What is an “American Hero”

Hello, my fellow Americans. It has been quite a while since I’ve last spoken with you. However, today  brings up many concerns. I am not sure if anyone has heard of a movie called “American Sniper” lol! I went to see this movie last week and still cannot get the movie out of my head. As many others have before, I’ve been deployed to Afghanistan and fought my war. I know what it’s like over there and would do it all over again. After seeing this movie; without a doubt it brought back good and bad memories. The movie brought back the brotherhood of fighting side by side with your partners, it also brought back the ignorance of so many Americans back home. When I came home for leave after leaving Afghanistan, I was in uniform and a lady asked me if we were still fighting overseas. That question still haunts me today. There are so many Americans that have no clue what is going on with their own country. Americans have no clue what their defenders are going through. I can say with certainty that most soldiers that… all soldiers that watched this movie can say that they see themselves in the actions of Chris Kyle. To some Chris is not a hero, he is just another brother. To others Chris is a villain, a murderous animal.

This is what brings me to talk to my American family today. What I’ve seen on television today has really confused me. America’s actions in the last six months have reflected the actions of a nation that is fed up with big government making all of there decisions and making them poorly. With the roll reversal in the House and Senate, it seems (some days) that our nation is making an extreme shift. Not only politically are things changing, but socially as well. Does anyone remember the day that the movie “Blackhawk Down” was released, or when “Act of Valor” was released, or maybe “We Were Soldiers Once“? All these movies where great patriotic American movies that told great stories of what  our defenders do. Of the movies that I mentioned (and others) how many received prestigious rewards for the brilliant directing? Not many of those movies received the recognition that they deserved. Now we look at the new and changing America. We look at “Lone Survivor” “American Sniper” “Zero Dark Thirty“. These three movies have changed the perspective of our military in so many different ways. These movies have earned millions of dollars and continue to rival the movies that are released after them. So here is my question: If our citizens are watching these movies of American hero’s at home and abroad; they are watching them fight to defend freedoms overseas, they are watching them come home and continue to fight the war that goes on long after they get out of the military, they are watching soldiers make the toughest decision to take lives. Then why is there not more of an outcry when these talking heads and moronic politicians make these mindless and horrendous comments about the soldiers and the viewers? Why is there not more of a push by America to help our veterans? When I think about the VA scandal all I think is that both sides are using veterans as a way to get votes, but not to truly help them.

Whenever a liberal or progressive wants to say anything negative about a true American they freely speak their minds and in some cases make public apologies then return to their reckless behavior.  A conservative or libertarian expresses  their love of country, or love of guns, or even the fight to limit over grown governments and controlling education systems, they are publicly called the worst of names by the new progressives. It is horrible the names that real Americans are called for having their own opinions. Now that America has made this huge political and social sway, why haven’t we stopped these progressives from dragging patriots names through the mud? Why hasn’t our nation pushed harder to preserve what a true American is? We watch these movies and  cannot wrap our heads around what we see in these movies. Can we not tell the difference between “Avatar” and “Lone Survivor“? We see that Americans are very much interested in what makes an American hero, so why aren’t we seeing this on a consistent basis? The average soldier values freedom, love of country, and “the right to bear arms” so it is my guess as to what the majority of our defenders political views are. With that said, I hope and believe that as time goes on and Americans see what deviant people the progressives are and how patriotic our hero’s in uniform are, that maybe the sway can continue to make progress every day. This may be wishful thinking, but I believe that the more movies and press that shed light on what an American hero is, the more insightful Americans can become.