Applause in the Airport? Beyond the Beer Commercial ...

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http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/2/102005mf.asp

Applause in the Airport? Beyond the Beer Commercial ...
It Happens ... It Really Happens
By Matt Friedeman, PhD
February 10, 2005

(AgapePress) - Rick from Winona, Mississippi, called my state-wide talk radio program this week. Sometimes, you get a phone call that ought to be read in the broader market.

On the program that day we were discussing the report that some Europeans were disgusted with the Super Bowl commercial of American soldiers getting applause in an airport. The critics thought it too extreme in its patriotism and a possible incitement to further war.

At any rate, Rick (he asked us not to use his full name) called to talk about his experience coming back recently from the fields of war. His words (and they are worth your time reading, only lightly edited):

"I heard you talking about the Super Bowl commercial. I'm a Marine, a re-con Marine. I just got back from overseas, the second week of December, actually. I was injured overseas, so that's why I'm home now.

"But the whole time I was [there, in recovery] we watched the news to see what's going on. And we saw the protests, and we saw what the media was saying about what's going on, and we were worried about what we were actually going to face when we came home. We didn't know what to expect, to be honest with you. From the news media we were seeing, the whole country was basically telling us we're a bunch of jerks.

"I thank God that the troops that are there don't see the news coverage. I thank God every day, because there'd be ten times the number getting killed, just because it would so un-motivate [sic] them.

"Back to the story: there were seven other soldiers that came home with me that day. We flew into JFK, and we were talking on the way back: What's going to happen? What will we be facing? Is it going to be like the Vietnam era, are there going to be people spitting at us?

"We didn't know. We had that much trepidation about it.

"We get into JFK, we step out of the breezeway into the main terminal, and directly in front of us was an elderly gentleman carrying a bag. And he immediately stopped, set his bag down, and the first thing we all thought was, 'Oh, Lord, here we go already.' He just stopped and looked at us for a second, and then tears came to his eyes and he saluted us.

"And -- I'm breaking up now [editor's note: with tears] -- every one of us just started crying like babies. Everybody in the terminal -- I kid you not, at least two to three hundred people -- just started clapping, spontaneously. To me, it was so much worth what we were doing, to realize that people over here actually get what we were doing. We weren't over there because it's fun. We're over there doing a job.

"When I saw the Super Bowl commercial, I just started bawling like a baby again because that was something totally unexpected. We had no idea that people actually appreciated what we're doing, from what we see on the news. We thought we were going to come back and get eggs thrown at us. It was so refreshing to know that what we were seeing on the news is just a bunch of garbage that's being concocted by the media, that 99.9 percent of the country doesn't believe that way.

"I have a couple of more months of recovery. I got hit with a concussion and have some internal damage, but I'm feeling up, doing well, and hopefully I can get back over there with my boys."

It caused some tears in this talk show host's eyes to know there were tears in his. Appreciation, smiles, handclaps -- they can go a long way when a nation is at war, regardless of what the media and some Europeans might think.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matt Friedeman ([email protected]) is a professor at Wesley Biblical Seminary. Respond to this column at his blog at "In the Fight."
 
You're welcome.

I can't say anything other than or better than what Betsy said on her blog:

"Isn't it terrible that these soldiers would even have that doubt about how Americans would regard him? How nice that we no longer have those stupid moments of people acting offensively to our returning soldiers. America has grown up a bit."
 
Let me first say that I hate this war. I think it was a criminal act for Bush to send our men and women to invade a sovereign country, and depose that country's leader, no matter what kind of despot he was.

Despite that, I have nothing but the greatest admiration for our troops, and the job they're doing. They deserve nothing but the best we have to give, not the second-rate support they're getting from this administration. I've lost a good friend over this issue. She can't see how the two things can be separate. She thinks that if I'm going to support our troops, then I have to fully support our President, too, regardless of what I think of his policies.

In partial agreement with Betsey... some Americans have grown up. Some have not.
 
Too bad...

...we didn't have the wherewithall in about 1939 to take Hitler out when he could have been stopped relatively cheaply without a half a million US casualties. But we'd have called FDR a criminal and worse if he had managed to do it.

rr
 
Good story.

Got one of those magnetic yellow ribbon thingies before the Holidays and then discovered what they say about Saturn automobiles is true. They are mostly plastic. After the fact I've noticed nearly none of those yellow magnet ribbons were on Saturns.

The roof is steel however and it looks fine up there. You can actually see it better than if it was on the back end of the car. :D :D :D

S-
 
Thanks Golden Saber

Why, that's the way it should be. Whether they've been to the sandbox or not, I've thank many soldiers for having served.
 
I could care less about what the Euro's think of our military men and women, but I can understand why they have a negative view of our presence in the M.E. Their news is a lot like ours-doom and gloom, with long articles on the one soldier who isn't fit to wear the uniform.

What they don't see, and what we don't see enough of are the day to day happenings going on which speak to the courage, grace and humanity of our troops. And why should we even be surprised? These are OUR sons, and daughters, fathers and mothers. All Americans....

My son sent an e-mail to me just yesterday. He is a medic in Samara assigned to an infantry company. Their job is to go through the streets of the city looking for suspicous activity, searching buildings for weapons and IED making materials. Talk about a very un-fun job!

They went rushing into an apartment when they heard a little girl screaming in absolute anguish, and found the girl had been very badly burned on her back, buttox and legs by hot cooking oil.
My son told the parents to take the child to the aid station where she could be properly looked after, but for some reason they refused, and wanted to wait until the following morning.
My son got so angry with them that he pulled his M-9 and told them to take the child NOW or he would. They ended up escorting the child and parents to the aid station. The burns were very bad-3rd degree in many places and he was fearful the kid would develop infection.

I was fortunate enough to get a rare phone call from him later in the day. He has been on every patrol for the 20 days he has been there.
In that time, he has set a broken arm on a child, evac'd a local with a severe gunshot wound, held another local in his arms while he died-shot thru the heart by an insurgent, and treated several soldiers for shrapnel wounds and other injuries.

I asked him if there weren't other corpsmen to help out and maybe spell him for a day, but he says that his men trust him and are very leery of having another corpsman take his place. Typical bonds are forming between the grunts and the doc....

I can tell you one thing, there will be one very proud father at the airport applauding when I get him home. We all raised these kids, yet for me, I still stand in awe of their guts as well as their tenderness. And knowing there are tens of thousands who are doing whatever it takes, wherever they find themselves at this very moment.

Then I hear people like Kennedy saying our troops are the problem? Used to make me mad, but now I laugh-the troops were never the problem. The politicians are.
 
I loved this commercial. It was espically good because it was a direct slap at the vietnam protestors and how they treated some of our servicemen when they returned home. Revisionst historians have convined the new young lefties that none of the mis-treatment of any servicmen happpened. It is just right wing propaganda ------at least some on DU have that idea. :eek:
 
I travel a lot and I have seen people applauding groups of soldiers or marines in desert combat uniforms at least three times. Not every time but almost every time I see someone stop and thank a soldier in uniform.

tt
 
I'm a captain for a major national airline, and while I haven't personally seen the applause described here, I have seen small acts intended to show the troops that we appreciate what they're doing for us.

My small jesture is to make sure I have an extra $10 in my pocket. I must admit that I end up eating from more airport food courts than I should. When I get to the register to pay, I turn around and look to see if there are any troops behind me in line. If there is, I give the clerk the $10 and tell her to buy the soldier his meal and give him the change, if any. Then I walk off.

I want no thanks from him. I cannot possibly thank him enough for what he's doing for me. I wish there was a way for me to do more for the soldiers parents, spouses, and children--but they look like the rest of us, so they're invisible.They're the ones who are 'serving' without much public appreciation.

They're all loved, and I am so proud of these folks who I don't know, I could just bust. They're doing the right thing, IMO. I pray for their safe return regularly.
 
I do love to see us support and encourage our men at arms.
on another note:

we didn't have the wherewithall in about 1939 to take Hitler out when he could have been stopped relatively cheaply without a half a million US casualties. But we'd have called FDR a criminal and worse if he had managed to do it.
Click to expand...

I have a bridge for sale i think you may be interested in.
 
As one of those Viet Vets who did get spit on, was thrown out of bars in San Fran because of my short hair, and was refused some female company because I was "a baby killer, rapist, murder" - I decided then and there that I would NEVER tolerate it if it happened again.

So far, the American public hasn't made me show my a**, in fact, they've gone a LONG way to earn back my trust and admiration.

Those of us who were treated badly on our return will put a stop to ANY disrespect shown our returning warriors - but I've discovered - I'd have to crawl over a whole lot of people trying to get to the front of the crowd to be first.

Yea, this commercial brought tears to these eyes - almost as much as the commercial after 9/11 - where the Clydesdales bowed to "ground zero".

To ALL the warriors/heros that stand in the path of danger - this old gun-driver says a heart felt "thank you" and God Bless!

Gentle winds,
cr
 
Around Thanksgiving there were several stories on the local news about people at BWI (Balt.-Wash. Int'l) giving up their seats so troops could get home for the holiday. IIRc, it happened some around Christmas, too, and yes! there have been spontaneous outbreaks of applause, here and there, too.

Maybe I have male-pattern deafness (selective hearing that tunes out female voice frequencies, especially TV talking heads), but I haven't really heard of any real public disrespect of the troops. Although there's no shortage of peace demonstrations (though nothing like vietnam era stuff), I haven't seem anyone taking it out on military personnel (not that it would be a real healthy thing for the anti-war folks to do - :evil: ). The dominent sentiment seems to be 'we're against the war, but we support the troops -
 
. . . some Europeans were disgusted with the Super Bowl commercial of American soldiers getting applause in an airport.
Click to expand...
Considering what many European armies have done to much of Europe, this isn't surprising.

Here in the USA it's different - when we see a flight of military choppers overhead, or encounter uniformed soldiers in the airport, we know . . . these are our guys. We can feel just a little safer because they're there . . . they're a part of us.

My heartfelt response to the commercial's European critics would offend Art's grammaw.
 
Selfdfenz and GhostRider-Nine,
I guess I should say "Thanks" for the compliments, but I didn't put this up for it to be about me. If you really want to thank me, find a way to directly show your support for the troops and their families.
 
Maybe news coverage is different here. When our troops aren’t torturing prisoners or killing wounded enemies, the stories I’ve seen have all been positive. If anything, we’re seeing the opposite of the post-Vietnam trend. The American fighting man (or woman) is now almost sanctified, which is why the few negative incidents get as much attention as they do.

~G. Fink
 
Haven't witnessed any applause, but a number of guys in my OCS class were upgraded to first class to or from wherever over Christmas a few years ago. Although I hated the idea, traveling in uniform did have some advantages.
 
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