CORRECTION:
Appended.
After five years with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defense Department has issued only two
Medals of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor. It isn't because there haven't been astonishing, selfless acts of courage. It is that something in the rules and award processes seems to have changed. The two medals awarded for service in Iraq
were the first since the battle in
Moagdishu, Somalia, in 1993.
Last week, theHouse Armed Services Committee held a hearing to examine the way the Defense Department handles military awards. The Defense Department says "a number" of cases are nearly finished that will result in more recommendations being sent to President Bush.
The Chicago Tribune reports:
The Pentagon itself has launched a
full-scale, all-branch review of its award system. And those involved
at the highest levels of the Medal of Honor award process are promising
that "a number" of Medal of Honor nominations are nearing final
analyses and likely will go soon to President Bush for review and
approval.
"This war has yet to tell its story entirely," Bill
Carr, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel
policy, cautioned on Friday.
Still, statistics regarding the Medal of Honor illustrate the ongoing debate:
In five years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, just two Medals of Honor have been granted.
Historically, no war lasting this long has produced fewer Medals of Honor.
Acts of bravery once considered clear-cut cases for the medal, such as
intentionally absorbing the blast of a grenade, are going unawarded or
delayed by years of investigation.
And compared to previous
wars, when many Medal of Honor recipients survived their acts of valor,
both medals awarded from the Iraq war came posthumously, contributing
to what critics fear is an at-war generation devoid of acknowledged
military heroes.
Since Congress created the award for valor
during the Civil War, 3,461 Medals of Honor have been awarded to men
(and one woman) whose names became synonymous with "hero."
Compared to wars past, two Medals of Honor from Iraq initially might
seem low, but Pentagon officials are quick to offer explanations: Wars
no longer are fought between armed formations along front lines, and
there often is a greater distance between American troops and their
enemies. Even more, they argue, wars have exponentially fewer troops on
the ground; World War II, for example, had millions of Americans in
combat; the U.S. force in Iraq numbers about 139,000.
Stars and Stripes reported on the Congressional hearing:
Joseph Kinney, an author who has been researching the military honors process for several decades, testified before the subcommittee that Medals of Honor were awarded at nearly five times the rate during the Vietnam War than during the current conflicts overseas.
He said the "stinginess" of the military not only hurts morale, but it keeps the military from showing off the bravery of its troops.
"This nation desperately needs its heroes," he said. "They're there, but we haven't acknowledged them."
This is a list of every Medal of Honor winner dating back to the Civil War. The list was last updated in 2005, so it missed the second award given for service in Iraq.
The two Medals of Honor most recently awarded went to Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith and Cpl. Jason Dunham, a 22-year-old Marine who threw himself atop a grenade to save other men nearby. Dunham's medal was announced about a month ago, on the Marine Corps' 231st birthday -- more than 2 1/2 years after his death.
This is a list of awards handed out by branch of service through time.
Ethnically Diverse Toys
As the father of a very culturally diverse family, this is a hot topic for me. Until recently, it has been difficult to find toys that are anything but white. Oh, there were Asian dolls, but they were white dolls with a different skin color.
Now, the ethnic-toy business is booming. Here is a whole Web site dedicated to selling a range of ethnically diverse toys. The story behind the site is this:
"Manufacturers have had no real pressure to develop representative toys," Denise Gary Robinson, founder of DollsLikeMe.com, explained when asked why the toy industry is slow to tackle the Spanish-speaking demographic.
Robinson's 2004 survey on the availability of toys for children of color showed that only 61 out of 474 Hispanic children had dolls representing their ethnic background, though 90 percent of parents were dissatisfied with the selection of multicultural toys available. She took matters into her own hands and opened DollsLikeMe.com -- a specialty retail company that provides quality multicultural merchandise. [...]
According to HispanSource, a Hispanic marketing firm, the Spanish-speaking community is 33 percent more likely to buy toys, a calculation that will be hard for retailers and manufacturers to ignore.
Send2Press took note in January of a poll conducted by the multicultural and advertising firm UB:
The poll of 2,230 African American parents, 470 Latino parents and 20 Asian parents found that 82 percent of the African American parents, 74 percent of the Latino parents and 50 percent of the Asian parents felt "It is important for children of color to have dolls that look like them." Of those parents, an overwhelming 94 percent of the African American parents and 90 percent of the Latino parents agreed that the selection of dolls and puppets of color in local super and toy stores was, as one parent put it, "abysmal."
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, currently 31 percent of America's children are children of color, or non-white. That number will increase by 50 percent by the year 2020, "Demonstrating the need for a retailer that provides easy access to dolls and puppets that resemble America's growing multicultural population," concluded Jerry Ware, vice president of strategic marketing at UB.
Barbie Makes a Comeback
Almost 50 years old and she is still a hot item. The National Retail Federation found in one survey that Barbie is the "top toy" for girls this Christmas season. Perhaps part of her success is linked to her ability to change race/ethnicity.
In recent years Barbie sales slowed, but this year Mattel says sales are surging.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting
is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials
from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis.
When the information comes directly from another source, it will be
attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is
fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the
original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
CORRECTION: The original version of this article incorrectly identified the Medal of Honor as the Congressional Medal of Honor. Though it is commonly referred to as such, the award is officially called the Medal of Honor.
Al-- I was just a few clicks away from buying...
