That's correct.
Good enough, then understand that this is a point of Honor for me, as I will explain further down.
Completely irrelevent. Are you a farmer? No? Then you can't comment on price supports.
Grew up farming and raising cattle, so I suppose I can comment
intelligently on price supports.
Are you a petroleum engineer? No? Can't comment on the price of gas. Surrrrrre.
Nope, Civil, and the price of gasoline has nothing whatsoever to do with Petroleum Engineering (I took a couple of courses just to round out my class load), it has to do with global supply and demand.
No. Have you ever ridden an italian bicycle?
Actually YES, and in Italy too! Tuscany is especially nice in the early fall, I strongly suggest it if you ever get the chance.
You're crapola is the old, totally IRRELEVANT "were you there argument" - come up with something better, a LOT better, or YOU STFU.
OK, let's try it this way then. I HAVE been in combat, I HAVE seen what happens when men get shot, and the fact that he was able to maintain his situational awareness and direct his men to counter-attack the assault after taking 4 rounds of 7.62X39, especially where he did, is something that is RARE, and worthy of recognition.
The point blew past you like an M-16 bullet.
Had that happen a couple of times too, not fun.
The issue wasn't whether he was doing what he was supposed to (does THAT deserve a medal???) or whether "Mike Teams" rescued people (who had screwed up), the issue is whether he deserved a silver star. The official citation is very sketchy and raises legitimate questions about whether the award was justified.
As I said, all we have is the Citation, prepared by his Commanding Officer, so until you can present PROOF to support your allegations, they amount to slander, and I strongly object. You have no PROOF that he "screwed up", and the fact that he had backup when they were hit was ROUTINE (seems that the Army learned something about that after the Little Big Horn).
Do you think EVERY medal ever awarded was justified??
Nope, I already said that his 2 Bronze Stars were totally bogus. There's nothing "heroic" (a requirement for the Medal) about fighting a screaming horde of paper cuts and a really nasty typewriter ribbon while sitting behind a desk.
You think he earned it without sufficient evidence - seems like you've found a new religion. The salient facts: he got shot and told his troops to shoot back. What else would anyone do? What else could they do except surrender? The enemy appears, you tell your troops to shoot at them - heroic? Nope. Unless further eye-witness info adds additional convincing facts, it appears on the face of it that he got an undeserved medal.
It's obvious that you haven't been in combat, so let me fill you in. I've seen men who were barely grazed fall on the ground and scream as if they had been gut-shot. I've seen men with very minor wounds completely fall apart, curl up in a ball and start crying. I've seen men with wounds very similar to those that Clark received simply pass out on the spot. Hell, I've seen men who never even got touched fold up like a cheap suit and try to run away!
The fact that after being shot 4 times, he kept his head, and was able to continue to direct his men is testimony to his training, his will power, and his intestinal fortitude, all admirable attributes for any Commanding Officer in a combat situation, and for his actions,
on that day, he deserves, and
has my respect, until such time as someone can present first person, eye witness testimony that he did screw up, or in some other way recklessly endanger the lives of his men.
Look, I don't care for the man personally, I can't stand his politics, but I will NOT resort to
slandering a fellow Soldier, especially when there's so much else that I can honestly rag on his sorry a$$ for, and I
will take issue with
anyone who does so, especially if they've never even worn the uniform, unless they have PROOF that the Medals and Citations in question are bogus.
EDIT:
One other thing I need to be clear about here. Since 9-11, I've seen and heard a lot of "conservatives" giving a ration of $hit to returning Veterans because they've come out against the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and frankly it turns my stomach. If anyone has any reason at all to be against war, it's Veterans, and as far as I'm concerned they've EARNED the Right to speak out against it. I may not agree with them, but I will NOT dispariage their service, in whatever capacity, because I disagree with them politically.