General Wesley Clarke said in 2008 something to the effect that getting shot down didn't make one a hero. I suppose that military training might not benefit from leading soldiers to believe that being taken captive is heroic. Clarke was criticized by the media of course and Trump is experiencing the same.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/29/clark.mccain/
Soldiers in war often have ordinary heroism that doesn't win any medals. Units may experience 50% casualties and people keep on fighting as part of the job. It is tough to imagine the ordinary courage of W.W.I soldiers in trenches ordered to go over the top into poison gas, artillery fire and machine guns in futility to a large extent. Some won medals for exceptional behavior yet just being their and willing oneself to become a target with a high chance for death required military discipline.
McCain's aircraft on the Forrestal was hit with a missile from another aircraft and a fire resulted that killed 134 sailors. McCain transferred to another boat with good combat missions and was relatively inexperienced. He was a bomber pilot rather than a fighter pilot. He volunteered without much experience for a mission to Hanoi. His aircraft was hit by A.A. fire and he broke both legs and an arm ejecting from the plane.
Senator McCain's record in Vietnam has been considered at length. Here is one study- http://www.pythiapress.com/wartales/McCain-Shootdown.htm
http://www.a4skyhawk.org/2d/skyhawk-casualties.htm McCain's official shoot down record
McCain graduated 894th out of 899 midshipmen at the naval Academy. His father was senior officer in the Vietnam war for a time. McCain had experienced some trouble yet was enthusiastic about getting in some combat flight missions.
Ordinary valor common to many-one should read about the New York national guard in the civil war- is such that one could say that all were heroes for being there and not running off to Canada. War heroes though are individuals that usually accomplish some sort of combat exceptional performance. It is difficult to imagine that p.o.w.s qualify in that regard though the experience is one of the worst circumstances a soldier might be in. The bridge over the River Kwai dramatized some of the problems, and of course there was the Batan Death March and such. There was even a Catholic Priest posthumously awarded a medal of honor for carrying a wounded soldier until he died in the Korean War.
Plainly the Vietnam War was one of a few that the United States did not win outright. The left opposed the war and others and in the U.S.A. losing has become a kind of virtue-especially that of Alpha males. Donald Trump was a very symbolic winner for capitalism during the late stages of the cold war. In a way he is the last surviving Reagan era super-hero in politics. In this era of national decay it is challenging for anyone to say what they think or run counter to corporate political correctness without being deleted. Trump has the position where he actually can say what he thinks to a limited extent. The left would love an apology I would think.
The lesson to learn is that war is expensive and ought to be avoided by right-thinking people.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/29/clark.mccain/
Soldiers in war often have ordinary heroism that doesn't win any medals. Units may experience 50% casualties and people keep on fighting as part of the job. It is tough to imagine the ordinary courage of W.W.I soldiers in trenches ordered to go over the top into poison gas, artillery fire and machine guns in futility to a large extent. Some won medals for exceptional behavior yet just being their and willing oneself to become a target with a high chance for death required military discipline.
McCain's aircraft on the Forrestal was hit with a missile from another aircraft and a fire resulted that killed 134 sailors. McCain transferred to another boat with good combat missions and was relatively inexperienced. He was a bomber pilot rather than a fighter pilot. He volunteered without much experience for a mission to Hanoi. His aircraft was hit by A.A. fire and he broke both legs and an arm ejecting from the plane.
Senator McCain's record in Vietnam has been considered at length. Here is one study- http://www.pythiapress.com/wartales/McCain-Shootdown.htm
http://www.a4skyhawk.org/2d/skyhawk-casualties.htm McCain's official shoot down record
McCain graduated 894th out of 899 midshipmen at the naval Academy. His father was senior officer in the Vietnam war for a time. McCain had experienced some trouble yet was enthusiastic about getting in some combat flight missions.
Ordinary valor common to many-one should read about the New York national guard in the civil war- is such that one could say that all were heroes for being there and not running off to Canada. War heroes though are individuals that usually accomplish some sort of combat exceptional performance. It is difficult to imagine that p.o.w.s qualify in that regard though the experience is one of the worst circumstances a soldier might be in. The bridge over the River Kwai dramatized some of the problems, and of course there was the Batan Death March and such. There was even a Catholic Priest posthumously awarded a medal of honor for carrying a wounded soldier until he died in the Korean War.
Plainly the Vietnam War was one of a few that the United States did not win outright. The left opposed the war and others and in the U.S.A. losing has become a kind of virtue-especially that of Alpha males. Donald Trump was a very symbolic winner for capitalism during the late stages of the cold war. In a way he is the last surviving Reagan era super-hero in politics. In this era of national decay it is challenging for anyone to say what they think or run counter to corporate political correctness without being deleted. Trump has the position where he actually can say what he thinks to a limited extent. The left would love an apology I would think.
The lesson to learn is that war is expensive and ought to be avoided by right-thinking people.
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