New medal shows no risk to soldiers

DAVID L. EDWARDS | Olympia • Published February 24, 2013 Modified February 23, 2013

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I was astounded to read about the new Distinguished Warfare Medal created by the Pentagon to be awarded for extraordinary achievement to those heroic combatants who wage war from afar in our undeclared (and not authorized by Congress) war against terror.

Apparently the medal ranks below only the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Silver Star, but outranks in valor the Bronze Star.

My impression that bravery implies a risk of personal injury is obviously flawed. Even lower-ranking medals such as the Purple Heart assume personal risk.

This new medal carries no personal risk other than possibly being injured in a traffic accident during transit twixt battle station and the safety of home. Is this how we encourage video game addicts to switch from simulated killings in the games to actual flesh-and-blood killings by manipulating illegal drones from the remote safety of a stateside battle station?

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