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Jewish World Review May 10, 2011 / 6 Iyar, 5771 Geronimo! Or: What's in a Name? By Paul Greenberg
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | For once I find myself firmly, indignantly and thoroughly on the side of political correctness. It's a strange sensation, but a deeply satisfying one. As if something needed to be made absolutely clear, spelled out, published far and wide -- and you proceeded to do just that. Which is the purpose of my writing this column. And this is why it had to be done: It seems the historical ignoramus who devised code words for the wholly admirable -- indeed, inspiring -- operation to get Thank you, U.S. Navy SEALs and all those who worked with you in the chain of command right up to the president of But why flash "Geronimo EKIA" -- Geronimo Enemy Killed in Action -- to mark this happy occasion? Unacceptable. Completely unacceptable. It's also a sign of the ignorant times. Like some mastermind's decision early in the War of Terror to refer to it as a Crusade -- when an essential aim of this long struggle against terrorism must be to make it clear that we have not embarked on a religious crusade against Islam. On the contrary, we are waging a just war against those who violate Islamic civilization's long tradition of chivalry, learning and tolerance. There was a time when American fighting men knew their history better, as during the Second World War when our paratroops began yelling
Whether the troopers got that yell from history or I can still remember being taken out to the picturesque cliff at Fort Sill in the badlands of It was true enough that, when finally captured, he was imprisoned in a dusty little calaboose at Fort Sill, Indian Territory. To visit it was to be overcome by the sad and sordid end of a great chief who once roamed the buttes and canyons, but ended his days locked up in a narrow little cell. So allow me to second the indignation of The codemaker might as well have called our enemy Like so many tasteless offenses, this one surely was committed out of ignorance rather than malice. But it does reveal the vacuum we have allowed to develop in place of even a basic knowledge of our own history, myth and folklore. Somebody ought to tell the "intelligence" officer who let this code name get by him to go and study. Which wouldn't be bad advice for a lot of us. A people that does not know its own history will not remain one people for long. Almost as offensive are the kind of outraged reactions that might lead one to believe that the use of Using To some of us, there are no hyphenated Americans. That's one of the beauties, and strengths, of this country. And one of the things that explains our remarkable growth, endurance and continuity. We may be a young people, but we have a remarkably continuous history because each generation accepts the heroes of the others that have gone before it. Over time political passions fade into a Now let the celebration of these latest American heroes proceed unhindered. And let the story of their deeds not be tarnished by this speck some unthinking type had to go and leave on the saga of a raid so daring that it would surely have pleased, most of all, A name the 82nd Airborne knew how to use properly.
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