If John McCain were in the greatest generation, he wouldn’t be so loud about it
Fri, Sep 5, 2008
Being half Italian, half Polish, I have a lot of relatives. A lot of my uncles and great uncles were veterans.
One of them was in the Battle of the Bulge, they say his crooked nose got broke in Belgium. One had an olive drab hat in grandma’s closet us kids used to wear when we played. Another was in Vietnam, I think he was a medic, though I’m not sure. A couple more served, too, I’m just not sure when or where. I know I had more relatives in WWII than in the other wars.
Why don’t I know all these details?
Why do I know more of John McCain’s miltiary career than my own relatives?
Because my relatives never spoke of it.
Not once.
I see my uncle’s tattoo with his unit number on it. I wore that dusty captain’s hat. I’ve seen my great uncle’s broken nose.
But I know nothing of their service.
And that’s how they want it. I even feel uncomfortable asking about it, because no one else ever does.
John McCain may be the loudest, most self-congratulatory, most attention seeking veteran in American history. I doubt that is an exaggeration. And I doubt it is a source of pride for veterans.
For the veterans who have been closest to me, my own family, never made a sound of it. They never described it, let alone used it to proclaim their fitness to be president. It went unspoken, always. To hear it so loudly proclaimed into their ears by another must be a grey kind of sadness for them. It must grate their ears like nails on a chalkboard.
I can’t measure whether John McCain’s suffering in military service to his country was any easier or worse than my uncles’. Because I know a lot about one, and nothing of the other. McCain’s experience might be measurable against theirs, but I don’t know how. I don’t know why any of it makes him any more or less worthy of the presidency, or any more, or less, worthy of my uncles’ company.
Shame on John McCain.
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Tags: john mccain hero
September 5th, 2008 at 7:40 am
My grandpa fought in the South Pacific in WWII and had a large chunk of his leg blown off on Leyte. They wanted to amputate, but he refused and after a graft or two, he kept the leg. He was a staff sergeant and radioman. My great-grandpa was a POW twice in WWI. I have his purple heart and the flag that was on his casket. Other folks in my family have the shell casings he spent his time etching and decorating while interred.
I remember once asking my grandpa about his war experience. I was very young, maybe 8 or so, and he told me that it’s not something you ask veterans about. I, too had all of his leftover gear. I still use his duffel from time to time.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
You two obviously haven’t heard of Sgt. Alvin York or Audy Murphy. Had they not told “Their Story” (York kept a diary and Murphy wrote a book) two of the most famous war movies of all time would have never been made.