MOH, WTF?

Caption: The U.S. Navy version of the Congressional Medal of Honor. After reading this, you can sleep better at night knowing that there are people making sure it isn't being given to little wussy men who didn't actually kill people.

Image credit: U.S. Navy/Wikimedia

If you ever needed proof that the American Family Association are a bunch of ignorant bigots, you can take this quote from Bryan Fischer, their "Director of Issues Analysis":

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.

Bryan Fischer: We've 'Feminized' Medal Of Honor By Not Giving It To Soldiers Who Kill More People

[italics mine]

It didn't take long to find a description of the criteria for awarding this medal, of course, and there's no mention of having to kill people to get it:

The Medal of Honor is awarded by the President, in the name of Congress, to a person who, while a member of the Army, distinguishes himself or herself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. The deed performed must have been one of personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his or her comrades and must have involved risk of life. Incontestable proof of the performance of the service will be exacted and each recommendation for the award of this decoration will be considered on the standard of extraordinary merit.

Medal of Honor

Now, it's probably too much to ask someone whose title is "Director of Issues Analysis" to, oh, you know, do some research on how the medal has been awarded in the past, but I thought I'd bring a couple of examples to his attention:

9 August 1945. Citation 2d Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by 6 tanks and waves of infantry. 2d Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to prepared positions in a woods, while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him, to his right, 1 of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. 2d Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2d Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machinegun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from 3 sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver.

Audie Murphy

Yes, he shot at German soldiers, and even hit some of them, but the award was primarily for staying behind to cover his unit's retreat, at great personal peril.

All this fembo did was choose to go down with his ship to protect some lousy secrets:

While attacking a Japanese convoy on November 19, 1943, [submarine U.S.S.] Sculpin was forced to the surface, fatally damaged in a gun battle and abandoned by her surviving crew members. Captain Cromwell, who knew secret details of the impending operation to capture the Gilbert Islands, deliberately remained on board as she sank. For his sacrificial heroism in preventing the enemy from obtaining this information, he posthumously received the Medal of Honor.

John P. Cromwell

He wasn't directly involved in killing anyone.

This little wussy man just saved peoples' lives at Iwo Jima:

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Pharmacist's Mate Second Class George Edward Wahlen, United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Medical Corpsman with Company F, Second Battalion, Twenty-Sixth Marines, FIFTH Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima in the Volcano group on 3 March 1945. Painfully wounded in the bitter action on 26 February, Pharmacist's Mate Second Class Wahlen remained on the battlefield, advancing well forward of the frontlines to aid a wounded Marine and carrying him back to safety despite a terrific concentration of fire.

Valor Awards For George Edward Wahlen

Curiously enough, in the long citation for that award, with all that talk about him being wounded but staying with his unit and saving his comrades' lives, they never once mentioned him shooting, stabbing, or bludgeoning anyone. Must have been some kind of hippie or something. He probably wore pink underwear, don't you think?

You might recognize all of these battles and dates as being from World War II, the "good old days". You, know, that was back before the armed forces were "feminized" - when the little women were safely home, operating jack hammers and flying newly manufactured airplanes cross country. It is pretty clear that Bryan Fischer didn't spend much time learning about the history of the award, or anything else of consequence.

As if that weren't bad enough, there's the part of Fischer's opinion that I emphasized to ponder. This guy only feels safe when the military is killing people and destroying things. Personally, I'd be a lot more comfortable knowing that the people who are entrusted with the weapons of this country are smart and disciplined enough to do what's necessary. Our soldiers and marines have spent most of the last few decades doing counterinsurgency (COIN) and peacekeeping work. Neither is the place you want people whose only skills are killing people and destroying things. If saving the free world requires them to rescue puppies and attend sensitivity training, then that's what they should be rewarded for risking their lives (or sanity) to do.

Take this as yet another example of how little thought, and how little humanity, are required to work at a DC think tank these days.