Are All Veterans “Heroes”

Posted by Jeff Carter
on July 5th, 2012

I received this email the other day.

Jeff –

Who in their right mind would have the nerve to say that Tammy Duckworth — a double-amputee Iraq War Veteran and current candidate for Congress in Illinois — is anything less than an American hero?

Her opponent — Republican Congressman Joe Walsh — has decided that his only chance to beat her is to hurl character attacks at Duckworth, saying today that she’s not a “true hero.”

Tell Walsh that all of our Veterans are heroes and that we can never recognize them enough for their service. (link deleted)

It’s a new low for Joe Walsh. Let’s hold him accountable.

Thanks,

Kelly Ward

DCCC Political Director

A few weeks ago, the lefty television network, MSNBC, had a host that said veterans are not heroes.

So which is it? Are vets heroes or not?

I think the use of the word hero is overused. Certainly, veterans are extremely patriotic. They are owed a debt for the time that they served. I know most veterans would not categorize themselves as heroes-even ones that performed extremely heroic deeds under some of the most adverse conditions a human can face. They merely say, “I was doing my job.”.

Soldiering is more than just a job. I hate when the politicians or media types try to spin things for their gain. I prefer to let the vets themselves decide who is a hero and who isn’t. They know the sacrifice it takes, and they can empathize with the situation a particular soldier would find themselves in.

Through personal experience, I have met a lot of people, Medal of Honor recipients, that I would categorize as a “hero”. But to a person, they reject the label. They say the true heroes are the ones that don’t return. Real heroes don’t categorize themselves as such.

The use of the word hero is overused in American society today. Athletic prowess and other efforts that are indeed great are often given “heroic” status. I sincerely believe that the word hero ought to be confined to people helping people in life or death situations.

As to Tammy Duckworth, is she a hero? She had two legs blown off while flying a helicopter in a war and survived. It’s a miracle. I would say that she was a hero in the Iraq War. Her war story is amazing, and the intestinal fortitude it took to survive and recover is a testament to her spirit.

However, just because you are a hero doesn’t mean you are guaranteed a seat in Congress. Our nation owes you a few things, but it doesn’t owe you a seat in any elected body.

What has Ms. Duckworth done to earn a seat in Congress? What does she believe? How will she vote? She is very liberal. She supports things like Dodd-Frank, and Obamacare. She engages in class warfare and believes in taxing the rich. She believes economic stimulus from the government is better than cutting taxes for the private sector.

She ran against Peter Roskam and lost. In this election cycle, Illinois Democrats redistricted Illinois and gerrymandered a district to try and tailor make a seat in Congress for her. She is trolling for an election win.

On that basis, I could never support her politically, no matter what I felt about her personally.

Secondly, since rehabilitating herself, Ms. Duckworth has held a series of government appointed jobs. She doesn’t understand the private sector, and has nary a clue as to how it works. We don’t need politicians like that from either party in Congress today.

Duckworth has worked for the Veterans Administration. I support the VA’s efforts. But I can’t help but wonder if the private sector might do it better. A WSJ editorial today says,

Both national organizations are led and mostly staffed by military wives and draw on the extended community of active-duty military and veterans for support and leadership. They spend nearly 95 cents of every dollar on programs and because of their sharp focus, the respected watchdog organization Charity Navigators gives both high ratings. Both groups understand that their work will not be completed in days or months or even years. They are about the work of lifetimes.

Other organizations like Wounded Warriors perform service to injured vets. We need them and I urge anyone to support them.

What I want to know is, all the money that we allocate to the VA, how much of it goes for bureaucracy to administer services, and how much of it goes to actually improving the lives of the veterans it seeks to serve?

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