Honoring Our Heroes
I am irritated and I’ll make enemies with this statement but here goes…
I have no problem with Senator McCain being honored, but the only reason I see him being honored is that he was a politician. Pure and simple as that.
Some will try to convince us that his military service is the reason. Many serviceman have died and are not accorded the honor such as McCain has received. Can you name any serviceman who died this week? Probably not.
Was it because he was a prisoner of war? No, because other prisoners of war have not been honored as such. By the way, most Americans cannot name any POWs.
So that leaves him being honored because he was a Senator. Senators, members of the House, the President and perhaps a Supreme Court Justice or a Governor would be honored this way. Think about a Senator. Although he/she are said to represent “the people” they really only represent their own party. Few politicians actually bend to the will of the people unless they are also fulfilling their party’s objectives. If you don’t think that is true, the why do ballots have a party listed? Why do votes on the Senate floor often split down party lines? Because they are representing perhaps 1/2 the public, not all.
A serviceman does not die protecting his own party, he dies protecting every American. A POW is a serviceman who was captured but still protects his fellow Americans.
So when we lower flags and have people wind their way past a casket to honor someone, let us not forget all of the others who served all of us and are not recognized for their contribution.