Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Howard Troy Comer

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. Consensus agrees while there is one fully independent source that covers this subject in detail, there is very little else here for WP:GNG, which requires more. Secret ^account 04:55, 22 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Howard Troy Comer[edit]

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Non-notable per WP:GNG and WikiProject Military History guidance. Please see Talk:Howard Troy Comer for particulars. Research, including HighBeam Research check and reading of Empty Tubes does not come up with anything more. Article may simply be a personal tribute to an admirable individual, but that does not justify WP inclusion. – S. Rich (talk) 21:55, 13 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of United States of America-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 02:40, 14 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Aviation-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 02:41, 14 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Military-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 02:41, 14 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 02:41, 14 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

~~Delete~~ - An admirable man who admirably served his country, but who doesn't meet the bar for a Wikipedia article. - The Bushranger _{One ping only} 03:04, 14 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Delete, with regrets. Multiple recipient of Silver Star, the third-level award for valor, does not meet current inclusions guidelines of WP:SOLDIER; would have to be multiple Distinguished Service Cross or higher. Worth restoring if community guidelines change. Dru of Id (talk) 14:41, 14 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Weak Delete or 'redirect to Walker County School District. Neutral; Subject has received significant coverage from one reliable non-primary reliable source, however one source does not IMHO meet the requirements of WP:GNG; furthermore, although the subject of this AfD is highly decorated, it does not meet the level as required by WP:SOLDIER. Therefore, not meeting GNG or SOLDIER, deletion is the normal result. That being said the one source could mean that the subject of this Afd is notable only within the context of a certain area; if this is the case, I suggest redirecting (without merger) to the article about the high school which the individual recieved the significant coverage for, however as that article does not yet exist a redirect to the school district will suffice (for now).--RightCowLeftCoast (talk) 19:49, 14 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. Normally I would agree that two third-level decorations are not enough to establish notability (although I do believe that three would be). However, I think that combined with his multitudinous lower-level decorations he does just about meet the notability bar. -- Necrothesp (talk) 14:36, 15 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
- If this was a WWI or WWII-era case, I'd agree, but it's unfortunate that starting in the 1960s and continuing onwards medals are pretty much handed out like candy. A lot of those are "You Showed Up" awards - even the Bronze Star is virtually worthless nowadays, and the Silver Star is heading there. The only ones there that would "add up" to help notability are the Silver Stars, the DFCs, and possibly the Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses - the rest are pretty much just "fruit salad" for the uniform. - The Bushranger _{One ping only} 07:05, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I agree regarding the non-valor awarding of the BSM, but it is my opinion that the awarding of the SS is still significant and has more strict awarding criteria than the BSM which has a non-valor and valor awarding criteria.

Actually I would be fine with an amending of WP:SOLDIER of individuals being considered notable in the field of Military studies if they have received three third-tier valor awards.--RightCowLeftCoast (talk) 16:16, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Definitely agree with this amendment. -- Necrothesp (talk) 11:30, 18 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

And I would agree with you - the US military does now appear to hand out medals to all and sundry, which is a pity as it diminishes those who really deserve them (I suppose it comes in the same category as the continuing inflation of the numbers of sergeants - sergeant's rank once meant something even in the US military). However, he does have three DFCs in addition to his two Silver Stars. As I said, I think in this instance the agglomerated decorations do add up to just about enough to indicate notability. -- Necrothesp (talk) 11:30, 18 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Strong Neutral - After reviewing this article, I have found that inquiries regarding the continued existence of this article can and should be answered with a resounding MAYBE... Lord Bromblemore 20:32, 18 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Neutral - after the discussion above, I'm no longer sure there's insufficent notability for a delete, but also not sure there's enough for a keep, so, time to waffle. - The Bushranger _{One ping only} 21:23, 18 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Delete. Admirable, but lacking in significant secondary sources. One page in a book and a local newspaper article don't meet the bar, especially for a BLP. Gamaliel (talk) 21:58, 19 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

By OP – Well, I just can't nominate and let this sit. I ask that editors consider that the single non-SPS source backing up this BLP is a newsletter type notice in a once-a-week county newspaper [1] with extremely limited circulation OCLC 20150395 about the addition of a staff member to a JROTC program. At present even the school district's website does not mention the program [2]. Comer's LoM was probably given as a retirement award, and with that in mind we have no awards for distinguished service following his VN War service. (The DFCs were probably given during his tour.) Notability might have been established if he had received the Defense Superior Service Medal for his work with USAR Aviation, but we don't see it. I got a copy of Warriner's book, but couldn't find anything to really help with notability – that is, I thought Warriner would talk about the engagements that lead to the SSs, PHs, or DFCs, but he didn't. (He does mention that Comer was bruised when his bird hit tree branches and busted the windshield, chin bubble and green house window, p. 129). I avoided stripping out non-sourced info about his pre-army career and the tangential stuff about having served with WO Maxwell. So with this said, I will repeat my contention that WP notability just aint there. (Note, there are several pages in Warriner's book, not just one.) – S. Rich (talk) 22:25, 19 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I had suggested the possibility of a redirect to the High School, where the sources have shown local notability, would that be a compromise we can agree to?--RightCowLeftCoast (talk) 02:12, 20 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

If Lafayette HS had a JROTC program, I'd say yes. But as mentioned, it does not. Nor does Ridgeland High, the other HS in the district. – S. Rich (talk) 02:18, 20 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Still the individual did receive one non-primary reliable source significant coverage article. That means that the subject has at least local notability, and generally when that is the case, a redirect is often the result of an AfD.--RightCowLeftCoast (talk) 16:52, 20 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.