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The Media Today - Heroes Diminished, Victims Exalted
By Thomas D. Segel
May 14, 2004

There is little doubt you have seen accounts of the horror identified as an Al Qaeda beheading of an American civilian in Iraq. This atrocity has been at the top of the news in all major electronic and print media. Unrelated, but equally important was the story of one soldier. Still, it could be argued that few have read the heroic account of Army Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith.

One would need to be on another planet to escape the media overkill of prison abuse at the hands of a few National Guard Military Police. Yet, the news reports concerning a nation¹s tribute to Marine Sergeant Marcos A. Martinez were noticeably missing from the front pages of any major newspapers or highlighted on network evening news.

With the prevalence of television¹s 24-hour news cycle, Americans are reminded in fifteen-minute increments of any troop fatality. But, does anyone ever recall hearing the name of a Navy SEAL, Chief Petty Officer Stephen Bass?

There were photos, news reports, commentary, panel dialog and an over abundance of political rhetoric about the Americans who were killed, mutilated and hung from an Iraq bridge. Has anyone seen a headline about Army Master Sergeant Anthony S. Pryor?

Today's media practitioners were formed in the last of leftist-liberal fortresses in our country, the institutions of higher education. Our vast collection of anti-military, anti-government, anti-American educators, who view those who administer any form of violence as being equivalent to cave dwellers, have accomplished their objective. They have turned the mush-brains of teen-agers into politically correct robot versions of themselves and then unleashed them to report on the events of the world. The end result of this media "education" are reporters and commentators who help our enemies on a daily basis, by exalting the victims of war, while at the same time diminishing the valor of America¹s heroes.

There are few people who cannot recount the exploits of Jessica Lynch. She served honorably, went to war, was the victim of an ambush, was wounded, captured, rescued and is now home. But, can anyone tell us the names, units, and accomplishments of those who risked everything to save Jessica from the enemy? Those happenings are no more in our memory than are the events, which surrounded SFC Paul Ray Smith that day in April 2003.

Dozens of enemy fighters were attacking Smith¹s 11th Engineer Battalion. A mortar round seriously wounded three of our soldiers. Smith evacuated them to an aid station. He then organized the engineers in defensive positions, making him and about 20 engineers and medics the only thing, which stood between the Iraqis and the Task Force Headquarters.

Dozens of enemy were charging the gate and scaling the walls of the compound. Manning a 50-caliber machine gun Smith slowed their advance. Next, taking two soldiers with him he led an assault on an enemy position. Smith continued to fire until he had expended more than 400 rounds of ammunition. It is estimated he may have killed as many as 50 enemy fighters, allowing the American wounded to be evacuated, saving the aid station and headquarters and possibly 100 American lives.

The soldier was mortally wounded during the final moments of his battle. For his heroic action, Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith was posthumously awarded The Medal of Honor. Do any of you recall hearing that story on the evening news?

At the same time we were going through hour upon hour of media overkill about the prison abuse scandal, a young Marine Sergeant named Marcos A. Martinez was being decorated by Navy Secretary Gordon England with our nation¹s second highest award for valor, The Navy Cross. At the same ceremony Staff Sergeant Adam Sikes and Corporal Timothy C. Tardif were each awarded The Silver Star.

Martinez was credited with leading an assault through a tree line while his squad was receiving heavy fire. Next he picked up an enemy rocket-propelled grenade launcher, assaulted a building and fired the grenade, silencing the enemy long enough for a wounded marine to be evacuated. He then continued his assault of the building using his rifle and a grenade to kill four enemy soldiers.

Sikes was pinned down by small arms fire in the opening moments of an attack. He rallied two squads of Marines for a counter attack, and then charged alone across 70 meters of fire swept ground to close in and destroy an enemy position. He then climbed to the roof of a three-story building and sent 60mm mortar rounds into nearby Iraqi positions.

Tardif was also pinned down by enemy fire, but rallied his men and charged across a road, under heavy fire. He was wounded, but still led his squad in an assault on an enemy compound. After securing the position, he collapsed from his wounds.

The only place I found this story was on the front page of the May 4, 2004 issue of The Navy Times.

Navy SEAL Stephen Bass was also awarded the Navy Cross for his gallantry under fire. While our media elite were busy reporting about roadside bombs and suicide attackers, Chief Bass was saving lives. He was cited for his extraordinary heroism in the rescue of two missing Americans. During the operation he was constantly engaged in small arms, mortar and grenade fire. He had to walk through a minefield, advancing nearly a quarter of a mile to reach the Americans. When his ammunition was gone, Bass picked up weapons of the enemy dead and continued his fight until he had completed the rescue.

Not to be forgotten during the flurry of stories about exploded oil pipelines and attacks on convoys, are the exploits of Master Sergeant Anthony S. Pryor who during a raid on an Al Qaeda stronghold was given a crippling injury, but still single-handedly eliminated four enemy fighters. The sergeant was in hand to hand combat with four fighters when a fifth jumped on his back and beat him with a heavy board. He suffered a broken clavicle and a dislocated shoulder, but continued fighting until he had subdued all of his attackers. This was all accomplished by unarmed combat while under intense automatic weapons fire. Master Sergeant Pryor was awarded The Silver Star.

Naval Reserve Captain Roger Crossland, writing in The Naval Institute:

Proceedings has some interesting observations. He says, "For some today, the only image they know is of U.S. servicemen and women as victims. That is not right. It cannot continue. Worse still, we risk having our children's perception become that signing up to serve is signing up to be a victim.

He continues saying, ³Battlefield heroes do not make the front pages anymore. Perhaps there is some policy that fears the glorification of violence; violence is never productive, therefore no violence should be glorified. Well, wars are violent. Individual and self-defense are violent. War heroes are violent. Bravery in battle frequently requires violent acts.

But, for now, we must search out the accounts of our heroes in their hometown newspapers and their local television channels. The elite national media have a much loftier goal they must continue to exalt the victims.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.