Dear ALTRAV,

No. He was not rewarded for "merely participating."
That is wrong. He was there on the ground fully
taking part - in more ways than one. And the awards
he's received he's well and truly earned. He's recieved
recognition not only here in Australia but from overseas
as well. From the US, France, Asia.

Anyway when the safety of the men he leads and the
success of his job is at stake - when lives are on the
line, your personal critique and or - unacceptance of
his service record comes in a very, very distant second.
In fact your opinion of the man is totally irrelevant.
His job is to be the best he can be - because that's who
he is as his service record shows. Your opinion is neither
here nor there - and doesn't really count for much at all.

Foxy, to be fair and put balance in the discussion, neither is yours.
You choose to take things at face value, I choose not to and seek the truth.
It turns out I'm right.
Nobody questions things anymore.
The lies and corruption surrounding us is at epidemic proportions.
Most stories have another side to them, we are told what looks and sounds good according to the agenda.
If I say this guy is a shmuck then you can believe it.
You wish to praise and glorify him, good for you.
I would however caution you in suggesting that instead of researching and looking for the nice side of a topic, how about you spend some time verifying the veracity of that topic and not get besotted by it. Your views are far too narrow leaving no room to move in case you're wrong.