"John D. Giorgis" wrote:
> At 12:24 AM 5/26/01 -0700 Christopher Gwyn wrote:
{snip}
>> i would rather recognize people for exactly what they did achieve
>> and mourn their loss for the loss that it is than assign to them
>> false glories and mythological status. i find it more respectful, and
>> their lives more inspiring.
> But I think that this case meets your determinations. Clealry the men and
> women who fought in America's wars, both draftees and conscripts, were
> fighting for the greater good. Thus, these people willingly accepted far
> greater risks to their right to life than most any of us here have ever had
> to contemplate. Thus, by your own standards above, those men and women are
> worthy of exactly the commendation that I gave them.
agreed.
however _very few_ of them went to were intent upon 'giving their
lives'. understanding that an activity has a high likelihood of death
and undertaking it anyway does not mean that a person is 'giving' his
or her life and using such rhetoric both sets up an artificially and
unobtainably high standard for heroism and disconcertedly implies
that they preferred death over returning to their loved ones.
regards,
christopher
--
Christopher Gwyn
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
