How the deification of soldiers is hurting them in the long run.

This is an excerpt from a Boston Globe story entitled "Joining the Military doesn't make you a hero:"  
When soldiers were part of society, people recognized them as ordinary human beings. Now, with the emergence of the all-volunteer army, society has transferred the burden of war to a small, self-contained caste cut off from the American mainstream. This distance allows civilians to develop extravagant fantasies about soldiers that feed the militarist impulse. If we believe our soldiers are superheroes, it makes sense to send them to faraway battlefields to solve our perceived problems in the world. That is why, in this era of seemingly endless war, politicians, the defense industry, and even big-time sports compete with each other to promote hero-worship of soldiers and veterans. 

This serves the cynical interests of those who, for political or business reasons, want to encourage American involvement in foreign wars. Even worse, it distracts attention away from the scandalous way we treat our veterans. Cheering for them in public and saluting them in cliché-ridden speeches is a way to disguise the fact that our society callously discards many of them. Shocking rates of unemployment, mental illness, homelessness, addiction, and suicide among our veterans constitute a national disgrace. It is far easier, however, to spend a few seconds applauding a smiling soldier than to contemplate a troubled veteran left behind by an uncaring country. 

The soldier acknowledging cheers at a ball game is a fantasy figure we can easily admire. Veterans in need are more disturbing, so we keep them invisible. If we truly considered our uniformed fighters heroic, we would show them real gratitude rather than the phony kind that gives us a shiver of momentary pride but does them little good.

This issue has been bothering me for quite some time, only  in today's world discussing it is tantamount to treason in the eyes of many.

I think we have all seen politicians giving lip service to our military men and women, and then turning a blind eye to their needs after their service is complete.

The suicide rate for veterans far exceeds the number killed in combat, and even if they do not kill themselves many others are diagnosed with PTSD and have significant trouble reentering civilian life.

By labeling them "heroes," and giving them almost mythical abilities, we forget to treat them like the fragile human beings that they are.

In the end we place them on a pedestal and then abandon them as if they were a marble monument to bravery, instead of a thinking, feeling, suffering, member of the human race.

Congressman Young "apologizes" to the Alaska Federation of Natives, and then promptly ruins it by assaulting a native woman who confronted him afterward.

So after making some incredibly insensitive remarks during an appearance at Wasilla High, where he essentially told an audience of students still mourning the loss of their friend to suicide that "suicide shows a lack of support from friends and family," Don Young tried to make nice with the the Alaska natives, whose communities have been ripped apart by the epidemic of suicide, by kind of sort of apologizing.

However one native Alaskan in attendance did not hear that apology, so she decided to talk to her Congressman in person.

Here is how that went.

Courtesy of TPM: 

Gloria Poullard approached Young to ask him about a profane speech he gave last week at Wasilla High School, in which the congressman offended students by arguing that suicide was caused by a lack of support from friends and family. 

"You know, it really put a hamper on my faith in you because my elders voted for you, and this is my state, I'm an Alaska native," Poullard said to Young, according to video of the exchange from local TV station KTUU. "How do you feel within yourself, what possessed you to even make a comment like that? My nephew just committed suicide." 

Young shushed her and shook her hand, to which Poullard responded "You don't tell me to shush." 

"Hey, I lost a nephew," he said. "I know what it feels like and I gotta ask myself, did I support him enough? Did I? I don't know." 

"Don't you get angry with me, don't even squeeze my hand," Poullard said. Young then released her hand and walked away.

Earlier I reminded you that Lisa Murkowski's successful write in campaign would probably have failed if not for the support of the AFN.

And a whole lot of Young's support comes from his ties to the Alaska native community.

I am not native but I am guessing that getting in their face and squeezing their hand until it hurts is not going to help him to gain back their confidence.