Every so often I spend part of my day at home watching YouTube of news events, many of which involve the president of the United States acting in his role as commander in chief.
I saw one the other day and it compels me to share something that President Obama said while awarding the Medal of Honor to a Navy SEAL. He said the special forces that operate in all our military branches adhere to a code that says they shouldn’t seek attention or glory for the actions they perform in defense of our country. They operate in the shadows, he said, eschewing the limelight.
The comments drew me immediately to the conduct of a SEAL who took part in the May 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The individual apparently didn’t adhere to the special forces vow to remain anonymous.
Oh, no. Instead, this fellow decided to make a big deal out of what he said happened that night in Pakistan when SEALs and their Army pilots landed in the compound where bin Laden was hiding. This guy claimed to have fired the shots that killed bin Laden. He’s written a book about it. He’s appeared on TV talk shows to tell the world about what he said he did.
The young man who received the Medal of Honor from President Obama is what is described as a “special warfare operator.” Obama made the point that the fellow, who’s now retired from the Navy, would rather be anywhere else in the world than at the White House surrounded by officials, well-wishers and TV cameras.
That’s the way heroes roll. They do their job at great risk to their own safety. Then they go home. They await the next order to suit up and deploy into harm’s way.
The SEAL to seemingly boast about his role in taking out bin Laden only cheapens what went down that moonless night in Pakistan. I just wish he would have kept his trap shut.