The WhiteBlaze in Wartime

[Mountain Dew]

Why do the liberal flame throwers have to piss on every thread they comment on by adding their political .02 worth ? Answer: They can't help/control themselves.

In 2003 when I heard the war with Iraq started on my headphones I just stopped and listening to reports of it for several hours. Then I prayed for the troups, OUR President, and thanked God for the Vets we had.

[Blue Jay]

Why do the liberal flame throwers have to piss on every thread they comment on by adding their political .02 worth ? Answer: They can't help/control themselves.

In 2003 when I heard the war with Iraq started on my headphones I just stopped and listening to reports of it for several hours. Then I prayed for the troups, OUR President, and thanked God for the Vets we had.

I'm an arch conservative vet. If you love the war and OUR president so much why don't you enlist. Oh, you listened on your headphones and prayed. I think I'm going to vomit.

[icemanat95]

Why do the liberal flame throwers have to piss on every thread they comment on by adding their political .02 worth ? Answer: They can't help/control themselves.

In 2003 when I heard the war with Iraq started on my headphones I just stopped and listening to reports of it for several hours. Then I prayed for the troups, OUR President, and thanked God for the Vets we had.

I had a similar experience in 1995. I was at a shelter in the Smokies when someone announced that the Oklahoma City Federal Building had been bombed. That was a cold bucket of water on our idyllic little vacation.

As to the liberals. Weary's posts was, technically true. The Trail virtually dissappeared in many areas during WWII, there just wasn't enough money or manpower to keep it up, nor enough traffic to beat the weeds down.

The current war is being financed by deficit spending, that's true enough as well. We can argue til the cows come home, have their calfs and then those calfs run off as well, and we won't agree whether this spending or war is necessary, so lets stay away from that.

The comment about our gradnchildren having to pay for the war is also true enough when you consider that Weary is one of our most venerable members (and I say that with great respect). Weary's grandchildren are approaching taxpaying age these days. Mine are 20 years or so away from being born.

Deficits always look grim on paper, but if we could just get Congress (both parties) to stop wasting our money on pork barrel "projects" and to get the job done in an efficient manner, we wouldn't have to even think about it. But that also is a whole other discussion.

Weary is a gentleman. I don't agree with his politics (mostly) but I respect him.

Blue Jay is another issue.

[ridgewalker777]

Excellent, open-minded post. There's no use being nostalgic about how things used to be, but rather to be conscious of the way things are, and how to make it better. There's a huge range of philosophical and political views represented in the hiking community, I doubt any political view is lacking. There seemed to be a lot of young folks with a decidedly green party or ABB perspective. I'm at the Organic Farming conferance in Amherst this weekend where Ralph Nader and Ron Paul will be debating the issues tomorrow night.

[eyahiker]

Why do the liberal flame throwers have to piss on every thread they comment on by adding their political .02 worth ? Answer: They can't help/control themselves.

In 2003 when I heard the war with Iraq started on my headphones I just stopped and listening to reports of it for several hours. Then I prayed for the troups, OUR President, and thanked God for the Vets we had.

Yo GO Mountain Dew. You are so correct, I'm really tired of the whining I read on here myself, everything is blamed - incuding -war on the present admin., as if it all just happened overnight and history is moot. I guess if they can't control themselves, I can add my .02 also........

Personally, I want to vomit every time I hear the Kerry was a Vet 'line'. Where were all of these Vet-loving voters (many of whom were at the time 'hippies') when the troops came home? Where have they been all this time? Suddenly they're coming out of their closets to pat a Vet on the back for the sake of the election - sickening.

Vets should've been honored the minute they set foot back on USA soil, only AIM and other native groups have consistently honored them from that point on..... ( not that SOME OF US have always respected vets, there are many out there).

I was annoyed more by the political 'messages' in some of the registers on the AT as well, what a drag to have to hike all day and have somebody's political message in your face,( regardless of which side by the way), I like to hike to get away from it all

OK, I step down off my soapbox, thanks for my .02 cents worth of time. I'm thankful for all those who gave their lives so I can live free today, regardless of whose administration was in office at the time.

[Blue Jay]

Vets should've been honored the minute they set foot back on USA soil, only AIM and other native groups have consistently honored them from that point on..... ( not that SOME OF US have always respected vets, there are many out there).

I agree 100%. Too bad OUR president does not. He is the first (and hopefully the last) president to cut veterans benefits during war time. Kerry, who is sell out, corporate loving, common man hating, scum at least is a veteran and has at least the knowlege of war. I would rather have a vet send a vet to die, than a gutless coward who hid behind his father. Iceman we agree on the subject of Weary, you should be very scared.

[SGT Rock]

OK look, I am not supporting either of these gentelmen but the fact is Kerry is a vet and his a decorated one at that. You cannot just give yourself a BSM with V device no matter how much people want to bash him saying he didn't deserve it. A few someons in the chain of command all the way up to the one star level decided he must have deserved it, but that ain't even the highest award he has.

He has also somehow earned a Silver Star - and you can't just get one of those eithers. Silver Stars are not small potatoes. Apparently all the people in the chain of command also decided he deserved that. Oh, and by the way - both these awards have an investigation and board process to ensure they aren't just given out. The Silver star is a little more in-depth than the BSM with V though.

And to top that all off, he got hit three times. I have heard the big stink about the first one, that some people that think he didn't deserve it think he faked the funk - but again, you don't award these to yourself either. Someody else reccomended it, and another somebody else approved it. The supposed "big stink" is he caught some fragments from a grenade he shot himself. I can assure you I am familiar with the reg on awards, and in the case of wounds caused by freindly fire when firing at the enemy when that fire is intended to hit the enemy or wounds result as a part of that fire - you still qualify. I am not making that up, it is in the regulation. I also saw a debate by the veterans group calling Senator Kerry's record into question and a man that was actually on Kerry's crew. Seems the guys on Kerry's boat crew think he deserves everything he got, including the guys whos lives he saved pulling them out.

So what if he threw the medals at the White House, smoked them, gave them to his kids, or whatever - they are his. Like it or not he earned them and he was there in the ****. What makes me sick is people that were not calling his honor, integrity, or bravery into question. I guess it is easy to be an armchair warrior and find fault in the guy, but it would probably be 100 times harder to walk in his shoes during those times. I have been in places not nearly as bad, and I wouldn't dream of doing such things to anyone that has earned the decorations he had. So y'all out there that may have never served or did some peacetime service - get off your high horse and find something a little more substantial to complain about when it comes to Kerry, I am sure you can find something. But quit bashing the guy for his war record - he really has one and he actually knows what it is like to send soldiers to their death at the ground level.

I'm off my high horse now.

[Blue Jay]

Rock, thankyouthankyouthankyou

[icemanat95]

I was going to write a big long response to Sgt. Rock's post, but I won't.

Suffice it to say however, that there is a well documented history of officers awarding themselves medals for actions that may not have even occurred at all. In small units especially it is entirely possible for an officer to largely fabricate a combat action, cook up a story with his NCO's and then put everyone in for a medal for the "action." as long as no-one is around to deny their account, it's an administrative slam dunk.

It should also be noted that none of Kerry's wounds was serious enough to warrant more than a few lost hours of duty. By contrast many soldiers in WWII went AWOL from the hospital to return to their units in combat, many still severely injured and bleeding between their stitches. Many of those men never received Purple Hearts because they didn't hang around in the hospital long enough to bother. By contrast, Mr. Kerry had to apply for his first Purple Heart TWICE, since the commanding officer of the unit he ewas in when the action went down, took one look at him and told him to "forget it."

Sgt. Rock, your own military service puts that of John Forbes Kerry to shame, he was a political son using his military service for political gain, and he bolted at the first possible opportunity after he had built his resume up a bit.

I'll respect the fact that he served in combat, but I won't let that service absolve him of the dishonor he heaped on the service afterward, when it became politically expedient for him to so so, nor will I let it absolve him of his current, cynical grab for votes by trotting up his 35 year old military record of "heroism" after spending the past 35 years spitting on the services. What he did 35 years ago is one thing, but it's what he has done since then that concerns me.

[Teatime]

The reason I quit the Trailplace website was because of Wingfoot putting forth his political views on what I thought was neutral ground. Now, I see the same crap here on Whitleblaze, and although it's not the moderator doing it I still don't think its appropriate. I'm an Air Force veteran (Combat Communications units, mostly) who has spent time in Germany during the Cold War, in South Korea and in Saudi Arabia. I support our president but don't want to argue with those who don't on this website. If people have a political axe to grind, I wish they would do it somewhere else. Let's focus on what we all have in common, a love of the A.T.

[Mountain Dew]

SEE !!! Typical thread thrown off the face of sanity by a handful of liberals who just HAVE to make EVERY thread political by bashing America or PRESIDENT Bush. Thread starts out fine....flame throwing liberal launches his idiotic bomb and if just ONE sane person reply's the whole thread goes into WWIII. What a shame....

Blue Jay ... "I'm an arch conservative vet." bwa hahahahaaahahahaa Reduce the dosage bro on whatever it is that you are on.
Blue Jay... "If you love the war and OUR president so much why don't you enlist. Oh, you listened on your headphones and prayed. I think I'm going to vomit. " ---I have to enlist to support the war and the President ? You have faulty wires upstairs. You'll have to excuse me for being on the A.T. while i heard about the war...or was it that i stopped to pray that sent you into a foaming at the mouth liberal rant ? Go ahead and vomit. Most liberals do vomit at the sight of patriotism or support for America.

Icemanat95, We can peacefully agree to disagre on a few of those topics no big deal i suppose. "Blue Jay is another issue" ..... didn't you mean to say " HAS ISSUES" ?

Eyahiker... I was also annoyed that the scumbag liberals felt the need to express their views in registers in shelter after shelter in 2003. Why ? What purpose did it serve ? AGAIN....they can't help themselves. How they turn everything political on WB is the same way they did it on the trail. Sickening to say the least.

(before the crybaby's start to cry let Sgt. Rock speak for himself. We have met and get along. I respect the guy alot for what he does for hikers so please resist the urge to vomit verbally at me.)

Sgt.Rock, You being a near expert on this issue ( military) or as close as we have on WB besides other vets. You think that NO medals have gone to individuals that didn't warrant them ? Come on man.....

Sgt. Rock, The supposed "big stink" is he caught some fragments from a grenade he shot himself. I can assure you I am familiar with the reg on awards, and in the case of wounds caused by freindly fire when firing at the enemy when that fire is intended to hit the enemy or wounds result as a part of that fire - you still qualify. --- I recently read in the paper the rules for a purple heart. It clearly states that it is/can be awarded from friendly fire like you stated. Wounding yourself doesn't qualify, as that would lead to people wounding themselves for the medal etc. The rules CLEARLY state that wounding yourself is NOT friendly fire. What am I missing here ?

You claim that the words of the guys that served on his boat are paramount which I find hard to argue against, just like the people in the whitehouse claimed that Clinton didn't have an affair with Monica. Those close to us would often lie for us be it right of wrong ! One medic that treated him said that the wound was clearly not purple heart worthy and that it was superficial. Does his word count ? His words and claim you just brush aside. Why ?
Sgt. Rock, "What makes me sick is people that were not calling his honor, integrity, or bravery into question." --- I know you weren't referring to me when this was stated,but... Honor....depends on how you define it. Bravery.... I believe he was a brave man in the war. Yeah, I said it. hahahaa Integrity ? hahaaaa Give me a break ! He has none ! When A person apply's to become a police officer they call into question his integrity by a series of questions. One of them usually being something along the lines of.... " if you saw another officer doing such and such (stealing maybe) ...what then would you do ?" If you say nothing the interview is OVER... BYE BYE ! Kerry, claims to have seen all these war crimes by his fellow vets, but I find is highly suspiciuos that he never saw to it to turn every single one of them in. Surely the word of a Lt. would have carried weight. And a "highly" decorated one at that right ?
Sgt. Rock... "So y'all out there that may have never served or did some peacetime service - get off your high horse and find something a little more substantial to complain about when it comes to Kerry". You qualify those with the right to speak on such issues as VETS and state that those who haven't shouldn't say a word. OK fine, but that leaves you with a double standard when you merely brush aside the comments of vets who do meet those standards. Or are they somehow NOT qualified ? While I highly respect the fact that he served our country I don't then have to believe every story he tells. Where there is smoke like a wild fire there is usualy some level of truth/fire. I believe he honestly earned most of his medals, but I also think he "stretched" the truth on some. If this isn't my right and I can't have an opinion on this issues , (based on the accounts of dozens of vets), then who the can ! God bless American and the right to speak our minds even when the masses would silence us.
---------------------------
War Hero my ass. People pass that word around like it's candy. Those that hike the A.T. pass by a real war hero. Auddie Murphy...you didn't see him throwing his medals back only to run a campaign based on them years later. Neither would he have been pals with Jane Fonda who should have been shot for betraying our POW's ! Hell, even me and Lone Wolf most likely agree on Fonda. hahaaa

[Brushy Sage]

When I hiked in 2002 I had just retired from the Air Force. Since it was also just 6 months after 9/11 I felt real patriotic and decided to carry an American flag with me and fly it in camp every night. Everyone thought that was real neat.

P.S. Brushy Sage, I remember camping with you at Deep Gap shelter that year.

Yes, I remember you and the flag you carried. I think that was well received. Good to be in touch again.

[SGT Rock]

The reason I quit the Trailplace website was because of Wingfoot putting forth his political views on what I thought was neutral ground. Now, I see the same crap here on Whitleblaze, and although it's not the moderator doing it I still don't think its appropriate. I'm an Air Force veteran (Combat Communications units, mostly) who has spent time in Germany during the Cold War, in South Korea and in Saudi Arabia. I support our president but don't want to argue with those who don't on this website. If people have a political axe to grind, I wish they would do it somewhere else. Let's focus on what we all have in common, a love of the A.T.

Here I agree most whole heartedly. The political ramifications of supporting the AT or whatever might be clear on another thread if we actually had one on that. And then it would probably be one I choose to ignore because I rarely see any facts or exchange of ideas when it comes to polotics on a board - just dogma and parroting. We were talking about feelings of hikers and their actions during war and somehow went down a pig path.

There are a lot of follow up posts to what I said, yet the point I made still stands - get off it. Y'all cannot call me a liberal winnie or anything else that would pigeon hole me into supporting Kerry so much that I forgive any transgression. So take what I say and please try to get on with it. Would it help y'all to better understand why I am saying this if I told you I voted for Bush last election?

I read in a paper once that the ice age was comming back by the end of the 80's but that didn't make it so, neither does a reporter half quoting from the regulation without a clear understanding of it. And neither does it make it any better if someone who doesn't understand what it exactly takes to get these awards echoes what they heard someone else say. People are Monday morning quarterbacking this based of what they heard not what they really know.

This isn't like some blue blazer claiming to be a white blazer or anything that simple. Sure people put themselves in for awards they don't deserve, but that completely misses the point of what it takes to actually get or qualify for these awards. I do read the regulations and understand what they say. An O1, O2 or O3 no matter what cannot give himself any award. O5, O6, O7, and above are reqired for these things and that is a lot of juice. Political apointments to get things usually mean going to England and out of the draft or into a National Guard unit on low deployment status ahead of everyone else on a waiting list and keeps you on the rolls after you should have been DFRed (and no I am not only reffering to Bush), people do not use political clout to get sent to a swamp and catch disentary.

I know some of y'all saying this are bright folks out there, but you are not understanding the big picture. I mean honestly, if Kerry was a Republican with the same war record, he would be viewed as the man to lead us in war. But since he is not, the political party that seems to have a lock on good military sense has decided to find ways to nit pick his record. These are career politicians starting this stuff and spinning it to their advantage. Remember McCain, 4 years ago they were trying to make him out (from their own party) as less than desierable because of his war record - and the man was a POW under some of the most adverse conditions for a POW in recent times.

[SGT Rock]

Those that hike the A.T. pass by a real war hero. Auddie Murphy...you didn't see him throwing his medals back only to run a campaign based on them years later. Neither would he have been pals with Jane Fonda who should have been shot for betraying our POW's ! Hell, even me and Lone Wolf most likely agree on Fonda. hahaaa

I totally agree with this. I made a special hike up the mountain just to see the marker, and I visited his grave in Arlington. Audie wasn't perfect either, but I will let the things he did rest because in the end, he fought hard for this country and made himself into something from almost nothing. If he were running for either party today though, everything he ever did would be called into question not because of the war or anything that happened after that, but because politicians hate to loose.

If there are any people out there that have recently served in the Army (say since 1990) you know what the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club is all about, and I am proud to say I was inducted in 1994 as member number 655 by General Frank, I still carry the card with his signature on it in my wallet.

[eyahiker]

You're right.
Trailplace is much nastier - at least here you can actually have freedom of speech, and we should focus on the A.T. part...........

The reason I quit the Trailplace website was because of Wingfoot putting forth his political views on what I thought was neutral ground. Now, I see the same crap here on Whitleblaze, and although it's not the moderator doing it I still don't think its appropriate. I'm an Air Force veteran (Combat Communications units, mostly) who has spent time in Germany during the Cold War, in South Korea and in Saudi Arabia. I support our president but don't want to argue with those who don't on this website. If people have a political axe to grind, I wish they would do it somewhere else. Let's focus on what we all have in common, a love of the A.T.

[weary]

The reason I quit the Trailplace website was because of Wingfoot putting forth his political views on what I thought was neutral ground. Now, I see the same crap here on Whitleblaze, and although it's not the moderator doing it I still don't think its appropriate. I'm an Air Force veteran (Combat Communications units, mostly) who has spent time in Germany during the Cold War, in South Korea and in Saudi Arabia. I support our president but don't want to argue with those who don't on this website. If people have a political axe to grind, I wish they would do it somewhere else. Let's focus on what we all have in common, a love of the A.T.

Sometimes a love of the AT requires political involvement, as much as some persist in wishing to avoid it.

Everything in fact is connected. The AT in my considered opinion, is not safe with someone with Bush's record in the Whitehouse.

Politics -- decades of politics -- created and protected the trail. Only politics will keep it alive.

Weary

[Kerosene]

The AT in my considered opinion, is not safe with someone with Bush's record in the Whitehouse.

Frankly, the real problem is that it won't be any safer with Kerry in the White House.

[Lone Wolf]

BUSH/CHENEY 04 The ONLY choice. Semper Fi!

[Mountain Dew]

Mr Ed... b well said

Sgt. Rock... You are mistaken if you think that anybody called or implied that you were a liberal. That never happened. The reporter I spoke about didn't "half" quote anything. You just made that up to further support your stance. He printed the whole criteria for a purple heart. It's even in very simple language. Oliver North was on Fox news and was asked about self inflicted wounds being eligible. He said NO and went on to state his opinion on the subject. Is he qualified ? Is he armchair quarterbacking ? I based my opinion on what they had to say and from my reading of the criteria. That's not called armchair anything. Facts are facts are facts and on and on.... I'll further respond to your entry's on this topic in private emails so that this topic may recover, if possible, to sanity. Hopefully the liberal bomb throwers will stop their antiproductive habits.

Sgt. Rock... "I mean honestly, if Kerry was a Republican with the same war record, he would be viewed as the man to lead us in war." --- No Republican that EVER associated with Jane Fonda would be elected to hold office on any level I dare say. I also didn't see where ANYBODY defended Bush's *war record in any way. Please correct me if i'm wrong here, but since you brought it up.... I agree with your assessment of the actions he took. You did say that Bush was a career politician which is also false. McCain's party was calling him to task about his own war record ? I didn't see it that way at all. That was the liberal spin trying to cause drama in my eyes. I'd love to see McCain run for office. I have never been a blind follower of individual. I vote for what I see as right. Bush isn't even close to my ideal. He's a true blue sellout and I'm halfway ashamed to call his a fellow Texan. I'm also glad to see that you know alot about Auddie Murphy. I carried a Texas flag from Springer in my pack so that I could leave it at his marker.

Weary... "Sometimes a love of the AT requires political involvement, as much as some persist in wishing to avoid it." --- You are almost right. Yes, love of the AT requires political involvement, but when you constantly throw your political slant on threads where one isn't needed or wanted it ruins the thread's topic. You feel the needs, along with several others, to ruin topics by force feeding it to the masses which in turn forces people to not want to visit WB. A.T. politics should be reserved for private conversations and political threads were it is clearly welcomed. If that were the case people that went into that thread would have no grounds for a complaint.

[SGT Rock]

Dew,

First I will start by saying I have NOTHING against you. The US needs more people like you that care enough to worry about things instead of going with the flow or not voting. Most kids these days never heard of Audie Murphy when they should have been taught about things like that in American History class. I wish you would join the Army and come serve with me, I need people like you.

I never meant to say you call me a liberal, I am just pointing out I am saying this from actual knowledge or experience. I am not a sycophant to the Democratic party or any part. I am not accusing you of anything, I just think you are taking this to the mat a little more than you ought to based on a few things you know TV, TV and other media will not spend the time to explain this out because they assume their audience doesn't have the attention span for it. Oliver North is a man that has a long service record in the Marines, but because of his background he hasn't necessarily had to become an expert on the regulations about awards. Normally it is a Senior NCOs job to be smart about these things and advise their commanders so the commanders don't have to spend all their time reading these things. I also at times wonder if he has aligned himself with the republican career politicians too much in recent years. But anyway, he is also a decorated war veteran who I respect for doing that. If it sounds like I am calling his character or integrity into question - I am not intending that.

Onto my point of writing this post...

I spend many hours a week reviewing and forwarding or changing awards a week. I refer to the regulation quite often even though I am not a admin wennie by nature. But as the senior NCO in my unit, I am the standard bearer for my unit at all times. If an officer in my unit submits any award (including BSMs) they have to go through me and I am usually the standard enforcer even though that officer outranks me technically. I have thrown a lot of bull**** flags in the past year. But if they make it through me, then a CSM looks at the award and does the same thing. So if an LT and a CPT at my level try to send a bull**** award through the system and I get forced to send it up (hasn't happened yet) then a CSM will do the exact same thing I do, and the LTC he advises will probably squash nuts on the award and it will never pass his door. But if the award makes it past him for whatever reason, then a COL and his CSM do it at the next level. Each level the person is more disinterested and more objective and something like a BSM has to go all the way to General Officer level except in some cases where the approval authority has the ability to allow a COL to become the approval authority for the BSM.

In the last year I have become very intimate with the awards regulation and I really couldn't do a Leader Development class here on awards, but basically this is a purple heart:

1. Soldier gets wounded in battle. If the soldier shoots himself - that doesn't count and I have seen some of that in Iraq. If a soldier is hit by the enemy he does qualify. If the soldier is charging a machine gun emplacement and his covering fire that is directed on the enemy accidentally hits him, according to the regulation he still qualifies. If I get hit from friendly artillery because I am in a close fight with the enemy and that fire is aimed at them and I also get hit - then I also, by regulation, qualify for the purple heart. If I call for that fire myself because they are in my perimeter and I need Final Protective Fire, I still qualify even though I called it and that would be technically self inflicted. A grenade fired or thrown at the enemy is the same thing. If I shoot an M203 at the enemy 100 meters away, I may catch a fragment of that grenade but I still qualify even if the frag came from my weapon because I was shooting at the enemy and the wound came as a result from the fire. I wasn't on the boat, but if a VC was 100 meters away and I fire a 40mm at him to kill him and catch some shrapnel, I would still qualify - the only difference is I would probably not tell anyone out of embarrassment. Some units might also not send up requests for those type of wounds because of personal opinions about such wounds, but that isn't necessarily in line with the regulation. I have seen purple hearts pulled after an investigation: a kid from my recruiting station was killed in GW I and the day before his funeral it was pulled because it turned out the guys squad leader got them blown up by playing with a cluster bomb. If this was a bull**** purple heart that Kerry got, his CO could have rescinded it back then. the fact that it never happened tells me it was legit.

2. The severity of the wound does not matter, only how the wound was inflicted. If the wound was treated by medical personnel is the only qualifier. Illness in a combat zone has not qualified anyone even though they are treated, but maybe in a bio attack that may change since the reg has never really had to deal with that. I mention that because an MP unit in Operation Just Cause (AKA Just Because) tried to award some purple hearts for heat casualties. My Regimental CSM (A real hard ass that I completely respect) was in a truck hit by an IED and only took a scratch to his arm and his gunner (if I remember correctly) got a broken arm and more than just a scratch. They were both treated and they both received purple hearts. My CSM is not the kind of guy to just take an award because he could - he qualified for and got the award. It is that simple. Sometimes it doesn't seem right, but this isn't that type of an award. I know a guy who half his head was shattered and lost an eye, and he got the exact same purple heart award as the CSM that only got scratched. My Step Father was shot in the head in Korea and his purple heart was the same as a guy that gets killed.

3. The soldier doesn't even put himself in or deny himself the award. the treating physician puts in the award recommendation and a hospital commander is the approving authority. The award must also be accompanied by at least one whiteness statement, which is a DD Form.

Now I have my own opinion based on what I have seen as to who really deserves an award and maybe some changes that should be made to the regulations because I don't necessarily always agree with them, but the fact is there is a process that says if you qualify for and who gets it. It seems like a lottery at times, and I was not in a hurry to win that one at all. You can keep the purple heart, I prefer the all arms and legs still attached and I'm still breathing medal at the end of my career.

Anyway, the guys I fight with are who I worry about. I know there are people in other units that probably think they deserve my BSM more than I did or maybe that I don't deserve my BSM. I could care less. The soldiers in my unit that were with my and know what was going on seem to think I deserved it and that is all that matters to me. Probably someday if I were to run for office they could get a team of "Cav guys against Engman" to say I didn't deserve my award either, but I could probably find about 100 men that would say different, and they are the ones that count. And just to clarify things, my BSM does not have a "V" device.