Replies

Thanks for the links. I’m struck again by the way those guys say what they think, no holds barred.

Sounds like the biggest problem they have with Yon is his ego and his reporting of the gory details of a soldier’s death - for the sake of the soldier’s family who might suffer because of the description - and the fact that his fellow soldiers wept for his death.

Crying over the death of somebody you love is nothing to be ashamed of, but I realize that not crying - or at least not having people know you cried - might be a necessary facade in order for the guys to keep doing what they do. Lifting that veil could be more degrading or hurtful than stripping them of all their clothes and weapons in view of everybody. But then, I’ve never been there so I don’t even know what I’m talking about with that either.

It reminds me of a discussion I had with my dad, who fought on the front lines in Korea. I asked him what it was like, and after thinking a while he said, “Nellie, I fought over there so that you would never have to know what it was like to be in war.”

We all want to be able to be with our soldiers in their time of need and to be able to understand what they need from us, and to show our respect and appreciation for what they’ve been through. Make sure they know they don’t need to hide or be ashamed of what they’ve done and been through. Reporters with integrity must feel like they have to portray things honestly.

But for the guys who are out there, maybe they just want to be left alone with only the others who have been there with them in the trenches knowing what it’s like and the things they are both proud of and not so proud of in the middle of a crazy time.

Sort of makes me think about the end of “To Kill a Mockingbird”, where Atticus wanted to do the whole legal sorting out of who killed Bob Ewell, but the sheriff would only allow the death to be ruled accidental - because in the scrutiny of defending Jem Finch from manslaughter charges it would be revealed that Boo Radley was a hero who saved Scout’s life, and that limelight would kill him - a mockingbird who wanted nothing than to just be able to quietly sing for those who were willing to hear him. To rake him through the public scrutiny - even if it ended in praise - would be to kill a mockingbird.

I wonder if some of the soldiers feel like us civilians trying to understand - even if it results in praise - would be like killing a mockingbird. I know the SEALs were disgusted with Biden naming the SEALS as having done the Bin Laden raid - and at least partly because them receiving glory would jeopardize future missions, a view totally vindicated when a couple dozen were killed not long after having received the notoreity.

I don’t know what the deal is with Yon, so I’ll take what he says with a grain of salt and just ponder it in the back of my mind as possible true and possibly not true. I don’t know how else to respond.