Surprise Military Reunions At NFL Games Reach Peak Bullshit

[MinM]

Surprise Military Reunions At NFL Games Reach Peak Bullshit

During last weekend’s preseason St. Louis Rams game, a familiar ritual played out: With a stadium full of fans and a television audience watching, Rams cheerleader Candace Ruocco Valentine was surprised by the arrival of her husband August Valentine, a Marine Corps first lieutenant, who had just returned home from service abroad.

As a series of visuals, shown in the video below, it was a sterling example of the genre. The All-American cheerleader literally drops her pom-poms to run toward her husband, relief written across her face as she does; the happy young couple embraces; and Rampage, an anthropomorphic ram, looks on approvingly at their release from anxiety and fear.

As a set of facts, though, the heartwarming moment was basically bullshit, despite which the viral glurge machine went ahead and ran with the story of a joint triumph for the Valentines, the St. Louis Rams, the NFL, and the Pentagon...

Candace Ruocco Valentine is in fact a cheerleader for the St. Louis Rams. She made her debut this past weekend, at the very game at which her husband surprised her with his return from abroad. She’s several other things as well: a first lieutenant in the USMC (without wanting to scrutinize the gender politics of something that involves Rampage the Ram too closely, one might wonder why no headline writer went with “Husband Surprises Military Wife At Her Job”); a former White House intern who worked under Laura Bush; and a member of the Ruocco family, which is heavily involved in Illinois Republican politics.

August Valentine, meanwhile, is in fact a first lieutenant in the USMC. He made his surprise return to St. Louis, though, not from, say, the anxiety and peril of a security mission in Anbar province, but from a posting in South Korea, where combat operations wound down 62 years ago. He also happens to be not some anonymous leatherneck but a member of the galactically wealthy Busch family, which built the Anheuser-Busch corporation and, years after the sale of the business, retains incredible power in St. Louis. Valentine’s maternal grandfather, Gussie Busch, is generally credited with building the family business into the biggest brewery in the world; the Rams at one point played in a stadium named for the family.

For perspective, the happy couple had their wedding ceremony at the Vatican. That isn’t to say that rich people don’t deserve nice moments, or that their Rampage-approved emotions are less authentic than anyone else’s, but, along with other basic information about the two, it does slightly complicate the story of a photogenic NFL cheerleader being surprised by her photogenic military husband’s surprise return from service at the football game. So does one of Candace Ruocco Valentine’s Facebook posts, in which she lauds not only the Rams for their efforts to make this reunion happen, but “the mom-with-a-plan: Mrs. Katherine Ruocco.”



Speaking of plans, that would be the same Katherine Ruocco who is running for a state representative’s seat in Illinois, and who now has a patriotic viral video featuring her family—lately seen on Fox News—to share on her campaign’s official Facebook page...

http://deadspin.com/surprise-military-reunions-at-nfl-games-reach-peak-bull-1727940877

[left-of-center2012]

1. Everyone's a hero

I suspect there are a lot of combat vets who saw this and thought "WTF?"
Locally the TV stations have been honoring our local "heroes" who include not only men and women of the military
but police, firemen, paramedics, 911 operators, employees of animal rescue, scout leaders, etc.

I expect one day to tune in and see their designated "local hero" is the mail carrier who delivered the mail through sleet, snow, rain etc.
When you call everyone a hero it denigrates the rel, true heroes IMHO.

[DetlefK]

5. And everyone is the star in the movie that is their life.

You are the star. All the other people around you are background-actors without personality, story, problems or issues. You are the center.

[roscoeroscoe]

2. Background is important

The whole thing is a little much. Back from Korea?! I'd be embarrassed. I came home from Iraq walking up the street from the bus stop.

[C Moon]

3. That sux. Welcome home. Hope you're doing well after Iraq.

[roscoeroscoe]

7. Yes thank you

I was told that my driving was a little odd for a while, speeding up thru underpasses and such. My wife says I was touchy. But I was definitely one of the lucky ones.

[C Moon]

9. Cool!

[bemildred]

8. Welcome home Roscoe.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

4. Putting on a show for "the little people"....

I swear,....from there they went home to make a little tax deduction.

[MattSh]

6. What?

You're supposed to be entertained. The masters will not be pleased...

[nichomachus]

10. Haven't you noticed?

Professional sporting events in the US have become pretty much just fascist displays -- hordes of military personnel, flags flags flags -- usually including one the size of the state of Montana -- fighter jets flying over, patriotic songs -- for all of which you must now stand and remove your hat (when did that happen). Yankee Stadium at one point drew chains across the aisles and forced people to remain in their seats during God Bless America. What you don't see on TV are the stadiums that have prayer nights, where they have Christian prayer services after the game.

The fetishization of the military in the US has gotten totally out of hand.

[RufusTFirefly]

11. Thank you for your service, nicho!

I find it more than a little creepy the way in which fetishization of the military has taken over so many aspects of our lives.

It's one thing to voluntarily praise the military. I may not agree with you, but I honor your right to do it. But it's quite another to feel compelled or unofficially ordered to do so. That sort of powerful but informal coercion is very disturbing.

So, for those who have the courage to actually question our uncritical response to creeping militarization, I say "Thank you for your service."

[Doctor_J]

12. those skits have gotten grotesque

They are at every sporting event now. Too much like Nazi Germany for my taste