It's been 2 weeks since I last posted.  Much has occurred, but nothing momentous.  We held our monthly Lowcountry Myasthenia Gravis Support Group meeting last Saturday.  I began physical therapy again and my 2004 Kia Optima is mortally wounded, I fear.  It is in the Autokrankenhaus (car hospital) today and I don't know when it will be ready.  Probably tomorrow and I am seriously considering trading it.  The only question is "for what"?  Doing my due diligence now.

The political climate is darkening. The Repubs are holding their nominating convention in Tampa next week and it looks like Hurricane Isaac will be an unwelcome attendee.  The Dems are meeting in Charlotte the following week.  After that, the Presidential contest will begin in earnest.  More on it later.

Wow!  Over this past weekend we had our daughter, her husband and two of our three grandchildren plus a teen-age grandniece of Ute and a classmate of our granddaughter, Annabelle, visiting.  I can truly say, I now know why God doesn't let men my age have small children.  I dearly love them, but they are exhausting.  My grandson, Theo, is a ball of fire and a real boy. He wanted to find golf balls, catch frogs and play dominoes.  We did all and he and his dad played golf on both Saturday and Sunday at our club, RiverTowne Country Club.  I miss them already.

That said, the week is progressing "interestingly".  The Obama campaign has accused Mitt Romney of causing the death of a steel worker who was put out of work when a steel mill which was acquired by Bain Capital (several years after Romney left the organization).  According to the commercial, the steel worker lost his pension benefits and health care coverage and his wife subsequently ("shortly thereafter") died of cancer and it's all Romney's fault.  The truth is that, as stated above, Romney had left Bain Capital three years before the company went bankrupt.  Also, the steel worker's wife died SIX YEARS after the closing of the steel plant and, oh yes, she had health care coverage from her own employer.  But don't let facts get in the way of a good slander of your political opponent.  They have no shame.

I'm just sayin'.

The last day of July.  Where the heck has the time gone?  The XXX Olympiad is underway in London.  BORING!  At least because of the time delay and NBC's poor handling of the events and scheduling.

Day after tomorrow, Barbara and her family with 2 of our 3 grandchildren will be here for their annual visit.  We are certainly looking forward to seeing them and learning about what they are doing and seeing how they are growing.

Less than 100 days until the Most Important Election of my lifetime....when the American voters determine if we are to continue on this disastrous trajectory toward a totalitarian government which controls all of our activities.  And, in case you think it is just at the Federal level, I refer you to Mayor Bloomberg of NYC.  This unbelievable tyrant is imposing his own sense of how we should live on all New Yorkers.  The latest is his decree that new mothers must breast-feed and that the hospitals cannot allow them to introduce formula to their newborns without "counseling" and that bottles of formula are to be controlled just like medications.  Of course, they are against counseling young women who are about to take the life of their unborn child when they seek an abortion.  Unbelievable.  And unbelievable that the citizens of NYC put up with this nonsense.

I am attaching a rather long e-mail which I received a couple of weeks ago and which I think might be of interest. 

I received this from a friend who is a retired Master Chief Petty Officer of the USN.  He was also a volunteer with me and others at the Medal of Honor Convention held in Charleston a couple of years ago.  Ken is a true patriot and, like many of us former military, deeply concerned with what is taking place in our country.  This is not as far-fetched as one might hope.  Read it and think......

"The Obama agents, through the DHS and other assorted colluders, are plotting a major ‘Reichstag’ event to generate racial riots and produce the justification for martial law, delaying the November 2012 elections, possibly indefinitely, a DHS whistleblower informed the Canada Free Press.

The ‘Reichstag Event’ would take the form of a staged assassination attempt against Barack Obama, “carefully choreographed” and manufactured by Obama operatives. It would subsequently be blamed on “white supremacists” and used to enrage the black community to rioting and looting, the DHS source warned.
The Obama administration would then use the violence and chaos they created as justification for the imposition of martial law in major urban cities in America , the creation of DHS checkpoints, restriction of travel, and the indefinite delay of the November 2012 elections.
The Reichstag event refers to a fire started during Hitler’s rise to power. The fire allowed him to grab emergency powers and murder his opposition. Historians have long believed that Hitler started the fire himself, while he blamed it on the Communists.

The anonymous whistleblower elaborated on how the Obama administration is using the Occupy movement, labor unions, and other assorted subversive groups to create massive chaos within the nation.
“Using untracked campaign funds, they are paying people to infiltrate the various movements to cause physical destruction of property and disrupt commerce. That began last year, but has increased ten-fold already this year,” the DHS source shared.
“Obama is using some high profile people as pawns to foment the revolution. I heard several times through very credible sources that [Louis] Farrakhan is on the CIA payroll. Other have been named as well, but I’m not prepared to identify them yet. Farrakhan is to coordinate the Blacks and the Muslims to prepare for riots this summer, using any means necessary.”

The recent revelations appeared to complement warnings given by other government insiders, who alleged that Jeremiah Wright, Van Jones, Al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson were all agent provocateurs whose mission was to inflame racial tensions and spark open conflict in the streets of America .
According to the DHS source, a global economic collapse is coming, which the Obama administration is well aware of. They wish to build a system of global governance from the ashes of the previous financial system. In order for this mission to be completed, the Obama administration needs more time at the helm of power. Their reasons for concern are justified; as recently as May 8, influential political prognosticator Dick Morris predicted a Romney landslide if the election were held today.

 
The shocking news also seemed to confirm recent actions taken by the DHS, such as their purchase of 450 million rounds of ammunition and their recent BlackHawk helicopters operation in Chicago , which looked frighteningly similar to a civil unrest exercise, but was described as “routine training”.
The concept of a staged assassination attempt against Barack Obama is not new as well and was first voiced by a knowledgeable White House insider known only as “WHI”.

 
Ulsterman: So what is it? Pull what off?
Insider: A manufactured threat against the President of the United States . Something easily digested by the media and the American public. Not a real threat – something totally of their own making. They will use it if they need to – got no doubt whatsoever about that. Jarrett has approved the idea…and did so a long time ago. There were whispers of it during the 2008 campaign. McCain was so god-awful it never reached a serious consideration…but the plan was discussed. If needed – they were willing to go that route. It would be the ultimate use of the race card in the history of American politics. And…it would likely work if they got away with it.
Ulsterman: They would go that far? Risk something like that?
Insider: You don’t need to ask that question. Not after what we’ve discussed this past year. Not after what I’ve told you has proven out over and over again. So stop asking the fu—ing question. You need to accept the fact…if you haven’t done so yet – you need to accept the fact these people are playing for keeps. I told you – how many times? How many times have I said it? These are not Democrats. These folks are something else entirely. And they are willing to push the country – all of us, right against the fu—ing wall. Hard. I’m pushing back. Others are too. All of this is part of that effort. A small part, but an important one.
As with the Occupy movement, it appears as if the Obama administration executed a test-run of the plot, with a “shot being fired” at the White House. This would lend credibility when they choreographed the attempt for the masses.
As early as August 2011, WHI also predicted race riots coming in the summer of 2012. The use of the Trayvon Martin death and the subsequent incitements to violence by the media, Obama operatives, and useful idiots, followed by the subsequent threats by the NBPP of a coming “race war” appear to have been merely a sign of what’s to come.

 
Middle-class American citizens were shocked and appalled at the allegations, with many hoping they were not true. Some said they had harbored similar suspicions for quite some time, due to the many anomalies and inaccuracies emanating from the current operatives inhabiting the White House.
The DHS source claimed that campaign funds were being directly used to fund the incitements to violence and rioting that the Obama administration was seeking to spark.

“Using untracked campaign funds, they are paying people to infiltrate the various movements to cause physical destruction of property and disrupt commerce. That began last year, but has increased ten-fold already this year,” stated this source.
“He added that they are using some lower level DHS agents to make the payments under the context of tracking subversives, but they are the unwitting subversives.”
The use of campaign funds, funneled through DHS agents to street-level agitators for the purpose of fomenting violence, would be extremely legally questionable, if not outright illegal, certain legal experts shared.
Intelligence officials said that if the allegations were true, the degree to which extremists had penetrated the upper echelons of the American government, finance, and security structure was unparalleled.

“Let’s just say that we are not taking these accusations lightly,” one official remarked on condition of anonymity. “Certain figures will be placed under a microscope, along with their associates.”
Valerie Jarrett, the shadowy figure always at Obama’s side, has been accused by some of “manipulating” or “controlling’ the President. Just who does she work for? Who does she take orders from?
The possibility that Barack Obama’s operatives, under the direction of Valerie Jarrett, was actively involved in the facilitation of street violence and mob chaos disturbed citizens, with many deeming it unpatriotic, subversive, and possibly seditious.
“Isn’t this why HUAC was created?”, one middle-class citizen angrily questioned. “Congress must re-instate HUAC, hold hearings, and find out if there is any truth to this.”
The intensely close co-ordination of seemingly separate entities confirmed the suspicions of many that communist agents had infiltrated major institutions, organizations, and trade unions, and were working together to sabotage America.

Who is Valerie Jarrett?
“Their apparatus can be seen as a type of octupus, having many tentacles,” one intelligence source confided on condition of anonymity. “Occupy is one tentacle, the unions are another, the Black Panthers are another, the radical black/islamic supremacists(Wright, Farrakhan, Van Jones, Sharpton) are another, DHS and its’ umbrella agencies are another, the mainstream press is another,” the source explained. “These tentacles are all working together, seemingly separate, but eventually they are controlled by the same small group of people. They receive their directives and marching orders and mindlessly execute them.”
The intelligence official predicted that in the very near future, all of the seemingly separate entities would be clearly exposed as working together, co-ordinating their activities together, and driving for the same goal – the destruction of America as a constitutional republic, the destruction of its capitalist system, and the dethroning of the U.S. as a superpower."


Far-fetched? Maybe.... I'm not too sure, though.

I'm just sayin'

14 July 2012
Today is my dad's birthday.  He was born in 1905 and he would be 107 years old today.  Dad died in 1983 at the age of 78 years and 4 months.  He has been gone for 29 years and I still miss him.
Julian H. Carnes, Sr. was born on this date in Oneonta, Alabama, a small farm community north of Birmingham.  His grandfather, Green Berry Carnes, served in the Civil War and was a 1st Sergeant in an Alabama infantry regiment.  Dad was the third of 4 boys born to John Green Carnes and Donnie (Trammel) Carnes.  The oldest son, Dewey, was killed in a steel mill accident in 1915 (he was 17 years old).  The second son, Porter, died of a ruptured appendix in 1927 (he was 27 years old).  Julian and John moved, with their parents, to Florida in the great boom of the late 1920's.  They settled in the small town of Ojus, about 25 miles north of Miami where Papa Carnes tried to ply his trade as a carpenter.  Unfortunately, the boom was followed by the Great Depression and Papa was unsuccessful.  I remember him as a nursery man, raising plants and flowers for sale.  They lived in a small three room shack with no indoor plumbing or electricity.  Mama Carnes cooked with kerosene and they had a "2-holer" privy out back.  Dad had tried his hand at the steel industry prior to moving to Florida. He had traveled the "hillbilly highway" north to Pittsburgh where he found work in one of the steel mills.  He didn't stay long as he was overcome with homesickness.  When they got to Florida, dad worked in a number of jobs until he was able to get a position with the US Post Office.  He worked for the USPO for over 42 years before retiring as the Superintendent of Mails in Miami.  After he retired, he became a toll collector in the Florida Turnpike Authority and soon became a supervisor.  He worked there another 10 years retiring finally to a well-earned rest.  In the 1970's, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.  He underwent all the then-current surgeries and treatment until he finally succombed in November 1983.

Dad was a very serious, no-nonsense man. He didn't laugh much and I never remember him telling a joke or kidding around. While I know he loved me, I don't ever remember him saying it to me.  But he supported me in everything I did or tried to do.  His mantra was work and I don't know of any time he just kicked back and loafed.  He was firm but fair and he was, to me, the most important and influential male figure in my life.  He is gone and I still miss him.

Yesterday I mentioned the duty of senior NCO's to teach young officers the way of the Army.  Let me tell you of my own experience.

I was in my first duty assignment as a platoon leader in B Co, 10th Engineer Battalion, 3d Infantry Division (the Rock of the Marne Division) at Ft. Benning, GA.  Our company first sergeant was MSG (E-7) Ludwig Kraus (E-7 was the top enlisted grade at the time and the senior E-7 in a company became its first sergeant).  1SG Kraus was tall, broad shouldered, blond crew cut and blue eyes.  He looked like he should have been in the French Foreign Legion after WW2 after escaping from Germany with the fall of the 3d Reich.  But I digress.
As a hot-shot (in my own mind) lieutenant, I was full of ideas.  Every time I had one I thought had merit and which would make the Army much more efficient, I would go to the first sergeant and explain the idea and try to get him to help implement the idea.  Now the Army's divisions in those days (1956) were organized into the Pentomic Division, organized to fight on the nuclear battlefield, and there were no administrative functions beyond the daily Morning Report or any Army Regulations (AR) at the company level; they were all at battalion headquarters. 
Anyway.  When I would present an idea to the first sergeant, he would listen carefully and, when I was finished, he would usually say that it was a terrific idea, BUT....and he would cite some AR which he said specifically forbade what I was proposing.  I would mutter some mild obscenity and leave.  MSG Kraus would stick my idea in his desk drawer and life would go on.  Naturally, a few days later I would have another inspired (ha!) idea that I would work up and show to the first sergeant.  Again, he would listen, tell me why it could not be done and the same scenario would follow. 

Finally, I had an idea regarding training and I thought this idea was the best of the lot.  I went to Kraus and when he said that AR such-and-such forbade it, I said, "Bullshit, Top.  What was that AR you cited?  I am going to battalion and see for myself what it says."  He leaned back in his chair and said, "Finally.  It's about time you challenged my so-called reasons why you couldn't do something.  Lieutenant, you have to learn that there is ALWAYS someone who will try to block anything that upsets their routine or the status quo.  ALWAYS check for yourself.  Now, let's look at those idea again."  With that, he pulled out all of the ideas I had previously suggested and we went over them again.  A couple were good enough to try out and they worked.  But, more importantly, I learned that there are always obstructionists who will block any progress or change.  It is up to me (you) to decide how important is what you are suggesting.  Remember, it is often easier to obtain forgiveness than permission.
I'm just sayin'.

July 11, 2012
 
On this date in 1955 (57 years ago) I was sworn into the US Army as a Regular Army Second Lieutenant.  I was so proud.  I proceeded from Atlanta, GA (I was sworn in at the HQ, Third US Army, Fort McPherson) to the US Army Engineer School, Fort Belvoir, Va to attend the EOBC (Engineer Officers Basic Course). From there I went on to have a truly wonderful and satisfying career until I retired on the 31st of July, 1975, 20 years and 20 days of active federal commissioned service.  The rank I held longest was 0-5, Lieutenant Colonel, the rank at which I retired.  I regretted the decision to retire at 20 just about the day after I had actually done so.  I missed it so much then and I miss it more even today.  Military service gave me the pride in knowing I was contributing to the security of this country and that I was accomplishing something good.

I never had a bad assignment.  Some were more rewarding than others, but all were good and I enjoyed them.  I did them to the best of my ability and I hope I did them well.  There were a couple of highlights, though.

The best assignment I ever had was as a company commander in Korea in 1962-63.  I was CO of A Co., 8th Engineer Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, in the Spoonbill of South Korea.  We were just a few hundred yards south of the DMZ and north of the Imjin River.  No unescorted civilians were allowed in the Spoonbill and our mission was a) support of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry (:Gary Owen", Custer's old unit at the Little Bighorn.), b) Support of UN personnel in Panmunjom, and c) maintenance of the tank trails, bridges, and minefields in the DMZ.  The unit was outstanding with great officers and truly superior NCO's and soldiers. In fact, A/8E was awarded the Itschner Award, given each year for the outstanding company sized unit in the Army.  At that time, only one award was given, to active units, and 1963 was just the third year of the award.  I received a nice notice suitable for framing from the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) which hangs on my wall today.

The next best job was as CO, 24th Engineer Battalion, 4th Armored Division, in Nuernberg/Fuerth, Germany in 1968-71.  That was also the toughest assignment.  There was much turmoil in the Army then.  Vietnam was in full force and we were short handed and supplies were short and replacement of men and supplies was sporadic.  In fact, we received replacement soldiers who were draftees, who had completed a full tour in Vietnam and, because they were single, were transshipped to Germany to fill the vacancies.  Usually these men had only 3-5 months remaining on their terms of service and they sure as hell didn't want to be there in Germany just to keep the numbers up.  As a result there were a few more disciplinary problems than normal and racial tensions were high at times.

The saving grace at that time was my cadre of officers.  They were almost all young and inexperienced.  A couple had Vietnam experience (including myself and my XO), one was a National Guard officer on extended active duty and the rest were mostly fresh out of EOBC.  But, in the tradition of a citizen army, they certainly rose to the occasion and performed magnificently (well, maybe magnificently is a bit too much, but they did a helluva job). In fact, now, over 40 years later, I still consider most of them my friend and former comrades-in-arms.  I cannot overstate how much they all mean to me.  And the key NCO's were also outstanding, teaching these young lieutenants the ways of the Army while running their squads, platoons and companies on a day-to-day basis.  At the time, I was 35 years old and fresh out of Command and General Staff College (CGSC). I know I made just about every mistake in the book, but somehow, we managed to remain operational, pass the ORT's, the CMMI's and AGI's.  That is a testament to the tenacity and initiative of the officers and men of that battalion.  When I relinquished command in May 1971, the 4th Armored Division was deactivated and redesignated the 2d Armored Division.  The 24th Engineer Battalion was reflagged as the 16th Engineer Battalion.  They are serving in Iraq/Afghanistan today.

To any of my old comrades-in-arms who may read this, I say thanks and "Press On!"

Yesterday we went to the Isle of Palms beach (at The Citadel Beach House) to see the USAF fly-by.  There were 4 F-18's with a 5th flying outside the formation for photography/video taping.  They were scheduled to pass the IOP at 1318 hrs and, lo and behold, they passed IOP at 1318.  And if you weren't looking for them, you almost missed them.   They were a few hundred yards off shore and about 500' and going I would guess in excess of 450 knots.  As I watched I remembered why we called them "fast movers" in Vietnam.  Wow.  Great show.
The holiday was fine.  Hot, as it is supposed to be in  July, and slightly overcast.  But on the beach there was a nice breeze so it wasn't unbearable.  Whenever I am inclined to complain about the heat, I remember how it was growing up in Miami without AC or fans.  My brother and I learned the secret of lying on the cool spot on your sheet and, when that is hot and wet with sweat, moving over to another cool, dry spot.  Doing this all night allowed us to get some sleep. 

I also thought of the troops in Iraq and A'ghan.  They are in the middle of summer, too, with ambient temps in excess of 98-100 degrees.  They have full battle-rattle, including armored vests, kevlar pots, weapons and ammo, canteens with water, and all the other things one carries to survive and fight.  It's no comparison and I refuse to complain when I consider those guys.  Hooah!

The day before Independence Day.  A day to reflect on one's country and one's relationship to it.  First, a statement of my personal philosophy:

The American's Creed is the national creed of the United States of America. It was written in 1917 by William Tyler Page as an entry into a patriotic contest. It was adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives April 3, 1918.

	I believe in the United States of America, as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.
	— William Tyler Page, The American's Creed When I was in grade school, many many decades ago, we memorized this little statement, much as I memorized the Apostle's Creed in Sunday School.  In addition, when I entered active duty as a commissioned officer in the United States Army, I took an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic:  "I, Julian Hobert Carnes, Jr., do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God"   I renewed that oath on several occasions.  Today I belong to an organization called Oath Keepers, which is comprised of former (and some active) members of the US military, Law Enforcement, and others who took a similar oath (see www.oathkeepers.org). OATH KEEPERS: ORDERS WE WILL NOT OBEY 1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people. 2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people 3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal. 4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state. 5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty. 6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps. 7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext. 8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control." 9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies. 10.We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances. God Bless America and Happy Independence Day.

Well, the SC Gamecock baseball team were swept by the Arizona Wildcats for the NCAA College Baseball Championship.  The Gamecocks were pretty pitiful at the plate, but the Wildcats pitching was terrific and they had the hotter bats.  Thus Carolina's attempt to Threepeat was thwarted.  But at least they lost actually defending their title.  It was good baseball.

The US Supreme Court ruled on the Arizona immigration law yesterday and will announce it's ruling on Obamacare on Thursday.  This is a critical time for us as Americans.  The continuing intrusion of the Federal Government (and Local Government) into our day-to-day lives is extremely frustrating and, I believe, unconstitutional.  How can the mayor of NYC decide how big a soft drink I can buy?  How can a local school teacher (in NC) tell a student it is a crime to criticize President Obama and that the student can be arrested.  This was all caught on tape, but the school has (as of now) taken no significant action against the teacher (who is a minority).

In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood (Islamists) have won the presidency.  The government is presently still controlled by the Egyptian military, but I don't think that has a snow ball's chance of surviving.  Then the Jihadists will have all that fancy military equipment we have supplied to the Egyptians over the decades to use against Israel and the non-Islamic world.  You can't make this stuff up.

Sunday afternoon.  HOT..and muggy.  But it's the Lowcountry in summer.  What can one expect?
Tonight the University of South Carolina plays Arizona in the Best of Three finals for the NCAA College Baseball Championship.  SC is the two-time defending champion and, based on their amazing scrambling season, I wouldn't be surprised to see them take AZ and Three-peat.  Good luck, Gamecocks.

It's been a while.  Lots has been going on.  In the end of April, I was voted in to membership in the Washington Light Infantry (WLI), a historic military unit organized in Charleston, SC in 1807 in anticipation of another war with England (War of 1812). The WLI has served in all subsequent US wars, including the War Between the States (1861-1865) up to the Vietnam War.  It's members are all veterans of US wars, including the recent ones in the Middle East or descendents of the original members.  The WLI is closely associated with The Citadel; in 1842, the Washington Light Infantry greatly assisted in the establishment of the South Carolina Military Academy (now known as The Citadel). In 1843, the WLI relinquished the guard of the Citadel building to the new Cadet Corps.  In addition to serving its country in every military engagement, the Washington Light Infantry has had the honor of participating as a military unit in centennial celebrations and ceremonial parades all over the nation. Volunteer Corps are not generally long lived, but this Corps, combining social and military features, has been marked by extraordinary vitality. In addition, the WLI has received an unusual share of popular favor and esteem by the people of Charleston and the nation.

 "A Volunteer Corps of Citizen Soldiers Serving City, State, and Nation"

A week ago today, I went to the surgical dermatologist to have a basal cell carcinoma removed from the side of my nose. (I have had numerous BCC's and one melanoma surgically excised or frozen in the past several years-the penalty for growing up in Miami, I guess).  The surgeon used the Moh's Procedure where by he "maps" out the extent of the BCC and excises it. The tissue is then sent to a lab to determine if all of the cancerous cells are removed. If so, the surgeon closes and reconstructs the site.  If not, the procedure is repeated until the lab reports the sample is "clear". THEN the surgeon reconstructs the site.  My BCC was kinda large and it took two attempts to get it "clear".  Then the reconstruction surgery took about 1-1/2 hours.  First, the most unpleasant part was the numbing of my nose with injections of an anesthesia.  He had to numb the entire nose and it took 12 injections on top of the ones that had already been made for the surgery. Bummer (REAL BIG BUMMER!).  The incision started high on the bridge of my nose, straight down the bridge to near the tip and then made a "fishhook" on the left side.  The doctor laid back the skin and did his magic.  It took 55 stitches to close it and, HURRAH!, they come out tomorrow!!  It has been a long week and the wound is starting to itch.  I can hardly wait.

While I was going through all this, I have been keeping current with the news, especially the political and presidential politics.  The first thing that distresses me is the rank politicization of the military.  I was taught up to believe that the military was above politics. It exists to apply the force or threat of force required to protect this country and its people and institutions.  Or as an old friend and CGSC classmate of mine, COL Harry Summers, said, "Our job is to kill people and break things in the name of the United States government." (RIP, Harry)  Now, the Defense Department is "celebrating" Gay Pride Month.  What a foolish thing.  The military is no place for social experimentation.  IMHO.  I know that during my 20+ years active service there were homosexuals, both officer and enlisted, but they did their duty or, if they became a disciplinary problem, they could be discharged as "Unfit" or "Unsuitable".  The problem with the new policy, IMHO, is that it will inevitably lead to quotas and preferential treatment to make the numbers show "equality".  The Army (and the other services) have been true meritocracies, where advancement is dependent on performance of duty.  That is the way it has been and should continue to be if we, the taxpayers, expect our armed forces to be properly prepared to meet the obligations our politicians place on them.  In my life time, the US was unprepared for war twice; first at the outbreak of WW2 and again at the start of the Korean War.  As the Israeli's say and we should mimic, "Never Again"!

I received the following in an e-mail from an old friend who is a Vietnam vet.  I recommend it to you.  It is a bit long, but worth the read.:

Vietnam Generation

Notwithstanding the fact that we all admire and respect "The Greatest Generation", for their winning efforts and valor in WW II, I reserve my "Greatest" Admiration and Respect for the Viet Nam era veterans. They fought this "unpopular" war, (with more than 58,000 of our finest giving their life), without the total support of our Government, our congress, and our citizens. They won that war! But our country lost it! I confess to being somewhat bitter about how they were and are treated. I am delighted that our brave troops fighting in the middle east today are more appreciated.

Heroes of the Vietnam Generation By James Webb

The rapidly disappearing cohort of Americans that endured the Great Depression and then fought World War II is receiving quite a send-off from the leading lights of the so-called 60s generation. Tom Brokaw has published two oral histories of "The Greatest Generation" that feature ordinary people doing their duty and suggest that such conduct was historically unique.

Chris Matthews of "Hardball" is fond of writing columns praising the Navy service of his father while castigating his own baby boomer generation for its alleged softness and lack of struggle. William Bennett gave a startling condescending speech at the Naval Academy a few years ago comparing the heroism of the "D-Day Generation" to the drugs-and-sex nihilism of the "Woodstock Generation." And Steven Spielberg, in promoting his film "Saving Private Ryan," was careful to justify his portrayals of soldiers in action based on the supposedly unique nature of World War II.

An irony is at work here. Lest we forget, the World War II generation now being lionized also brought us the Vietnam War, a conflict which today's most conspicuous voices by and large opposed, and in which few of them served. The "best and brightest" of the Vietnam age group once made headlines by castigating their parents for bringing about the war in which they would not fight, which has become the war they refuse to remember.

Pundits back then invented a term for this animus: the "generation gap." Long, plaintive articles and even books were written examining its manifestations. Campus leaders, who claimed precocious wisdom through the magical process of reading a few controversial books, urged fellow baby boomers not to trust anyone over 30. Their elders who had survived the Depression and fought the largest war in history were looked down upon as shallow, materialistic, and out of touch.

Those of us who grew up, on the other side of the picket line from that era's counter-culture can't help but feel a little leery of this sudden gush of appreciation for our elders from the leading lights of the old counter-culture. Then and now, the national conversation has proceeded from the dubious assumption that those who came of age during Vietnam are a unified generation in the same sense as their parents were, and thus are capable of being spoken for through these fickle elites.

In truth, the "Vietnam generation" is a misnomer. Those who came of age during that war are permanently divided by different reactions to a whole range of counter-cultural agendas, and nothing divides them more deeply than the personal ramifications of the war itself. The sizable portion of the Vietnam age group who declined to support the counter-cultural agenda, and especially the men and women who opted to serve in the military during the Vietnam War, are quite different from their peers who for decades have claimed to speak for them. In fact, they are much like the World War II generation itself. For them, Woodstock was a side show, college protestors were spoiled brats who would have benefited from having to work a few jobs in order to pay their tuition, and Vietnam represented not an intellectual exercise in draft avoidance, or protest marches but a battlefield that was just as brutal as those their fathers faced in World War II and Korea.

Few who served during Vietnam ever complained of a generation gap. The men who fought World War II were their heroes and role models. They honored their father's service by emulating it, and largely agreed with their father's wisdom in attempting to stop Communism's reach in Southeast Asia.

The most accurate poll of their attitudes (Harris, 1980) showed that 91 percent were glad they'd served their country, 74 percent enjoyed their time in the service, and 89 percent agreed with the statement that "our troops were asked to fight in a war which our political leaders in Washington would not let them win." And most importantly, the castigation they received upon returning home was not from the World War II generation, but from the very elites in their age group who supposedly spoke for them.

Nine million men served in the military during Vietnam War, three million of whom went to the Vietnam Theater. Contrary to popular mythology, two-thirds of these were volunteers, and 73 percent of those who died were volunteers. While some attention has been paid recently to the plight of our prisoners of war, most of whom were pilots; there has been little recognition of how brutal the war was for those who fought it on the ground.

Dropped onto the enemy's terrain 12,000 miles away from home, America's citizen-soldiers performed with a tenacity and quality that may never be truly understood. Those who believe the war was fought incompletely on a tactical level should consider Hanoi's recent admission that 1.4 million of its soldiers died on the battlefield, compared to 58,000 total U.S. dead.

Those who believe that it was a "dirty little war" where the bombs did all the work might contemplate that is was the most costly war the U.S. Marine Corps has ever fought-five times as many dead as World War I, three times as many dead as in Korea, and more total killed and wounded than in all of World War II.

Significantly, these sacrifices were being made at a time the United States was deeply divided over our effort in Vietnam. The baby-boom generation had cracked apart along class lines as America's young men were making difficult, life-or-death choices about serving. The better academic institutions became focal points for vitriolic protest against the war, with few of their graduates going into the military. Harvard College, which had lost 691 alumni in World War II, lost a total of 12 men in Vietnam from the classes of 1962 through 1972 combined. Those classes at Princeton lost six, at MIT two. The media turned ever more hostile. And frequently the reward for a young man's having gone through the trauma of combat was to be greeted by his peers with studied indifference of outright hostility.

What is a hero? My heroes are the young men who faced the issues of war and possible death, and then weighed those concerns against obligations to their country. Citizen-soldiers who interrupted their personal and professional lives at their most formative stage, in the timeless phrase of the Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, "not for fame of reward, not for place of for rank, but in simple obedience to duty, as they understood it." Who suffered loneliness, disease, and wounds with an often-contagious elan. And who deserve a far better place in history than that now offered them by the so-called spokesman of our so-called generation.

Mr. Brokaw, Mr. Matthews, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Spielberg, meet my Marines. 1969 was an odd year to be in Vietnam. Second only to 1968 in terms of American casualties, it was the year made famous by Hamburger Hill, as well as the gut-wrenching Life cover story showing pictures of 242 Americans who had been killed in one average week of fighting. Back home, it was the year of Woodstock, and of numerous anti-war rallies that culminated in the Moratorium march on Washington. The My Lai massacre hit the papers and was seized upon the anti-war movement as the emblematic moment of the war. Lyndon Johnson left Washington in utter humiliation.

Richard Nixon entered the scene, destined for an even worse fate. In the An Hoa Basin southwest of Danang, the Fifth Marine Regiment was in its third year of continuous combat operations. Combat is an unpredictable and inexact environment, but we were well led. As a rifle platoon and company commander, I served under a succession of three regimental commanders who had cut their teeth in World War II, and four different battalion commanders, three of whom had seen combat in Korea. The company commanders were typically captains on their second combat tour in Vietnam, or young first lieutenants like myself who were given companies after many months of "bush time" as platoon commanders in he Basin's tough and unforgiving environs.

The Basin was one of the most heavily contested areas in Vietnam, its torn, cratered earth offering every sort of wartime possibility. In the mountains just to the west, not far from the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the North Vietnamese Army operated an infantry division from an area called Base Area 112. In the valleys of the Basin, main-force Viet Cong battalions whose ranks were 80 percent North Vietnamese Army regulars moved against the Americans every day. Local Viet Cong units sniped and harassed. Ridgelines and paddy dikes were laced with sophisticated booby traps of every size, from a hand grenade to a 250-pound bomb. The villages sat in the rice paddies and tree lines like individual fortresses, crisscrossed with the trenches and spider holes, their homes sporting bunkers capable of surviving direct hits from large-caliber artillery shells. The Viet Cong infrastructure was intricate and permeating. Except for the old and the very young, villagers who did not side with the Communists had either been killed or driven out to the government controlled enclaves near Danang.

In the rifle companies, we spent the endless months patrolling ridgelines and villages and mountains, far away from any notion of tents, barbed wire, hot food, or electricity. Luxuries were limited to what would fit inside one's pack, which after a few "humps" usually boiled down to letter-writing material, towel, soap, toothbrush, poncho liner, and a small transistor radio.

We moved through the boiling heat with 60 pounds of weapons and gear, causing a typical Marine to drop 20 percent of his body weight while in the bush. When we stopped we dug chest-deep fighting holes and slit trenches for toilets. We slept on the ground under makeshift poncho hootches, and when it rained we usually took our hootches down because wet ponchos shined under illumination flares, making great targets. Sleep itself was fitful, never more than an hour or two at a stretch for months at a time as we mixed daytime patrolling with night-time ambushes, listening posts, foxhole duty, and radio watches. Ringworm, hookworm, malaria, and dysentery were common, as was trench foot when the monsoons came. Respite was rotating back to the mud-filled regimental combat base at An Hoa for four or five days, where rocket and mortar attacks were frequent and our troops manned defensive bunkers at night. Which makes it kind of hard to get excited about tales of Woodstock, or camping at the Vineyard during summer break.

We had been told while training that Marine officers in the rifle companies had an 85 percent probability of being killed or wounded, and the experience of "Dying Delta," as our company was known, bore that out. Of the officers in the bush when I arrived, our company commander was wounded, the weapons platoon commander wounded, the first platoon commander was killed, the second platoon commander was wounded twice, and I, commanding the third platoons fared no better. Two of my original three-squad leaders were killed, and the third shot in the stomach. My platoon sergeant was severely wounded, as was my right guide. By the time I left, my platoon I had gone through six radio operators, five of them casualties.

These figures were hardly unique; in fact, they were typical. Many other units; for instance, those who fought the hill battles around Khe Sanh, or were with the famed Walking Dead of the Ninth Marine Regiment, or were in the battle of Hue City or at Dai Do, had it far worse.

When I remember those days and the very young men who spent them with me, I am continually amazed, for these were mostly recent civilians barley out of high school, called up from the cities and the farms to do their year in hell and he return. Visions haunt me every day, not of the nightmares of war but of the steady consistency with which my Marines faced their responsibilities, and of how uncomplaining most of them were in the face of constant danger. The salty, battle-hardened 20-year-olds teaching green 19-year-olds the intricate lessons of the hostile battlefield. The unerring skill of the young squad leaders as we moved through unfamiliar villages and weed-choked trails in the black of night. The quick certainty when a fellow Marine was wounded and needed help. Their willingness to risk their lives to save other Marines in peril. To this day it stuns me that their own countrymen have so completely missed the story of their service, lost in the bitter confusion of the war itself.

Like every military unit throughout history we had occasional laggards, cowards, and complainers. But in the aggregate, these Marines were the finest people I have ever been around. It has been my privilege to keep up with many of them over the years since we all came home. One finds in them very little bitterness about the war in which they fought. The most common regret, almost to a man, is that they were not able to do more for each other and for the people they came to help.

It would be redundant to say that I would trust my life to these men. Because I already have, in more ways than I can ever recount. I am alive today because of their quiet, unaffected heroism. Such valor epitomizes the conduct of Americans at war from the first days of our existence. That the boomer elites can canonize this sort of conduct in our fathers' generation while ignoring it in our own is more than simple oversight. It is a conscious, continuing travesty.

************************************************************************************

Former Secretary of the Navy James Webb was awarded the Navy Cross, Silver Star, and Bronze Star medals for heroism as a Marine in Vietnam. His novels include The Emperor's General and Fields of Fire.

Memorial Day (Official)

This morning, as I put my flag out, I noticed it looked like rain.  I put it out anyway and, in less than 5 minutes, I had to bring it in from the downpour.  No sooner had I brought it in than the rain stopped, the sun shone and it became a beautiful day.  So, back Old Glory went and there she flies proudly and properly this sad but glorious day of remembrance.
I have been reading a lot of columns and articles about the day and what it means to folks.  About the best article I read was in the on-line edition of the WSJ.  Here is the link:
http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303610504577419973285034422.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop&mg=reno64-wsj
Read it and think.
JC

Memorial Day 2012

It is the Memorial Day weekend and I have done a lot of reflecting.  During my military career, I served twice in locales where there were men who sought to do us harm.  First was in Korea in 1962-63.  I commanded A Co, 8th Engineer Battalion, 1st Cav Div in the Spoonbill and the DMZ.  It was the 10th anniversary year of the Armistice and the N. Korean's sent many patrols south with the intent of doing mischief, including assassinating the President of South Korea.  There were occasional firefights and ambushes of US troops on work parties or on DMZ patrols.  We all carried weapons with ammo issued and the weapons loaded and locked.  In October of '62, the USSR tried to introduce rockets into Cuba and the Cuban Missile Crisis came about.  In Korea, we didn't know the particulars but we knew we went to DEFCON 2, issued ammunition, put demo charges in the demo chambers on the bridges across the Imjin River and closed the lanes through the many minefields in the DMZ area.  We all updated our wills and were prepared for war.  Thank goodness, President Kennedy and the JCS managed to defuse the situation and a nuclear holocaust was avoided.

Then, 4 years later, I was in Vietnam.  The first 1/3 of my tour I was assigned to the Engineer Section, US Army, Vietnam in Saigon. I was a major and that was a fairly typical staff assignment.  But I was not happy and asked the Engineer, MG Robert Ploger, if I could be released to an in-country engineer assignment in a combat unit.  He said if I could find a home, he would release me.  I spent about 10 days flying about the country (in between my regular duties on the staff) looking for a unit with a vacancy.  I heard about the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, one of the separate brigades in country, which was located in Tay Ninh Province, about 65 miles NW of Saigon.  I flew there, met with the out-going engineer and the Brigade commander, BG Richard Knowles.  I was accepted and a few days later, packed up and went to Tay Ninh.  The brigade was engaged in Operation Junction City and I joined them in the field.  I was with the brigade and participated in all brigade combat operations until I rotated back to the States in June 1967 for attendance at the USACGSC.

While I was not in direct combat in the 196th, there were occasions when we received fire and returned it or called in artillery to suppress it.  I lost a number of friends and acquaintances in on-going operations and on engineer missions.  To this day, I think of them each and every one and wonder "what if"...

A couple of days ago, I received a brief snippet from Joe Galloway, who was present during the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley and who, along with then-LTC Hal Moore, wrote "We Were Soldiers Once, and Young".  I would like to share it with any and all who read my blog:

 

"They shall not grow old,

 

   as we that are left grow old.

 

Age shall not weary them,

 

   nor the years condemn.

 

At the going down of the sun,

 

   and in the morning,

 

We will remember them."

 

                                              -- Lawrence Binyon, 1915

 

Have a safe and reverent Memorial Day.  God Bless all who serve and who have served.

Today, President Obama presented the Medal of Honor, posthumously, to Leslie H. Sabo, Jr.

"Spec. Leslie H. Sabo Jr. of Elwood City, Pa., was serving with U.S. forces near the village of Se San in eastern Cambodia in May of 1970 when his unit was ambushed and nearly overrun by North Vietnamese forces.

Comrades testified that the rifleman charged up from the rear, grabbed an enemy grenade and tossed it away, using his body to shield a fellow soldier. And shrugging off his own injuries, Sabo advanced on an enemy bunker that had poured fire onto the U.S. troops – and then, pulled the pin on his own grenade.
"It's said he held that grenade and didn't throw it until the last possible moment, knowing it would take his own life but knowing he could silence that bunker," Obama recounted. "And he did. He saved his comrades, who meant more to him than life." The award was given to his widow, Rose Mary.  Thus, after 40+ years, this hero receives the recognition he so richly deserved.  God Rest Leslie H. Sabo, Jr.
I'm just sayin'

And another thing.  How many have seen this in the MSM?  The US Special Forces and some Russian troops are doing a joint international exercise in Colorado.  Part of the scenario is the deal with a terrorist attack at Denver International Airport.  Now, to my way of thinking, President Putin is not exactly a trustworthy ally.  Why then are we sharing operational procedures and techniques with them? 
I'm just sayin'

 http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-russian-soldiers-train-colorado-16371083#.T7VaZlJbIYU

I'm just sayin'

This is my first attempt at blogging.  I hope to update this blog 2 or 3 times a week.  I will post things which I find of interest, personal, sports, politics and State of the World commentary.  Hope you all enjoy it.
JC