Sunday, September 24, 2006
Remembering Paul Smith
SFC Paul Smith won the Medal of Honor, posthumously.
It was his birthday yesterday.
He is remembered here.
He is also demoted to E-5.
It was his birthday yesterday.
He is remembered here.
He is also demoted to E-5.
Comments:
Jason, I rarely disagree with you, but I will on this one. Your comment referring to Smith being "demoted" is out of line.
The entry at the link has several references to SFC and/or Sergeant First Class Smith, but twice uses the Army's verbally acceptable "Sergeant" versus the AP style book method of using his full rank (even if abbreviated) every time he's referred to. The lone commenter does the same thing - referring to Smith by his full rank sometimes, but using the verbal conventions at other times.
I doubt either the poster, "Chief", or his commenter, "DiamondDog" are familiar with journalistic conventions and simply fell back on the oral shorthand we all use in the Army when referring to any NCO not in the CSM, SGM, 1SG, CPL or Drill Sergeant group that is never referred to merely as "sergeant".
And I certainly don't detect any ignorance or lack of respect in any of what I've read.
Dave
The entry at the link has several references to SFC and/or Sergeant First Class Smith, but twice uses the Army's verbally acceptable "Sergeant" versus the AP style book method of using his full rank (even if abbreviated) every time he's referred to. The lone commenter does the same thing - referring to Smith by his full rank sometimes, but using the verbal conventions at other times.
I doubt either the poster, "Chief", or his commenter, "DiamondDog" are familiar with journalistic conventions and simply fell back on the oral shorthand we all use in the Army when referring to any NCO not in the CSM, SGM, 1SG, CPL or Drill Sergeant group that is never referred to merely as "sergeant".
And I certainly don't detect any ignorance or lack of respect in any of what I've read.
Dave
Not a problem, Dave. It was just a tongue-in-cheek jab at the headline. I never intended to suggest any ignorance or disrespect. It strikes me as a minor and trivial error - one grade above the typo.
The text of the article is fine.
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The text of the article is fine.
