LEATHERNECKM31

All that’s missing is a fluffy kitten

I detest the Navy’s new ad campaign TV commercials which features a sci-fi “Transformer”-type aircraft full of nurses and doctors saving flood victims and handing out bottled water… Evian please.

All that’s missing is a fluffy kitten.

And the tag line?“America’s Navy..  A Global Force for Good.”

Puke.

But then what do you expect when the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,  “Mommy” Mike Mullen, an admiral so giddy over paving the way for openly gay sailors to help destroy the world’s premier navy, that I expect him to appear at the next Gay Rights parade in San Fran.

That is he over there, with his Cub Scout salute and his cover askew; looks gay to me.

Mullen has said “We treat each other (gays)with respect or we find another place to work. Period.”

That’s right, Gunny; you don’t like this, don’t let the door hit you in the six. We’re making room by getting rid of you for seamen recruits with the political agenda to turn then Navy into The Village People. They already have their own marketing tool.

The Navy’s new buzz phrase is just one more “chickification” of our military specifically, and our society in general.  “Global Force for Good” replaces the “Accelerate Your Life” campaign which was even more lame and could easily have been used for DeVry University… same with the Army’s “Be All You Can Be” and “Army of One.”

You get the trend here….?

The individual is stressed over the unit and the mission.

Our military is answering the question that should not be asked by recruits in the first place–”What’s in it for me?”

Our political-military is rewriting history: “Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what your country can do for you.”

But to my shipmates’ credit… the Navy Times reports that it has received 56 e-mails from readers, and all but six disliked the new slogan.

“This bumper-sticker jingle would look good on a flower-toting cart, but when an [aircraft carrier] that displaces over 100,000 tons pulls up off your coast, generally the thought is, ‘Oh crap, the U.S. Navy is here,’” said Information Specialist 1st Class Joshua Forman, 2nd Fleet Military Intelligence Operations Center.

“Some people disliked the slogan for practical reasons: “This is not ‘America’s Navy.’ It is the United States Navy … America encompasses two continents. The United States is located in just one. Tell them to get it right,” said retired Lt. Cmdr. Bill Jones.”

And what does it cost to “re-brand” the United States Navy and put it in a Volkswagen mini-bus?

“Campbell-Ewald, the Navy’s main advertising agency since 2000, was awarded its third five-year contract in May, worth as much as $800 million, partly on the strength of its “A global force for good” re-branding concept. The company and Recruiting Command have enough evidence that convinces them today’s young people will respond to an  appeal to a higher purpose.”

A “higher purpose” you latte-drinking metrosexual?

There is no higher purpose than serving your nation honorably, and hopefully getting the chance to kill some of the enemy during your career.

And yet, onboard the Navy’s website, you’ll find this…. Yea!! UPS stands on guard for you.

Hey, all hands… and let’s not forget to celebrate Women’s History Month…. which is right before Take Your Daughter to Work Day and just after Secretary’s Day.

No… not Navy Month or Military History Month or Large-caliber Weapons Month.

What about Medal of Honor Month…. National Medal of Honor Day was 25 March, but you won’t find that in the Navy budget line items.

No… for your tax dollars you get:  CHICK MONTH!! Which is just before Black History Month and just After Hispanic History Month… and I’m laying 10 to 1 that Muslim History Month is only one Obama re-election away. 

Naturally, all the colors of the rainbow (rainbow… get it?) are prominently displayed in the Navy ads… most of the females are of those carefully chosen models who appear to be a mixture of Mediterranean, Black, Oriental… somewhat exotic like the gal above.

This is what you need when build and maintain a focused, dedicated, cohesive military force?…  diversity, separate agendas, groups and sub-groups within the group? 

Can Puerto Rican lesbian defrocked nuns, and trannys be far behind?

“…The more effeminate and debauched the people are, the more they are fitted for an absolute and tyrannical government.” –Charles Thomson, Secretary to First Continental Congress

But thank God and 230 years of hard as nails Americans, there still is a Marine Corps.

The Corps has perfected the negative sell…. “… you can’t make it here, go away and don’t bother us.”

Marine Corps Medal of Honor Recipient Hershel Woodrow “Woody” Williams was rejected twice by a recruiter because he was too short. He refused to take no for an answer.

Less than two years later he helped turn the tide in one of the Corps’ most pivotal battles.

It will again my distinct privilege to break bread with Woody on Tuesday… the last survivor of 22 Marine and five Navy MOH Recipients cited for heroism on for Iwo Jima.  (I’ll post through next week on our annual Medal of Honor Weekend here in Gainesville… now in its 11th year. This year we are hosting 14 Recipients.)

Over the years the Corps has used variations of the  “you’re not good enough” theme: “First to Fight”,  ”We Didn’t Promise you a Rose Garden”, “The Few The Proud The Marines”, “Duty… Honor… Country.”

The Corps has maintained this simple recruiting (marketing) concept that has worked since Smedley Darlington Butler was a private, and before; we’re just looking for a small number of dedicated individuals who are full of testosterone, possess a clear mind, and above all, are willing to use maximum violence to kill our enemies.

Meanwhile, other branches do a disservice to their troops by painting them as Super Peace Corps Volunteers helping out natural disaster victims.

“Humanitarian missions”, “Peace keepers”. Crap.

The Corps will never run an ad that suggests someone join for college money, or to “be all you can be”.

The Corps offers one thing–you can be a Marine if you can hack it; if you doubt yourself, don’t take up the nice recruiter’s time.

Semper Fi… .

Bittersweet

Always good to get together with friends The Mixter and Hap Arnold here in San Diego; got in last night about 10:30 after one for the most annoying flights I’ve every experienced.

It seems that “heightened security measures” by the TSA involve repeatedly telling a plane full of people “passengers cannot gathering and block the aisles waiting to go to the bathroom.” Several timers from DFW to Denver one particularly annoying stewardess (yes I said it) acted like the older guy (with a prostate problem?) and the young father with an infant has box cutters… and forced them to return to their seats.

The punch line…she and her co-worker were blocking the aisle with a 50-pound beverage cart.

The has been a bad year… the funeral I’ll attend Wednesday (my 7th since November ‘09) is for Paul Rosenberg, a two-tour Army combat medic with CO. L [Ranger] 75th Inf., 101st Airborne in Vietnam where he he was awarded the Bronze Star among other decorations. Later he did eight years with Marine Corps ANGLICO and served in Panama.

Paul… “Doc Rosey”… was a man of great faith and humility, possessed of an irrepressible nature; the only man I never heard curse.

It was not a surprise he became a medic.

When on a roll, he could be devastatingly zany-funny; he loved and was loved by his friends. Though small in stature, he had a great heart, great warmth. When Paul arrived, everyone knew it in five minutes; nobody ever said, “I’d don’t remember him.”

He waged a great battle against myriad Agent-Orange-related illnesses and conditions; he didn’t complain. These made, well, everything more difficult… but, like the song says, he soldiered on.

His body finally gave out on him Dec. 31, but he was pressing forward when they got him.

Our small Central Valley town of Taft—little more than 10,000—lost 13 Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors and Marines in Vietnam, including Medal of Honor Recipient Sgt. Larry S. Pierce.

It was just a little more than a year ago that we gathered to say goodbye to another friend, Darrel Hildebrand, and we all had the opportunity to see Rosey again. The trip was hard on him, but he made it.

All hands (Vietnam/Vietnam Era vets) were on deck for Darrel’s wake… left to right: Larry Dillard, USN; Larry West, USA, Paul, USA/USMC; Lawrence Hildebrand, USAF; Richard Mixon, USN; Ray Abney, and myself, USMC; all 1966 graduates, Taft Union High School.

Wednesday we’ll gather once again, but we’ll be missing a man.

God speed, Doc.

The military’s done… we’re done…. I’m done

We here at the Southern Command have been on record for some time discouraging young men and women from enlisting in the United States military currently under the control of the Obama Administration and its congressional lackeys.

We take this position because most of the democrat party and not a small percentage of republicans for that matter, do not give a damn about the military and veterans, about your welfare, about your family, and most especially if you come back in a body bag; in fact, your death solves some of the economic shortfalls within the Pentagon budget.

And now that Congress has ended DADT with the passage of the “We’re no longer the world’s premier fighting force, we’re an on-going experiment in social justice” bill, I say again……  do not sacrifice your patriotism, your youth, your physical health, your mind and spirit for a nation that cares more about undermining America than it does about your honorable service.

If you’re already in uniform… thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service and sacrifice… and take the first opportunity to get out and get back to your family and a different career. Become a contractor, they can still hire and reject who they want—and the pay’s much better.

Don’t ignore my warnings, young trooper, you have already have missed the last days of American as a serious military power; I don’t have to tell you, by the current rules of engagement, you aleady fight with virtually both arms restrained.

The subhumans hide in mosques and shoot your buddies, yet your superiors refuse to authorize an air strike to send them to pig heaven.

You want more of that? You want the nightmares, the teeth-fracturing rage at the government that sent you to a third-world shit hole so you can be killed while your commanding officers fill the ranks with homosexuals intent making your beloved branch just one more flamboyant, transvestite, transsexual hang out?  

Our glory days are gone; Vietnam was the writing on the wall. We, too, were the best there was and the same government filled almost 60,000 body bags with us because of repeatedly failed leadership, politicians personally picking air strike targets in North Vietnam and the willingness to trade American lives for votes.

Those were my days; we had a few good days in the Reagan days, but the truth is we haven’t fought to win a war since the summer of 1945.

And now that these fifth-columnists and out and out traitors have finally succeeded in destroying the last and only segment of the government that works—the military—do not sacrifice yourself for a suicide mission.

• Right now you serve under an unqualified affirmative action hire who as commander in chief, bows to the very subhumans who want you dead. If it’s a choice between a haji and you… you’re going under the bus.
• Now there is a woman heading Homeland Security (in charge of your family’s safety and well-being) while you’re over there catching bullets; her only qualification? She’s a dyke.

You see the pattern here, Breeder?

What happens now:

It will take weeks, a few months, but the left’s homosexual social engineering agenda will begin to undermine the most power military in world history, and eventually we’ll die and turn to dust from within, still never having lost a war.

When the first transsexual marches down to the local recruiters (followed by the alerted news traitors) the military will become a laughing stock.

This “out” queer will be enlisted and then followed through boot camp like Elvis Presley was back in the 50s, and the entire purpose of the charade will be nothing more the attempt to find grounds for an anti-discrimination law suit.

We’ve been through this part before…

Many years ago it was called “Dupe Shannon Faulkner helps feminists destroy The Citadel”.

…. and the result of that bit of social engineering by the far left?

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) -- Almost 20 percent of the female cadets at The Citadel last spring reported being sexually assaulted since enrolling at the state military college, according to results of a survey released by the school Wednesday. (2006)

On Aug. 15, 1995, after four whole hours of military indoctrination training, she spent the remainder of the first week in the infirmary before voluntarily resigning, citing emotional and psychological abuse and physical exhaustion. After her departure, the male cadets openly celebrated.

What was accomplished, considering Fat Ass Faulkner couldn't hack a whole day of physical training and quit, leaving the Citadel in turmoil, its long and honored tradition in tatters?

And she quit.

Was it about the military, an education, duty , honor country… hell no, it was about a feminist agenda to help undermine American society.

Faulkner now teaches at Hughes Academy Of Science and Technology, a middle school, in Greenville, S.C. The ten-year-old spawn of left wingers… sounds about like what she can handle.

The great likelihood is that our military will simply grind to a halt, awash in federal investigations, waves of UCMJ charges, careers ruined, promotions dashed. Sergeant Tutu of the Interior Design Unit will take his life partner to some state where same-sex marriage is “legal”, sign the papers and then demand a dependent’s ID card, health care, military pay increase, access to base privileges and housing and will expect an invitation to the Commanding Officer's wife’s spouses' group.

There will be hell to pay if any/all of that is not immediately forthcoming. And there you have it… the federal government has just recognized same sex marriage. 

In the ranks:

Our very gay-friendly Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Mike Mullen is already on record about the 60-percent of those in combat arms who oppose homosexuals acting out in the military: 

If you don’t like, get the hell out.

“We treat each other with respect or we find another place to work. Period,” he said… adding that some soldiers and Marines may want separate shower facilities. “Some may ask for different berthing. Some may even quit the service. We’ll deal with that.” Mullen said.

Yes, that’s right…  Staff Sergeant, Captain, Lance Corporal, Submariner… “love it or leave it.”

Thank God and Chesty Puller that my Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos was immediately on record, opposing the repeal and protecting his Marines, not pushing some bullshit political agenda. In a very measured and restrained understatement Amos said that the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" could cause a "distraction" to troops and potentially endanger lives.

"Look, anything that's going to break or potentially break that focus and cause any kind of distraction may have an effect on cohesion...I don't want to permit that opportunity to happen."

I don't want to lose any Marines to the distraction," Amos said. "I don't want to have any Marines that I'm visiting at Bethesda (Naval Medical Center) with no legs be the result of any type of distraction."

Are you ready to pay for sex change operations and 6’4”, 230-pound Air Force admin personnel in skirts and size 12 black patent leather pumps?

And what of AIDS and other STDs, just how quickly will they spread through an openly gay organization… look what’s happened in Hollywood and on Broadway.

And taxpayers, you’ll pick up all the medical costs of the very expensive treatment, meds, separate hospital wards and all the rest. And that part of the budget will be lavishly spent on sexually irresponsible gays and reduce the amount of funds for the rest of the military. 

And what will happen on the battlefield when an openly gay solider is wounded? Take it from anyone who’s been there… even small wounds bleed; big wound bleed all over the damned place; you gonna jump right in there, risk your life for some political agitators’ view of a military utopia?  

If you don’t, I’ll guarantee that you will be persecuted under the UCMJ; you will be found guilty and you will be punished and jailed.

Here are some issues raised by FamilySecurityMatters.org:

• What if an openly gay NCO orders his recruits to shower naked? What if an openly gay officer favors other gay subordinates during her annual performance reviews?
• At an extreme, what if a unit commander, openly gay, insists that his (or her) subordinates all wear the same uniform, forcing some to cross-dress? 
• Even the absurd has to be considered, especially if one reviews the incongruous behavior of many of the openly gay community who like to display their pride in their sexuality.

(The above is exactly what will occur inside the military as soon as the militant gays in uniform start down their list of further grievances.)

Homosexuals will no longer be forced to keep it in their pants, as it were, and will do what they always do… pushy, annoying, insincere about the military mission… out and proud… and definitely loud.

There will be sensitivity training for the haters and homophobes which will certainly increase the Esprit d'Corps and unity, won't it? 

The repeal of DADT is not the end… it is only the beginning.

I mean after all, we should be more enlightened like the Europeans… right?

And if you disagree, refuse, complain, take action for the good of the mission, you will be considered a troublemaker at best and at worst you’ll be busted out of the military on a “hate crime”… you think not?

Where you been the last 30 years?

Heroes and those who steal from them…

Over much of my life I have tried to learn and commit to memory everything I could absorb about the Medal of Honor.

To me The Medal especially but really, all valor awards, epitomize what it means to be an American—sacrifice, service, optimism, strength of character, courage and the willingness to die for the cause of freedom and liberty.

Thus it should be personally painful for all Real Americans when these noble men, these living national treasures, join their comrades in eternal and honored slumber.

Deaths last week of Vernon Baker of Idaho and and Nicky Bacon, a past President of the Congressional medal of Honor Society leave the number of living Recipients at 88.

Army First Lt. Vernon Joseph Baker, above, was born 17 December, 1919, passed away at his home in Idaho last last Tuesday. Cited for his heroism in World War II with the Distinguished Service Cross, his was finally awarded the Medal of Honor in 1997 after it was determined he should have been awarded the MOH outright.

His additional personal decorations include the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart; he will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Details are pending.

Army First Sgt. Nicky Daniel Bacon, born 25 November, 1945, passed away today at his home in Arkansas, also after a long battle with cancer.

U.S. Army from 1963 to 1984 and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Richard Nixon for his actions during an August 26, 1968 battle near Tam Ky, Vietnam.  

Bacon dedicated his life to helping the nation’s veterans, and served as Director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs from 1993 until 2005.

Bacon was the guest of the Medal of Honor Host City Program in Gainesville Texas in 2005 when this photograph was taken.

An oak tree was planted to commemorate his visit.

In addition to the Medal of Honor, Bacon's personal decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross, the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars (with “V” device) and the Purple Heart.

He will buried at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock on Saturday, July 24.

Additional information coverage here.

My friend in Colorado, Doug Sterner, has forgotten more about the Medal of Honor than I know; he and his wife, Pam, are tireless in the defense of America and especially the truth.

Yes, truth in that there are hundreds of times more Americans who claim to have earned the Medal of Honor than the surviving 88 who have.

Veterans are fighting back… here’s just one of myriad websites dedicated to uncovering and pressuring prosecutions of frauds and imposters… Stolen Valor.com

News Item:

After examining Who's Who and obituaries, the Chicago Tribune used military records to unearth 84 bogus Medals of Honor, 119 Distinguished Service Crosses, 99 Navy Crosses, five Air Force Crosses and 96 Silver Stars.

…. and that doesn’t even make a dent in the numbers of despicable liars, frauds and con artists guilty of the worst kind of theft.

The Sterners through their Home of Heroes.com literally wrote the first draft of the Stolen Valor Act which made it a federal crime for unauthorized persons to wear, buy, sell, barter, trade or manufacture "any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the armed forces of the United States, or any of the service medals or badges awarded to the members of such forces."

Doug and Pam and were successful in getting it through Congress, seeing it become law in 2005.

It only took one federal judge a stroke of a pen to undo all their years of hard work and leave our history and the nation’s honor vulnerable as never before.

This is devastating to the nation’s veterans and under this fifth-columnist-run government, there is a good chance the judges’ decision will not be overturned.

DENVER -- A federal judge has ruled the Stolen Valor Act unconstitutional, and on Friday dismissed charges against a man accused of lying about being an Iraqi war veteran.

In hearing the criminal case against Rick Strandlof, federal Judge Robert E. Blackburn said that the Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional because it violates free speech. (Read judge's decision).

Strandlof, aka Rick Duncan, claimed he was an Iraq vet who was injured during combat. He said he served three tours in Iraq and was at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. He also falsely claimed to have received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star.

I’ve include this waste-of-skin’s photo to do my small part in identifying someone who should be shunned by the nation, not just veterans.

Here Strandlof is shown speaking at the Colorado Veterans Monument another great friend of mine and tireless advocate, Tim Drago, and a small group of dedicated vets, dedicated 20 years to see become a reality. (See here for his current undertaking… Tim is not known to sleep).

In the Stolen valor decision, essentially, the judge ruled that lying, and the bigger the better, is protected free speech under the First Amendment.

Strandlof, 32, was charged with five federal misdemeanors of claiming that he had been awarded a Purple Heart Medal and Silver Star Medal. All charges have been dismissed.

Not surprisingly, he American Civil Liberal Liars Union of Colorado and the Rutherford Institute, a Virginia-based nonprofit civil liberties group, all filed briefs in the case, arguing the Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional since it's not illegal to lie.

One of my favorite intel blogs, In From The Cold, has a very good piece on this outrage here under “Why Judges matter”.

Doug recently had a great success in unmasking a fake hero right here in the heart of Texas… it didn’t matter that the revered “war hero” was taking a dirt nap in the Texas State Cemetery.

Also from In From the Cold….

Even in death, Texas state senator (and former U.S. attorney) Charles Ferguson Herring was hailed as a war hero.

During his lifetime, Herring claimed to have won the Navy Cross, three Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star as a Navy officer during World War II. Herring also stated that he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the naval reserve, before leaving the service in the mid-1950s.

As you might have guessed, Herring's claims of valor were nothing but lies. Doug Sterner, who runs a website honoring military heroes, obtained copies of the late senator's military records under the Freedom of Information Act.

While Mr. Herring served as a junior officer in the Navy (and Naval Reserve) from 1943-1953, he never received any decorations for valor, and was never wounded in combat.

All references to Herring’s “heroism” and fraudulent military claims have been stripped from the Texas State Cemetery’s website, but of course his damned carcass is allowed to remain in the same ground as Recipients BGen. Robert Galer, Maj. George O’Brien and Sgt. Jim Logan.

See A Hero No More -- scroll down to July 13.

Our ANZAK brothers battle the same problem, here.

The ramifications of ending “don’t ask, don’t tell”

It appears that the machinery is in place to allow homosexual activists to crush another of society’s core values as the Obama administration rolls, hell-bent on changing “our traditions, our history….”

Tomorrow, in the first Congressional hearing on the issue in 17 years, SecDef Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen will unveil the Pentagon’s initial plans for carrying out a repeal of the so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the military.

The process requires an act of Congress and with the White House, Senate and House in control of left-wing radicals, the outcome is hardly surprising.

Until that happens, it is assumed that the DoD will not discharge service members whose sexual orientation is revealed by third parties or jilted partners, or perhaps no homosexuals at all will be discharged during the interim.

First of all, the present law does not ban homosexuals from enlistment. Secondly, many (most?) homosexuals have served capably and honorably. 

So how did an estimated 13,000 gay men and lesbians get the boot since the law was passed in 1993?

Simple. They placed themselves above the good of their military unit, their armed forces and their country. They had to “come out” because their panties were in permanent twist and they were “tired of living a lie”, as the cliché goes. 

Such people are selfish, immature, untrustworthy, and petulant; I wouldn’t want to be around someone like that, let alone place my life in their hands.

Most gay people I have known, worked with or considered friends had a common flaw… their sexual preference ruled their lives, it was paramount in their conversation, activities, circle of friends. You ask about the weather and you’ll immediately hear about the first openly gay meteorologist, or “did you know that Abe Lincoln was gay?”

Hands down, the best teacher in my small central California high school was gay and was certainly not “out”, in the early and mid-60s. That’s because what mattered most to him was hammering as much English and literature into our skulls as possible. He was not preoccupied with whether or not Liberace was giving his people a bad name. 

Simply, he put us first, he cared more for his students and his genius for the Socratic method than he did his sexual preference.

He was a fine man.

But today he would be vilified by an aggressive, thoughtless, militant and miniscule minority intent on whip-sawing the majority, even if it disrupts and damages our national defense.

So what will an openly gay military look like over the next few years? Based on the example of other minorities, it may well be disastrous.

Race-baiting blacks in entertainment, politics, and government quickly learned that they had left-wing whitey on the run and did not have to be content with “equal”. They could have more… much more.

They turned the hard won gains of the 1950s-60s civil rights movement on its head by placing race above all, by demanding and getting preferential treatment based on race in hiring, contracts, college admission and in a thousand other arenas.

Being black can be worth at least 150-300 points on your SATs; the drop out rate among “affirmative action” students at top colleges like Harvard and Yale is scandalous. That’s because the left doesn’t give a damn about education of blacks, the colleges just want the praise for admitting their quota of those with darker skin. 

If they flunk out six months or two years later, who cares?

Blacks are allocated lucrative contracts as “minority-owned contractors”; simply, you get a $10 million contract based on your skin color and your only competition is another black… damned good odds, eh?

In tomorrow’s “gay-friendly” military, self-appointed “leaders” of gay service members will pressure commanders to form “advisory groups” to investigate every Article 15 violation of the UCMJ committed by a homosexual, because the “out and proud” gay offender will claim prejudice by “homophobe” superiors.

Promotions or lack thereof will be in part determined by sexual preference, and commanders’ “records” on gay issues will be reviewed by “fairness” committees, boards and groups.

Subtly and informally at first, segregation in the name of integration will grow. Gays will eat together in the chow hall, recreate together and live together and over time squad leaders, sergeants, lower-ranking officers will be making decisions based as much on sexual preferences as the needs and mission of the military.

“Breeders” will be discriminated against by openly gay superiors, and their demands for “equality” will almost immediately be used as a license to be full-time bigots. 

In tomorrow’s military a colonel looking for his/her first star (and all of them are) will not be caught dead with a poor record on gay “rights”.

That could never happen, you say? 

Exhibit A: In the aftermath of the Ft. Hood mass murder by a Muslim traitor, Army Chief-of-Staff General George Casey said, “We have to be broad enough to bring in people from all walks of life. As horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.”

He wasn’t just speaking of religious diversity.

And it will not stop at gay men and lesbians. It will expand to bi-sexuals, transgendered, transsexuals and the terminally confused.

Legally, the federal government cannot allow the openly gay and deny cross-dressers or those “trapped in the wrong body”; city and state governments have already been forced to pay for “sex-reassignment surgery” for employees, and pay for health insurance of same sex partners.

All this comes at a very bad time because today’s military leadership is now soft, malleable, given to being swayed by the society at large… they all want to be politicians and so change the military for their purpose.

With one bright exception: “General James T. Conway, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, had major reservations (about ending don’t ask, don’t tell).

“But as a practical matter, the military would follow the orders of the commander in chief.” -- NYT.

But Conway won’t be commandant much longer, and in the end civilians control the military.

So to the list of everything Barack Hussein Obama has already damaged or destroyed, we can add the military.

Hope and Change Health Care

Once more I take keyboard in finger to explain the future; the future of Obamacare, if it is not strangled in its crib by Real America.

Two months ago I requested an appointment with my physician assistant in the Denton VA Clinic, about 45 minutes from my town.  Then five weeks ago, I received a referral to the ENT clinic at the Dallas VA hospital for the removal of a questionable cyst.

Today this required a 1:40-hour drive to south Dallas. I reported to Clinic #8 on the third floor and was ushered into a suite where I assumed the cyst would be surgically removed and sent to pathology. 

The young, efficient ENT surgeon examined the cyst and immediately decided that it should be removed on….. February 22.

Paper in hand I next proceed to “travel pay” where I would get $.30-some per mile for mileage. Unexpectedly I saw about 70 people gathered near the elevator where a sign proclaimed: “Temporary travel”.

I quickly learned that there was a “new “ system: take a number and wait for someone to give you paperwork for your reimbursement. I pulled a number—465.

“What number you got?” I asked a wheelchair vet.

“372,” he said. “Last I heard they were on 350-something. I’ve been here about a half-hour”.

I decided to go to the 1st floor where the travel office was originally located.

Great, I thought, the line was only about 20 people-deep, but they all had a sheet of paper.

I inquired.

The mileage verification paper had to come from the third floor or the desk past the VA canteen, or about 200 yards away. 

Natch… I went to the distant office.

The clerk looked up… yes, he could give me the mileage verification… and gestured to the line which numbered 40-50 men.

Needless to say, I wasn’t going to wait for 60-90 minutes for $40-50, so I headed for freedom.

Until…..  I saw a display of caps and stopped to buy a $9 Marine Corps cap (natch!) for which the guy thanked me, and for my service and mentioned that my money went to the Veterans Administration.

You wanted Obamacare… this is what you get. Losing $59 and getting no medical care.

“We’re pinned down!!”

"We are pinned down. We are running low on ammo. We have no air. We've lost today," Marine Maj. Kevin Williams, 37, said through his translator to his Afghan counterpart, responding to the latter's repeated demands for helicopters.

Four of Williams’ Special Operations Command Marines lay dead near a fortress-like Afghan village Tuesday—as their comrades fought on, their ammo running low.

America, your sons are being slaughtered—intentionally sacrificed—because Commander-in-Chief Obama and his top commanders want to limit possible civilian casualties in the war-torn country… buying Afghani lives for Americans.

With sniper rounds impacting old inches away, Maj. Williams persisted in his demands for gunships, air strikes, arty… anything that would keep the dug-in rags’ heads down so his people could pull back to a better defensive position.

In early June the new U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal ordered new operational standards, including a directive to refrain from firing on structures where insurgents may have taken refuge among civilians unless their own troops are in imminent danger. Officials hoped the change in ROE (rules of engagement) will reduce tensions between U.S. forces and Afghan citizens, and build a "civilian surge" to improve reconstruction and governance.

But thousands of miles from the air conditioned Oval Office, the four Marines were placed in body bags along with eight Afghan troops and an Afghan interpreter who were killed in the ambush and battle that raged from dawn until 2 p.m. in eastern Kunar province, close to the Pakistan border.

Embedded reporter Jonathan S. Landay, right: 

"This is unbelievable. We have a platoon (of Afghan army) out there and we've got no Hotel Echo," (Army Capt.) Swenson shouted above the din of gunfire, using the military acronym for high explosive artillery shells. "We're pinned down."

Finally, more than an hour after the ambush was sprung, a string of dense smoke, white phosphorus artillery rounds was used to shield the unit’s retreat to better cover.

Of his new policy, Gen. McChrystal has said his measure of effectiveness will be the “number of Afghans shielded from violence” — not the number of militants killed, adding that is our troops taking fire from and they can remove themselves from the area safely, without any undue danger to the forces, then that’s the option they should take.”

During the firefight, Afghan women and children inside the village compound were observed resupplying the Taliban fighters with ammunition.

It’s been a very long time, but America used to be a country of winners, a nation that had the ability to unleash overwhelming, full-on, titanic, and therefore short, low-casualty wars.

Apparently we left all that in the locker after WWII.

Since then untold tens of thousands of American lives have been sacrificed on the alter of politics presided over by superiors unworthy of our troops’ trust.

Korea—only five years after WWII—was fought in exactly this manner. Gone was “go big or don’t go at all”, the unofficial motto of vastly superior armies, and in its’ place Robert McNamara and Lyndon Johnson would later be personally picking bombing targets in North Vietnam. 

The first choice of today’s limp-wristed, metro-sexual politicians is to not fight at all, become an equal-partner world government via the United Nations…. I call that surrendering without firing a shot.

Barack Hussein Obama is only a little lighter in the loafers…. scared of his own shadow, apologizing for this own country, and hoping that our enemies will eat us last;  you know… the guy that doesn’t like the sound of the word “surrender”; what’s his alternative….? “Yankee, you die!!”, “banzi!!, or perhaps, “do you want a blindfold?”

We can’t fight back, we can’t yell: get the f**k outta that damned mosque! We’re vaporizing it in an hour”; we can’t use certain ammunition, we can’t use our superior firepower.

But what about intel gathering which prevents or reduces loss of life on both sides? Not just “no”, but “Hell no!!!”

such as:

• no shouting, pushing, or taking his library card 
• tell him he’s facing east when he’s really pointed north.
• telling him his mum died.
• Forcing the detainee to be naked, perform sexual acts, or pose in a sexual manner.
• Placing hoods or sacks over the head of a detainee; using duct tape over the eyes.
• Applying beatings, electric shock, burns, or other forms of physical pain.
• Waterboarding.
• Using military working dogs.
• Conducting mock executions.
• Depriving the detainee of necessary food, water or medical care.
• Threats to turn the individual over to others to be abused.
• Certain humiliating or degrading treatment.
• Implying harm to the individual or his property.
• Threatening to separate parents from their children.

“Good evening, Mr. Iwishi Hadanaudi. Let me tell you about tonight’s specials here at Club Gitmo.”

So what all this means is that without intel from newly-captured POWs/captives, an important—if not the most important—weapon, is neutralized.

As one jarhead observed last month: “The Iraqis (on the battlefield) already know the game. They know how to play us. Unless you catch the Iraqis in the act, it is very hard to pin anything on anyone; we can’t even use basic police interrogation tactics.”

So……. right now, right this very moment Army Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, 23, of Hailey, Idaho, has been missing from his base in eastern Afghanistan on June 30.

On July 3, officials declared him "missing-captured."

He has been ID’ed in this photo released by the Taliban.

Bergdahl is a member of 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, and I assure you that he now lives in terror every moment of his young life.

And….. I’ll guarantee you that America will let him die—probably by a slow and crude beheading, because we won't peel back someone’s fingernail(s) to find out where in the goddamedhell he is.

His father would, his mom would, his grandma would, my friends would, I would.

America won’t.

Goodnight, Pfc. Berghdahl, you acquitted yourself with dignity, but your nation failed you.

Rest in Peace.

First to fall…. US casualties in Vietnam honored 50 years later

 

Their photographs seem more at home in the ‘40s than the ‘60s, yet career soldiers Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand (left) and Maj. Dale Buis, right, and are my comrades; today they would have been 95 and 88, respectively.

They died together, along with two South Vietnamese soldiers during a Viet Cong attack on their outpost in Bien Hoa, July 8, 1959; I was in the fifth grade.

The two Americans, part of a group of six, had gathered in the mess hall for a movie—“The Tattered Dress," starring Jeanne Crain.

In the purist’s view of war, they were assassinated more than “killed in action”; in the early days of the war the VC were more terrorists in scope than a military unit… much like today’s al-Qaeda or Hamas.

The Viet Cong targeting the outpost had penetrated the center of the base and surrounded the darkened mess hall, taking up firing positions at various windows. When Ovnand switched on the lights to change movie reels, the VC sprayed automatic weapons fire into the small room. 

In the first murderous hail of bullets, Ovnand and Major Buis fell and died within minutes. Captain Howard Boston of Blairsburg, Iowa was seriously wounded. Vietnamese troops arrived quickly, but the rest of the VC had fled.

Buis had arrived in country just two days before and Ovnand was just 30 days away from ending his yearlong tour and heading home when they were killed. Both were assigned to MAAG (U.S. Army Military Assistance Advisory Group in Vietnam). Buis left a wife and three sons, one whom survives, but little is known about Ovnand other than he was married.

Based on eyewitness accounts, Buis is listed as the first American killed in the Vietnam War, and Ovnand the second… Panel 1E, Row 1.

Ironically the government, the army, fate, or all the above couldn’t even manage a brief, accurate record of MSgt. Ovnand’s life:  

• Ovnand (also called Charles Ovnand, but listed on The Wall as Chester) was from Copperas Cove, Texas
• Army records conflict as to his name—Charles Melvin Ovnand or Chester Melvin Ovnard—though that the latter appears on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; probably a result of general consensus among the planners.
• But…. his name is misspelled on The Wall as Chester N. Ovnard.

Old Soldiers

As must we all, I’ve made my peace with “becoming part of history”, taking my place along side the WWII/Korean War generation… and in reality, WWI and the Civil War for that matter. That’s the fate of old soldiers as Gen. MacArthur phrased it… we “just… fade away.”

For most younger Americans, especially those with no ties to the military, Vietnam is no more relevant than the wars of 1865, 1917, 1941, 1950… perhaps less so.

If that is true… and I must insist on the point… then we will all be forgotten one day, proven to have existed only by the memorials to our fallen that we paid to be erected; the irony of course is that only the dead like MSgt. Ovnand and Maj. Buis have a granite, marble or bronze chance of being remembered at all.     

Much worse is the sad fact is that far more Americans know and care about a deceased Michael Jackson than they do about any/all of our service-members around the world; and far more Americans knew and cared more about a live Jackson far, far more than they did about any or all of our dead soldiers.

It has been that way my entire adult life; before that….  the average grade school kid could name various WWII US aircraft on sight, as well as many of the Allies’. Today, the average grown man cannot tell the difference between a senior Navy chief and a Green Beret, but his children are quite aware of contestants on American Idol…  I use both terms in this context loosely… very loosely.

Remember: 68 million Americans voted for Barack Obama…. the candidate who stood amid the masses of Germans and exclaimed that he was an American… yes, but more so a “citizen of the world.” 

The Fifth Columnist-in-Chief has spent the last two years blaming, criticizing, even apologizing for me and my comrades, living and dead, for all the problems we at the tip of the spear have have caused. 

One of those dismissed and disrespected by his “commander-in-chief” is the subject of the article below, and those of us who care will never forget his sacrifice.

We honor him and ask your prayers for Army 1st Lt. Brian N. Bradshaw, of Steilacoom, Wash., KIA in Afghanistan, and his family.

Lt. Bradshaw served with the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.

A Soldier Comes Home

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

On July 5, The Post published a letter from Martha Gillis of Springfield, whose nephew, Lt. Brian Bradshaw, was killed in Afghanistan on June 25, the day that Michael Jackson died. The letter criticized the extensive media coverage of Jackson's death compared with the brief coverage of Lt. Bradshaw's death. Among the responses was the following letter, written July 9 by an Air National Guard pilot and a fellow member of the crew that flew Lt. Bradshaw's body from a forward base in Afghanistan to Bagram Air Base. Capt. James Adair, one of the plane's pilots, asked the editorial page staff to forward the letter to the Bradshaw family. He and Brian Bradshaw's parents then agreed to publication of these excerpts. (Read entire story: The Washington Post) 

 

                                            (U.S. Air Force photo/Roland Balik)

Iwo Jima Hero George Wahlen, MOH, passes away

“The Quiet Hero” is gone.

I first met George Wahlen in 1993 at a gathering of Iwo Jima veterans. He asked our small group if we’d ever read the reverse side of the Medal of Honor which carries an engraving of the citation.

And with that… and the quip, “…from Harry Truman hands to mine, to yours”…  he removed it from around his neck and passed it to us.

He was that kind of person… an humble family man who served well his nation, his faith and his community.

His death Friday leaves his good friend Woody Williams the sole surviving Medal of Honor Recipient from the hell that was the battle for Iwo Jima, 1945.

Jack Lucas preceded him in death last June; now Woody is the only one of 13 of Iwo’s 27 MOH Recipients who lived to wear the distinctive decoration.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Read here for the Salt Lake City Tribune’s coverage.

George had agreed to come to Gainesville for our 2010 MOH weekend after poor health forced him to cancel last April.

This weekend we’ve hosted 10 Recipients and held a moment of silence this morning for George and other Recipients who have passed away this year.

Shown are Vietnam Recipients Jon Cavaiani and Roger Donlon.

Slouching toward oblivion......

Increasingly, I've come to see conservatives--real conservatives and libertarians--in the role of the WWII French Underground or the famed Aussie "coastwatchers" who were so instrumental in intelligence gathering in the Pacific war.

Living by their wits, in secrecy or in complete hiding, they held on long enough of the world mobilized to fight and eventually defeat the oppressive regimes which threatened the end to liberty and freedom.

I don't think I need belabor the analogy further.

As I gaze out over the landscape or the windward side out our position, the threats are so numerous it is difficult to even establish a target priority list.

For the sake of argument, let us consider the socialists' attempt to destroy the best health care system in the world.

So what if you're happy, as the majority are, with your employer-funded health insurance plan?

Today the Senate is considering limiting, "but not eliminating" (yet) the tax-free status of employer-provided health benefits to help pay for Obama's plan to provide coverage to 50 million uninsured Americans.

Follow?

Fewer tax deduction breaks for your employer on the insurance plan means an ever-increasing co-pay for you, a switch to cheaper and inferior health insurance plans, and the eventual elimination of this "benefit" by your employer.

But wait! There's more less!

I believe that within the next 18 months the socialists will attempt to pass a law which will tax your previously tax-free employee benefits package as income. Lets say that you make $50k and the company benefits amount to $15K; you'll be taxed at $65,000 even though you only "make" $50,000.    

See how this collectivist Ponzi scheme works? Heads, they win; tails you loose.

We are within a six-seven years of  of Social Security retirement and disability expenses exceed revenues. Medicare, in true Obamanist workers' paradise fashion, already operates in the red. Obama's answer to the niggling problem?

More Medicare!

All this is teetering on the edge as the first massive wave of SS-entitled baby-boomers hits eligibility age.

All assets generated since the birth of social security will be utterly exhausted, zeroed, bankrupt by 2037--and that date will be revised each year as reality sets in under the current regime.

• First, look for the social security retirement age to be extended,
• SS taxes will increase on the significantly smaller pool of tax-paying workers (read: your children and grandchildren),
• SS (&DI) benefits--following the model of the looming colossus that is national health insurance--will be limited, restricted and in a growing percentage of cases, denied.   

Let's use me, born in 1948, as an example:

The earliest a person can start receiving Social Security retirement benefits is 62. If I start receiving retirement benefits at age 62, I'll get 75% of the monthly benefit because I'll be receiving benefits 48 months "early".

A spouse (no longer my problem) at full retirement age, will get 50% of the monthly benefit your spouse would receive if his or her benefits started at full retirement age. At 62, you will get 35% of the monthly benefit instead of 50% because you will be getting benefits for an additional 48 months.

Next:

In 1950, 16 workers paid SS taxes for each retiree. Today, the ratio is roughly 3:1. And by the time I lead my entire gigantic group of "seniors" into Obama's socialist Utopia there will be just two workers to support every retiree.

Fewer workers for more retirees mean each worker bears an increasing financial burden to pay the benefits that Social Security has promised.

The original Social Security tax was just 2 percent on the first $3,000 that a worker earned, a maximum tax of $60 per year. By 1960, payroll taxes had risen to 6 percent. Today's workers pay a payroll tax of 12.4 percent.  Soon the payroll tax will have to be raised to more than 18 percent--a 50 percent increase.  Source: "Social Security: Follow the math" 

Just wait, kids... you "progressives" who elected a socialist/union thug, forget 12 percent; you'll soon be looking for a second job just to pay your taxes.    

And those of you who for some reason counted only on Social Security for retirement... I'm sorry, there's an ice floe waiting.  

The numbers don't lie, and the socialists will never let you manage your on SS accounts which would allow a far greater return over your working life; no, you'll be forced in the pay as you go and unlike your parents...  you'll never see a red cent of all that you pay in.

 Veterans (especially disabled veterans):

I'll expand on the specific threats to us in another post, but here's what I see from my coastline; As SS, SSDI, and Medicare grind to a halt, the wards of the state will be unloaded on the already limited services of the over-taxed VA hospital system.

Let that sink in.

Soon, your wait in a VA emergency room will go from a measly three hours to double that, as the sick, lame and lazy, the homeless, the schizoids, the poor and the free loaders crowd you out.   

Sarge: Hold on, GA. They don't qualify, the VA is only for veterans and dependents and nobody else.

GA: That's true as of, oh, 1330 hours on Wednesday, 13 May, 2009; but just wait and watch. As the inexorable numerical and financial forces crush all the massive entitlement programs, the VA system will be nationalized just like banks, car companies and now, private health insurance.

Worse, as soon as being a veteran in the VA "system" means nothing, the hordes will move ahead of you in line as "our" health insurance system will cut back, limit services, aggressively triage (without regard to your veteran status) and our ice floe will have an American flag on it... ."thanks for your service". 

So what do we do guys?

Pressure your respective vets' organization to go on the attack and stop sending you a magazine full of "grip and grin" photos of National Commander Poo-Bah shaking hands with Sen. Bobby-Joe Porkbarrel at some banquet.

Enough pointy-hat socializing and gee-whiz attitude... insist the national leadership immediately formulate a pre-emptive strike strategy and hit Obama before he unleashes the blitzkrieg on us.

It's our hospital and health insurance system--we paid for it up front--and you'll have to go through us to nationalize it.

Contribute more to your group's political action committee and not so the Regional Vice President of Chaplains to attend the National Chaplains' Association in Key West....in January.

Pay your dues. Organize your local veterans.

We are the smallest minority in America and will with the passing of our WWII comrades be less than significant to this government.

We are deluding ourselves if we continue to think that 1.) veterans are respected, and 2.) veterans will always be treated with deference since it is we "who have borne the battle."

Once you realize that the guy ahead of you in the VA pharmacy line is a gay, non-English speaking community organizer from ACORN.... it'll be too late.

Resume your coast-watching.