Ah! well a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Part the Second

I've started and stopped this essay several times.  It's painful to write, and reading some of the comments, clearly painful to read.  I'm sorry, but I keep coming back to it because something profoundly disturbing has happened.  I'm talking about "stolen valor."  Maybe "valor theft" is a better description.  I'm not sure.  Either way, those are fighting words among fighting men and women.  They are also corrosive words that will burn and leave a mark long after the media spotlight moves on to the next shiny object.  Here's why...