Throughout the last year so many tragedies have occurred within our own borders that it really begins to weigh on the mind. This is still America, the land of the free, the most powerful country on the planet, the safe haven of millions of refugees; the closest Earth has come to a Utopia, isn’t it? With atrocities such as the Newtown, Conn. school shooting, the Aurora movie theatre shooting and most recently the murder of quite possibly our greatest hero, Chris Kyle, it begs us to consider how great we really are. I listed three tragedies… these are just the tip of the iceberg, three among thousands deemed not politically important enough to broadcast. What I will be focusing on is the murder of Kyle, a former Navy SEAL sniper who gave everything to his country, a man who was murdered by the very same veteran he was attempting to help cope with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). This particular murder really hit deep and really forced me to consider what it is I love about America.
Kyle was a former Navy SEAL who served in the United States Army from 1999 until 2009, when he decided to lay his famed weapon aside in order to spend more time with his family and to help veterans cope with the stresses of returning to America from a warzone. According to nbcnews.com, Kyle is famous for being the notorious “Devil of Ramadi,” a name given to him by insurgents because of his lethal nature and the havoc he reaped on the terrorists of the Middle East. He left the military with 166 confirmed kills and an estimated total body count of around 255, more than any other American soldier in the history of our fabled military. If I were to attempt to describe this man’s legacy I would compare him to the mythical heroes of the Ancient Greeks, men such as Achilles and Hercules. However, one key characteristic separated these mythical heroes from Kyle: Kyle was real.
On Feb. 2, 2013, Kyle and longtime friend Chad Littlefield took a 25 year old veteran, Eddie Ray Routh, to the Rough Creek Lodge shooting range in an effort to help the young man cope with PTSD, a condition that unfortunately plagues many troops who return from combat. Explicit details have not been released, but what we do know is Routh shot and killed both Kyle and Littlefield. After the murders, Routh fled the scene in Kyle’s F-350 pickup truck. He then became engaged in a police chase, which ended when he crashed into a police cruiser and was then arrested. Due to the actions of this troubled man, America lost its greatest hero, a man who took service to country beyond what was asked, a man who lived by a strict set of morals and a man who was the picture of a true American.
Almost as heartbreaking and disappointing as the murder itself is what happened in the aftermath of Kyle’s death. Our nation has a time-honored tradition of lowering our national flag in honor of great Americans who served our nation well; in short, we do this to recognize our heroes. We drop the flag to half-mast for one or more days when we so honor a hero’s legacy and contributions. The greater the hero, the more days we add to the tribute. I find it more than merely disappointing that President Obama chose to not fly our flag at half-mast for Kyle, not even for a single day. I fully understand that the lowering of the flag to half-mast is reserved for the death of presidents, congressmen and our most senior military leaders, but the flag can also be lowered by a presidential proclamation such as it was after the Aurora and Newtown shootings. My intention is not to take away from these tragedies, but to question the thought process of our president. Why did he choose to lower it for these children but not for one of our nation’s greatest heroes? Should the flag not be lowered for both occurrences? I assert that it should be. If the president chooses one over the other, then maybe it should not be lowered for any tragedies of any kind.
The problem with presidential proclamations are that they are decided by one man. Kyle lived, breathed and died for this country. He made it safer for every single one of us, and he deserved, especially given the circumstances of his death, to have the flag lowered to half-mast in his honor. According to washingtonexaminer.com, Sarah Palin, who never shies from asserting her opinion, recently stated, ”I find it sad to see that flags aren’t flying at half-staff for this American hero. We’re surrounded today by American patriots here in Texas – by Kyle’s fellow veterans and active duty warriors. In honor of them, I hope our commander in chief pays his respects in some gesture of condolence for their comrade in arms who sacrificed so much to keep him and all of us safe.” I know many of you might laugh at everything Palin says, but this is logic, people, and good logic at that.
America is and continues to be the greatest nation this planet has ever experienced, but this may not be the case for our children. It seems like people have forgotten what’s truly important, what really matters, things such as selfless duty to the country, how to treat your neighbor and how to live honestly and patriotically. These are but a few of the things that were once part of the picture the rest of the world saw when it thought of America and Americans. I believe we are no longer seen in this light. I suggest that part of the reason is wrapped up in how we see ourselves and how we recognize those who live honestly, protect our values and defend our way of life. If we cannot pay tribute to these values ourselves, how can we reasonably expect the rest of the world to do this?
I pray that we, as a nation, are able to recover our former persona, rather than continue on a path further and further away from it. What it will take, I am not sure, but I am sure that our failure to pay tribute to men and women who so obviously deserve it is yet another step in the wrong direction. World history is replete with a long list of former great powers and nations; they rise and they fall. Ladies and gentlemen, we are falling. I find this very sad for our children, primarily because it is entirely preventable. Again, where do we start? We start with the easy wins, by doing things that send the right message to our citizens and those who watch us around the globe. We start by acting the part and by paying tribute to those who already act the part.
Richard J Whitaker can be reached at richard.whitaker@spartans.ut.edu
The writer, Richard Whitaker, is arguing that the citizens of America no longer maintain respectable values that we had in the past. Whitaker describes these values as our duty to the country, respecting our neighbors and being honest and patriotic citizens. He goes on to claim that the world also once viewed us in this light. I can agree that the world (but only select parts of it) does not see us as honest, selfless, and respectable. There are some countries that do see us this way (i.e. Great Britain, Turkey, Japan). However there are others, North Korea for example, that have not imagined Americans as any of those characteristics since the Korean War sixty-three years ago.
The basis for my rejection with Whitaker’s claim that Americans no longer retain these values are as follows. He makes a hasty generalization as well as having a complete lack of support in the claim. Also he uses the golden age fallacy, suggesting that the world viewed us as a better country in the past.
My disagreement with the claim stems from Whitaker’s use of a hasty generalization blatantly claiming that “people have forgotten” values that we once had. I do not believe in his use of the word “people”. The writer can only leave readers assuming that “people” would mean Americans in general. This then raises the question, have all Americans really sight of values they once deemed important?
To further my disagreement in his claim that Americans have lost once important values is the lack of support. Whitaker uses the fact that America did not lower our flag to half-mast after Chris Kyle died as evidence that Americans have lost the values of selfless duty, honesty, patriotism and kindness to neighbors. However, this is his only evidence used. To claim that we have lost all of the values, Whitaker would need some more evidence that is more specific to those values. Evidence can be provided that some Americans still due retain these values. The fact that 2,266,883 Americans were serving in the military in 2010 can prove that at least 2,266,883 people do still believe in selfless duty to the country. The seventh floor of Vaughn Center frequently has students leaving their doors wide open inviting their neighbors to come in is evidence that at least those people still believe in being kind to their neighbors. American flags still flying around the suburbs of Tampa alone can prove that there is still patriotism present in the community. Whitaker’s claim that the world used to envision Americans as being all of these things at one time but no longer do is an argument that a golden age was once present. I cannot find a time where the entire world envisioned Americans as honest, kind, selfless people. As I had stated before, North Korea has not been fond of Americans since the Korean War. This is not to say that all North Koreans feel the same, but I am sure a large amount of their population along with their leader do not particularly think of Americans as being only those highly appreciated values. Throughout history there have been countries that have felt similar to North Korea, not sympathizing with America. Countries such as the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany can be used as general examples. The hasty generalizations used, lack of support, and golden age fallacy as well as the counterarguments above are the reasons for my rejection of Whitaker’s claim that “people” of America have lessened their importance of selfless duty, kindness to neighbors, and honesty and patriotism.