Medal of Valor? Puhleeze!

[MACTANK]

This pisses me off!

Matt York / AP American Indians award former POW with warriors medal of valor


By BETH DeFALCO
ASSOCIATED PRESS


PHOENIX, March 22 — An American Indian veterans group awarded a ''warriors medal of valor'' Wednesday to former POW Jessica Lynch in a ceremony on the mountain named after her best friend and fallen comrade, Army Spc. Lori Piestewa.

The ceremony on Piestewa Peak marked the two-year anniversary of the ambush on a convoy in Iraq in which Piestewa was killed and Lynch was taken prisoner.
Piestewa, a Hopi, is believed to be the first American Indian woman killed while fighting for the U.S. military.
''She was a very strong-minded woman,'' said Lynch, the former Army supply clerk from West Virginia who is still recovering from injuries suffered in the ambush. ''Her strength rubbed off on me.''
The medal was presented to her by the Native American Veterans Council. A member of the Havasupai-Grand Canyon tribe used feathers to send sage smoke through the crowd, and members of the Sioux nations sang to the rhythm of a drum.
Lynch, 21, and Piestewa, 23, served together in the 507th Maintenance Company, based at Fort Bliss, Texas, and were roommates there and tentmates in Iraq.
With proceeds from a book deal, Lynch created a foundation to help Piestewa's two children, 6-year-Brandon and 5-year-old Carla.

[USMC5831]

I can not believe they are giving her all of these crazy medals she did not do anything superior. She was a female that was a POW that is it.

[conlor]

It's their medal, guess they can do anything they want to with it.

[Bluehawk]

Was it SHE who sought a Medal of Valor?

Or, was it she who was doomed to receive it by media hype propaganda.

And, might she have earned such a valor by means other than those which are officially sanctioned.

I reckon her as honorable.

[USA11B]

Originally Posted by MACTANK

MACTANK & USMC5831, unless I am missing something this ''warriors medal of valor'' is a Tribal award given to Lynch basically for being a friend to Piestewa.

MACTANK & USMC5831, unless I am missing something this ''warriors medal of valor'' is a Tribal award given to Lynch basically for being a friend to Piestewa.
If you have more on this or I am missing something, let me know.

[Snowden]

Originally Posted by USA11B

MACTANK & USMC5831, unless I am missing something this ''warriors medal of valor'' is a Tribal award given to Lynch basically for being a friend to Piestewa.
If you have more on this or I am missing something, let me know.

That's my reading of it too, Don. I imagine they have reason to show respect to Lynch for being a friend of Piestewa. She did survive a pretty nasty ordeal - if they want to show appreciation for the friend of a member of their community; why not?

[kruser79]

I've kinda waffled a bit on the Jessica Lynch subject.

One the one hand she was a soldier. She endured a terrible ordeal.

On the other, she was victim to the very same malady that afflicted her colleagues, poor weapons maintenance and poor warfighter skills. Many of those in her unit died needlessly because they weren't first, properly trained, and second, properly supervised. Nevertheless, it's a soldier's duty to keep himself, and his weapon, sharp and ready at all times. (Think about it, why can our front-line combat units engage in firefights that last for hours, but this unit's weapons couldn't empty a complete magazine before jamming?)

Her relationships inside of the unit weren't the healthiest either. Romance inside of the same unit rarely works (and no, you can't be the self-named esprit' de corps booster).

I'll give her her due. But I can't bring myself to call her a hero, or valorous.