"Midwest Heroes" Part IV

LEIGH POMEROY

The controversial "Midwest Heroes" TV ads now playing in Minnesota have been covered quite extensively in the news. I brought them up in my freshman English composition class at Minnesota State University Mankato as a good example for studying source bias and source accuracy. (We will be writing research papers later in the course. Part of doing research is knowing the credibility, accuracy and bias of sources.)

This subject is particularly apropos in my class as five of the 25 students, despite their young ages, are either in the military or veterans. Three have served in Iraq.

Showing both of the ads, as well as another video clip from the anti-war Gold Star Families for Peace, engendered quite a bit of discussion, mostly among the veterans but also among some of the other students. (Unfortunately, about half the other students simply "tuned out".)

Excellent points were made -- most notably, was Chief Warrant Officer Erik Kesterson, who was killed in Iraq, closer to his stepmother, M. J. Kesterson, who is featured in one of the Midwest Heroes ads, or his birth mother, Dolores Kesterson, who is a member of the Gold Star Families for Peace?

Unfortunately, outside of my classroom the discussion has devolved into a pissing match between those supporting the war and those against it, with veterans and families of veterans on both sides. Caught in the middle are those who have truly suffered from the war: Families who have lost loved ones and injured soldiers who have returned to put their lives back together again.

Let's hope that the moneyed interests behind the ads and those behind criticizing them don't lose track of who's really been hurt as a result of the war.

For more on the subject, see:
"Vet and mother of soldier support ads"
"More on 'Midwest Heroes'"
"You decide: 'Midwest Heroes' or 'Political Pawns'?"
"You decide: Iraq -- right or wrong?"