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Wednesday 10 March 2010

Congressional Medal goes political

I'm pretty disgusted by this. President Obama has awarded the highest military honor, the Congressional Medal, to a bunch of WWII pilots. Their accomplishment? Flying airplanes.

Over the past decade or two, many military veterans have seen their medals upgraded to the Medal of Honor, mainly because their heroic deeds that would have earned them the Honor were overlooked due to their race. Justice was done in giving them what they should have deserved the first time.

But this isn't justice. By singling out some pilots to get the Medal for flying, President Obama is slighting all those who actually did something heroic behind the yoke, and didn't get a medal for it. This is sexist politics, pure and simple.

When President Lincoln first awarded the Medal of Honor, you didn't have to do anything particularly special to get it. Other than the Purple Heart, it was the only medal a soldier could earn. For that reason, early recipients of the Medal usually aren't featured in articles, movies, and books about the Medal of Honor.

I guess that will now be the case again, as the Medal of Honor once again is being awarded to those who did nothing special to deserve it.

But maybe, just maybe, the alleged "chemical missions" some of these pilots were involved in had something to do with this. Perhaps, like Bill McGonagle, they are being rewarded for their silence.

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