Media Bias and Our Servicemen

The Weekly Standard has just come out with a great read for Memorial Day. It's in the unlikely form of a book review by Mackubin Thomas Owens, a professor at the Naval War College who earned a Silver Star as a Marine Corps platoon commander in Vietnam. In the article, "Americans Under Fire ," Owens reviews three books (Moment of Truth in Iraq: How a New 'Greatest Generation' of American Soldiers is Turning Defeat and Disaster into Victory and Hope by Michael Yon, House to House by David Bellavia, and Hard Corps: From Gangster to Marine Hero by Marco Martinez), but also offers an authoritative explanation of how a biased media has managed to besmirch the reputation of our servicemen through selective reporting.

It seems that Americans have forgotten how to honor their war heroes.

When I was growing up in the 1950s, most boys knew the story of Lt. Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier of World War II. Indeed, after the war, he became a fairly successful actor. The public, including Hollywood, recognized him for what he was--a hero. Most of us also knew the story of Marine Sgt. John Basilone, who earned the Medal of Honor on Guadalcanal. He was brought home to help sell war bonds but kept asking to go back to the Pacific. His superiors finally relented. He was killed on Iwo Jima. The American public recognized him for what he was--a hero.

No more. Americans have performed extraordinary feats of bravery in Iraq and Afghanistan, but with the exception of those who regularly read military blogs, who knows about them?

Things changed with Vietnam. Although Americans fought bravely there, the press, if not the American people, began to treat those who fought in Vietnam as either moral monsters, victims, or both. The dysfunctional Vietnam vet became a staple of popular culture. Despite the fact that atrocities were rare, My Lai came to symbolize the entire war; and thanks to the press's preoccupation with the anomaly of My Lai, Lt. William Calley became the poster boy for Vietnam. The honorable and heroic performance of the vast majority of those who served in Vietnam went largely unrecognized.

For example, how many Americans know the story of Marine Lt. John P. Bobo, who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Vietnam? Here is part of his citation:

When an exploding enemy mortar round severed Lieutenant Bobo's right leg below the knee, he refused to be evacuated and insisted upon being placed in a firing position to cover the movement of the command group to a better location. With a web belt around his leg serving as a tourniquet, and with his leg jammed into the dirt to curtail the bleeding, he remained in this position and delivered devastating fire into the ranks of the enemy attempting to overrun the Marines. Lieutenant Bobo was mortally wounded while firing his weapon into the main point of the enemy attack but his valiant spirit inspired his men to heroic efforts.

The reason for this disparity in coverage is simple. My Lai fit the conventional narrative of the antiwar left: Bobo's story did not.

Things haven't changed much since then. The conventional wisdom concerning Vietnam has been absorbed by today's press, even by those too young to remember our Southeast Asia misadventure. The result is a troubling predisposition to believe the worst about those who are willing to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan.

By all means read the whole thing, but with this cautionary note: Mac Owens' article is not for the squeamish. He is, after all, reviewing three excellent first-hand accounts of combat in Iraq, and includes an exceptionally graphic account of the death of a terrorist at the hands of one of the authors, David Bellavia. You'll come away with a heightened respect for our remarkable military personnel, along with a replenished supply of outrage and contempt for the media weasels who knowingly and deliberately set out to cast our soldiers in the worst possible light.

For your convenience, I've set it up so you can order any of these books by clicking the appropriate link. All come highly recommended, but Michael Yon's is outstanding (as anyone would know who's ever read his blog, Michael Yon: Online Magazine) and promises to become a classic of military literature.

UPDATE: Check out this story of extraordinary heroism by combat journalist Jeff Emanuel: "Return From Samarra."

Caught completely by surprise and outnumbered at least ten to one by heavily-armed fighters, the four young soldiers -- Sergeant Josh Morley, Specialist Tracy Willis, and then-Specialists Eric Moser and Chris Corriveau -- fought a pitched and protracted rooftop battle that left at least a dozen terrorists dead, and made the surviving Americans into heroes.

Sergeant Morley and Specialist Willis lost their lives in the encounter. Morley left behind an infant daughter he had never met.