Sunday, October 22, 2017

Serving with Distinction? How?


We read a lot these days about stolen valor. Those two words, or especially the latter one, can convey more than one image to most of us. Is it purchasing military medals online and wearing them? Is it claiming an unearned commendation on one's resume'? How about simply saying that you had a "distinguished military career?"

Has Shoalanda ever told you about being part of Girls' State in high school and serving with distinction? How was she distinguished? She wore a name tag...it distinguished her from all the other girls. See how that works; no one lied, but if you thought she had done something really great...well, that's up to you.

We've just read for the umpteenth time that Senate candidate Roy Moore served in the military in Vietnam with distinction. Yet no battles are mentioned; no medals are enumerated as being won. Just how was he distinguished other than by his military name tag and the same medal every other soldier who served in Vietnam received?

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Roy Moore's campaign has gone on record as saying he's never been embarrassed by this state. Apparently not even by Richard Shelby's dye job. We can believe that; however the question isn't whether Roy Moore is capable of being embarrassed, but is he capable of embarrassing us sane and rational citizens of the state?

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4 comments:

  1. Did you serve? How about adding the answer to that question in your comments. I would add a little perspective.

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    1. While some who blog here regularly did serve in the U.S. military, Shoalanda herself did not. The point is not the service, but describing the service as "distinguished." Roy Moore served, at least in part, because he was appointed to West Point and traded his relatively few years of military service for a free college education from a prestigious institution.

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  2. Being appointed to West Point isn't distinguished?

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    1. We consider it very distinguished, but it's not part of his "military career." Students at West Point are cadets until they graduate and then become part of the army (military). From his commission until he left the service, how was he distinguished?

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