McQ wrote above…start reading MOH citations from Iraq and Astan, Somalia, Vietnam, etc.

You’ll be astounded as to just how wrong you and McGurn are.
Micah

You sir, are an idiot. Not only have you completely missed the point of the MOH, you have severely confused spiritual warfare with physical warfare.

I could write a book on this subject, but I’m going to limit myself to two observations:

1: Those of us who have been overwhelmed by the love of Christ realize that the real war going on in the world is a spiritual war, not a physical one. Mixing the two is dangerous (see the crusades) and the exact reason Jesus was crucified (the religious leaders wanted a war hero to take on Rome. We are called to overcome evil with love.

2: The purpose of the MoH is to honor those special soldiers who go “above and beyond the call of duty” to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. Sometimes this takes the form of charging a gun emplacement and wiping out the enemy position single-handedly, and sometimes it takes the form of risking everything to drag your buddies to safety. I think if you could ask every single MoH recipient what motivated them to do what they did, they vast majority would say it was to save the lives of their brothers in arms. And that’s the way it should be…we should never be eager to take life. There IS a time and a place for just war, but it should never be carried out without a mindfulness of the sacredness of all human life.

So that’s my opinion. And Bryan, your view on war scares me. I’m pretty sure your article would make an amazing motivational poster for the Taliban.
pcasey

You make an excellent point. I think this may in part also be due to the fact that the wars we have fought since WW2 have been imperial wars against vastly inferior enemies that did not want a fight in the first place. I would bet our leaders, if only subconsciously, feel this and have less fire in their bellies when it comes to celebrating the slaughter of our enemies than they did in WW2.

But yes, the military has been broadly feminized, just as all institutions of society have been to some degree in the last 40 years. American culture itself, how we talk, dress, view the world, etc, has been feminized. It’s regretful but unsurprising that that this new culture has trickled down into what is supposed to be our national medal of the ancient virtue of masculinity.
galm666

Fischer, I would ask you to review the records for the MOH recipients again. I would also challenge you to speak to the recipients of the MOH, and for those who lost their lives, speak to the families who survive them and tell them that what the MOH recipient did was “feminine” which to you, seems to equate to cowardice.
bob

You all are misreading the author. He’s not saying Sgt. Guinta’s contributions were feminine or that the Staff Sgt. did not deserve the award or that those who fall upon a grenade to save others do not deserve the award. He’s just saying that those are not the only actions we should give the award out for. Rather, we should also give them out for heroic actions killing the enemy, such as Sgt. Paul Smith’s actions early in the Iraq war.
Blaine

I think you are all missing a larger point here. The simple use of the term “feminized” as a pejorative, as a negative, is unconscionable here. No matter what your definition of masculinity, to say things which are feminine, associated with women, are bad or somehow lower than masculine things, is totally backwards and sexist.
Nicole K.

So interesting to see that something that (in your opinion) lacks a sense of valor, honor, and bravery is “feminine.” Something that (in your opinion) has been cheapened has been “feminized.” You have an awfully high opinion of women, I can tell.
Ventura

Do you know what is sad? Feminine is being used as an insult.

If you believe that the criteria for being awarded a Medal of Honor has been weakened, say that the criteria has been weakened. The word feminine is not interchangeable with weak.

The armed forces have always used the denigration of the feminine as a way to foster in-group cohesiveness, a way to build fraternal bonds by showing that women are the other and to be derided.

Fear of “feminization”, has created an actively hostile environment for women and gay men which has only weakened the Armed forces. How would the United States Armed Forces fare if all of its female members were discharged tomorrow? How has the discharge of gay service members affected the battle readiness of the United States? How many more women and gay men would be willing to join the Armed Forces and fight for their country if the fear of “feminization” hadn’t created such an actively hostile environment for them?

Anybody who regrets that the world is no longer like it was forty years ago, is just nostalgic for a time when everyone was discriminated against except for white men.
Jesse

Is there anything that those uppity women won’t ruin?
Katie

The other commenters have adequately acknowledged, you have completely missed the point of the MOH.

Second of all, on behalf of my female family members who are in the military and risking their lives, how DARE you equate their femininity to second class warfare? Can soldiers only be “good enough” if they’re male? Tell that to the motherless children who lost their mom to the war.
Carrington Ward

A bunch of smart commentary above. The only point I would add:

Patton got to Berlin after Zhukov. Westmoreland left Saigon before Giap.

As John McCrae pointed out, there’s something extremely powerful about sacrificing life for country.
Nelson Kerr

The Two USAF enlisted mebers who recived the MOH in Vietnam both earned it by Savinglives.

If you look How Audie Murphy and Daniel Inouye won their medals you will find that saving the lives of their troops was the reason for their actions. You can add Samuel B. roberts to that liost also.

I know that feminize is a “dog whistle” for gay but using the MOH to bash either gays or women makes you simply opportunistic trash

I have tried to be polite as this Old MSgt is capble of, try saying that in A DAV or a VFW and see how polite the response is first hand, a DAV is probably safer since you can outrun those most of those folks
http://marauder34.livejournal.com David Learn

OK, I’ve read this column twice, and two things keep crossing my mind:

* Why are people using “feminized” as a negative? My wife is feminine, and strong; my girls are feminine, and strong; and they are strong without being pugnacious. Being feminine is a strength, not a weakness as this column suggests. It means having courage, dedication, loyalty, principles, integrity. How is “feminizing” the Congressional Medal of Honor a bad thing?

* War has changed since Patton’s time. Our troops rarely see the sort of mass engagements that marked WWII, with the storming of Normandy Beach on D-Day. Nowadays war is fought through attrition, particularly during the war on terror, with small skirmishes intended to wear us down to the point of exhaustion, rather than a single operation where guns blaze on both sides. Many of strikes now are done through predator drones and similar surgical strikes — a very different sort of warfare from what Patton was used to.
cmb

As the daughter of two service members, I have a few things to say to the author of this column:
1) This is the stupidest thing I read on the internet all day, and I spend a lot of time on websites with captions on cats. How about instead of talking about how you think the military is screwing up by not glorifying whoever kills the most, you just say thank you to the people who keep you safe every day. What do you put on the line when you go to work each morning? The risk that someone might disagree with you? I’m betting it’s not your life. Until that’s what you do every day, step off.
2) Valuing life is not weakness. It’s strength of character. Or did you miss that day at Sunday School?
3) Femininity is not the same thing as weakness. Masculinity is not the same thing as strength. Some men are weak. Some women are strong. How about you criticize people based on what they actually are instead of what you stereotype them to be? I know all the women who fight for our country out there would be grateful not to have to put up with this kind of idiotic dribble from someone who would probably pee his pants if he had to spend a day in their shoes.

In short, how’s the view from the cheap seats? If anyone is weak, it’s you, for lacking respect for human life and the sacrifice that MOH recipients make in order to preserve it.
Jamie

To use the term “femininized” as a slur, is an injustice to every single soldier on the field. All of them, male and female, came from both a man and a woman. There are many women on the field, who serve just as aptly as men. All of these soldiers are amazing PEOPLE. I don’t believe you own a Medal of Honor, if you did, you surely wouldn’t have this archaic mentality of how amazing things were when manly man soldiers just killed, and soldiers didn’t get rewarded for just saving lives.

I suppose you believe your mom to be inferior, or your possible wife and daughters? Surely their influence on you couldn’t have possibly been a good thing. Otherwise you would have been “feminized” too, i.e. believe that saving lives is girly if you don’t take one too.
Ezmyrelda

It’s good to know that war mongering is alive and well.
RobC

“every Medal of Honor awarded during these two conflicts has been awarded for saving life. Not one has been awarded for inflicting casualties on the enemy. Not one.”

Maybe because the people awarding them realise that there’s honour in saving lives, not in taking them?

“The Moral Liberal contributing editor, Bryan Fischer, is Director of Issue Analysis for Government and Public Policy at the American Family Association, and is the host of the daily ‘Focal Point’ radio talk program on AFR Talk, a division of the American Family Association. ‘Focal Point’ airs live from 1-3 pm Central Time, and is also simulcast on the AFA Channel, which can be seen on the Sky Angel network.”

Interesting. No mention of military service in there. Just another tough-talking, chest-thumping, right-wing chickenhawk.
Benjamin H

Meh, I think what he’s saying, though his words are poorly chosen, is that there are men and women in our armed forces who have put their life in extreme danger, but come out victorious. They have eliminated a more-than-expected amount of e…nemy forces in other words, but aren’t being rewarded as they should be. I don’t think his point is that the ones receiving the medal don’t deserve it, but that there are people in our armed forces who have done great things, deserve the Medal of Honor, and aren’t receiving it simply because they didn’t save immediate lives. Even though it stands to reason that if you eliminate 100 enemy threats single-handed (or in a small company) those threats can’t take lives anymore. Saving a potentially limitless amount of lives by removing the future opportunity of those enemy individuals to kill our soldiers. I’d have to agree the word choice is off, but his overall message is correct. Assuming of course, you’re capable of over-looking his use of the word feminization, which is what most of the controversy is about anyway.
Broken

The fact that you value killing leads me to believe that you don’t understand what actual bravery is.
Maura Hennessey

The Corps of Engineers Sappers have frighteningly high casualties from chasing down IED’s and booby traps to save other soldiers; every time there is a troop movement the Engineers have to lead, ‘riding point,” to do route clearance

Want to tell the Sappers that their heroism is ‘feminised,’ Bryan? Want to see just how long you last in a bar in Schweinfurth when the men of the famed 9th Engineers are finished “correcting your misinformation?”

Want to explain that to the Sappers from Charlie Rock of the 37th Airborne Engineers at Ft Bragg, Bryan, the men who withstood the Taliban offensive in Afghanistan in 2007 in Partika? The Sappers who cleared the routes to reconnect the eastern regions, saving soldiers lives, carrying out their missions under fire?

Would you like to expain that to the Special Services Sappers of the 173rd Airborne, Bryan, just back from a horrendous tour in Afghanistan? Friends blown up before their eyes over and over again in faulty International trucks as they went out to defuse booby traps, find mines, and save soldier’s lives?

Feminised?

They died bravely Bryan, dealing with an invisible enemy. Men, and Women too Bryan, because the esprit feminine is an indominatable thing. But I know that you didnt mean it as a compliment. You meant to say emasculated, something like the gutless hate driven spoutings and demands for rivers of blood that come from the pulpits peopled by cowards,…..ummm…people like you, Bryan.

To the Sappers of the United States Army Corps of Engineers: Brave men and women, every day that you do your work, you deliver another mother, father, husband or wife from that secret nightmare that lurks in our subconscious, the fear of having to meet a loved one’s remains at Dover AFB. We treasure you all, we keep you in our prayers, we honour your bravery, the true Christ-like bravery of risking and all too ofter laying down your lives for your felllow human beings. Blessings to you all, and may you be kept safe. We will deal with the loathsome Bryan Fischer on all your behalf.

Maura Hennessey
Soldier’s Mom
Pingback: Girly Men (and Boy-y Women?) « Spacious Faith
Blazerilla

I strongly object to the term “feminized” being used to refer to soldiers who bravely save the lives of others. Many women are so brave and have even died in combat. Using such a term cheapens and demeans not just the brave women of our armed forces but women everywhere. I suggest using the term “wimpified” instead.
MattO

When the initial sense of outrage passed at reading this piece, I could only shake my head sadly. For poor Bryan Fischer seems to have completely lost his moral bearings: he thinks that what is bad (killing other human beings) is good, and that what is good (saving other lives) is weak and shameful. That is a pitiable state to be in.

But his argument is not only morally repugnant, it is intellectually incoherent as well. Fischer claims we should start “awarding the Medal of Honor once again for soldiers who kill people and break things.” Does this mean he thinks killing and destruction is unqualifiedly a good thing? If I randomly pick out a place on the map and wipe out all the human beings living there, would that be cause for celebration? Even Fischer does not go that far. The soldiers who kill people and break things are to be honored because they enable “our families [to] sleep safely at night.” To sleep SAFELY?? But isn’t that simply saying that the destruction of others is worthwhile ultimately because it saves lives? And isn’t that just the value he is criticizing here as “feminine”?

I notice that Fischer was a philosophy major at Stanford. I would ask him: is this really the kind of reasoning they taught you?
SFC Cheryl McElroy US ARMY (RET)

“Feminized”. This must be another attempt on the part of a macho misogynist to imply that either (a) all women are sissies or (b) using “feminized” as a pejorative because McGurn left out the part of SSG Giunta’s MOH citation that reads:

“Later, while engaging the enemy and attempting to link up with the rest of his squad, Specialist Giunta noticed two insurgents carrying away a fellow soldier. He immediately engaged the enemy, killing one and wounding the other, and provided medical aid to his wounded comrade while the rest of his squad caught up and provided security. His courage and leadership while under extreme enemy fire were integral to his platoon’s ability to defeat an enemy ambush and recover a fellow American paratrooper from enemy hands.”

I served for 30 (10 Reserve and 20 Active) years in the United States Army. I did two tours in Iraq “helping the enemy die for their country”. “Feminized”, as in the “sissy” vernacular, I ain’t.

Fischer, I’d love to give you what we call in the Army a “wall-to-wall counseling”. You’ve gotta be one of the biggest louts I’ve ever read.
A. Nuran

That’s right, pussy-whipped wimps like Rodger Young…

Caught in ambush lay a company of riflemen
Just grenades against machine guns in the gloom.
Caught in ambush till this one of twenty riflemen
Volunteered, volunteered to meet his doom.

Volunteered, Rodger Young!
Fought and died for the men he marched among.
In the everlasting annals of the Infantry
Glows the last deed of Private Rodger Young.

(It was he who drew the fire of the enemy
That a company of men might live to fight.
And before the deadly fire of the enemy
Stood the man, stood the man we hail tonight.)
SFC Cheryl McElroy US ARMY (RET)

Oh, one more thing.

Soldiers like SSG Leigh Ann Hester would take exception to Fischer’s mealy-mouthed “feminized” accusation, especially since she earned the Silver Star for bravery in action.
“Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, vehicle commander, 617th Military Police Company, Richmond, Ky., stands at attention before receiving the Silver Star at an awards ceremony at Camp Liberty, Iraq, June 16. Spc. Jeremy D. Crisp.

Hester’s squad was shadowing a supply convoy March 20, 2005 when anti-Iraqi fighters ambushed the convoy. The squad moved to the side of the road, flanking the insurgents and cutting off their escape route. Hester led her team through the “kill zone” and into a flanking position, where she assaulted a trench line with grenades and M203 grenade-launcher rounds. She and Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein, her squad leader, then cleared two trenches, at which time she killed three insurgents with her rifle.

When the fight was over, 27 insurgents were dead, six were wounded, and one was captured.”
http://www.army.mil/women/hester.html

Or SPC Monica Brown, who also eaned the Silver Star:

“Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers after a roadside bomb tore through a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia province in April 2007, the military said.

After the explosion, which wounded five soldiers in her unit, Brown ran through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades as mortars fell less than 100 yards away, the military said.

“I did not really think about anything except for getting the guys to a safer location and getting them taken care of and getting them out of there,” Brown told The Associated Press on Saturday at a U.S. base in the eastern province of Khost.”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,336259,00.html

Very brave women who not only sabed the lives of their fellow Soldiers, but KILLED the enemy.

Must be that “feminization” thing.
WTH

Ditto to what Blazerilla said.

Wimpify works for me.

Feminine is not a synonym for weak.
Pingback: Blogger for American Family Association: “We Have Feminized the Medal of Honor” « The Foxhole
Pingback: Blogger for American Family Association Says: “We Have Feminized the Medal of Honor” « The Foxhole
Francis Marion

Exactly how many Medal of Honor citations from WW II, Korea, and Vietnam have you read? The heroic actions are identical – taking on overwhelming odds, with utter disregard for personal safety, to rescue, protect, or free comrades in arms.

*AGERHOLM, HAROLD CHRIST – “Pfc. Agerholm immediately volunteered to assist in the efforts to check the hostile attack and evacuate our wounded. ”

*ANDERSON, RICHARD BEATTY Pfc. Anderson fearlessly chose to sacrifice himself and save his companions by hurling his body upon the grenade and taking the full impact of the explosion.

*BAKER, THOMAS A. When his entire company was held up by fire from automatic weapons and small-arms fire from strongly fortified enemy positions that commanded the view of the company, Sgt. (then Pvt.) Baker voluntarily took a bazooka and dashed alone to within 100 yards of the enemy.

So in the first 10 citations for the Medal (alphabetically) from World War II, you can find situations exactly analogous to the heroism found in the citations from the current wars. A rear guard or a charge to buy time in a desperate situation.

Nor, apparently, have you read the citations for the current heroes – “in the face of almost certain death, he fought his way into open terrain to gain a better position to transmit a call”, “personally engaged the enemy with his rifle and a grenade”, ” .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a damaged armored personnel carrier. In total disregard for his own life, he maintained his exposed position in order to engage the attacking enemy force” When the citations say “engage the enemy” , they’re not talking about trading witty reparte with the foe… a .50 caliber machine gun is a fairly effective way of “inflicting casualties”, as you say.
Alan

One name LeeAnn Hester. Sgt. Hester was a member of a convoy team in Iraq. Her convoy was ambushed by insurgents that disabled and stopped the convoy in a “kill box”. They were taking enfilading fire from an enemy on high ground. A very bad tactical situation. members senior to her were injured. She took charge of the situation, made sure the wounded were out of direct fire, organized a counter attack and made the insurgents (22?) DRT. After this she re-organized the convoy, transferred the vital equipment from the disabled vehicles, and lead everyone to the safety of a nearby FOB. What did she get for all this? Silver Star. Second highest award for valor, which is not too shabby. but, 2 things were wrong. first, she killed people. Second, she was a woman. We can’t award the MOH to a woman for killing people.
el rojo caballo

it’a a touchy subject. while i disagree with the ‘feminization’ or ‘wussification’ tags being applied to the current MOH, still….they might have at least a *little bit* of a point.

it seems to me the vast majority of MOH’s awarded from vietnam on, are either posthumous awards for things like “saving your platoon by throwing yourself on a grenade”; or “rescuing self and squad from overwhelming fire during ambush”, etc. would that be fair to say? there are of course exceptions, but it seems to me that *most* 1965 and on MOH’s seem to trend that way. did those men deserve their MOH’s? absolutely. no question about it. but…

now compare that with what sgt. mitchell paige did on guadalcanal in ww2. his unit was in top of a hill, being attacked by an **overwhelming** jap force, until everyone but mitchell was killed. so what’s he do? well, bearing in mind he WAS a marine, all mitchell paige did was hold that hill against an entire japanese BATTALION (that’s 3000-5000 men, depending on which army) ***all by himself***. yes, i KNOW that’s impossible, but he did it anyway. his MOH citation is online: see for yourself.

so mitchell paige killed what must have been several hundred enemy single-handedly, and got the most well-deserved MOH in american military history.

perhaps the ‘feminized MOH’ crowd is merely noting that an MOH seems to be much more likely to be awarded these days for sacrifice and rescue than supremacy in combat. i’m just sayin’…
Doc E

G’Day,

SFC Paul R. Smith is attributed for killing at least 50 enemy during the fire fight for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor

CPT E
1AirCav69

Let’s all remember that the wars we fight today are different from the World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam. We don’t have hordes of attackers, battalions, or even company sized attackers. It’s usually IED’s and ambushes. I don’t believe the Medal has been feminized or wussified. Ridiculous.
1AirCav69

You go SFC! Could not have said all this better. What a bunch of crap. “Wall to wall counseling”…..I LOVE IT!
Robert J Taylor Jr.

So why don’t you tell us what it is since you imply that you know.
Hockey Mom

I wonder if either Bryan Fischer or Bill McGurn pay enough attention to the way this war is being conducted that they’ve noticed that when our brave troops actually kill the enemy THEY GET BROUGHT UP ON MURDER CHARGES by left wing XXXXXXXX like Fischer and McGurn.

Surely both of them remeber all the times recently when our troops have faced courts martial for doing that which they were trained for. Or like the typical touchy feely liberal trash they are, do they “conveniently” forget that.
SFC Troy Johnson

This is a quote from the book “WAR” by Sebastian Junger attributed to a Sergeant Alcantara, who was in the same unit as Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta the soldier awarded the MOH the other day. He fought in the same valley at the same time, and this is from a conversation he had with the Battalion Chaplain.

“Father, basically God came down to earth and in the form of Christ and died for our sins – right?
The chaplain nodded.
“And he died a painful death, but he knew he was going to heaven – right?”
Again the chaplain nodded.
“So how is that sacrifice greater than a soldier in this valley who has no idea whether he’s going to heaven?”
According to Sergeant Alcantara, the chaplain had no useful response.

I wonder if you have ever had to seriously, I mean seriously wonder if you were going to live to the next minute? I wonder if you have ever thought about what that feeling must be like to experience every day for more than a year? I can tell that you have thought about taking another life, with some ease I suspect. It must be easy to do when you think that is what Jesus wants you to do.

You know nothing.

I haven’t even touched the stupid way you talk about the many brave women that have fought and died over the years so you can sleep snug at night. I know women who have done things and been to places that would make you piss yourself.

You look to be about the age of many of the Vietnam vets I have met. I did not see any military service in your bio, too bad you missed your chance to charge a hill or dive on a hand grenade. Jesus would have been so happy if you had, he loves when blood is spilled for him.
SFC Troy Johnson

We call them Rules of Engagement. We ask our soldiers not to murder. You have confused even yourself.
Hannah Sharp

The act of killing is NEVER an honorable act…REGARDLESS of who you are.
Tom Camp

No, that isn’t what he is saying. He is just trying to score cheap political points at the expense of a rather brave soldier who put his life in jeopardy to save the lives of his comrades. No one should try to justify Fischer’s words. By doing so you are, in effect, denigrating what this young man did.
Lois Weston

If I recall, Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta did indeed kill the enemy, and his team mates did an incredible job all the way around their tour. What is all this misogyny that is so “in” these days with these “American Family” types? Are you sure you want to paint them all with you vitriolic? Our Lord is not a misogynist, nor is St. Paul! You display a frighteningly uptight and insecure manifesto emanating directly from your vain female issues, Mr. Fischer. I read my Bible(s) and I do not get where you are coming from. The bonds these men and women develop are truly the highest bonds of “love thy neighbor as thyself”. I will pray for you, Mr. Fischer, for you hate those that serve and defend our country. It is reasonable for me to draw a deeply concerned and fearsome conclusion that you hate those who hold us together, the peacemakers, those who hunger for and seek justice, the meek, the mourners, the poor, those who are imprisoned for seeking justice, the hungry, the pure of heart, and you include thereby those serving in many roles, vocations, and jobs too numerous to mention, in order to be of service others. Being a Peacemaker does not mean pacifism, rather, those that pursue the just war to bring peace for all of the above. Rather fashionable in some circles, hurling divisive misogyny about, perhaps those you orbit. I vote with SPC Johnson. You have no heart, no moral compass, no compassion, and you are missing your chance to listen to truth. Defense of others, pre-emptive or otherwise, is not murder. Limp, Mr. Fischer, weak sad work on your part.
Philip

I was not surprised to discover you have no experience in the military Mr. Fischer. As is typically the case, you find it very easy to criticize when you have no qualifications to speak on the matter.

First, get your facts straight. The first Medal of Honor in the War on Terror was awarded to SFC Paul R. Smith, who died behind a .50 caliber machine gun as he covered his soldier’s withdrawal near Baghdad National Airport in 2003. Second, SSG Giunta did kill an insurgent during the course of the battle, one who happened to be a high-value target. Not that that matters, as he would be deserving of the medal irrespective.

Who made you the arbiter of what constitutes genuine bravery and heroism? Valor comes in many forms. It takes enormous bravery to make the split-second decision to roll on top a grenade and save the lives of one’s comrades. It takes enormous bravery to work day in and day out in an ER in Kabul or Baghdad, watching as friends and fellow soldiers die before you. I fail to see how saving a life cheapens what the Medal of Honor stands for.

I also disapprove of the word “feminized”. My sister is a Captain in the US Army and served a tour in Afghanistan. In one year she has demonstrated greater bravery and self-sacrifice than you can ever hope to achieve in all your years sitting behind your comfortable desk, dolling out ill-informed and ridiculous criticisms.
Kevin

The US (America) is feminized. There is unfortunately no hope for this formerly free country. You will see that I am right in your lifetime….
http://vbulletinskin.wordpress.com Style vBulletin

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