Positive, or Positive Spin?

posted @ 21:28...

I went out today to talk to some medics about an incident that happened recently. A boy and his brother were out playing when one of them triggered one of the many old Russian landmines that are scattered throughout Afghanistan. Some American Soldiers in a guard tower nearby witnessed the explosiion and requested a medevac. The boys were flown to my FOB where a team of medicas, nurses, and surgeons got to work on them. They were able to save the one boy, but his brother died of his injuries.

Our job as Public Affairs is to report the facts and highlight the great things that Soldiers do. An Army journalist who tagged along with me indicated she had become somewhat disenfranchised with military journalism. Especially after meeting the boy and his father, it seemed to her that we were using this tragic event to simply make the Army look good. I got to thinking... Is this all we are, just a public relations firm for the Army? Well, in a sense, that's correct. but it's not hard for me to deal with, after having been in Public Affairs for over three years now. I have faith that what we do is valuable. If it wasn't for us, who would be there to tell the story of how these many American Soldiers went out of their way to help an innocent Afghan kid? Everyone from the tower guards to the medical helicopter personnel to the doctors and nurses looked past the fact that their primary job is to care for the American Soldier. They looked past race and religion and did what was right.

I look at my job as being a lot like the end scene of "Life of Brian." Though we're not facing crucifixion, Public Affairs personnel who are deployed to a war zone are the ones out here in the middle of a miserable situation, singing, "Always look on the bright side of life..." Of course there are times when no silver lining can be found. People still die, and it's tragic. But being in an occupation where it's my job to constantly "look at the bright side" has changed me, for the better I think.