An Educational Note On the Medal of Honor

Bryan Fischer

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Bryan Fischer's Lamentable Rant About the "Feminizing" of the US Medal of Honor

Bryan Fischer opened his mouth and removed all doubt as to his ignorance and utter stupidity. Fischer, director of the American Family Association, went on a rant about the feminization of the Medal of Honor - the commendation given to those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty - in complaining about President Obama Medal being given to Staff Seargant Salvatore Giunta.

This, Fischer wrote on his blog, shows that the Medal of Honor has been "feminized" because "we now award it only for preventing casualties, not for inflicting them."

...

Fischer's take? "So the question is this: when are we going to start awarding the Medal of Honor once again for soldiers who kill people and break things so our families can sleep safely at night?"

"We have feminized the Medal of Honor," Fischer wrote. He also quoted General Patton: "Gen. George Patton once famously said, 'The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other guy die for his.'" (Actually, Patton doesn't say anything about the other guy: "The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.")

Fischer recently argued that it's time to get rid of the "curse" that is the Grizzly Bear because of the number of humans who have been killed by bears: "One human being is worth more than an infinite number of grizzly bears. Another way to put it is that there is no number of live grizzlies worth one dead human being. If it's a choice between grizzlies and humans, the grizzlies have to go. And it's time."

Fischer is a favorite of social conservative Republicans, and spoke at the Values Voter summit this fall alongside Mitt Romney, Jim DeMint, and other big-shot Republicans.

Fischer's statements show how completely ignorant he is about the purpose, rationale, and the history of the Medal of Honor and its recipients.

The Medal of Honor has been issued to helicopter pilots who risked tremendous ground fire to rescue injured soldiers and to Navy Chaplains who rescued Marines who were injured putting themselves in harm's way to save their fellow soldiers, sailors, and Marines (Medal of Honor winners in Vietnam - just comb through that list). One Medal of Honor was actually awarded for the actions to save another Medal of Honor recipient.

Navy SEAL Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy received the award for exposing himself to hostile fire in Afghanistan in order to make a call for help after his SEAL team was attacked in June 2005.

The medal is granted not only to those who rack up a huge body count, but to those who put their own life in danger to rescue their fellow soldiers. It goes to those who show exceptional bravery in the face of overwhelming odds.

All of the MoH recipients are worthy of honor and respect for their contributions that go above and beyond the call of duty and ordinary events.

Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta

Oh, and as for Giunta's Medal of Honor? He received it because he not only called in assistance, but Giunta stepped into the line of fire to pull a wounded soldier back to safety, and then engaged two insurgents who were carrying away another wounded soldier, killing one and wounding the other. So, Fischer can't even get the basics of Giunta's commendation right.

Giunta is the first living recipient of the Medal since Vietnam.

Frak Fischer.