It always amazes me the selflessness of those who come through the RDU Center of the USO of North Carolina; many have served multiple tours in combat, yet they seem embarrassed by the simplest praise or thanks we give them for that service. How different the response of those that most of society heaps adulation upon; they not only expect it, they are often upset and voice their displeasure openly that their ‘due’ is not given them! Why this difference between those pseudo-heroes of stage and screen versus those whose lives are in jeopardy; why the incredible hutzpah versus the incredible humility?For those who have ‘seen the elephant’ (in its’ various forms), there is a gratitude that one has survived the experience and any adulation accorded to them is rather unnerving; call it survivors’ guilt or some such term, but it is unmistakable that our heroes do not see themselves as such. They state “I was just doing my job” and wonder at all the attention we seek to lavish upon them in sharp contrast to the stars of the ‘action movie’ genre who take themselves altogether too seriously. One particularly egregious example that comes to mind is when a particular ‘heroic’ actor opined that his work on a particular movie was akin to serving in combat in Afghanistan! Another actor, Mark Wahlberg, took him to task and law suits were threatened over Mr. Wahlberg’s comments about the other actors’ inane comments.
The real heroes just shrug such nonsense off, but the wounding must be there as I can recall an incident where I was returning from a trip to the ‘elephant’ and while approaching the TWA counter at San Francisco International was spat on three times. Thankfully I did restrain my anger, but remember feeling shame at wearing my country’s uniform and that feeling lasted for years! One of the reasons I volunteer with the USO-NC is to ensure that our heroes are treated as such and I really enjoy doing this.
So, I guess my point to all of this is to keep it real people! Honor those who have and are serving and when you hear the folks from Hollywood speaking of their ‘sacrifices’ to bring the public, give them the attention they are due…the sound of crickets and silence.
here to edit.
The real heroes just shrug such nonsense off, but the wounding must be there as I can recall an incident where I was returning from a trip to the ‘elephant’ and while approaching the TWA counter at San Francisco International was spat on three times. Thankfully I did restrain my anger, but remember feeling shame at wearing my country’s uniform and that feeling lasted for years! One of the reasons I volunteer with the USO-NC is to ensure that our heroes are treated as such and I really enjoy doing this.
So, I guess my point to all of this is to keep it real people! Honor those who have and are serving and when you hear the folks from Hollywood speaking of their ‘sacrifices’ to bring the public, give them the attention they are due…the sound of crickets and silence.
here to edit.
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