Seattle Sports Insider

Medals of Honor, in Baseball and in Life

Some things, they can never take away from you

Posted by

11/25/13

Ask an member of the general public, what comes to your mind when you think of Veteran’s Day?, and you’ll hear a lot of different things:

“Mattress and sofa blowout day?”

“That’s when you stop wearing summer colors, right.”

“If you know somebody in uniform, you thank her for her service.”

“A day off, and big sales at the mall.” (These are actual responses we googled up.)

“That’s when you visit the graves of veterans who died for their country.” (Actually, that one is Memorial Day.)

.............

Veteran's Day was originally called Armistice Day. It was the end of World War One, specifically, that inspired Veteran's Day. From 5,000 BC to 1914 AD, there had always been a war going on someplace. But now, there was a war going on everyplace.

It's a fascinating study. From the assassination of one individual, to the spectacle of 65,000,000 men (!!) killing each other with bullets and knives and rocks, there intervened less than 30 days. There were people who thought it was the end of the world, and that might not have been an unreasonable way to view it.

Soldiers suffered agonies beyond belief. They lay in muddy trenches, in their own sewage, and yellow-green gas rolled over hills to kill them. When it did, rats skeletonized the dead. Soldiers tried to sleep at night, and the shelling (and screams) never let up. Those who did survive, often returned with "shell shock," fighting to regain their sanity for the rest of their lives.

Private Henry Gilbert Costin died at age 20, and was awarded the Medal of Honor because

When the advance of his platoon had been held up by machinegun fire and a request was made for an automatic rifle team to charge the nest, Pvt. Costin was the first to volunteer. Advancing with his team, under terrific fire of enemy artillery, machineguns, and trench mortars, he continued after all his comrades had become casualties and he himself had been seriously wounded. He operated his rifle until he collapsed. His act resulted in the capture of about 100 prisoners and several machineguns. He succumbed from the effects of his wounds shortly after the accomplishment of his heroic deed.

The U.S. Solider who fought in that war was a Hero. A hero in the highest, most ideal sense of the word. He had saved us, at unimaginable cost to himself and his family, and he didn't get much thanks for it.

In 1926, Congress resolved,

Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals ... and

Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will ...

Be it Resolved [that we invite] the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.

............

There are times when Dr. D despairs for a generation that is systematically being taught not to respect the things for which their grandfathers stood. Respect: it is an important concept. True respect for others' time, for their property, for their dignity, for their freedoms ... ask Grandpa where he thinks we are, on that issue.

On the internet today, Chuck Armstrong is being thanked for the fact that he fought for the Mariners to draft Ken Griffey Jr. (If you are underestimating that accomplishment? Don't. He put his career on the line with that kind of thing. Armstrong has obviously been a resolved and courageous man.)

He is not being celebrated, particularly, for the fact that he acted as a "buffer" who -- basically -- kept George Argyros and Jeff Smulyan from selling, dismantling, ruining and otherwise folding, spindling and mutilating the Mariners.

But he did do those things.

A Medal of Honor recipient might show great heroism, and then later sell nuclear secrets to terrorists. Who knows? A man's military career is judged based on a LLLOOOONNNNGGGGG ledger of plusses and minuses. He has no right to ask us to remember ONLY his medals.

But Mr. Armstrong did deserve three Medals of Honor in Seattle sports history. One for Griffey, and one for helping us survive Argyros, and one for helping us survive Smulyan.

Chuck Armstrong, today, POINTEDLY told us that he wants to be remembered for Ken Griffey Jr. A military man has 25 years to account for, but if he was awarded the Medal of Honor, he certainly has a right to be remembered for that.

He wants his medals to be remembered. Yes, we remember them. And we appreciate them.

Regards,

Jeff

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Comments

Yep, those 1995 M's

Would have been a whole lot different with Mike Harkey instead of Jr. I was so happy when we drafted him.
And, WOW, 1995 would have really been different watching it occur in Florida instead of Seattle.
It's a blessing we are able to spend our hot stove time dreaming ofRobinson Cano instead of opening the paper each day worrying about the team relocating. Thanks for the reminder!

Smulyan and Argyros

Man, how quickly and gratefully do we forget. Whatta pair. Whatever else we can say about the Lincoln-Armstrong era, it's been a step up from those two.
Argyros was actually the easier to deal with of the two. He was cheap; he was a jerk; he was arrogant, the kind of guy who because he had made a great deal of money thought that made him a great man. More to the point, a great American. But he was at least straightforward. Smulyan, well, what can you expect from a guy who names his company Emmis (Hebrew for truth). If you have to advertise it, you probably don't have much.
My favorite Smulyan bit occurred after private bank documents were unearthed by an intrepid reporter that, counter to everything Smulyan was saying publicly, showed him agreeing to an explicit plan to break the M's lease and move the team to Tampa. Confronted with the documents, Smulyan looked at me like I was an imbecile. You going to believe me or the documents, he said, then continued: he dismissed the documents, saying: Everybody lies to their banker.

:: blinks ::

That's quite a story. I have no words.
Usually you capture the problem of a Rick Neuheisel type by shrugging, "well, he's a used car salesman." That phrase doesn't touch the hem of the garment here, though, does it?