It’s Not a Contest
President Biden, not unlike President Ford, President George W. Bush, and even President Regan at the tail end of his second term, has had more than a few verbal gaffes. You can play the “old versus incompetent” game all you want. I don’t really have a solid theory and my opinion is my own. However, there is one particular mistake that genuinely pisses me off.
No one “wins” an award in the military. No one is a Bronze Star, Silver Star, or Medal Of Honor “winner”. These are awarded to service members for various reasons, including gallantry, heroism, or service in combat. In some cases, these are awarded posthumously. If you’re not familiar, that means it is awarded AFTER the service member has died. It’s not a fucking contest. There is no winner.
That’s how President Biden described his son. Not the pending criminal son, the other one. He described his son Beau as having “won the Bronze Star” and “the Conspicuous Service Medal”. I am not debating what awards Beau Biden deserved. Someone, somewhere decided he earned those medals. Actually, I had to look up what a “Conspicuous Service Medal” was. It sounded like another verbal gaffe by the President, but it turns out that is an award from the Delaware National Guard. Evidently, the President has enough of his faculties to know what his son was awarded.
I have been involved with the awards process a number of times, from submitting paperwork for awards, to sitting on review boards, to approving them. Trust me, there is a process. It may not always be fair. It may not always be accurate. But, there is definitely a process.
What there isn’t is a finish line. Or a championship. Or a victory lap. You’re not competing against anyone to earn these awards. They are awarded and not “won”. This is fact, not opinion. Some people will say I am nitpicking. I don’t give a shit if that is what you think.
The President of the United States should KNOW better. As someone who has the authority to AWARD these decorations, he should know better. The father of a son who was awarded those decorations should KNOW better. By the way, that is the context of the statement by President Biden; “I say this as the father of a man who won the Bronze Star Medal, the Conspicuous Service Medal…”. If you are going to use your son’s decorations to make a point, any point at all, get the verbiage right. If you are the President and you are talking about a deceased service member’s awards, whether it is your son or not, GET IT RIGHT.
Everyone feels differently about their awards and decorations after they get out. The vast majority of what was on my uniform when I retired now sits in a plastic shoebox in the bottom of my closet. They never see the light of day. That’s me. Other people feel differently. That’s them. There really is no right or wrong on what you do and how you feel about the awards you earned while you served.
One thing is for sure…there is no “winner” because It’s Not a Contest.