Operation Dear Abby: A Personal Testimony

While reading something on Matt's blog recently, he commented about taking the time to send a letter to the troops. While I'm sure it was being done before my experience in 1986, I found myself at the other end of a big letter writing campaign. Here's my after action report: I’m not sure if this story is about the real beginnings of Operation Dear Abby, but I believe it is. The purpose of this post is to use some history to give you some first hand accounts of the impact of letters from all over America have on our troops, and, quite honestly, to help you make a decision (for you fence sitters) to take the time to get out pen and paper and to communicate with those at the “pointy end of the spear.” Sometime in mid to early 1985, an enterprising and forward looking sailor stationed aboard USS BIDDLE (CG-34), wrote a letter to Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby) and asked if she would ask her readers to write to “any sailor” while our Battle Group was on deployment to the North Arabian Sea from Oct, 1985 through Apri1, 1986. This certainly was before the days of extensive access to the internet in the US, so “the word” would have to he passed by more conventional means. From my understanding, Abby checked with the Pentagon to make sure this would be acceptable to publish and (the obivious) answer was “yes.” Fast forward about 9 months. We had left our east coast ports, sailed to Singapore, and then made an early return to the “Med,” in January, 1984, due to the belligerent stance taken by Col. Khaddafi. By April, we had conducted several “freedom of navigation” operations and had engaged Libyan surface slips in combat. Then the letters started to come. Sometime about early April, mountains, as compared to the normal flow of mail, I’m not exaggerating, began to be delivered to the USS CORAL SEA Battle Group, addressed to “Any Sailor.” My staff was embarked aboard BIDDLE at the time, and when the logistic runs by helicopter from the Carrier came each day, we would get 3-4 large orange mailbags of just this mail. The bags would be taken to an area near the front of the mess deck, and left for all to dig through as time permitted. Believe me, we made time for this. I’ll say this: It was better than Christmas, and all we were getting was letters from ”home.” It was special and mail, the hard copy kind, hand written stuff is/was always wonderful to receive from your real relatives, but this stuff was outstanding because all types of people from all over took a few moments of their lives to write to us; faceless, nameless service members floating about on haze grey vessels half a world away. I can't put into words the elation these pieces of paper provided to so many of us. We read them, passed around the ones we liked, and many sailors wrote back, I know at least a few sailors even met some of the writers. I recall letters from veterans, housewives, an airline pilot, school kids and even a few from some women inmates in the Florida Correctional system. The “thank yours” were numerous, but many included just plain old “slices of life” from the hearts and souls of American citizens, giving as a glimpse of their days. These letters were a special gift and lifted the spirits of many. If your ever wonder if just taking a moment to share a little of your life with someone in the service is worth the effort, the answer from someone on the other end, is a resounding “it sure is!” I know after we were released from the theatre, after a 3 week extension to bomb Libya in May, 1986, the continuous, massive amounts of mail were delivered to the Battle Groups left in the Med, and I suspect it got distributed widely about the Fleets in all oceans. For my part, thank you to those who may have written back then, but today, especially to anyone who has been doing the same sort of thing for our service members. You are making a difference, and, as then, I know your seemingly small efforts are tremendously appreciated by the men and women far from home.

Vet offers to make memorial pictures for families

I found this on my early evening search and destroy a cup of coffee mission at Borders (aka the "pay for library") this evening. I think this info should be passed on to the many we know who have suffered from the loss of a family member. From Leatherneck, the December 2004 edition, there is a letter from a Vietnam Vet offering to create memorial pictures of deceased service members for their families at no cost.

My cousin, Sergeant Ron Baum, gave his life in the service of our country a few months ago in Iraq. In memory of his courage and devotion to family and nation it produced this image from photos taken at his graveside. I am a Vietnam veteran from 1969 and work as a computer artist. If you knows any other family that would like this type of tribute, I would be grateful to make similar artwork at no charge to the family of any fallen military personnel as my way of giving thanks and honor. I would send jpeg images to the families. Sgt. Baum’s family expressed great appreciation. CPT Frederick W. Greenawalt, USA (RET), fritzy@dejazzd.com , Akron, PA

The picture he did and that was shown next to the letter to the Editor was of deceased in dress blues above an image of a Marine squad firing the 21 gun salute. It was tasteful presented and very well done artisitically.

What began as a tool for mechanics....

It’s called a “data port” and I believe it began to he standard equipment in cars about 1995. Don’t quote me on that but, suffice it to say, it’s a development we know took place. Ok, here we go. This data port enables mechanics to connect computerized diagnostic computers to your car quickly. Not only can they “see” into your engine quickly they can, theoretically, identify and quickly correct problems in the automobile. That has the benefit of saving on labor hours for the consumer, as well as giving the mechanics the ability to handle a greater volume of customers. Invented by the automobile industry by the hybridization of electronics and mechanical devices, some other people come along and come up with a way to further their work, at no significant cost. Enter the law enforcement profession. The data port is not merely an interface into your vehicles “propulsion” system it has been fortified by being given a short, but telling memory. Like the sibling we had that reveled in reporting our egregious acts of immaturity and boundary testing to our parents the data pat retains a constantly refreshing memory of what you had the vehicle doing for the last 30 seconds. 30 seconds? That’s not long you think. Just for fun, stop doing anything else and watch your watch via clock for 30 seconds. This will recalibrate you as to how long 30 seconds is. With things like speed, acceleration and breaking being recorded, quite au accurate picture can he quickly reconstructed, completely unbiased by people with agendas. When an accident occurs, an information recovery specialist will use specialized equipment to record the vehicles last 30 seconds of data. Certainly this type of information retroviral will or must have been judged as legal, as is permissible to search based on “probable cause,” when a crime has occurred. If there was an accident, it certainly follows that a warrant-less search is in order. “They” now have what you did (and did not do) for permanent record. I would hope this would cause one to consider this, and to meditate on whether personal driving habits should be changed. It gets better. Look how far we’ve come in less than 10 years: From the automobile engineer to the mechanics to law enforcement. Just where can we go next? Enter an industry that grew from the premise of sharing risks to the one that has become risk adverse and “currency–philic:“ Insurance. About a month ago, I caught the last portions of a news report on how an insurance company in the northern mid-west is experimenting with having customers place a device on their car’s data port to record not just the last 30 seconds of data as they roll into their driveways at the end of the day, but all daylong. When you get home, you remove the data collection module, hook it up to your computer and upload your day’s driving to the insurance company’s computer. Once your data (provided voluntarily) is there, the insurance company software will take over and analyze your driving. How could a same person volunteer to do this? It’s simple, the insurance company offers an attractive incentive: a 15% discount. I’d be willing to bet this “project” is presented as a way to collect live data for the actuaries to review and analyze, So the company will be able to mitigate the isles farther. That certainly Sounds fair, but the real question is in which direction is the risk being attenuated? It’s not in your favor. As time passes, some incredibly compulsive math managers (actuaries) will sit down with computer programmers and discuss which combination, data points from the daily data capture files will indicate an unsafe (read: someone who we think will cost us money) driver is. The programmers will return to their cubicles and begin coding the proper “algorithms” to apply to received data. This process, in and of itself, is working material for an entire other post but that will have to he done later. Just close you eyes for a brief moment, get in touch with your inner child and imagine your flood of emotions when, as you have your first cup of coffee, you find an email from your wonderfully protective, good neighbors type insurance carrier subject line: “You insurance is cancelled.” Oops, that’s traumatic. Try this line: “Your insurance rates have been raised.” Sin confident your blood pressure is higher as a result and you may even have wondered (in the first scenario), "how will I get to work today?” Ina perfect world, a perfect set of computer code will be able to weed out aggressive drivers from the pack. On the other hand, were far from a coherent problem solving program. In the January, 2005 issue of “Scientific American,” pages 36 through 37A have an article discussing robotics and Hans Moravec of Carnegie Mellon University and Seegrid Corporation fame, figures a Mac G5 (dual processor) 2Ghz computer is sort of at the top of current mainstream computing ability and he rates it’s intelligence above a guppy and below a mouse. The news is computing power is improving, but it won’t be until about 2040 until computing power reaches that of humans. In the meantime, that means the fate of your driving record will be determined by either a smart fish, or a less than smart rodent. That, I submit, will jump start your heart better than a portable defibrillator. All of this reminds me of the BBC produced series ”Connections” of about 20 years ago. This started as a way to service a car more efficiently and it ends up being the sibling that always ratted you out, and all at no cost to anyone except the original designers of the data port. As a porting thought, consider the current Rush Limbaugh prescription drug “shopping” charges and how the Police collected Rush’s medical records from his doctors, without a warrant. That issue is presently headed for the Florida Supreme Court to determine the legality of this type of evidence seizure. Put that in the context of personal daily driving statistics being stored in the information systems of insurance companies. Will insurance companies willingly turn over information demanded by someone with a badge? It’s probably much clearer to assume that a “doctor-patient privileged relationship” would be upheld, but I doubt that few people would think to apply that quality of protection to information held by the insurance firms. As the computing power of the insurance companies computers grow, so will the capabilities of vehicle computers. With “On-star,” callers are electronically located by GPS. Cell phones have a GPS locating feature in ones produced in the last few years. You can bet that all vehicles will soon be fitted automatically with such equipment, and interfacing it to the data port will he a simple thing. When this occurs, Sin sure downloaded data from this pat will include position reports. As with the mechanics into it will quickly become a mandatory thing, and it could even be used to write speeding and other traffic violations automatically. We will accept this story creeping, penetration into our lives without a thought, other than how it enhances am lives on a minute-to. Minute basis, being concerned little about the threat to personal privacy this will beget.

You just have to smile at this...

Leave it to a trooper to get us the real news. A young soldier, nicknamed "Tweek," put this post up about how security was handled after the Mess Hall suicide bombing. While that wasn't funny at all, in this little story he tells about being geared up for combat patrols and going to look in the post exchange. It will make you chuckle about how we react to things.

What does a Soldier think about the SecDef?

Linked from a link on LGF, it's a report from a doctor in a hospital in Iraq, that gives us a view into a conversation between a wounded soldier and Donald Rumsfield that happened recently. Update: Here are comments from the wife, mother and mother-in-law of Sgt Robert Andrew Laurent, the soldier who had a chance to talk to the SecDef. Despite the potential for heartache, the story just gets better....

The World's Police

The snide remark keeps popping up, a rhetorical question, it appears, but mostly it's bait for an arguement they want you to join in: "Why do we have to be the World's Policeman?" For a brief moment, put yourself in someone else's shoes.... If you were a Jewish person in the Warsaw Ghetto in the late 1930s and early 1940's, would you accept the help of a "world policeman?" If you were a teacher in Cambodia in the mid-70's, would you accept the help of a "world policeman?" If you were a Hutu or a Tutsi tribal member in Central Africa in the 80's, or even today, would you accept the help of a "world policeman?" If you were a female on the streets of Baghdad in the 90's through 2003, would you accept the help of a "world policeman?" Think about it, or how historically, some of those situations have worked out. The very people who people who most often (in my experience) make this remark are all for having a law enforcing entity in their neighborhoods (psst! called "police"), providing them with protection from acts of theft, assault, rape and arson, yet somehow, to perform this duty for those who are to weak outside of our borders, for whatever reason, is objectionable to them. In a uni-polar world, if not us, with the blessing of a strong economy and a people who are trained to respect the person next to thme (and yes, sometimes we don't do that very well), then who will stand for the oppressed when situations of extreme immorality overtakes them?

Someone "gets it" over there

I caught the tail end of the 12/23/04 re-broadcast of the Rush Limbaugh Show this past weekend, and he was busy reading an opinion editorial from Razi Azmi in Bangladesh. Is seems this man actual understands, against all the MSM has told you about how hated we are, that the World, is in fact, a safer place today as a result of the War on Terror and our presense in Iraq. Here's how Razi begins his editorial: "I can definitely live with Bush as US president — or as the world’s sole policeman — for eight years or longer, but would hate to spend even eight days under the Taliban’s theocracy, Saddam’s dictatorship or a regime of Ayatollahs. I have a strong feeling that the vast majority of people everywhere feel the same way." I agree. I also suspect, as does this writer, that even those of you who claim to be against the War, wouldn't volunteer to live as he described, would you? Read this so you may know there are other intelligent voices who see what is happening and can analyze how it affects the region and the world in general.

Woodrow Wilson on Giving "Slack"

In June 1916, President Wilson Was at the Annaoplois Graduation and had not planned to speak. Once there, he decided to speak to the midshipmen and he chose to address a character issue to those about to enter the service as commissioned officers. Sage words for any of our leaders, those in the pipeline to be commissioned and those who are already. “Once and again when youngsters here or at West Point have forgotten themselves and done something ought not to do and were about to be disciplined, perhaps severely, for it, I have been appealed to by their friends to excuse them from penalty. Knowing that I have spent most of my life at college, they commonly say to me. ‘You know college boys. You know what they are. They are heedless youngsters very often, and they ought not to be held up to the same standards of responsibility that older men must submit to.’ I have always replied ‘Yes, I know college boys. But while these youngsters are college boys, they are something more. They are officers of the United States.. They are not merely college boys. If they were, I would look at dereliction of duty on their part in another spirit; but any dereliction of duty on the part of a naval officer of the United States may involve the fortunes of a nation and cannot be overlooked.’ Do you not see the difference? You cannot indulge yourself in weakness, gentlemen. You cannot forget your duty for a moment, because there might become a time when that weak spot in you should affect you in the midst of a great engagement, and then the whole history of the world might be changed by what you did not do or did wrong.” “So that the personal feeling I have for you is this: we are all bound together, I for the time being and you permanently, under a special obligation, the most solemn that the mind can conceive.. The fortunes of a nation are confided to us. Now, that ought to depress a man. Sometimes I think that nothing is worthwhile that is not hard. You do not improve your muscle by doing the easy thing; you improve it by doing the hard thing, and you get your zest by doing a thing that is difficult, not a thing that is easy. I would a great deal rather, so far as my sense of enjoyment is concerned, have something strenuous to do than to have something else that can be done leisurely and without stimulation of the faculties.” “Therefore, I congratulate you that you are going to live your lives under the most stimulating compulsion that any man can feel, the sense not of private duty merely, but of public duty also. And then if you perform that duty, there is a reward which is superior to any other reward in the world. That is the affectionate remembrance of your fellow men – their honor, their affection. No man could wish for more than that or find anything higher than that to strive for.” I think that is good advice for all of us to absorb. It's not just those in the military who lead.....

How the war is going through the eyes of the warriors and what Teddy Roosevelt can tell us about our current situation

An attack in Mosul on Tuesday killed more Americans in one day, than any other in this entire war. That's important to know. It's about the coming elections, and it most likely will get worse. Count on it, it's desperation, and the stench of that is getting stronger. They couldn't discourage us by cutting off heads of non-Military Americans in Iraq, they couldn't do it by cutting off the heads of the citizens of other countries. They couldn't do it by filling vehicles full of explosives and hiding in allys and setting them off with cell phone calls. They will now try, once more, to defeat us in a public forum, the biased American Media. Thankfully, our military, and politcal leadership understands this warping of the 1st Admendment of the Constituion far better than it did during the Vietnam Conflict. We have hope. If you can handle a hard read, that most likely will cause you to come to tears, but will allow you to read a first person account by an Army Chaplin, who went to the field hospital during the attack mentioned above. Steel yourself, and then click here. I'm one to have long tossed aside the concept of "coincidence," and now understand things all happen for a reason. A few nights ago, having tried to entice readers, the few and the maybe proud, to return, I posted a teaser about a book of speeches. The first one I keyed into, and realized it is topical today, was one by Theodore Roosevelt, obviously discussing a reaction to what was happening in the aftermath of the Spanish American War. He was commenting on how we could not back away from a responsibility to "nation build" in the Phillipines. It sounds just like a speech George W. Bush should borrow and modify for today. Here are some cogent extracts from Teddy Roosevelt on April 10th, 1899: “A man’s first duty is to take his own home, but he is not excused from doing his duty to the state; for if he fails at this second duty it is under penalty of ceasing to be a freeman. In the same way, while our nation’s duty is within its own borders, it is not hereby absolved from facing its duties in the world as a whole; and if it refuses to do so, it merely forfeits its right to struggle for a place among the peoples that shape the destiny of mankind. “So, if we do our duty aright in the Philippine Islands, we will add to that national renown which is the highest and finest part of national life, we will greatly benefit the people of the Philippine Islands, and, above all, we will play our part well in the great work of uplifting mankind. But to do this work, keep ever in mind that we must show in a very high degree the qualities of courage, of honesty, and of good judgment. Resistance must be stamped out. The first and all-important work to be done is to establish the supremacy of our flag. We must put down armed resistance before we can accomplish anything else, and there should be no parlaying, no faltering, in dealing with our foe. As for those in our country who encourage the for, we can afford contemptuously to disregard them; but it must be remembered that their utterances are not saved from being treasonable merely by the fact that they are despicable.” “When we once have put down armed resistance, when once our rule is acknowledged, then the even more difficult task will begin, for then we must see to it that the islands are administered with absolute honesty and with good judgment. If we let the public service of the islands be turned into the prey of the spoils politician, then we have begun to tread the path which Spain trod to her own destruction. We must send there only good and able men, chosen for their fitness, and not because of their partisan service, and these men must not only administer impartial justice to the natives and serve their own government with honesty and fidelity, but must show the utmost tact and firmness, remembering that, with such people as those whom we are to deal, weakness is the greatest of crimes, and that next to weakness comes lack of consideration for their principles and prejudices.” “I preach to you, my countrymen, that our country calls not for the life of ease but for the life of strenuous endeavor. The twentieth century looms before us big with the fate of many nations. If we stand idly by, if we seek merely swollen, slothful ease and ignoble peace, if we shrink from the hard contests where men must win at hazard of their own lives and at the risk of all they hold dear, then the bolder and stronger peoples will pass us by, and win for themselves the domination of the world. Let us therefore boldly face the life of strife, resolute to do our duty well and manfully; resolute to uphold righteousness by deed and by word; resolute to be both honest and brave, to serve high ideals, yet to use practical methods. Above all, let us shrink from no strife, moral or physical, within or without the nation, provided we are certain that the strife is justified, for it is only through strife, through hard and dangerous endeavor, that we shall ultimately win the goal of true national greatness.” This call to action to continue to shoulder the responsibility as the US enetered the 20th Cnetury applies to our entry into the 21st Century. We must stand firm, or we will suffer the fate of having others tell us what to do. I don't mean to say we need to be on top because it's a power thing, just that we have been the one nation to change the world for unselifish reasons. Even if we're done a bad job in some cases, stumbling along the way, any one would be hard pressed to say America has been a empire builder for only our own selfish needs. Another great piece I was lead to via some links today speaks to the humanity being shown in Iraq, again, from someone on the front lines. Read this (especially you who proclaim to be on the side of bettering things in life for women). There is a powerful message being sent here. This one may not make you cry, but it sure will make you think hard....something we all could stand to do more often.

We think we are so unique in our circumstances - or - what Adalai Stevenson said at the end of the election in 1952

Adalai Stevenson lost to President Eisenhower in the 1952 election. As an obivious parallel to us today, a Republican won, the Democrat lost. How could the Democratic party benefit from these words, as Adalai stepped out of the public's eye: Adalai Stevenson’s concession speech – 11/5/52: “It is traditionally American to fight hard before an election. It is equally traditional to close ranks as soon as the people have spoken.” “We vote as many, but we pray as one. With a united people, with faith in democracy, with common concerns for others less fortunate around the globe, we shall move forward with God’s guidance toward the time when his children shall grow in freedom and dignity in a world at peace.” We can only hope and pray the Democrats come to understand how powerful this set of principles is.

Speaking of powerful words...

A few years back, I mentioned a book of great speeches I had just seen in the bookstore, to a friend of mine who commented he'd love to get a copy of it. This Christmas season was ripe for me to provide that to him as a gift. I thought it was out of print, but was pleasantly surprised when the computer at Borders told me it was "In Store." "Lend Me Your Ears" complied and edited by William Safire is the book. This post is to tease you to come back later and see what jewels of wisdom that would do us good to revisit and pass a long in this time. I read a few of them and made some notes, which I plan on posting here for your reading pleasure. The first one I turned to was one by Theodore Roosevelt, which was given about the Spanish American War. It was a direct parallel to our situation today, and with minor editing, could be given by President Bush today. There are others that spoke to today as well as then and it humbled me, to know why I'm not one of those great leaders. I couldn't come up with brilliant stuff like they did. Come back, Y'all!

I'm going to have to call and tell my 22 year old fetus something...

Words are powerful and in this day and age, it often seems that words are purposefully twisted to support an agenda, rather than to communicate reality, or a concept. The past few days news of a lady being murdered and then the child was cut form the dead mother's body and kidnapped was distressing. But, in order to make horrific point, for some complete lack of respect for humanity, the main stream media headlined this story with such lead ins as "Missing fetus found..." This left me to rheotically ponder the point, is this baby, at an 8 month term of life, still only worthy of the title of "fetus" because it did not trasit the birth canal, or because it was not extracted by a licensed medical doctor? Maybe I'm way off base here, but my biology degree taught me this was a "baby," and therefore, I believe this would have been the factual term to be used in the reports. On the other hand, it could have been one of those old, deadly sins, yep, greed, to motivate an editor to bend the scientific truth out of true, just to try and sell more papers... In any case, if "someone" decides to recalibrate our use of the term "fetus," to be aligned with these reports, I'll have to tell my daughter, born 22 years ago by C-Section, that she is now reclassified as a "fetus." Thankfully, she wasn't kidnapped. I wonder how she will take this?

Denzel Washington Appreciates Our Troops

From Mudville Gazette comes this link, which is a short report on Denzel Washington going to a military hospital to pin on some Purple Hearts. I have read muted reports for years about the heart of this man. The stories never are shoved in your face, but I know he has sent plenty of money to the Boys Club, for he credits it with helping him so much when he was young. He gives back.

Yet another wonderful "Nite Before Christmas" military rendition

I have seen several versions of "the Night Before Christmas" with a story of military members standing the watch, and here's one I had not seen: A Different "Night Before Christmas" by Michael Marks The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, My daughter beside me, angelic in rest. Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, Transforming the yard to a winter delight. The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe, Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve. My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep In perfect contentment, or so it would seem. So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream. The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near, But I opened my eye when it tickled my ear. Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow. My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear, And I crept to the door just to see who was near. Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night, A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight. A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold. Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled, Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child. "What are you doing?" I asked without fear "Come in this moment, it's freezing out here! Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve, You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!" For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift, away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts, to the window that danced with a warm fire's light then he sighed and he said "Its really all right, I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night." "Its my duty to stand at the front of the line, that separates you from the darkest of times. No one had to ask or beg or implore me, I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me. My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December," then he sighed, "that's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers." My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam And now it is my turn and so, here I am. I've not seen my own son in more than a while, But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile. Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag, The red white and blue ... an American flag. "I can live through the cold and the being alone, Away from my family, my house and my home, I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet, I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat, I can carry the weight of killing another or lay down my life with my sisters and brothers who stand at the front against any and all, to insure for all time that this flag will not fall." "So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright Your family is waiting and I'll be all right." "But isn't there something I can do, at the least, "Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast? It seems all too little for all that you've done, For being away from your wife and your son." Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, "Just tell us you love us, and never forget To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone. To stand your own watch, no matter how long. For when we come home, either standing or dead, to know you remember we fought and we bled is payment enough, and with that we will trust. That we mattered to you as you mattered to us. Thanks to Don Black, who sent me this info, identifying the author of this poem: Update to the original post: The poem in your post was written by: Copyright December 07, 2000 by Michael Marks This was after the poem which was also posted at: http://smalltownveteran.typepad.com/ Author's Notes: A Soldier's Christmas was the first in this series of patriotic writings, drafted on Pearl Harbor Day 2000 when in the wake of the 2000 Presidential Election our nation saw the right of US Armed Forces personnel openly questioned and debated. I felt it unconscionable that at the onset of the Christmas season, those serving to defend our nation would hear anything but our love and support. It is our challenge to stand for their rights at home while they stand for our lives and safety overseas. This poem went out and quickly spread around the world in emails, letters, magazines. I received letters from Marines in Bosnia, soldiers in Okinawa, from a submariner who xeroxed a copy for everyone on his sub. Moms wrote, dads, brothers and sisters. I have saved and cherish every letter and set out to continue writing throughout the year. I was thinking about our servicemen overseas this Holiday Season and wrote the following in hope of bringing a small bit of Christmas cheer to active duty and veterans alike ... just a humble thanks and "God Bless." Please feel free to pass it along or post it as you see fit. Thank you. Happy Holidays, Michael Marks Don added this note to begin his comment, and I think it's a thoughtful tradition worth following: Yes, this one brought the tears out. As I have said before, I am going to have an empty chair at our Christmas dinner table. The people at the "children's" table in the kitchen will understand that it is the place of honor for our guest. The guest is the service men and women away from home this Christmas. Our prayers and our pride in you can not be explained only show in our support. Thanks, Don, for the great idea.

Winning Hearts and Minds

Winning wars is something we have been pretty good at as Americans. We have learned how to apply military might, backed by the most important component of operations, logistics, just about every where on the planet. We have shown ourselves to be a different kind of "tool of diplomacy," as we haven't been used for a long time as an instrument of colonization or empire building. There certainly are those who would argue, even today, but the evidence just won't let their belief hold water. Some would think that we "lost" the Vietnam War. Politically, yes, we did. We declared victory and di-died out of the area, only to see the South overrun by a conventional military force. The concept of "winning hearts and minds" became a oft used line from that "conflict" (which is the more correct term, as Congress lacked the fortitude to stand up to their Constitutionally mandated responsibility). In a wierd sort of way, we thought we could convince those in the Viet Cong, to rally to the side of their loyal to the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) government. There were Civil Aid Programs and there are many discussions on the topic, some of which is covered in "The Bright Shining Lie" by Niel Sheehan. In another book, I found some interesting reporting of some successful "hearts and minds" work in Vietnam. The book, "Our Own Worst Enemy" by William Lederer, is a must read for anyone who thinks they have a good idea of what happened over there. The speculations Lederer made in this book (published in 1968), were remarkably close to reality. The validation of William's writing is contained in "A Viet Cong Memoir" by Troung Nhu Tang, who was the VC Minister of Justice in South Vietnam and involved directly from 1954 with the resistance to the French and later, the Americans. Published in 1986, after he fled to Franch because of the persecution at the hands of the North Vietnamese, it's a detailed first person account of how the war was perceived on the "other side." On to my topic, with that important background in place. In "Our Own Worst Enemy," William Lederer described a Marine unit who exercised a Civil Action Program by going and living with the villagers they were assigned to protect. The commander of the unit, who I recall was a Colonel, met with the villiage elders and learned to play the Vietnamese version of Go. He didn't show up and demand his culture be adopted by the Vietnamese, he went and learned theirs. His men did the same. Note this was a Marine unit. This "tactic" was developed by General Chesty Puller, USMC, who wrote "The Small Wars Manual" based on experiences in Central America and the Philippines in the beginning of the 20th Century. The Marines began working with the Vietnamese villagers, showing them some better ways to farm, and to raise livestock. Eventually, this effort resulted in the people having some excess food to sell, which generated extra capital. The Marines arranged to buy and import chickens and hogs. The villagers, using their money to invest in their work, in faith that the farm boys in camoflage uniforms could help better their lives, ended up with even greater supluses, giving them leverage at the local markets. When the "dry season" came, the Marines "acquired" and Army pump, so water from the river, low at this time of year, could be pumped up to the rice paddies, so they grew rice year round. When some of the men, who had snuck off to join the VC would come back to the village, they found their families and neighbors now had those very things they were "fighting" for. Better economics, more food, more spare money for "investment." This effort, which yielded a deep relationship between the Marines and the villagers. After a while, the local people would come and tell the Marines when the attacks were coming. Freindships had been formed because some Americans shared what they had with people half a world from where they grew up. This all brings me to a very recent report from a Marine Gunnery Sargent about an incident in Iraq. It harkens back to Nicaragua, the Philippines, and Vietnam. It's a story of how a single stuffed animal toy, sent from the Satates, changed a heart and a mind in the Middle East, and how a child showed real courage in the midst of a bunch of armed and dangerous Marines on patrol. If you don't think school supplies, building materials, shoes, books and toys can't be vital tools in changing the world, think again. They're even better when backed by the strategic weapon known as American Compassion.

Stuff from elsewhere worth reading...

While Little Green Footballs can properly get your blood boiling over the ignorance, or stupidity, or arrogance and any combination thereof, in the world, I find Matt at Black Five tends to pull together many items that will encourage and give a voice to some who are regulary looked down upon in our society (and I mean by the left minded, who consider people who serve in the military as too stupid or inept to handle a "real" jobs in the world). Today, a letter of thanks, with some very specific situations mentioned, from an Army Sargent. I think it's a "must read," for it tells a tale of America that we hear in a generic sense, if it's mentioned at all. After you read it, consider the opportunities you have to thank a service member. Whether they are "there" or not, they all have a part in the defense of this nation, and therefore your freedom. And you never know, they may be on the front lines one day in the future and you've then already had a chance to just says "thanks" in your own way. I'll wager that any of them you take a moment to do that with will be somewhat embarrassed and tell you it's no big thing, they are just doing what they signed on for. On 12/9/2004, a story about the President meeting with 171 family members of service members who died in the GWOT. Unlike grandstanding politicans, this wasn't a photo op. The meetings were family by family, just each of them and the President. Don't try to tell me this man has no compassion for his citizens. Ther has been a conference of "bloggers" held in the last few days and Matt actually met with two real men from Iraq, who are blogging from there under the address of Iraq the Model. Democracy can give a voice to the oppressed and help to ensure govenrments everywhere don't get carried away. Thye two posts Matt made are here and here. From the Mudville Gazette, a story of a wounded Marine who refused to let the doctors cut his wedding ring. He had them take his finger off instead, rather than break the continous band symbolic of his marriage. Gory, but, uplifting that there are those in this country that can make a choice such as this to show their commitment to something very important. Just to end with some humor, wade through the comments on this LGF post about wacky fatwas. Maybe you, being adults, can come up with some fatwas of your own, too. Enough for now. For my very small band of readers, I actually hope you've read the material I've linked to, as I think those blogs are worth a daily stop. If you haven't found them yet, please consider checking the links and going back there regularly.

Quarterback or team player?

Once more, as I listened to local talk radio on the way to work, something about the people who “lost” the election took me back to a personal conversation I have periodically with myself as a result of work years ago. The topic is: Is it better to be the quarterback of the high school team, or a “merely” a member of the winning Superbowl team? My thoughts originate around a meeting in the summer of 1996 at Naval Air Station, Pensacola, where I became the speaker at a meeting that I didn’t even know was being held. Because I was going to be in town, a civil servant I had worked with before asked representatives from the surface, submarine and aviation training communities to be there to have the discussion that ensued. Here is a little background, to set the stage for the lessons learned. In 1988, I began working on a program that would allow shipboard leadership to more efficiently manage the ship’s watch stations. At the time, the process which was put in place for a good reason in the early 70s, was still being done pretty much manually, despite some degree of automation being available. I began with a diagram that laid out a series of databases and the relationships between them. Over time, this program, spurred on by the gun turret explosion of the USS IOWA in 1989, became an operating program, running on basic PC. At the time, the venerable Zenith Z-248 computers, acquired through a great Air Force contract the Navy was allowed to use, were making their way aboard ships to support the Supply departments (LOGMARS), and later Disbursing and Ships Store functions. The Shipboard Naval Administrative Program (SNAP) was in caretaker status, so essentially un-modifiable to compensate for changes mandated at the Type Commander level. Across three commands, my commanding officers allowed me to keep working with the Fleet to eventually distribute the program to 120 ships, from aircraft carriers to mine countermeasure ships. Along the way in this project, I learned many things. I consciously looked at the myriad of tools we used to put a trained person at their watch station, I found little bits of documents that led me back to why we did what we were how doing. The showed me common building blocks used, that applied to the aviation, surface and submarine communities alike. We may have put them in different formats, but the philosophy and methodology traded closely together. It was a bit like archeology, psychology, history, statistical process control, Total Quality Management/Leadship/Continuous Improvement and administration all rolled together. Additionally. I also learned a lot about “domains” and “kingdoms,” and what a bunch of passionate people (read: people who were tired of waiting for the people on “the beach” to get things done) can achieve with just the hope of success. Lesson #1: If someone is without resources, in this case money, and you show up with a good idea, they will be your friend and supporter. You will get invited to the meetings and to maybe act as a consultant, and sometimes become a foil for them to use to get resources, in this case money, a team begins to form with a vision. Lesson #2: When your “friends” can get resources, in this case money, you are not just no longer of friend, but you quickly become “competition” first, shortly before you become the “enemy.” The team now begins to divide. Those new degrees of understanding being behind me, back to “the meeting.” On the way to hammering though the real world application of a concept, the fundamental building blocks in the qualification process became clearer to me. At the meeting, senior civil servants, representing the training component of the three “line” communities and I discussed this. The stonewalling began. Since I had been involved in this process with the Surface community for 5 years, and the fact that the civilian for the shore support for Surface had taken the job a few months before, it seemed to boil down to telling me that these things couldn’t be done. As the meeting progressed, the next lesson became resoundingly clear to me. Lesson #3: It is more important to protect your turf, and stay the “head cheese,” than to team up with a greater organization and go for it! In this case, you must accept the possibility that you will “blend into the background.” What came to mind in the next few days was how some people, to use a football analogy, would rather stay as the winning quarterback at a high school team, than strive to (become pat of a team that goes to the Superbowl. There was a moment, that day, to begin piling the resources, in this case, there was a total money collectively, and produce something better. I’m hat talking about some program to make the life of staff and shore duty officers easier, but to make the lives of the poor sailors and officers at sea better. I’m not saying I had the complete answer, just I saw what could have been done by those who had made the better part of their careers on the training and qualification system. As a side note to those who know the Navy programs involved, let me state there wasn’t any plan on my part to do something like rewrite NATOPs for any qualification manuals for the submariners. The point was to capture who was qualified in order to bounce that against real-time requirements and thereby support the chain of command in the effective use of the training process resources. The history of the entire journey into how we did training was very interesting, but that will have to be for other posts. I would have been happy to a part of a revolution such as this.

Where to and not to shop...

What follows in this post is: First, my comments back to the person who forwarded this email to me. Second, the actual email. Personally, it's getting pretty boring to continue to hear the incessant whining about how the election wasn't right, blah, blah, blah.....Like I said, these people seem to know nothing about sportman like behavior. Get a grip, if you're one of those PEST people, please, and interact with us as something other than a spoiled child. I'll compare and contrast my mindset when President Clinton was re-elected to what seems to be the thtoughts these days of the "losing side." I didn't get despondent, nor did I seek the care of a mental helath professional. I just kept living. The great part, and pardon me for being so terrible obvious, this country will repeat the election process every four years. In that, there is hope. I just can't come to fathom how upset these Democratic whiners are. I also realized I should have taken the opportunity to question how an obviously left wing (and therefore "supporters of the separation of church and state" crowd would realize they are supporting the celebration of the birth of Christ by commenting on the "holidays." I know the joke is on them. I think they all should just stay at work through the "holidays," just so it won't look like they accept there is a God. Ok, off to the races, and thanks, I won't name you here person, for telling me where I don't want to spend my money, and where I should. I'd have never taken it this far, but...since you provided me with the "gouge," who am I to reject it...:) *************email below************** Let me see, I'll file that under people who never had parents with a concept of sportmanship, or ones who did, but they were too busy earning and climbing the corporate ladder to pay attention to their children. Will these adult children of the "sensitive" decide to grow up sometime soon? Don't forget to square that the red staters out donate to charities to blue's significantly. Where's the compassion? And I wonder why they left off Osama bin Laden's favorite party to contribute to..... "Everybody can be used for something, even if it is a bad example" - Anonymous ********"the MESSAGE!"****************** Subject: SHOPPING PREFERENCES With the holidays upon us, some of us might wish to be mindful of who we patronize relative to their Election Cycle political donations, as reported by the Center for Responsive Politics. Not that we're all shopaholics... SUPPORT: * Price Club/Costco donated $225K, of which 99% went to democrats; * Rite Aid, $517K, 60% to democrats; * Magla Products (Stanley tools, Mr. Clean), $22K, 100% to democrats; * Warnaco (undergarments), $55K, 73% to democrats; * Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, $153K, 99% to democrats; * Estee Lauder, $448K, 95% to democrats; * Guess ? Inc., $145K, 98% to democrats; * Calvin Klein, $78K, 100% to democrats; * Liz Claiborne, Inc., $34K, 97% to democrats; * Levi Straus, $26K, 97% to democrats; * Olan Mills, $175K, 99% to democrats. * Gallo Winery, $337K, 95% to democrats; * Southern Wine & Spirits, $213K, 73% to democrats; * Joseph E. Seagrams & Sons (includes beverage business, plus considerable media interests), $2M+, 67% democrats. * Sonic Corporation, $83K, 98% democrat; * Triarc Companies (Arby's, T.J. Cinnamon's, Pasta Connections), $112K, 96% Democrats; * Hyatt Corporation, $187K, 80% to democrats; DON'T SUPPORT: WalMart, $467K, 97% to republicans; K-Mart, $524K, 86% to republicans; Home Depot, $298K, 89% to republicans; Target, $226K, 70% to republicans; Circuit City Stores, $261K, 95% to republicans; 3M Co., $281K, 87% to republicans; Hallmark Cards, $319K, 92% to republicans; Amway, $391K, 100% republican; Kohler Co. (plumbing fixtures), $283K, 100% republicans; B.F. Goodrich (tires), $215K, 97% to republicans; Proctor & Gamble, $243K, 79% to republicans; Coors, $174K, 92% to republicans; (also Budweiser - sd) Brown-Forman Corp. (Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Bushmills, Korbel wines - as well as Lennox China, Dansk, Gorham Silver), $644, 80% to republicans; Pilgrim's Pride Corp. (chicken), $366K, 100% republican; Outback Steakhouse, $641K, 95% republican; Tricon Global Restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell), $133K, 87% republican; Brinker International (Maggiano's, Brinker Cafe, Chili's, On the Border, Macaroni Grill, Crazymel's, Corner Baker, EatZis), $242K, 83% republican; Waffle House, $279K, 100% republican; McDonald's Corp., $197K, 86% republican; Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama Breeze), $121K, 89% republican; Mariott International, $323K, 81% to republicans; Holiday Inns, $38K, 71% to republicans "Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul." ------ End of Forwarded Message

People heading to Canada...

Sad, sad, sad story....a must read in the PEST days we live in ..

“We Support the Troops, but...”

As I pondered the comments regarding the issue of the quality of leadership seen in ex-enlisted officers, my chaotic thought process brought up the “we support the troops, but…” crowd. It strikes me now that what is being strongly implied is that that “troops“ are the “enlisted” people and worthy of support because (of what is not stated) the stupid, aggressive, knuckle-dragging, violent officer corps is responsible for dragging the “troops” off to these bullet filled “adventures.” In this case, the officer corps is comprised of the educated by the liberal arts college and university system of this nation. This is the same system that has provided these in our ”intelligentsia” with their educations, hut somehow those who choose to take up a profession of arms are not worthy of being considered smart enough to know when and when not to go to war. To plagiarize from modern culture, I ask: “what’s up with that?” Pardon me, but that seems quite arrogant on the part of those who espouse this strange middle ground support ideal. First off, a simple review of the biographies of flag and general rank officers will reveal many master’s degrees and even doctorial credentials, plenty to rival the academic achievements of many school’s faculty lists. The fingerprints of the massive amounts of education is evident in a military that can rapidly deploy and employ weaponry, sensors, logistical and communications procedures that cannot he done by any other county. The troops are trained for their duties by those same officers who cull through mountains of intelligence information and project the needed strategy and tactics that achieve success unrivaled by any fighting force in history. In addition, the methods used provide this nation with men and women who have been trained to employ force to kill in all sorts of exotic and basic ways, yet these “troops” reenter society and are well-adjusted. Liberal thinkers malign the officers who make for a small and economical military, which despite its cost in the budget, is truly remarkable in its ability to defend us. Despite what “they” want to believe, the officers, as a group, diligently work to use the federal dollars wisely in the service of our citizens. None of what is written above is meant to discount the input of the troops, for many are a vital part of the work, in the quest to make for an effective military, but it is more commonly the position of the officer corps to do the planning and implementation of the “big picture” type of things.

Ex-enlisted officers: Are they better?

Yesterday Matt at Black Five began a thread posing the question in the title of this post. Not only was the main post thought-provoking, the comments , which are more extensive than most on his board, draw from enlisted, ex-enlisted and officers, active duty and retired. All were full of really good first person stories and opinions based on their service (obviously). These comments are a unique window into the world of leadership, yet in the end it really proves people are people in and out of the service and good leaders are good. My experience, as noted by pretty much every poster, was “it depends.” On my first ship which happened to hoe one of those much-maligned supply ships, known as oilers, we had not only a number of ex-enlisted officers, but also a good compliment of warrant officers. As a result, the years of combined experience, not only in the wardroom (where the ships’ officers live) shut also the “goat locker” (Chief Petty officer’s quarters) was exceptionally high. I was very fortunate to start my career off in this environment. My roommate was another ensign. Harry Watkins III was ex-enlisted, having served as an electronics technician (ET) on surface ships up to the E-6 paygrade, before attending the Naval Enlisted Selected Education Program (NESEP). He had applied to this much desired program, was selected, and then attended college to earn his commission as a line officer. That process alone indicated Harry was an excellent person in the first place. Harry never preached to me, was never condescending, he just was a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. He passed along plenty to help guide me in my quest to be a good division officer and watch stander on the bridge. Later in our tour, LT George Parrish left the ship and Harry was “fleeted up” to the Ship’s Navigator position. While aboard the ship as a division officer for manpower accounting, the Ship’s Navigator was routinely treated as a department head in recognition of the importance of the job, as well as of the recognition of the superior performance demonstrated by the person filling the billet. This process happened on most ships in the fleet, where the best junior officer was moved into that position in the second half of their initial sea tour of 3 years. To wrap this up, I want to pay tribute to a wonderful man and leader. His counsel was invaluable and served me well. When it came time for fitness reports, I was always number 2 in the ranking while Harry was aboard. Never did I feel I wasn’t rated fairly I because Harry had earned every bit of being number 1. Years later, Harry was early selected to O-4, which was very unusual, as only a few people were, but more so because he wasn’t in, or had been in, a job in the Pentagon. There are many other associations I had with ex-enlisted officers but the one I had with Harry set a high water made for me.

Here's something to be thankful for

Not only am I thankful for the people who have given their live, but in reading this, I am also thankful that there are service members who will push it to the limits to care for those who have given their lives. The linked article is from a USAF Reserve pilot who brought home some Marines. You will most likely be saddened and encouraged, at the same time, while reading this article. In reference to my post on being "by the book," this Air Force officer is to be commended for knowing the book existed and cracking it open, in order to render honors to the dead.

Thanksgiving, oh, and opinions.

It's been a busy time setting up to get away for a few days. I have not been here for a few days, and won't be for a few more. I thought it would calm down after the election, but it's getting exciting again. I'm once again becoming a little irritated reading people's opinions. It's not that we shouldn't have ours, but it sure would be nice if we could manage to know what we don't know and not open our mouths, or click our mice, when we are under (or un) educated to make a coherent decision on how we should naswer a "survey." This topic has been rattling around in the pile of chaotic thoughts and hasn't made it to the top of the heap. As a quick wondow into my one day forthcoming thoughts: I never saw a survey/opinion poll that asked the persons on the street whether the doctors did President Clinton's bypass surgery correctly. "We" have asked about every question imaginable about President Bush and every decision made by any one in the entire government. There's rich soil in this topic to plow... In the meantime, I'm headed north a few states to spend tomorrow with family. For all of you who can read this, I know you know you are thankful that 1) you are enabled through an education, 2) you have been blessed by enough finacnial resources to have access to a computer and the Internet and 3) that many have gone before us, in every place in our lives to allow us to be here. Have a wonderful holiday and make a special effort to get in touch with those in your family that are a not in your regular contact cycle.

By the Book? Yes, I am....

Yes, I’ll admit it. I’m a “by the book” kind of guy. After many years of being around organizations big and small, I believe I’ve finally figured out why I have chosen to read “the book.” Usually, when someone accused me of being “by the book” (let’s make the BTB from here on out), it was because they thought it was a bad thing. I challenge you to think of it this way: I was just lazy. When someone in the military remarks that someone is BTB, it’s most often spoken in such tones that you cannot possibly miss the negative connotation it carries with it. Books in business or governmental settings are horribly dry reading. Full of blah, blah, blah and…. What people found out about how to do it the easy way through their mistakes. In the military arena, it is often said the books are written in blood. I’d be willing to bet the NAVSHIPSTECHMAN on the proper preparation of a steel surface for priming and painting had little or no blood on its pages, but the tactical doctrine to fight against anti-ship cruise missile attack had the blood of the crews of the USS STARK (FFG-31) and the HMS SHEFFIELD on them. So, if you have the ability to keep your eyes open and you get rewarded with explanations of why things are done the way they are done. This can provide you with reduced levels of tension, cure migraines and generally make you have a kinder and gentler disposition, now that you “know” why they did it like that. In addition to this basic information, you will be able to see when it is appropriate to lobby for a change. Maybe the old way was tied to manual methods that have become superceded by automation, yet no one has updated the procedures. There is, how ever, a dichotomy inherent in all of this: On one hand people dislike it when someone tells them to do it like the book, but they certainly don’t hesitate to tell you they are doing it “this way” because “that’s how we do it.” I came to look at the study of documents on policy and procedure as a method to also determine what were the circumstances under which these procedures were to he carried out (the “normal” cases) and, by derivation, when you rightfully needed to come up with your own plan. It’s one thing to think you’re out of the box, it’s another to know you most certainly are. When you find yourself out of the box, your hard earned BTB information provides you with a foundation of knowledge to work with, while you rapidly work to get the chaos under control., rather than standing dumbfounded. See how it’s all about lazy? I’d rather let someone else make the mistakes, and therefore, I lessen the opportunity to repeat them, thinking that my stupidity is something original. Another angle to take on the BTB philosophy is that of the fiscal one. If you do things the way someone figured them out already, you should be able to be more efficient. Now, unless you have a “make the work expand to fit the remaining time” type of boss, then you have the option of bagging out sooner, an opportunity to get in some afternoon golf. The other side of the financial stuff here is if you read the book, and see the “procedure” is just plain wasteful, and you choose not to take the time to fix it, then you are not being very responsible with the dollars of whoever is putting money in your hand on payday. So, there’s my chaotic thoughts on being “by the book.”

Yep, I'm still here...

I am hoping to attract a readership, and I see there are some people who come around, and I know I haven't posted stuff in a few days. I'll just say the last two nights were spent "comment-sparring" with Zippo over on Chap's blog. I'm not sure if it will do anyone else any good, but it helps me vent a little frustration with those who somehow cannot face much (if any) truth. There are things you just have to grasp. I skydived for a long time. One of the T's that showed up sometimes, which was a rip-off from the physicists said: "Gravity, it's not just a good idea, it's the law!" In case you'r the least bit interested in a good piece Chap wrote on why the Left doesn't get the military use thing, go here. (PSST!: Read the comments, too and see what Zippo thinks!) I've got a few posts ruminating around....please come back and see what "random thoughts I come up with....

You have to smile sometime....

Once again, I link you to the conservatively creative team of Frank and Scott, in their continuing effort to bring instructive OnStar recordings to you.

Another letter with no agenda

Through following links to places such as this, I have found some wonderfully detailed first person letters and emails. They aren't written in order to further anyone, they are just a slice of life, written by those who are on the front lines, in peaceful and not so peaceful places. The link here says at least two things: The writer is a person who can stop, put aside his inital reaction and focus on what it really happening. Secondly, it is a reminder that the world see us through the filter of such men and women who wear a uniform and come to their aid, and also, let us not forget to deal in that issue of justice. What does this mean to us? - We owe it to ourselves to send the very best, and make sure they are supported. Their actions leave a lasting impression on those who see them. - We owe it to the world to send the military abroad for the right reasons. Some will consider they are now in Iraq for some wrapped idea we have become neo-colonialist, but the truth is our daily, long term security is intimately linked with the ability of others to live, knowing a basic respect for their humanity. In a conversation last night, someone told me President Bush remarked that after WWII, the thought of making a democracy of Japan was completely written off. Look at the result of sticking to a dream to make a peaceful nation, then come back and tell me us being in Iraq now is a bad thnig. Also, consider this: Permission to use nuclear weapons has been given to Osama bin Laden. for those who would like to sit, safe in their home, believing it's all about Haliburton filling the pockets of Dick Cheny, HELLO, McFly! You're in a new world now. You can choose to pretend it won't happen, or you can figure out how you can best secure the lives of many, now and in the future.

News on the Stolen Election

Frank J of IMAO has done a great service for us. Concerned about the possibility of a conspiracy to throw the Presidential election, he went straight to the top. Here's the transcript of his conversation with the main VRWC office. If you care about this country and where it's headed, READ THIS POST!

Veterans Day Reading

Charles of Little Green Footballs just stuck a short post up, announcing today as Veterans' Day. As of a few minutes ago, there were 489 comments. The amazing cross section of stories and the back grounds of those contributing is nothing short of spectacular. Tribute is paid to many, names of those who have given us this freedom are mentioned, names that were, nor probably ever be the ones to make the page of a paper, other than the obits, are there. People who have served, people who knew people who have served, foreigners who saw what American did and do for them, and the list goes on. Please allow yourself to be blessed by this collection of honor, saddness, humor, and just plain statements of facts.

Thank you from a Vet

On this Veterans Day in 2004, I just thought I'd take a minute to say to those of you who have paid taxes anytime between August 1972 through now. For those of you who will be doing that for the next maybe 20 years, you have my thanks in advance for honoring my service with your income taxes. I sincerely appreciate the money you entrusted to the Federal coffers that was a main paycheck for a career, and is now a retirement one. Over the course of 24 years of time spent making a commitment to actively support and defend the Constitution of these United States, you have gracefully allowed me to: Sail the oceans of the world, somethimes in fast combatants, sometimes in supply ships and once on an aircraft carrier; Cavort with the clouds in jet fighters; Fine tune my skills as an expert rifleman and pistol shot; Jump out of "perfectly good" military aircraft for fun; Play with things that go "WHOOSH!" and "BANG!" way better than that stuff you get to play with from the corner fireworks stand; Study for one bachelor and two masters degrees; Mediate on the wonders of nature in the starry skies at night, far from city lights, and to watch the dolphins gracefully play on the bow waves of warships, far out to sea; Serve under incredible leadership; Lead this country's youth (and sometimes not so young, but "my" sailors none the less); Meet people from all continents and represent you as Americans. On my spare time, I have benefited from many facilities around the country, where I and my family could relax and enjoy life while on vacation. The pay wasn't enough to get me on the list next to Bill Gates, but it afforded a family of four with a comfortable lifestyle, with some left over. People have expressed their thanks and gratitude for my service, but I am equally taken that this nation is still full of those who will continue to support a Military worthy of itself. Yes, it was hard some days. Yes, the family suffered. Yes, my life and theirs was enriched by the opportunities. Yes, I'd not trade the experienences for anything. Yes, it's not lost on me that some paid those taxes, and would have preferred I wasn't employed in that manner, but they gave the money to the Government anyhow. So, in return, I humbly appreciate your service to me. Thank you!

229 Years of Dedicated Heroism - The Marines!

Happy Birthday, Marines, those on duty, those who have done their duty and those chomping at the bit for their slot at PI or MCRD to open up! I have been struck by the number of Seagulls on Beachballs emblems on so many cars. Once in a while you see some Ranger/Airborne Tabs, sometimes a USAF, once in a while, Navy bumper stickers, but the Eagle and Anchor are all around. More often than not, when you have the opportunity to ask the driver when they were in, it was from several to many years ago, and in lots of cases, for one enlistment. Find a car with that emblem and thank a Marine today! You just have to love an institution that breeds a loyalty with humility, and a strength with purpose, that then has benefited this Nation and all who have come in contact with these remarkable few and proud people. Thank you and you Marines have my respect! CDR, USN (Ret)

Need a laugh?

We're Not Sorry is a counter to some very strange people with some belief that they have the permission of the American public to make an apology for those of us who prefer life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness over "Religitics" (that's my original word, but feel free to use it, unless it's mirror, "Poligion" is more suitable (my word, too)), a return to the past, mass cults of personality (pass the Mohammed-Aid, please), and the general subsugation of any normal human interactions. These people are located at this site.

How can they think it, let alone say it?

I tend to be pretty much at peace with life, but I had a small departure from "calmness" this afternoon while having a phone conversation. I did raise my voice, but the tone was purposefully deliberate, without personal attacks, or profanity. Anger? Yes. No thought of physically harming anyone, only to make apoint so points of view are focused on the truth, not some fairy tale world view. Me: "John Ashcroft resigned." They: "Why?" Me: "I heard them say the other day some people were going, some 'burn out.'" They: "Well, George Bush made it hard." Screen play version follows: He begins to seeth, mental images of bodies falling from buildings, fireballs from jet fuel, toppling towers surge through his mind in rapid succession, but he recovers from the shock of such an incoherent and obviously STUPID (yes, and I mean it in the most complete sense of the word) statement having been uttered from the mouth of a 54 year old American citizen by birth. Me: "How can you say that? It's hard because we have been at war! Hard because John Aschroft and the FBI, and the DIA and the, oh, yeah, don't forget the CIA, lead by a Clinton appointee, had to completely change how they did things to protect us from more attacks. Are you saying George Bush made it hard on those almost 3000 people that died?" They: (not to draw this out) Unstammering comments to try to tell me it was the President's fault, with no recognition of what came to the world on the morning of September 11, 2001. My God, how can anyone with a brain their head (but, I hate to sound mean spirited, but maybe that's the case, they don't have one) even try to make this about George Bush. Comments about how "we are still headed in the wrong direction (re: Iraq)", "Kerry didn't have the advantage of being Presiedent, so how could you expect him to come up with a plan for the war?" Response: "He had access to essentially the same intelligence as the President, but FAILED TO ATTEND THE MEETINGS, so he is culpable in that he didn't make use of what he should have known." "Well, I bet there are other senators who don't got tho their meetings!" AAAAAAUUUGGGHHHHH!!!!! SO WHAT!!!!! They aren't the ones running for President! "well, people's records get uncovered when they run for office." "Tell me where you read that George Bush was an 'absentee' govenor?" (no reposnse). Standard tactic of one who has no ammunition to expend: Try to focus attention elsewhere. I did pose the question: "How can you be so cavalier about those who died when we were attacked?" I'm not sure if I didn't wait for an answer, or after a half a word forming, realized the answer forthcoming would be wrong, so I don't think that came to closure, before I cut her off. Some background: A woman with a good vocabulary, who runs her own business, sells jewelry on weekends for fun and the interaction and a little extra money, owns two cars, one that is never driven in the rain, or the winter weather, owns not only one house, but a second on a prime piece of waterfront property. Point: This person has the advantage of every American citizen to do as she pleases, and has benefited from the advantage of being a woman in a society that, despite it's faults, provides a tremendous degree of equality and respect for women. Response to being "pampered" by the United States legacy of freedom: Denigrate someone who stepped up to the plate and took the fight to a determined enemy. Forget to consider, while we are all in it together, there are many hard working people in the Government striving to keep us safe, and this isn't something that happened at the drop of a hat, but has been something brewing for some time, transcending several presidencies.....but, it's gotta be that arrogant "W"s personal agenda that has brought us here. Coming from a 2 year old, I may be able to accept it (while thinking of having a serious talk with the parents), but from a full grown adult with normal functioning mental capabilities? I'm still incredulous, several hours later, and I suppose I will be for life. I commented: John Kennedy rose to the challenge on dark night in the Pacific and provided the leadership necessary for his men. "Oh, that's what eanone would do." Really? Yep, jfK ran and hid from combat, but I guess he's the better man. John Kennedy unilaterally blockaded Cuba. "Wasn't that the Bay of Pigs?" "No, that was us unilaterally invading another soverign nation. Blockading Cuba was another time." "That was economic, wasn't it?" (Wow, what an opening, a President unilaterally blockades a nation with a Naval Force over money and trade....grand idea.) "NO, that was because the Soviets were putting nuclear missiles into Cuba and the THREATENED US!" I don't think it sunk in. History, yes, pretty boring and who cares anyhow, when we can suck up the benefits and just listen to some drivel from a couple of multi-millionaires (Soros and Moore) telling us things that are proven false within about 22 seconds of any serious study. Where is the indignation that a handful of people with millions of dollars of pocket change to burn showing up and, in the case of one, blatantly telling us he was going to buy the president out of office? I think any citizen should sit back for a moment and think: "Let me get this straight. You don't like him and you will show up and distribute dollars and make an attempt to override my blood bought right to vote for who I want? Ok, so maybe I agree that I don't like George Bush, but what if in '08, I don't agree with you?" Duh....that's it. If he'll buy votes against the one you don't like, he can buy votes next time against the one you like. What say you now? Kinda like the Catholics and Christians who were fine with the Jewish neighbors being hauled off in Nazi Germany. How would you respond when it was your turn? Yep, kinda hard to get a right back that you let go of, because it didn't affect your over-privledged position in life. Yes, it got my blood pressure up. After hanging up, the recollection of standing the mid-watch on pitch black nights, 35 hours laying over the reduction gear for major reapairs at sea, standing into port in many foreign lands, dressed in whites, knowing all eyes were on the handling of the ship bearing the Stars and Stripes and the action of every crewman, while my wife handled family matters alone in the States, standing over charts, rapidly scanning radio reports, hard copy intellegence, desperately trying to figure where the enemy submarines were, so we could order ASW assets into positions to protect the carriers and supply ships, and so many other things. While I never had the oppotunity to serve in any combat other than being at sea for Operation Prarie Fire off Libya in '86, I steamed the waters of the World's oceans so a conversation like this could happen. I cannot regret my service for the stupidity of one person, who has heard many of my stories and knows of my service, and through links I send her, many of the stories of those who serve her now, but it sure felt easy to consider "going there." I feel better now. She just provided a catalyst for all the insanity that has followed this election. In her case, I had an opprotunity to present another point. Enough. Maybe one day she'll even stop here and read this.....and post her side of the story (that should be a classic read...:) )

Encapsulation of what happened 11/02/2004

Talk show host Dennis Prager had a succient statement on just what happened on the election day this year. In about a ten minute portion quoted on Focus on the Family on 11/04/2004, Dennis skillfully lays it out. Listen to the 11/04/04 broadcast on the page. It's worth your time and may help you have intelligent discussions with others, if you haven't been able to summarize what the American Citizens said.

Somehow we got doomed to live in interesting times....

If you've never heard that line before, it's an ancient Chinese curse to be told "May you live in interesting times." I'll post two links that should send a shiver up your spine by their very implications. It's not that someone has a difference of opinion, but that one side wantss hte other to be completely disallowed from their beliefs. Hello, McFly! This is the nation with the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights that other yearn to live under, until recently, when it seems some have come to work to remove it in the long run. The long term implication is that the "popular" vote may well be used to turn this country into a theocratic state. Not tomorrow, or in 2008, but with persistance, down the road sometime this century (my guess, for what it's worth). Once enough Muslims, which I use here because it is the fastest growing religion (in terms of numbers of converts) in both the World, and here in the United States. Not hard to figure out once you have enough of a "directed" block vote, as they preach in the mosques popping up all over, then it's off to the polls and the institution of Sharia Law, and other cultural changes associated with the Islamic faith become the law of the land. Here goes, read them for yourselves and be forewarned of the coming wave of change, assisted by misguided youth, as well as puposeful adults: Some college students, who happen to be Republicans, held a rally at San Francisco State University. Here's what happened to them. At least 45,000 Muslims have signed a petition, demanding removal of the book "Prophet of Doom" from public circulation. Let me pose a rheotrical question: When was the last time you saw documented evidence of a Christian, Catholic, or Jewish group (You know, those evil people) trying to censor any magazine, or book, or movie by demanding it's complete removal from any viewing by private citizens? This conjures up images of only being one step from book burnings in Nazi Germany, doesn't it? That being the case, why is President Bush, an unashamed Christian, compared to Hitler on a regular basis around the world, while Muslims are lifted up as some loving religion? Leaving the States, and the protection of a written set of basic rules for our society, we next take a virtual flight to the Netherlands, where Theo van Gogh was brutally murdered and a note explaining the reason he was killed was left "attached" to his body with a knife. You guesed it, he exposed the mis-treatment of women in the Islamic faith. Plenty of reason to die: Exposing the truth. This entire story gets better: Talk about intolerance!. No wonder there are those who want the Ten Commandments removed, then they can have those arrested for stating natural law (see "Mere Christianity," C.S. Lewis, for a solid discussion of what natural law is). Oh, and now it's got legs! Here's some "counterbattery" as a result. This certainly will evoke a respose in return. The term "escalation" comes to mind. From here, it sure looks like this mess is headed for that place of "out of control" and that means innocents and beligerants both end up suffering. I'm at a loss as how to wrap this up, which is probably why I'm not a writer by profession, but just someone with an opinion. Maybe it's time to read Habakuk again, then take my place on the wall....

Real words from a real Marine near Fallujah 11-03-04

I followed a link to The Green Side and found an email sent from a Marine to his father. This Marine Officer makes some powerful points, and gives you a ringside seat to his emotions, and the things he has seen. Yes, it's filtered through the eyes of a Marine, but he writes eloquently about the experience his fellow Marines and he will more than likely face very soon. He displays a degree of compassion the MSM would not allow you to believe is in our front line war fighters. Thank God he's there. For those of you who have been there, done that and have the T-shirt, thank you. For those who are about to enter that close quarters battle environment, my prayers are with you, as is my admiration for your drive to do the hard work of democracy. Keep your focus, Dave and bring your boys home....

Wrong place, wrong time....

This home grown movie is a seemingly real story of someone who missed the warning signs... Apparently it came out a few years ago, but it should make you smile, if not laugh out loud. I guess two guys laboriously filmed sections of I-405, when they saw they were empty, then pieced them together to make it appear as though no one was on one side of that Interstate (short the driver of the Jeep). The plot is compeling, the acting fantastic, the story, well, maybe plausible, but if you need a chuckle, click up there....(and it's not long...)

There are those who know the value of democracy

Interesting post from some real, live people in Iran (/sarcasm on: go figure!/sarcasm off) who are celebrating the victory for our President. One could certainly believe from the last several months of reading and listening to "regular" news, that we had maybe 2.7 people outside the borders of this country that maybe, sort of, under threat of torture, might say they liked America.

Veterans' Day is early this year

I'm swiping poetry of Russ Vaughn's, Army Vietnam Vet with a real talent for coherent writing, from Matt. Published here for the record. Today Is Veterans' Day On September 8th, I posted that Election Day would be Veterans' Day.... Here's something to commemorate the day by the MilBlog Poet Laureate (and fellow paratrooper), Russ Vaughn: Their Veterans’ Day Some said let you apologize But that wouldn’t do it in our eyes. A man astride of each position Could we believe your true contrition? And on deaf ears your words would fall To those whose names are on that Wall The vindication they now accept In settling up this long-held debt, Is that for them we gave our best And denied you, John, your lifelong quest. We fought for them, fought for our own, To make you reap what you had sown. Listen carefully John to what we say, November 2d was their Veterans’ Day. Russ Vaughn 2d Bn, 327th Parachute Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division Vietnam 65-66

Sgt Joseph Bozik could use your help

Sgt Joseph was horribly wounded in Iraq and is now at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC. The Army can only bring 2 of his family members (from Ft. Bragg, NC), any others coming there are doing so out of pocket. Sgt Bozik's wounds are terrible, he has lost both legs and an arm and is in a coma. As any of you know, the cost of hotels in the DC area are very high and we know soldier's pay isn't that great. Transportation and living expenses are needed to allow his family to be with him. There is a way to help out in the link above, if you feel so inclinced. In this other post, there are pictures of Sgt Bozik, sent by his mother. What struck me was the life in his eyes in those two pictures. While it is a cruel set of circumstances that did this, his look seems to say there lots of life left in this young man. Please pass the word on, and don't forget there are others like Joseph Bozik who we owe much to.

Need something heart warming? Read this...

Matt at Black Five has more great stuff. This article is about a German woman who has been a real supporter of the wounded Soldiers in the hospital in Landsthul, Germany. It's nice to know someone is giving of themselves to show our wounded youth, serving the cause of freedom around the world some real love. The are connected to Soldier's Angels, which is a non-profit organization, where you can see how to lend a hand to those who protect us with their own lives.

So how do we believe Osama bin Laden when this happens?

I vote to not trust Osma bin Laden's promise to not attack those who vote the way he wants. The below link takes you to a post regarding a planned attack on a "football" (soccer to us 'Mericans) stadium in Madrid. I thought the al-Queda had subdued the Spanish with the train station bombing, but it seems like they are just bent on killing more and saying "JUST KIDDING!" to the people of Spain, after they voted the "right" one in and the troops were withdrawn. Thank God the Spanish law enforcement and judicary is still hard at work preventing murder for some unholy reason.

The Battle Off Samar - 60th Anniversary

10/25/2004 marks 60 years from the day of the Battle off Samar, which is near Leyte Gulf in the Philippine Islands. I ask you to take a few minutes to meditate on the events of this day so long ago. As a side note, this day has a tremendous amount of meaning for me, as my personal history has become linked with not only that day, but the people who ”stood to” as the British would say, when the odds were so far against them surviving that most would have written it off as “impossible.” The story is compelling because the decks of the ships were awash in as much raw courage, as they were in blood and seawater. It speaks to the ability of the human race to rise to an inpossible challenge. The best book I have found on the events of this day is “The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors” by James D. Hornfischer. Not only is the story a compelling and captivating one, in and of itself, James’ research was thorough and he really brings the people to you, not merely a litany of what ship moved where, fired what and the result is history. This book was awarded the Samuel Eliot Morrison Award for books on Naval History. I will preface the rest of the post with this quote from Samuel Eliot Morrison: “In no engagement in its entire history has the United States Navy shown more gallantry, guts and gumption than in those two morning hours between 0730 and 0930 off Samar.” Samuel Morrison is one of the pre-eminent Naval Historians, particularly of the WW II era. The men in this battle are the forefathers of the men and women who risk themselves completely in Iraq and Afghanistan today land I consider them to be cut from the same cloth. The Battle off Samar had been forming for several days before the 25th of October, 1944. Two groups of attacking Japanese surface ships, without aircraft carrier support had been working their way through the Philippine Islands, enroute the vicinity as Leyte Gulf in order to destroy the amphibious landing forces. This landing was General MacArthur’s return to the Islands and the one where the historic pictures of him wading ashore were taken as he exclaimed “I have returned.” One force of battleships, cruisers and destroyers had been effectively decimated by the night of the 24th by the battle force of Admiral Olendorf. In the approaches to the Surigao Straights, in the darkness of the night, the U.S. PT boats, destroyers, cruisers and bloodied veteran battleships from Pearl Harbor would extract a high price from Admiral Nishimura’s approaching surface group. The battle was a textbook case of “Crossing the ‘T’ ” Another battle force, under Admiral Kurita, consisting of four battleships (one was the IJNS YAMATO, equipped with 18” naval guns, the largest ever put to sea), six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and eleven destroyers, had escaped detection as it slipped through the San Bernadino Straight that same night. As the sun rose on the morning of the 25th, Admiral Kurita’s Central Force bore down on an un-alerted task element that was called “Taffy 3” from 25 miles north of the U.S. group. Taffey 3 consisted of six “escort” carriers (CVEs), which were merchant ship hulls fitted with flight decks, three FLETCHER Class destroyers (DDs) and four destroyer escorts (DEs) sunder the command of Rear Admiral Clifton “Ziggy” Sprauge. Naval officers, from the earliest times fighting ships put to sea, have dreamed of being the winner in the great sea battles of history, hoping to equal Lord Nelson at Abikour Bay. In more modern times, U.S. admirals dreamt of “the great Mahanian sea battle,” described by Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, where the huge dreadnoughts duked it out in strategic battles at sea. The aircraft carrier dominance brought to the world on December 7th, 1941 pretty much ended that dream. On this fateful day, the battle came to Admiral Sprauge, Commander Evans, Commander Hathaway, Lieutenant Commander Copeland and Gunners Mate Paul Carr, and a host of other unlikely heros I haven’t listed, and they hadn’t planned for and it was nothing like Admiral Mahan ever thought of. The details above are to set the stage for what occurred next. Picture two sea-borne opponents, one Goliath, one David, yet unlike David, Admiral Sprauge had not been observing the warriors run from Goliath day after day, before he chose to step onto the battlefield. This situation was more like the war between the Philistines and Hebrews was raging and Goliath sought out David’s flock as he tended his sheep and surprised him at dawn. Admiral Sprauge, upon being told of the Japanese presence, knew the only choice was to stand and fight, regardless of the cost. Had Kurita’s Central Force gotten by Taffy 3, the heavy Japanese combatants would destroy the landing force. One lesson that both Carrier Group and combatant type officers constantly needed reminding of is you are only there to ensure the landing force gets ashore. All the other glorious “stuff” is superfluous. You are actually an “ablative shield” for the Marines, or Army, as was the case here, leather jackets and fancy high, speed ship handling be damned! The battle was quickly shaping up as one of complete sacrifice. The math says the U.S. Navy brought 23 5” guns and 42 torpedoes to the fight. All seven of the escorts were armed with nothing bigger than 5”/38 caliber guns, which can fire a 54 lb projectile. The destroyers had 5 guns, the DEs had only two. The Japanese had about 66 equivalent barrels on the 11 destroyers alone. I’m not sure what the projectile weight on an 18” Japanese round was, but U.S. Battleship 16” guns fired a 2200 lb round, so it has to be roughly equivalent to say the Japanese could attack with rounds at least that size. Commander Evans on the JOHNSTON, a DD, steamed at full speed into the approaching threat armed with torpedoes and 5-5” guns, he and his crew knew it was the moment to put all their skills and focus to work. His ship was sunk in the battle, hut not before he seriously damaged several of the attaching cruisers. As the survivors of the JOHNSTON clung to their rafts in the water later, one of the Japanese ships mustered their deck crew while the battle continued, to render a salute to their audacity and seamanship as the continued to chase the CVEs. Commander Amos T. Hathaway commanded another of the FLETCHER Class destroyers on the 25th, the HEERMANN. Captain Hathaway and his crew sent their ten torpedoes and numerous 5’; 40 mm, and 20mm rounds towards the Japanese, sustaining severe damage from battleship rounds hitting them, but the ship survived to be repaired. The SAMUEL B ROBERTS (DE-413), commanded by Lieutenant Commander Robert Copeland, raced into the salvos of the Japanese as well, with Gunners Mate 2nd Paul Carr as the Mount Captain of Mount 52 (the after 5” gun mount). Following the JOHNSTON into battle with the HEERMANN close by, the “Sammie ‘B’,” is a legend in U.S. Naval history, for the courage her crew displayed that day. This vessel has rested on the bottom off Samar Island since that day. Paul Henry Carr was a young man from Checotah, Oklahoma. The single son in the family, with 6 or 7 sisters, he enlisted in the Navy as did millions after Pearl Harbor. He was married, so he left a young wife behind when he sailed to the Pacific. In the book, Captain Copeland reported that Gunners Mate Carr’s gun mount was not only the best on the ship, but the best he had ever seen in his service time. Not only was it so clean your could eat off the deck (a real feat in a gun mount full of hydraulics and constant foot traffic, let alone heavy metal things like shell casings and tools being dropped on the deck) the gunnery performance was also excellent. Paul Carr took his duty as Supervisor of a gun and gun crew seriously. On the 25th, Mount 52 hammered out round after round, striking their targets. The rate of fire for a good 5”38 gun crew was about 10 rounds/minute. The Sammie B sustained numerous hits from large caliber weapons of the enemy, and at some point, the high pressure air compressors went off line. “HP air” is used to clear the 5” gun barrel of combustion fumes, which are toxic, after a shell is fired, and before the gun breech is opened to ram in the next round. Despite the loss of the gas clearing air, Carr’s crew kept firing their gun mount. The smoke and odors must have been overwhelming, but they kept up their rate of fire. Eventually, power to operate the hydraulic loading ram was lost, so they shifted to manual loading the gun, as the Japanese ships surrounded the fearless destroyers and destroyer escorts who had the impertinence to take on the largest battleship in the world. Continuous firing of a gun heats the metal of the breech of the gun. At some point, a condition called a “hot gun” exists. This is when the temperature of the metal is so high, that it will cause the powder in the propellant casing to ignite without operating the firing mechanism. A standard gun magazine load on destroyers has been 600 rounds for all the years during and since WWII. By this time, Mount 52 had fired almost all of their rounds, and the gun was glowing red at the breech. While loading a powder casing behind the projectile, and before the breech block could be closed, the powder exploded, killing most of the crew in the mount. Paul Carr initially survived the blast. Shortly after Mount 52 was silenced, the ROBERTS took a few more hits and was dead in the water, listing. As the medical crews went about treating the less wounded, they set Paul Carr aside to treat others. Paul had been ripped open from his chest to his crotch, and obviously wouldn’t live long. When they came back to check on him, he wasn’t where they had laid him, he had crawled back into the damaged gun mount, had picked up the last projectile and was asking for help to load and fire it. A dying man on a dying ship, stood up, as the life quite apparently drained from him, and he was trying to carry on the fight, for the enemy was still a threat. He succumbed to his wounds shortly afterwards. The airmen who got aloft from the CVEs, many without bombs or even gun ammunition make any real or mock attacks on the Japanese ships to take the pressure off their own “home plates,” as well as the surface ships engaged at close range. I’d almost venture to say you could have shoveled up the raw courage that day and stored it in 55 gallon drums, and had plenty to last centuries. I can’t begin to do honor to the men who served there that day. Read the book. I am passionate about this story for the following reasons: I served 20 years in the Navy. The last shipboard tour I had was as the Executive Officer aboard the USS CARR (FFG-52). I had some of the war diary logs in my files turned over to me by my predecessor. It captivated me then. I was required to take a computer course for my NROTC scholarship. A tall, thin man, the only Navy Officer at an Army oriented school (The Citadel) was my professor. His name was Captain Amos T. Hathaway, the Captain of the USS HEERMANN off Samar. Reporting to Fleet Combat Training Center, Atlantic at Dam Neck, Virginia, I was assigned as the Combat Systems Operational Team Training Officer for the Pre-Commissioning crews of the OLIVER HAZARD PERRY Class FFG-7 Guided Missile Frigates. The first crew I trained was going to the USS CLIFTON SPRAUGE (FFG-16). As I was leaving two years later, one of the last crews I trained was USS COPELAND (FFG-25). It was October, 1988 when I took over as XO on CARR from then CDR Tom Brown. I didn’t know much about the battle, just that one gunner’s mate had received the Silver Star for his heroism in WWII. During my time as XO, the Chief Staff Officer at our supporting destroyer squadron was Captain Paul X. Rinn, who had been the Commanding Officer on the USS SAMUEL B ROBERTS (FFG-58) when it hit a mine in the Persian Gulf. That ship would not have been saved, with out his innovative thinking and a crew that rose to an immediate danger, just as those of the DE-413 had done many years before. I know deep within me, that my association with this date is no coincidence. As I was re-reading some of the book tonight, and after scanning about for some information on the USS CARR, I found out CARR is now assigned to Destroyer Squadron Two out of Norfolk. One of the two squadrons of Japanese destroyers of Kurita’s Central Force where in their Destroyer Squadron TWO. If you’re still with me here, here are some important notes about this battle: In William Shakespeare’s Henry V (Act 4, Scene 3), there is a speech referring to “We band of brothers,” about those who are on the field of battle on Saint Crispen’s Day. The actual battle was the Battle of Agincourt October 25th, 1415. This was another battle in history where the underdogs won the day, despite the problems they faced. The Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War at Balaclava, memorialized by Alfred Lord Tennyson, happened on October 25th. The Battle off Samar is the last naval ship to ship battle (other than between or with patrol boats) in the world’s history. The battle happened with out air cover from large deck carriers, because they had been pulled away by Admiral “Bull” Halsey to try to sink Japanese aircraft carriers. There were in fact, some Japanese carriers in the area, to the north east, which were sent as a decoy to draw the large ships away from the landing area. It worked, and the other point of that most Japanese naval pilots with any significant experience had been killed, so Japanese carriers were almost no threat. On the book’s web site tonight, there was a comment that the reason the Battle off Samar wasn’t ever publicized, it would have to have called to question why Bull Halsey was off on a goose chase, and not making sure the amphibious force was protected. This past weekend, the survivors of several ships and aircraft squadrons had a 60th year reunion in San Diego. There are still many of them alive. My final point: As I read stories on weblogs such as Black Five and Mudville Gazette, I see the same courage is being exercised, but these days, it’s more than likely happening in a USMC or Army unit. We still have these sorts of young men and women answering the call to fight for freedom, even if it costs them their lives and I thank God for that. If you’re one of those men or women reading this that is serving now, you have my gratitude and my envy. May God keep you safe.