New "National Defense" Tartan

[Barb T]

To snicker about this medal as being a "thanks for showing up" medal is pretty harsh and implies that those in the military who are not deployed are sitting around the snack bar eating pizza. The men and women I've met in the military who are stateside aren't just "showing up". They carry out jobs that are vital to the larger effort that provides for the defense of all of us and all we hold dear. I'm most familiar with the Air Force Research Labs (where our daughter is), and most of the fabulously talented people who work there will never see the pointy end of the sword yet they are totally committed to inventing and perfecting technologies that help other American servicemen and women do their jobs better and more safely.

Not only that, but they are committed in ways that none of us in the civilian world can fully comprehend. It's a big decision to be in the armed forces. Those in the military typically can't choose their jobs or where they will work, and they certainly can't just decide they don't like their jobs and quit to go do something else. If they stay in for a career, they know they could be called up at any time to leave their loved ones and go into harm's way, perhaps for an extended period of time. Many will never earn what they could have earned as civilians. And even if they never go overseas, they can't put down roots, and their spouses can't establish careers in one place because they move every few years.

I'm all for giving these dedicated men and women a medal even if they never have to look down the barrel of a gun.