"Dakota Meyer and Barack Obama share Medal of Honor beer," BBC, 9/15/11

This article discusses the upcoming honors for a US marine and also explains the details behind his heroic actions. When Taliban fighters attacked this sergeant's squad in Afghanistan, Meyer rushed to the rescue of 36 soldiers. Putting himself in the fire zone to save dozens of lives is unquestioningly an honorable act of heroism, yet it is interesting to consider the following description the author provides: "Sgt Meyer manned the exposed gun-turret of the truck and killed a number of enemy fighters while intense fire homed in on their vehicle." Despite the horrors of the Taliban and other violent terrorist groups, this act of saving lives also ended the lives of some others. Granted this 'fighting of fire with fire' is what is expected of war, yet one can't help but consider the families (and potential children) of those "enemies." It becomes an exhausting downward spiral, from US support of Isreal, to 9/11 and culminating with the war on terrorism. Such extreme inhumanity and violence -based on differing ideologies and religions- seems absurd. Considering the loads of lives and money spent (from both sides) on such a battle, it becomes difficult not to question human nature. In a search for life's biggest questions (who/what is our higher power, what is meaning to this earthly life, etc) we forget to consider each other. We become distraught at the loss of American lives because as Americans we are similar. Yet, I'm sure the loss of those "enemies" led to many grief-stricken individuals on the other side. If only we could all take a step back and start over with a dose of mutual respect and acceptance. This is clearly a daunting task, but one worth attempting (as discussed prior in relation to the LIFG). As this article warrants disheartening questions about human nature, the author provides an uplifting conclusion with a quote from Meyer, "It's hard... getting recognized for the worst day of your life, so it's a really tough thing." I find this to be an inspiring thought, making me proud of my American background and honored to have people like Meyer spending months in Afghanistan. Clearly, he has not become detached from the emotional side of war which, in my opinion, makes him even more deserving of this Metal of Honor.