Veterans across the panhandle are supporting the growing list of lawmakers that are asking the pentagon to lower the ranking of a new medal for cyber fighters.
The proposed Distinguished Warfare Medal would rank ahead of the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. It would go to drone pilots who use their technological skills to gather intelligence and kill enemy fighters.
Two - time purple heart recipient Warren Strong of Mitchell doesn't agree with this high-ranking medal. He had brushes with death on two separate occasions during the Vietnam war.
Although he knows that modern warfare has changed, he doesn't think these drone pilots need such high ranking medals.
"They should be recognized," says Strong, "But not higher than the Purple Heart or the top four. (It) Should be somewhere down near the National Defense Medal."
Members from the Senate Armed Services Committee have asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to reflect on *his* combat experience in Vietnam.
In a letter, they said they were concerned about the message of the medal's ranking sends to veterans who served in harm's way.
