Hi Glenn,
Thank you so very much for following through on the subject of medal inflation. I appreciate the time it took, believe me.
I found that article, from the very credible "Stars and Stripes" to be absolutely fascinating, believable.
Here, to me, was the nut of the piece, explaining perhaps why this has happened:
By the mid-1980s, the Army was awarding proportionately more medals than it did at the height of the Vietnam War. At the time, military spokesmen said the explosion in military awards may have stemmed from the pressures of maintaining an all-volunteer force, and from a tendency of commanders to give awards to personnel they wanted to see stay in the military, according to published news accounts.
I *do* want to say, however, that it's dangerous to make a judgement about the merit of medals received by specific individuals. I would hate for the decorated soldiers who served our country since the Viet Nam war-- tens of thousands of them-- to think for a second that we value their time, work, and bravery any less because of what is, essentially, the Armed Forces' version of "grade inflation."
Anyway, thank you so much. I hope that article gets some attention from lots of people.
And any time you want to talk about your DNC experiences by PM, even piecemeal, let's just do it. :-) |
