At Least They Tried

By Semperpapa

We have all seen the video of the New Jersey National Guardsmen that got stranded in high flood waters while attempting hurricane Irene rescues.

http://youtu.be/X79gNYpYO3k

A lot of hoopla has been made of this video, but what angered me the most is the mocking tone that criticism has taken.
Listening to the jackass taking the video reminds me of one of the reasons our great country is in the place it is right now.
Instead of recognizing that the Guardsmen were at least trying to do their jobs in obviously dangerous conditions, instead of aiding them and being concerned about their safety once things showed not to be going all that well, the moron resorted to name calling.

The vehicles the Military was using is a specialized one that is designed to handle those very same conditions. It has been used by our Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan where water was only one of the dangerous components of the mission.
That the effort was thwarted by the excessive depth of the flooding does not diminish the fact that these Guardsmen at least tried, while the dumbass with the video camera was safe and dry.

I don't know about that particular unit, but it is a very good possibility that some of those soldiers have completed one or more deployments to combat zones, doing work that regular civilians cannot even fathom. They did it, while the rest of us enjoyed the "tribulations" of our daily life.
In this particular case, all I can say is that at least they tried, a lot more that can be said for the idiot taking the video.

Just my thoughts!