The Metropolitan USO troupe performed on the Intrepid flight
deck Sunday at a ceremony welcoming 88 Army reservists back from
the Middle East.
An aura of the surreal surrounded the patriotic entertainment, as
I couldn’t help but associate performers from USO — it
stands for United Service Organizations — with World War II
movies such as “Stage Door Canteen” that were made at a
time when Hollywood supported our war efforts. Can you imagine
Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, and other 1940s stars holding
fundraising events to oust Franklin D. Roosevelt or Harry Truman?
Though this city was brutally attacked by terrorists on September
11, 2001, and our military is valiantly battling these Islamic
jihadists in Iraq and Afghanistan, the mainstream press
headquartered in New York City gives little respect to its
efforts..I have drawn this analogy before, but — in light of
the Newsweek Koran blunder that incited global riots and the
increasing Abu Ghraib obsession by the New York Times and CBS
News — it bears repeating.
Today’s deluded journalists who sincerely believe they are
behaving professionally remind me of the Colonel Nicholson
character portrayed by Alec Guinness in “The Bridge on the
River Kwai.” Nicholson is so consumed by ego and ambition
that he assists the enemy in building a strategic bridge. Only
after betraying his fellow POWs’ efforts to sabotage the
project and causing the deaths of several of them does he come to
his senses and realize the horror of his complicity.
I’d like to think the editors at Newsweek have had a similar
epiphany, but, given the magazine’s continued coverage of
our “sins,” that is highly unlikely. I suppose it would
be a hyperbolic conclusion to blame the global hostility to the
Iraqi Freedom campaign on the Fourth Estate. Still, one has to
wonder how different things would be today if from the very
beginning of the conflict, journalists had only been fair.
No one is suggesting that the Abu Ghraib torture should have been
ignored, but why hasn’t there been an equivalent coverage of
the beheadings, kidnappings, torture, murders, rapes, mutilations
of the Iraqi men, women, and children by the so-called
insurgents? Why haven’t the mainstream press and broadcast
networks applauded the awesome heroism of the Iraqi people who
are allied with the coalition to rid their country of foreign,
mostly Saudi, terrorists? Why hasn’t that heroism been
contrasted with the cowardice of the hooded thugs who hide their
identities while they slaughter the innocent on video? Why the
constant harping on missing WMDs as small as a tin can, when
everyone knows darn well that finding them is an impossible task?
In England during the early 1940s some members of the British
elite condemned the war with Germany as being unnecessary and
lamented the deaths of thousands of soldiers. They advocated
establishing diplomatic relations with Hitler and even became
fifth columnists to undermine their own government. Does anyone
today believe that World War II was an unnecessary war?
Fortunately, the valiant outnumbered the cowards in Britain, and
despite the efforts of a hostile press that same spirit prevails
here.
It was evident on the deck of the Intrepid on Sunday.
The redeployment ceremony was opened by Sergeant Louis Licalzi
singing “A Soldier’s Heart” in honor of the
returning soldiers, whose faces revealed pride at the song’s
refrain, “You were ready to die for our sake — that
takes a soldier’s heart.”
A representative of the American Legion, Fang Wong, in his
welcome speech, warmed the crowd of soldiers’ relatives and
friends when he told the returning warriors that if they needed
anything, all they had to do was ask. He intimated that they
would not be treated as too many returning Vietnam veterans were.
Then the USO troupe braved the cold spring air dressed in light
clothing and sang time-honored rousing patriotic songs that would
have made many New York journalists gag had any of them even
bothered to cover the event. Anything faintly celebratory about
our military is liable to arouse scorn in the sophisticated New
York press, but I thoroughly enjoyed the troupe’s
Broadwaycaliber rah-rah tribute to America, featuring the music
of the Andrews Sisters and their finale, “God Bless the USA.”
To check out their event schedule during Fleet Week or to donate
to a great cause, visit www.usotroupenyc.org.
I was standing next to Lieutenant Colonel Richard Wasserman, who
returned from Iraq in February. The subject turned to the
negative war coverage and he said, “That’s just the New
York media. But I can tell you that everyone we meet here in the
city treats us great. They see the uniform and they’re so
nice.”
Proof again that the mainstream press is completely out of touch
with real New Yorkers.