Prince William, it's time to pass the gold sticky stars around

Take a close look at the picture above. Notice anything?

These are some of the news stories about Prince William’s involvement in a mission to rescue Russian sailors from their sunken cargo ship. A risky mission accomplished in gale force winds. Two sailors were rescued and the search continues for more survivors.

William acted as the co-pilot. But yet, looking at the title of these articles, you could come to the conclusion that he single-handily rescued these men all on his own. He co-piloted the helicopter while putting down a winch to pull the sailors to safety. William must have long, strong arms.

Not to minimize his role but obviously William wasn’t alone. He was a member of a team, vaguely identified as his 'crew' or his 'Royal Air Force Collegues'. Did the other faceless, nameless persons involved in this effort receive the same amount of praise and recognition? After all, they also risked their lives. The Russian Ambassador to the UK even directed his thanks to Prince William for his effort. Sure his colleagues were acknowledged, but not by name like William. If I was them, I would be plenty cheesed off about this too.

Were it not for William’s involvement, would this story receive the same amount of coverage? More than likely it would have been mixed in with all of the other pressing tragic news stories. But because of William, it’s different. Suddenly he's the story and it seems as though his crew and especially the victims are incidental when it should be the other way around.

William had spent many years training as a Search and Rescue pilot. He seems to take the job very seriously and so far he hasn't crashed into anything. Yes, Prince William came to the rescue in a time of need. He put his skills to work. Because that's what he was doing, his job.It was risky and dangerous, but he's not the only one doing it. When a job is well done by a team, everyone deserves recognition, not just one person to the exclusion of everything else.

William will receive enough gold sticky stars throughout his life. Time to pass them around to the others whose lives are just as valuable.

Prince William, of all people, should insist upon it.

© Marilyn Braun 2011

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