Rambo Jurgen

In Belgium the news has been dominated the last couple of days by the search for a fugitive soldier named Jurgen Conings. He threatened to use violence against one of our most prominent and outspoken virologists, Marc Van Ranst. Marc was for a very long time a daily item in the news where he commented on the covid-19 situation and what to do. To many he is the personification of the lockdown and generally not liked much. Not surprising considering he has been constantly and relentlessly reminding us of the inconvenient truth that our own behaviour determines if the virus is kept under control. That our health workers are near exhaustion and the capacity of our hospitals is stretched to the point where certain non covid-19 treatments need to be postponed. It is hard to accept and to deny yourself a normal social life. It is easier to claim that it is not that bad, that you don’t know anyone that got sick or died from covid-19, that is is like the flu and to claim that almost no one is dying from covid-19 at a moment when the daily death toll was still more than 40 people. At least it is easier for some to live in their own reality that matches their convictions. Next step down that road is total denial. And then it seems the next one is to eliminate the messenger. One person that came to that conclusion is Jurgen Conings, soldier, ex military police and member of 11 missions abroad. Because of that military background he is likened to Rambo by some sympathisers and hailed as a hero. But the John Rambo from First Blood they are comparing Jurgen to can hardly be seen as a role model hero. He was undoubtably a hero in Vietnam but not even recognised as such by his fellow Americans after returning to the US. Once back in America he was an emotionally broken soul, left to his fate and carelessly cast aside as no longer useful by his own government. Maybe Jurgen served his country well on multiple missions and then he should deserve credit for it. But not for a politically motivated plot to assassinate an ‘evil’ virologist. The comparison with Rambo is also flawed here. Rambo just drifts into the wrong town where he becomes the victim of a prejudiced and sadistic police force. After being arrested and beaten he escapes only to get hunted by a police out for blood. Only then, with nowhere left to run does he fights back and things spiral out of control. At the end no one wins, everyone loses. The comparison with Rambo is tenuous at best and in any case not something to be proud of. If there is any message in First Blood it is that soldiers that fought for their country deserve respect for this and should be taken care of upon returning to help them to heal the traumas caused by the unspeakable horror of war they had to endure.