A TRUE AMERICAN HERO

A TRUE AMERICAN HERO, July 24, 2008
Yesterday, the US Army announced that it had reversed its decision to allow recent graduate, 2nd Lt. Caleb Campbell to play professional football while at the same time serving as a recruiter for the Army on his days off. The Army believed that the public relations gained by Campbell would offset some of his service. He would be given the option to buy out his final three years of service for about $120,000 and also have to serve six years in the reserves. The army allowed him to participate in the NFL Combine early this year and allowed him to appear at this past year’s NFL Draft in New York in uniform and get interviewed by both the NFL Network and ESPN. The crowd started chanting, “USA” following the Detroit Lions choice of Campbell in the seventh round. During the interviews, Campbell showed why he is a hero. He stated his desire to continue his service to his country as an officer in the Army, but also his excitement at the opportunity to play professional football for the Lions.
The Army had an opportunity to have Campbell serve as a public relations machine for the Army. His ability to recruit young men and women into the Army as a member of the Detroit Lions would be a huge advantage to the Army. The biggest problem with this decision is the timing of it. If the Army preferred that he serve his country in combat overseas, then they should not have allowed him to go to the combine, the draft, and participate in the Lions off season team activities. The fact that the decision came the opening day of training camp for the Lions and among wispers that both the Air Force and Navy were upset at the publicity he was gaining and would continue to gain and the benefit the army would get by having the “alternative service option” shows how effective the program could be. In a city like Detroit, where football is still king and the economy is the worst in the country, having a recruiter like Campbell might have dramatically increased the number of recruits from the metropolitan Detroit area.
Following the Army’s decision yesterday, Campbell has not complained. According to some media reports, he had said that, “he was has gotten his orders, and he is ready to report and go.” A true American hero who has put his country above himself and by his actions, allows each and everyone of us to go about our days as we normally do. The Army lost a huge media advantage it potentially could have had if Campbell made the team, just the type of advocate that we all lost when former NFL player Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan in 2005.