A Fallen Hero And Some Disrespectful Behavior
Jul 28, 2011 Military, Opinion
I had the solemn honor of being on an aircraft today that was carrying one of our fallen heroes. His escorts were on board our plane. When we landed in Atlanta we were asked to remain seated until the escorts left the plane.
Everyone on board remained seated and quiet as those men gathered their belongings and left to do one of the hardest jobs a service member has to do. It is an honor to be on a funeral detail but one we hope never to have. We would rather do that for an aged veteran who lived a long life.
I was proud that everyone remained seated and allowed those heroes to leave unmolested by the surge of people that happens when a plane empties.
I went inside and was able to look out of the window where I saw two people holding a flag or guidon but my view was obstructed so I could not make it out. I also saw the American flag and workers standing with their hands over their hearts.
A special carrier pained in red, white, and blue was in place with the words “Some Gave All” inscribed on the back. As the flag draped casket was coming down the conveyor I stood at attention with my hand over my heart. Soldiers (the fallen hero was Air Force) from an Army unit were there and stood and saluted. Many people around us saw what was going on and when they realized what was taking place, they stood. Men removed their hats and all of us who stood waited until the hero was placed in the special carrier.
I was very unhappy with a number of people who knew what was going on but chose to read their papers and play with their electronic gadgets. They looked at all of us, looked outside to see why we were doing what we were and carried on as if nothing was taking place.
No matter how one feels about war or the military the fact remains that our fallen heroes deserve our respect.
Reading the paper or playing with an electronic gadget is not a sign of respect.
You people, and you know who you are, should be ashamed.
And for those of you who showed respect, I will take the liberty to thank you on behalf of the family and friends of that fallen hero.
I took two pictures of the carrier and I think I got the Flag draped casket in one of them. I will not post that out of respect for the fallen and his family.
Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: air force, army, disrespect, fallen hero
McChrystal Learns His Fate Today
Jun 23, 2010 Military, Political
Though the outcome is in little doubt…
General Stanley McChrystal, the man Barack Obama hand picked to lead the war effort in Afghanistan, is on his way to the White House. He was summoned there by a very angry Barack Obama who was blindsided by a Rolling Stone article given to him late Monday evening by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.
In the article, McChrystal and unnamed aides are quoted saying disparaging things about Obama, Biden and host of regime characters who are involved in the Afghanistan conflict.
McChrystal evidently allowed a Rolling Stone reporter to shadow him and his staff for about a month. The result was a story with quotes that are less than flattering.
What was the General thinking?
The reporter’s ideologies are left wing so it was unlikely that he would overlook anything that might be disparaging to Obama and his regime. Regardless, no reporter should have been allowed in because that is asking for trouble. Some of the things quoted could have context that is less disparaging and been made in a joking manner but that would not be accurately portrayed in any article. The things said are best left behind closed doors and kept among those who serve, joking or not.
McChrystal is a professional soldier and he should have known better. He and his people were wrong for publicly saying what they did and unfortunately this will end up costing the General his job. The rumor mill already indicates that he has tendered his resignation and though Obama does not have to accept it, the writing is on the wall.
Perhaps Obama called him back to DC to discuss this face to face but I think the fact that he was called back is a pretty good indication that he is not returning. If McChrystal is prudent, he brought all his gear back with him.
I can’t excuse what took place and what was said because it was said publicly and the entire incident undermines the command structure and the confidence in our military and civilian leaders. It was unprofessional and it commands a severe response. It pains me to say that because McChrystal is a smart guy who is needed in the war effort but he stepped on it big time.
There is an outside chance that Barack Obama will censure McChrystal, not accept his resignation and send him back to Afghanistan but I see this as very unlikely. That same rumor mill indicates that possible replacements are already being discussed.
Military people have all kinds of things to say about various leaders among themselves and that is where their comments should stay. In public the professionals in our military need to support the chain of command and ensure that the orders of their leaders, military and civilian alike, are carried out and that they project the appearance that they support those in charge of them. If they cannot support their leaders then they should resign (if they are officers) or not reenlist when their time is up (for enlisted).
McChrystal and his staff failed the test when they decided to make disparaging comments to a reporter.
General McChrystal has not denied anything reported in the article and I can’t find anything that was said that is untrue. The problem is he and his staff made the information public.
Not a smart move and one that will likely cost him his career.
I would like to give McChrystal and his staff the benefit of the doubt and see what he has to say about the article when he meets with Obama. I am sure he has been silent about the issue because he was ordered to keep his mouth shut but I doubt anything he can say now will change the course of events that will take place later today.
Related articles:
Telegraph UK
Politico
WSJ
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: afghanistan, disrespect, mcchrystal, Obama, rolling stone
Remember The Fallen
May 31, 2010 Military
Today is the day we honor those members of the military who gave their lives for this country. Let us be happy that such people existed.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.”
— Speech at the Copley Plaza Hotel, Boston Massachusetts (7 June 1945), quoted in Patton : Ordeal and Triumph (1970) by Ladislas Farago [Source]
Related:
A National Disgrace
Never surrender, never submit
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Tags: memorial day, mourn, patton
Obama In No Rush To Support The Troops
Oct 20, 2009 Military, Political
Barack Obama made it clear that the war in Afghanistan was a war of necessity and that the war in Iraq was a war of choice. He said, time and again, that he would fight the war in Afghanistan and that it was necessary. Obama’s hand picked commander has submitted a request for the support he needs to fight and that request includes more troops. All of the sudden the war of necessity is not so much so. The request was sent to the White House nearly 80 days ago and no decision has been taken.
Obama is pondering what to do and has stated that he wants to see how the recent Afghan election pans out with either a run-off or co-governance before he decides on sending troops. He is deliberating and giving it thoughtful consideration. At least that is what the White House wants us to believe.
The only thing that Obama has taken his time on since taking office is selecting a family pet. It took him six months to select a dog. He gave it careful consideration.
The stimulus had to be passed immediately, the health care take over must be done now (even though the only thing that will take effect before 2013 is the taxing part of it), the cap and trade bill must be done now as, it would seem, must every other item on the Obama hit list. He wants all the things done by the end of the year and this is an extension of earlier deadlines. The simulus was rocketed through Congress because Obama said now and the Democrats did it now. Then it sat on his desk for four days while he went on a date with his wife.
He is pushing for his agenda items to get through at the speed of light but he is stifled by some Democrats who are worried about their jobs.
The support of the troops in Afghanistan is quite another thing though. Obama received the request nearly 80 days ago and has been stonewalling his commander and the troops. Secretary Gates says we need to act now and not later but Obama is quite busy wetting his finger and sticking it out the window to see which way the wind is blowing. His assertions about the war of necessity and his repeated assertions that this was a war we needed to win have hamstrung him because he would dearly like to appease (he did win a Nobel for that quality) his base and withdraw in defeat. That is what Democrats do.
But he does not want to be seen as a person who trumpeted the war in Afghanistan and vowed to support the troops only to let them down. He does not care about letting them down, he just does not want it to appear that way. So instead of being the Commander in Chief (a job he has no experience to do) he is waffling and stonewalling. He is looking for any reason not to honor the request of General Stanley McChrystal, the man he hand picked to run the war. Obama would love nothing more than to find some reason, any reason, to dishonor our troops so he can appease his leftist loser base.
Obama would not look so bad if he had taken the same stance on Afghanistan that he took on Iraq but he went the other way. He told us it was the war of necessity.
What he needs to do is act like a man instead of the weaselly, limp wristed, metrosexual that he truly is. He needs to man up and honor his commitment to the troops and to the war. He needs to stick to his word and win the war of necessity not only because supporting the troops is the right thing to do but because he told us he would. He needs, for once, to keep his word.
But then again, all Obama promises come with an expiration date.
I loved my 24 years of service to this country but I would not serve in the military under this so called man. He is fortunate that he is wrecking the economy because that has driven enlistments up. People join the military when times are tough because it is a job and it pays. If he had not wrecked the economy and caused such high unemployment then the services would have trouble recruiting.
Who would want to serve under this wishy-washy man? I can’t imagine any of our service members staying in with this guy abandoning them. And it is a certainty that the liberals who support him will not join to protect this country (they will wait for Obama bucks to make ends meet). They live under the blanket of protection provided by better people than they and they like it that way. If Obama does not act like a leader and do it soon then he is going to harm the military worse than Jimmy Carter did.
It might take decades to get the nation’s military strong again.
Obama, man up and take a decision. Do the right thing and support the men and women who were sent to war by the US government. You (the government) sent them there, now support them.
Also:
al-Reuters
UPDATE: What has Obama done since the request for troops was submitted.
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Obama Sidesteps Confederate Controversy
May 26, 2009 Military, Political
Obama was out doing his Memorial Day duties and he laid the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. He also had a wreath laid at the Confederate Monument. This is something that he was urged not to do as some groups of people want the tradition stopped. As a compromise Obama had a wreath placed at the monument for blacks who fought in the Civil War.
Why is it that some people cannot get it through their heads that the men who fought and died as members of the Confederate Army were as patriotic as those who fought for the Union. The men of the Confederate States left the Union because of state’s rights. The issue of slavery was NOT the reason for the war. Slavery was but one issue in a host of them dealing with state’s rights.
The Southern States seceded from the Union based upon the agreement that all states entered the Union willingly and could leave it if they wanted. The South was getting the short end of the stick and they did not like it so they went left the Union.
The flag they used was based upon the Union Jack and though it has been associated with racism and slavery it is nothing of the sort. Only small minded, uneducated people believe that flag is a symbol of racism. It is a symbol of people who were tired of an abusive government and who wanted the states to have the rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
The war of Northern aggression was a war designed to force states to comply with what the government wanted regardless of what the people from the states wanted. The federal government attacked former states and former citizens of the US in order to force them to comply with the wishes of big government.
Slavery was a terrible and inhumane thing to do. It was legal at the time but that does not make it any less inhuman or wrong just as it is no less a murder (inhuman and wrong) to abort a baby just because the law does not define a fetus as a person. However, slavery as an institution was on the way out in the more developed nations. The others ended it without bloodshed and it would not have lasted much longer here even without a war.
The war was waged over state’s rights and slavery was a part of that. To get upset because we honor great people who fought for what they believed in and, I might add, were defending themselves against unprovoked aggression is to ignore the history of this country. Lincoln started the war. The South would have been very happy to secede and be done with it. They were compelled to respond with force because they were attacked.
It is right and just to honor those men just as we honor any others who have died in the service here. After all, they are buried in a national cemetery or does some group want to dig them up and move them as well?
The monument and the wreath are appropriate.
Any group that does not think so dishonors the memories of those who are laid to rest in that most solemn place and dishonors what they truly fought and died for.
Source:
ABC Political Punch
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Tags: arlington, civil war, confederacy, slaves, union