Proud to be an American

Barbara Alonso Novellino · Mon Apr 10, 2006 2:22 pm

This is a website that everyone should see. These are the things that we never see on network news...There are probably those out there that won't think that this is something to be proud of, but....

I know it makes me very proud to be an American....

Barbara

http://www.wtv-zone.com/Mary/THISWILLMAKEYOUPROUD.HTML

Post by **Art** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 5:01 pm

I don't watch the news on TV, but I read. Newsweek, for example, has had a number of articles talking about the individual soldiers and their bravery. I remember one about a military surgeon who set up field clinics right in the hot spots so he could save more lives. I also remember amazing stories about soldiers with missing limbs who are training to return to battle!

You may be looking in the wrong place if you're expecting TV to carry news like that. TV news tends to carry stories that come with still images and video. I doubt that this Marine's actions have many associated images, and if it did, would the average American family want to see all that blood and guts at dinner time?

So, the news sources I'm familiar with are not ignoring the bravery of American soldiers. That claim strikes me as propaganda. And it's destructive because it instills public distrust in reporting. We need strong investigative reporting if we're going to have democracy because it's only when we know what's really going on that we can make informed, intelligent decisions.

My question is: Who is behind the efforts to destroy public confidence in the media and to diminish the strength of American democracy? What's in it for them?

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No miro las noticias de televisión, pero leo. Newsweek, por ejemplo, ha publicado muchos artículos que tratan de los soldados individuales y su valor. Recuerdo un sobre un cirujano militar quien establece clínicas de campaña directamente en los "puntos calientes" para que podría salvar más vidas. ¡También me acuerdo de asombrosas historias sobre soldados quienes faltan miembros (brazos, piernas) y quienes están entrenando para volver a la lucha!

Puede ser estás mirando en el lugar incorrecto si esperas que la TV lleve noticias así. Las noticias de TV tienden a llevar historias que tengan fotos y vídeo. ¿Dudo que las acciones de este Marinero tengan muchas imágenes asociadas, y si esto hiciera, querría la familia americana típica ver todo esa sangre y tripas en la hora de comer?

Entonces las fuentes de noticias que sé hacen caso del valor de soldados americanos. Aquella acusación me parece como propaganda. Es destructivo porque esto inculca la desconfianza pública al reportaje. Necesitamos el reportaje investigador fuertísimo si vamos a tener democracia porque es sólo cuando sabemos lo que pasa que podemos hacer decisiones informadas, inteligentes.

Mi pregunta es: ¿Quién es detrás de los esfuerzos para destruir la confianza pública en los medios de comunicación y disminuir la fuerza de la democracia americana? ¿Qué intéres tienen en esto?

Barbara Alonso Novellino · Mon Apr 10, 2006 5:21 pm

would the average American family want to see all that blood and guts at dinner time

Your comment brought something to mind.

During the Vietnam Conflict I was an avid watcher of Walter Cronkite and CBS News...I also had young children at the time but they didn't watch the news, but I am sure others did.

I remember one broadcast that was especially hard to watch. It showed dead Vietnam soldiers by the roads, etc. I was terribly disturbed by this and I wrote a letter to Mr. Cronkite stating this. I also mentioned that this news time was a time when people were having dinner, and chiildren were up. I received a letter back from him telling me...this was the news and it was his obligation to present it. I am not saying for a second that I think blood and guts should be on TV...but a herioc effort on behalf of a serviceman would be nice. There are a lot of people who don't read Newsweek, etc. and they get most of their news from TV...so they would be able to share in this.

By the way...I don't watch network news....I get my news from Fox News...and of course I read the newspaper...

Eli · Post by **Eli** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 7:56 pm

Without taking anything from this young man’s ordeal, his behavior was truly exceptional under enemy fire. The reason why the rest of the world is hard pressed to see any United Statian as a ‘hero’ under this circumstances (irregardless of whether they agree with US policy or not) is because the US has the most highly trained, better equipped, most technological armed forces the world has ever seen By far. It is very difficult to sympathize with a 28 year old fully trained heavy weight boxer in a street fight with the 5th grade bully. The other guys have no protection, no eye in the sky, no body armor and on and on. It simply is not a fair fight, and that makes it difficult to think of the United Statian army as heroic, although some soldier undoubtedly are.

Xose · Post by **Xose** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 4:13 pm

Sounds like a good guy. I'm very glad that we have such heroic guys dedicated to serving our Constitution. Unfortunately, his story is wrapped in a blanket of contempt regarding the reporting about Iraq, which is the REAL message in this Web page.

This type of Web page is produced to subvert the average American's perception of the media. By doing so, the right can label any bad news about the war as coming from a "liberal" viewpoint that "only reports the bad news," which is obviously false.

The sad fact is that the network news doesn't really cover the war at all, due to the unbelievable restrictions placed on reporters (who must be "embedded" with troops), the culture of fear in the press corps fostered by the administration, and not least, the very real dangers of being taken hostage and/or killed by insurgents. The result is that we get a VERY limited view of what's really going on in Iraq.

As far as "And we see those same casket pictures day in and day out." I have to laugh. Dover has been off-limits to reporters/photographers since the first day of the war. That's why it was such a revelation when those photos DID come out.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 5:03 pm

Politics aside, photos of the returning coffins should be routine, as it was during the war in Vietnam. That and military honors at the funerals are the final signs of respect that we can offer our military men and women who gave up there lives. We all need to be reminded of the sacrifices that they made, whether or not we agree with the uses to which our politicians have subjected our armed forces. Honoring the dead, taking care of the wounded, and providing decent benefits for their families are moral obligations that have all to often been neglected.

Eli · Post by **Eli** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 6:15 pm

Completely agree with Bob and Xose, I would just add that the reason for keeping the fallen soldiers hidden is so that the images will not stir trouble. Most people can read ‘two soldiers died today in an explosion’ accept it and move on, but if they were to see what happened it would compel them to do something about it. That was one of the reasons for the activism during the Viet-Nam war, another just as important was that back then there was a draft (something that no longer exists). Since this is an all volunteer army there is a ‘sympathy’ for the fallen soldiers, but no real activism to put an end to it. You see, it can’t happen to you.

Terechu · Post by **Terechu** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 4:40 am

Barbara, como ex-esposa de militar americano conozco bien el ejército desde dentro y a los hombres y mujeres que lo componen y sé de tu sufrimiento como madre de militar, del de todos los padres y esposas/os de militares honrados y decentes.
Conocí a muchos veteranos de Vietnam, algunos tan traumatizados que no podían hablar de sus experiencias, ni tan siquiera con sus mujeres. Sé lo que pasan las familias.
Debemos gratitud a aquellos que de verdad quieren luchar por su país. Se merecen todos los honores y tanto los EE.UU. como Europa les debemos nuestra actual democracia y libertades a aquella generación que luchó en la II Guerra Mundial. Este es un hecho inamovible.

Dicho esto, también tengo que decir que hay guerras y guerras. Ahora mismo los están usando de carne de cañón en una guerra criminal que sólo tiene que ver con petrodólares. La estrategia está funcionando a las mil maravillas, mientras los precios del crudo se disparan, los millonarios de la industria petrolera, como Bush & cía., se hacen más ricos cada día. Y eso es de lo que se trata.
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Barbara, as a former Army-wife I know the military from within and the men and women in it and I know your suffering as a mother of a solider, the suffering of all parents and spouses of upright, decent soldiers.

I knew many Viet-Nam vets, some so severely traumatized they could not talk about their experience even to their wives. I know what the families go through.
We owe gratitude to those who really are willing to fight for their country. They deserve to be honoured and both the USA and Europe owe our current democracy and liberties to the generation of soldiers who fought in WWII. This is an undisputed truth.

But, having said this, I must also say that there are wars and wars. Right now they are being used as cannon fodder in a criminal war that is all about oil dollars. The strategy is working like a charm, though, while crude oil prices soar, the oil industry millionaires like Bush & Co. are getting richer and richer every day. And that's what it's all about.