The US Army unveiled the eight civilian recipients of its first-ever Social Media Medal at a ceremony Monday night. “The technical name for it is the Facebook Infantry Badge, or FIB,” said Army spokesman Major Stewart Pidhick, “and it honors those among us who showed tremendous bravery in sharing a patriotic meme because they were dared to.”
Patriotic memes arrive in great numbers around holidays like Veterans’ Day, and the Fourth of July. They often consist of pictures of flags, wounded soldiers, or photographs of historic battles. Most also include a statement questioning the patriotism of other users of Facebook, and stating that if they are indeed patriots, they too will share this meme. For example, many use the phrase “We’ll see who has the GUTS to share this!”
To the great dismay of folks like Maj. Pidhick, not everyone shares, or reposts these memes. “These are truly difficult times,” Maj. Pidhick told the honorees, “The Veteran’s Administration is so broke and understaffed it is turning away wounded service members who need and deserve our help; our men and women in uniform are still being wounded and killed overseas; many military families are living below the poverty level; veterans are committing suicide in record numbers. Yes, my fellow patriots, in trying times like these the best way to honor their sacrifice is to share a picture of a flag on the internet. And the hardest job is yours -- you must stand up to all those who do not see you as the hero you know yourself to be.”
“It took a great deal of sacrifice for my daughter to do what she did,” said May Dupname, mother of FIB recipient May Dupname, II. “May, Jr., works as an administrative assistant, and suffers from Carpal Tunnel. By the time she gets home, she barely has anything left. Between Instagram, Pinterest, and Etsy, she’s lucky if she can spend an entire hour on Facebook at night. To think she sacrificed one of her clicks to share a random picture of a flag to honor soldiers in a way they probably won’t even see, well, you can see why my daughter is a big hero in our family.”
Major Pidhick concluded the award ceremony by reminding the recipients to always be vigilant, and remember the code of the FIB-bing hero: “Never leave a meme behind.”