So yesterday, Hillary campaigned by telling veterans they

[hedgehog]

deserved a medal for serving during the Cold War! I heard this on the radio, so no direct link, but I did find this:

http://thehill.com/business--lobby/veterans-fight-for-cold-war-medal-2007-10-18.html

IMO, only people who were actually shot at deserve a medal. This reminds me of the invasion of Grenada when guys who sat in the Pentagon received more medals than the guys who actually were on the ground there!

I respect those who have risked their lives for this country, but this cheap veneration of anything associated with the military disgusts me.

[BootinUp]

1. outrageous

that she would suggest their service deserved more recognition. lol.

[OKNancy]

2. Oh good grief.

No link or proof... sounds like an off-hand comment to me. Hell, I deserve a medal for feeding 14 family members yesterday. People say stuff like that all the time. I don't mean it literally and I doubt she did either.

[hedgehog]

6. Sorry I can't provide a link to this specific report. It was on NPR at

about 9:40 EST this morning. Google Clinton and Cold War Medal and you'll find out that she has been trying to get the Defense Department to issue this medal since at least 2005.

[madrchsod]

8. here ya go

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-1763
S. 1763: Cold War Medal Act of 2007 (GovTrack.us)

[joeybee12]

3. Not everyone who gets a medal has been shot...there are different

kinds of military medals...then again, pointing that out just makes your post seem ludicrous.

[hedgehog]

5. Read the OP a bit more carefully, I d didn't limit medals to people who got shot,

but people who got shot at. My dad's service in the Navy off the coast of Korea during the shooting war was was different than it would have been if he'd served in the Navy three years later. Same pay, same quarters, same food, same ships, same separation from home and family. Still, being in a shooting war is not the same as sitting around in case a shooting war breaks out!

[Benhurst]

4. I think every American citizen deserves a medal for having

survived Bush/Cheney.

Jesting aside, what disgusting pandering.

[hedgehog]

7. My son asks if Oliver North would be eligible. nt

[Benhurst]

19. Probably.

As would Charles Manson.

[wyldwolf]

9. Let me tell you something about the men and women who served during the cold war

For example, our service people who were stationed on the border of South and North Korea who knew damn well they the first and last line of defense against an overwhelming North Korean and Soviet army. They would have been little more than a speed bump. Do you think that was stressful?

There's this really odd tendency among fringe thinkers (that would be left and right) to disregard established figures of speech so they can express fake outrage at the literal meanings of words. For example, the silly stupid absurd reaction on the netroots when Biden called Obama "clean." Your OP may be another example. Servicemen from the cold war do deserve recognition.

Hell, Skinner deserves a medal for putting up with this place (and he's never been shot!)

[hedgehog]

12. So, should George Bush get a medal for his service in the Texas

National Guard?

[wyldwolf]

13. where was he stationed again? What a silly non-point

:eyes:

[BootinUp]

14. You mean the guy who didn't report to duty

in Alabama?

Why are you drawing these distinctions? You denigrate all who serve by taking this line in my opinion.

[hedgehog]

15. Put it this way. IMO, giving a medal to everyone who was in the military

during the Cold War is akin to those kindergarten graduation exercises in which each child receives some sort of certificate. Medals are supposed to mean something. Kerry's Purple Heart was a recognition that he was exposed to and hit by enemy fire. It wasn't a life threatening wound, but it was evidence of the hazard he faced. Don't forget, during the Viet Nam era, a guard post on the DMZ in Korea was a good posting.

[BootinUp]

16. I assume any medals awarded

would represent the type of action seen or type of service. Since I am not a vet nor have any immediate family members that are vets, I don't know what the popular opinion on this is in the military, but I would be surprised if it was overly negative.

[Onlooker]

10. Give them a medal

In every war we give out lots of medals.

My father was a WWII seargeant stationed in London, and he never saw battle (though he did see bombs drop). He repaired radar equipment for his battalion. Every time his battalion, which saw battle, accomplished something, they got a medal. So did my father.

In the military, I think a medal is a small token, and why deprive a lot of mostly harmless old timers of that?

[Algorem]

11. why is she snubbing the veterans of the Chilly War?

they didn't even get to keep the sweaters.

[texas_indy]

17. Majority of Medals go to those never shot at, always has been that way.

Browse through http://www.usmilitarystuff.com/ and you will see that few medals even mention being in action against an enemy. The vast majority do not require being shot at. The military, of all countries, has always done it this way. They have never believed that only people who were actually shot at deserve a medal.

I'm one of those cold-war "warriors" and the only hostile action I saw was on TV, and I still got medals during my stint. HRC is doing nothing to be criticized here. Heck, I'd bet it was her retired military advisors who suggested the idea since it is a non-issue for a vet.

[Nailzberg]

18. I would concern myself with that, most her bills never make it out of committee

She has a very poor record when it comes to getting her bills out of committee and enacted.

[suston96]

20. There are all kinds of USA military medals.

http://www.usamilitarymedals.com/?gclid=CJb0ta67wZACFQ8nawod2lMuXg

When military personnel are discharged all their medals and decorations are listed on their discharge form - DD214.

I first served in the "Cold War" in NATO - in France. But I don't think I got a medal for it. All military personnel at that time received the "National Defense Service Medal. Maybe more recent military still do.