A friend of ours posted a photo of his son and his son’s platoon in Bagdad.
It was a wonderful group of young men, modern day warriors with their eyes full of pride and fire.
We have posted similar photos ourselves of our sons. We have found some of ourselves when we were young and brave and we even have one of our grandfather when he was a young and proud soldier of the American Expeditionary Forces of World War I.
What spoiled it for our friend is that one yahoo took the opportunity to comment on how he disagreed with the war in Iraq.
We know it was not an isolated incident.
In fact one can hardly post a photo of a soldier without someone starting a debate on the geopolitical issues surrounding the conflict.
There is a time and place for everything.
But bringing up politics under a troop photo is just not right.
There is truly nothing political about young men in battle.
The reasons why their country sent them there to fight and in some cases die are irrelevant.
Anyone is free to question the need for war but questioning the need for war in conjunction with a troop photo is an effort to dismiss their bravery.
And bravery should never be dismissed.
It should never be, but it is all the time and it is getting worse.
Our warriors returning from Iraq and Afghanistan we are told are worthy of our compassion but not our respect.
In news story after news story, TV show after TV show the only warriors that are ever featured are those wounded ones. Poor souls who have been broken forever by man’s inhumanity to man. We are told we should pity them. And in a perverse way it is a kind of revenge for those who never heeded the call to put their own lives on the line.
“See what happens to the brave?” The stories teach. “Only tragedy and hopelessness. Better to have never fought at all.”
Well it does make a nice story yet it is not the whole story. It is not even most of the story.
As terrible as war can be most of us return from battle pretty much okay.
We will go farther.
Most of us, the vast majority of us, who have fought come back as better men than we were before.
Sorry if that does not follow the popular line, but it is nevertheless true.
Our returning warriors do not need our pity they demand our respect.
And they are a lesson to our children that it is good to be brave.
It is good to fight for what you believe in.
And there is honor in wearing the uniform.
Old men can be cynical.
And eventually even the youngest brashest soldier today will be an old man.
And despite all the fake compassion he will endure he will one day look at the photo when he was young and could climb mountains and he will smile with joy at the feats he did in those days.
Few may understand but they will be enough.