" Harrowing Stories Of Hand-To-Hand Combat In Iraq ..." Topic

…And Afghanistan.

"Is there less courage on the battlefield today than during previous wars? If you only looked at the number of awards for valor presented to service members, you might get that impression. There's been a noticeable decrease in valor citations issued during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, compared with previous conflicts. There are plenty of reasons for this, but a lack of bravery isn't one of them.

One common explanation is that the conduct of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan precludes the sort of close-quarters battle conditions that lead to extraordinary acts by combat troops. "[O]ur enemies generally use weapons at a distance from us," then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said of the decrease in valor awards during a 2010 interview with CNN. "So, there's less hand-to-hand or in-close combat than there has been in previous wars."…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Knew a guy who fought in Iraq who stabbed an enemy combatant in hand to hand then ran like hell. I don't know about brave, but he made it home.

Good for him!…

Amicalement
Armand

Gates is an idiot. They do not want to recognize the actions of the troops for some reason is my guess. Of course we are not supposed to be there anymore and if you give out medals it just proves we are needed.

On the other hand, I remember how they awarded medals overly lavishly for ridiculous little "wars" like the Grenada and Panama operations -- even REMFs and clerks and planners got medals, anyone seemingly who could wedge "Grenada" onto a resume. So perhaps the pendulum has swung more the other way now, deservedly maybe.