That'll be the Day

I didn't come here to America
To give up the ghost and die
--Five Points, Black 47
________________

Since Purple Heart Magazine published Ranger's Anti-Warrior stance last month, he is going to push the envelope with a new challenge:

Dear Ed,

It is my contention that the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) should be dedicated to the principal that there should not be any more Purple Hearts (PH's) being awarded in our current meaningless and endless hostilities in Iraq and AFPAK. This means advocating for ending the wars.

In the past, PH's purchased freedom and liberty, eventually leading to victory and success. The last Victory Medal awarded was 1945. Since then, the volume of PH's have not bought the American taxpayer anything except political compromise and open-ended conflicts. The MOPH should not glorify such actions, and should do everything possible to end the misery and suffering caused by combat wounds that benefit naught.

It is clear that DVA policies are broken and will continue to provide marginal care to the returning wounded and disabled. In the face of the inadequacy of the DVA -- with a current backlog of almost a million disability cases -- how can fraternal organization like the MOPH continue to glorify and support the current wars, in which victory is undefinable and therefore unattainable?

Our efforts need to be reassessed and realigned to protect those that need not be needlessly sacrificed to a false concept of freedom or liberty.

What a revolutionary move it would be if the MOPH adopted a posture opposing continued U.S. involvement in the current phony wars on terror. This is the leadership required of old soldiers in the face of degenerate national policy.

These are harsh words to speak to fellow patriots, but as Justice Brandeis said, sunshine is an excellent disinfectant.


Sincerely,


Jim Hruska

The Asunción

Men prefer sorrow over joy
... suffering over peace!
--Ran (1985)
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Ranger is tired of the warrior ethos overlaid upon our soldiers. Why the need to apotheosize their human undertakings? As though their transubstantiation from soldier to warrior will ennoble the entire corrupt undertaking.

Everyone offers the doxology. Purple Heart Magazine awarded a Special Leadership award this year to senator Jim Webb, for among other things, his legislation to create a new G.I. Bill.

"Webb's legislation. . . will make it possible for today's young warriors and their families to live the American dream (Purple Heart Magazine, Mar/Apr)."

Sen. Webb is a great advocate for veterans issues, and it is through no fault of his that the New York Review of Books calls him a "warrior-intellectual" (imagine -- a thinkin' warrior?) though he has never referred to himself or our soldiers as "warriors" (aside from discussing the so-called "Wounded Warrior Project.)

Unfortunately, the P.H. Magazine and by extension, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, is endorsing a warrior mentality which is the opposite of the beliefs of our Founding Fathers.

The American dream used to be peace and prosperity and adherence to a set of core values. Both the concept of being a warrior and arriving at the American dream through warfare are gross distortions of the concept of a democracy.

George Washington, the originator of the Purple Heart, never branded himself or his soldiers as warriors. Like the insurgents of Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington fought only in a defensive posture. This is not the stance of the warrior!

Washington left office warning of the dangers of entangling foreign alliances.

We have run afoul of his vision.