Revisiting an oath

I'm not much of one for repeating myself. Never have been. It's a personal quirk.

That being said, I'm going to repost one of my first postings for this site because I think that there are several out there who have forgotten their oaths, words that didn't apply just for a period of time to be discarded and left behind, but an oath that follows some of us for the rest of our days.

Some of you know exactly what I mean by this. I'd dare say the Gathering of Eagles is a PRIME example of what I mean. They know full and well what I mean when I sign off with my signature "Once and Always..." Others seem to have FORGOTTEN the words that so many of us have spoken, the oath we made, and the honor to maintain that oath. For those of us who remember, we remember it and live it with pride. To those of you who seem to have lost your way, let me remind you, so that maybe, jussssssssttttttt maybe, you can remember what it means to have honor.

These are words, an oath, a commitment, that follow to the grave. And it goes like this:

I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense. I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command I will never surrender my men while they still have the means to resist. If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy. If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way. When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause. I will never forget that I am an American fighting man, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

I first uttered these words over twenty years ago when I was sworn in to the armed services, the army being my choice, in Memphis, TN. As I look back, now, on the years in between and the things that have happened, I sit sometimes and I wonder what it was that prompted me to enlist in the armed forces, what motivated my thinking, and my acting upon said thought processes. In doing so, I’ve spoken to other veterans through the years, asking them the same questions that I asked of myself. The answers varied, of course, from individual to individual, some having been drafted and having found a home and a way of life that they could understand and appreciate, some of us, like me, volunteers in an era after the draft had long been done away with.

My own plans were to have retired from the army, however, thanks to the budget cuts enacted by the Graham-Rudman-Hollings Act; my plans were drastically changed as the army began eliminating some of us “big boys” who had gone into service under the maximum weight, LOST weight, and were discharged for being OVER weight after the Act went into effect. I won’t go into how that made me feel at the time, or the resentment I still feel over it now, because that isn’t the purpose of this piece. I was asked if I would write a piece on the heart and mind of the American soldier, and drawing from my own experiences and the conversations with others through the years, that’s what I’m going to attempt to do.

From as far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a soldier. I could not, and still can not, see the flag waving proudly and hear the national anthem being played without feeling a lump in my throat and my eyes misting at the heavy weight of what it means to me to be an American, and the pride that I have in our country and our way of life, along with the realization of the sacrifices made by others before me for us to have our rights today. I believed in the ideals of our country, our nation, from my earliest memories. My thoughts, my beliefs, where and still are that our way of life was and is to be defended and upheld, for ourselves, for our families and loved ones, for our children and our children’s children. I know that those are some deep thoughts for a child, but I was always a child of deep thought, a state that has followed me into my adult years. When I was younger, I had difficulty expressing my thoughts in the spoken word, again, a condition that sometimes gives me trouble still, but if I could sit down long enough to think, and to write, I could put forth my ideas in what could be, more or less, a comprehensive format for others to follow and understand what was on my mind.

I’m rambling.

The heart of the soldier is the heart of someone who is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom of others. Most often, the most immediate thoughts are of those comrades in arms on the battlefield and loved ones back home when the soldier is confronted with the possibility of death. This doesn’t undermine the deep rooted belief of the soldier in ideals and principles worth fighting for, and in some cases, worth dying for. The belief that life should be lived freely is a common bond amongst those who enter the armed forces of our country, no matter if the service is entered for college money or for other reasons. Freedom, and the love of freedom, motivates the majority of us to commit our lives, or a portion of our lives, to our nation’s defense. Our very precepts were established by men willing to fight and die for a cause they believed in, a struggle to be free of an oppressive and overbearing government. Thomas Jefferson put these beliefs into words with the Declaration of Independence when he wrote them, stating “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…” The truth and meaning of these words, and the words preceding and following them, are just as applicable today as they were when our fledgling nation was in it’s infancy, when the thought of the United States was merely a concept, not a reality. The spirit of these words has been the driving force behind our nation’s military membership since the days before we WERE a nation, when we were still colonies under British rule fighting for independence.

We stand ready, soldiers past and present, to fight to defend our way of life, our freedom, our rights as citizens of this nation to live freely, to think freely, to believe, to live, to love, and to die as free men and women. The marines have a saying, “once a marine, always a marine.” I find this to be true of the majority of veterans in regards to their branches of service. I am as much a soldier today as I was when I was in uniform, ready and willing to fight and, if need be, die for the cause of freedom for my countrymen.

There are those out there, still today, who despise us for what we are, what we do, what we stand for, calling us names, degrading us, despising us. That is their right, and their choice. As they make that choice, it would do well for them to remember this one key fact: they have those rights because American servicemen and women have served to ensure that those rights are preserved.

The words may have changed in recent years to become more “inclusive” and politically correct to “I am an American Soldier,” but the spirit still stands the same as the words I recited, with pride, over twenty years ago when I was sworn in to service. I was, and still am, an American fighting man…

HCdL

Gathering of Eagles, fly high and fly proud. Those of you currently in service, my hat is off to you, you make those of us who give a damn proud, and we'll gladly stand behind you and beside you. The rest of you, the cut and run crowd, the surrender and retreat crowd? If you're a veteran and you've reread that oath and can't get yourself into a spot where you can get behind our younger generation, get the HELL out of the way, at the very least, instead of being a stumbling block on the path.

Hooowah.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man


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Calling all Eagles

[UPDATE on this story found here]

I've said a time or two (or more) in the past that the veterans of our nations armed forces will not sit by silently and let our younger brothers and sisters currently bearing arms be the subject of ridicule and harrassment by a group of people who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground. It seems that my prediction has come to bear:

Leftist activists who march to the Pentagon next month will discover that their path won't be as clear as it has been in the past.

The group, led by Cindy Sheehan, Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark and their ilk, plan to gather March 17 at the Vietnam Memorial Wall to begin a march to protest America's involvement in the Iraq war. The date marks the fourth anniversary of the war's beginning.

This time, however, protestors will see objectors if they spit on Iraqi veterans again, or throw paint on a war memorial. This time, they will encounter a buzz saw of Vietnam veterans and supporters who will gather to protect the Wall, and show their support for U.S. troops. The counter-protestors are calling themselves the Gathering of Eagles.

I'm telling you what, I couldn't be happier about this unless I was going to be able to BE THERE in body myself.

"The anti-war/anti-America group cannot be allowed to use the Vietnam Memorial Wall as a back-drop to their anti-America venom and stain the hallowed ground that virtually cries out with blood at the thought of this proposed desecration ... it must not happen," said veteran Bud Gross. "… All Americans are invited to support our effort, which is intended as a defender of hallowed ground and intended as a non-violent competition between those that would sell out America and those of us who support freedom and keeping the fight with the enemy on distant shores."

The group defending the Wall will be wearing armbands to identify themselves. Those who are unable to stand with the defenders are being asked to wear armbands with small U.S. flags to show their own communities that they abhor the Fonda-Sheehan tactics.

"We'll be there to act as a countervailing force against the Cindy Sheehan-Jane Fonda march from the Vietnam Memorial to the Pentagon," retired Navy Capt. Larry Bailey said. "We will protect the Vietnam Memorial. If they try to deface it, there will be some violence, I guarantee you."

Bailey and thousands of his fellow Vietnam vets are worried that the anti-war protesters will damage the wall, just as they spray-painted the steps of the Capitol at their last march.

The wall is sacred to the men and women who fought in that war.

"It is our contact with our dead brothers -- those who lost their lives in the cause of their country," Bailey said.

This is my word to those of you out to cause mischief, out to stir up discontent, out to stir up trouble: the veterans of the United States armed forces WILL NOT TOLERATE your bullshit, nor will we let you vilify those of us still wearing our uniforms. We've sat by, watching you on the left, listening to your hateful talk, your lies, your accusations of attrocities, your LIES, long enough.

We are TIRED of foreign influences coercing our citizens into activities that promote disharmony in our nation, and if you will look very, very closely at this article, you will see a list of sponsors of this anti-war march, and see that a great number of them are Islamic organizations. Quite a statement made by actions, in my opinion.

I think I speak for the vast majority of those of us who have PUT ON our uniforms and SERVED in our nations defense when I raise the old battle cry of "I'm mad as HELL, and I'm not going to take it ANY MORE."

To those of you veterans who have fallen to the wayside and been swayed by the lies of the left, my prayers are for you, that you will recall when you spoke your oath and said "I AM an American fighting man..."

To my brother and sister veterans, no matter your branches of service, no matter your time period of service, I salute you for taking up the battle once again for our traditions and our way of life.

WHOOWAH!!

Once and always, an American Fighting Man

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My turn...

It seems that the day has been filled with commentary on William M Arkin’s WAPO article The Troops Also Need to Support the American People. I’m a little bit late in the day on coming on board with the comments and postings, because unlike the ESTEEMED Mr. Arkin I do actually work for a living, but I’m in from work for the day and have read his piece (of shit) and have decided, after reading spree’s posting and those of several others, that enough can’t be said about this self important son of a bitch and his article regarding our troops.

My turn.

The very title of the article smacks of self righteousness. Does this knucklehead not understand the fact that the troops DO support the American people by devoting themselves, a portion of their lives, if not their entire careers, TO the American people?

Obviously not.

So right off the bat, his article is derogatory and hateful. That’s before reading even the first sentence.

I'm all for everyone expressing their opinion, even those who wear the uniform of the United States Army. But I also hope that military commanders took the soldiers aside after the story and explained to them why it wasn't for them to disapprove of the American people.

It’s apparent to me that this knucklehead follows the Orwellian model from Animal Farm; “some are more equal than others.” EVERY citizen of the United States is assured of the right to freedom of speech. Not just asshole Op-Ed writers and journalists for such bird cage liners as WAPO. YES, Comrade Arkin, even those in UNIFORM (hat tip to Uncle Jimbo at BlackFive for the suggestion that Arkin was turned by the Soviets. Well put, Top) have the rights of the Constitution of the United States of America. Deservedly so. They are the defenders of it.

Sure, it is the junior enlisted men who go to jail. But even at anti-war protests, the focus is firmly on the White House and the policy. We don't see very many "baby killer" epithets being thrown around these days, no one in uniform is being spit upon.

Tell that to Joshua Sparling. I’m sure he’d heartily agree that the flying spittle that landed on him was done quite by accident (man I wish there was some way to show a smirk in writing this).

Rose colored fucking glasses, or lying through his teeth one or the other. What a dickhead.

So, we pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society?

The typical enlisted personnel’s wages usually put them well below the norm of the poverty level. Add to that the restructuring of health care benefits some years back where the military is under more of an HMO type program than when I was in.

But it is the United States, and the recent NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer - force that thinks it is doing the dirty work.

Yeah, that’s really indulging our “mercenary” force, all right.

Mercenary \Mer"ce*na*ry\, n.; pl. {Mercenaries}. One who is hired; a hireling; especially, a soldier hired into foreign service. --Milman. [1913 Webster]

Ahem. Don’t you just love Webster’s?

To give the devil his due, Comrade Arkin DID say, “I was wrong in using the word mercenary to describe the American soldier today.” But words mean things, do they not? When WERE American soldiers mercenaries? They must have been at some point in time, according to this lame assed attempt at a non-apology. I’m guessing that my generation of veterans were the mercenaries, those of us who did our time during the 80’s when it was all “me me me.”

Fuck you, Comrade.

I'll accept that the soldiers, in order to soldier on, have to believe that they are manning the parapet, and that's where their frustrations come in. I'll accept as well that they are young and naïve and are frustrated with their own lack of progress and the never changing situation in Iraq. Cut off from society and constantly told that everyone supports them, no wonder the debate back home confuses them.
America needs to ponder what it is we really owe those in uniform. I don't believe America needs a draft though I imagine we'd be having a different discussion if we had one.

We owe them our gratitude for being willing to put themselves in harms way to keep our nation safe. We owe them our thanks for the sacrifices that they make for their love of family and country to leave their homes and go to foreign soil to keep our enemies from coming to our soil. We owe them our RESPECT for the courage it takes to go out into hostile environs and confront people that they don’t know, people that they are unsure of, in order for us to sit here at home and maintain our way of life. YOU, Comrade, owe them a great deal of all of the above for them making it possible for you to sit on your fat leftist ass and deride them.

Fuck you, Comrade.

Personally? I would LOVE to be young enough, and healthy enough (and skinny enough, har har har) to reenlist. But since I can’t, our troops have my full support, my full respect, for what they do. I know, as do so many others of us out here in the unpolled, unresearched, mostly silent majority. It takes a certain kind of insane to be WILLING to go into a combat region, much the same way it takes a certain kind of insane to go up to a burning building while everyone else is running away, armed with nothing more than heavy clothing, a water hose, and an axe.

Or are fire fighters a coddled lot in your mind as well, Comrade Arkin?

Our military today is made up, as has been SO many times, of the best and the brightest of our country. They serve because they choose to do so. As soldiers, as Marines, as sailors, they understand that sometimes they may be in less than desirable conditions. They work hard for what pay that they DO get, and people like you berate them.

You have the freedom TO berate them BECAUSE of them. Ironic, that. Ironic because the very freedom you are exercising is one that has been fought for, has cost lives, and no doubt, will cost more lives.

COMMON FUCKING SENSE says that the 9/11 attacks won’t be the last we see out of these terrorist groups. It certainly wasn’t the first. But it was the most deadly.

You, Comrade Arkin, bring my Cherokee blood to a high boil. I won’t do this, nor am I making a threat to you in any way whatsoever, but the mental image of you being staked out naked under the hot summer sun over an ant hill with just a couple of drops of honey put into your ears certainly does make me smile.

Sadistic, I know, but then again I remain…

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man.


A little post script for Greg Daniels, just to let you know that you haven’t escaped my eyes:

Regarding your comment to one of spree’s posting, The Left Wants our Soldiers to SHUT UP, in which you said, “This is a non-event. Who cares what this guy says?” Let me remind you of some key facts. During the Viet Nam era there wasn’t as much communication between the troops overseas and the home front as there is today. Al Gore hadn’t blessed us with the internet (another smirk for this one), so soldiers on deployment weren’t able to keep up with the news the same way they are today. Censorship was very highly practiced by the Armed Forces Radio Network in country to keep troop morale from being damaged by what the media back home was saying. Somewhere along the way, all that changed with advances in modern technology. Do I think that it’s a bad thing that the troops see what the dinosaur media is saying? Not at all. I think it reminds them on a daily basis how far our country has sunk into a state of moral apathy. My hope is that it gives them an extra reason to hold their heads up proudly and wear the uniform of a nation that was once great, and can be so again. Do we need the left? Absolutely, just as much as we need the right. Two halves to make a whole, with there being some modicum of balance found in between.

However, that being said, someone commented the other day that the left today was not the same left of the FDR era, when the left was as fiercely patriotic as the right, and both sides had the best interests of the American people as a whole in their hearts and minds. There was respect, granted it was often given grudgingly, but they were able to come to a common ground and work together, especially when it came to meeting the threat of a foreign hostile force that threatened our way of life and took the lives of our citizens.

Extremism is never a good thing. It accomplishes nothing; it inspires hatred and distrust. Take a lesson from Comrade Arkin when you start to make your commentaries, Greg. This man has inspired the hatred not only of the American military, but the American veterans and a great number of our civilian population as well.

When one can be so extreme as to inspire that much anger, that much hatred, can we truly say that it is a “non event?”

I think not…

Mike

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Bottled, Canned or Draft

My first thought when I heard Charlie Rangel was in support of the draft, as a veteran, was "hey, alright, a Democrat who GETS it."

Knee Jerk Reactionism, I've found, especially in things political, isn't the best way to handle things. I had always been a supporter of bringing back the draft, as I mentioned once before in a reply to one of spree's postings here, but like a good thinking individual, I've weighed the facts, listened to what other thinking and educated people are saying, and have taken into consideration the evidence that has been presented.

My work involves a lot of travel time, ergo a lot of time listening to the radio. My two favorites are the Laura Ingraham Show, which I've recently discovered, and an older show by a man who I consider to be a TREMENDOUS fountain of knowledge, wisdom, and insight into the political arena, the G. Gordon Liddy Show (yes, the man has had a tremendous impact on my political thinking, and I HIGHLY recommend his autobiography Will). In listening to them, and to their callers (a great number of them veterans like myself), I have come to the conclusion that my original stand on the draft was all wrong, even though I supported it for the right reasons (yes, one CAN be sincerely wrong in ones beliefs). To whit; an all volunteer military is filled with members who are more committed to what they are doing because they have chosen to be in the positions they are in. Mayhap not geographically, mayhap not in combat, but enlistment or taking a commission as an officer was a choice, not something forced upon them.

Hat tip to Amy Proctor, who points out that Rangel's position is deliberately aimed at insulting the Republicans and showing them not to have the resolve to fight a winning war. Henry Kissinger has also weighed in on the matter stating that we "cannot win in Iraq." What a sad way for Mr. Kissinger to try to make his way once again into the political limelight. I would have personally expected better from him, but I've been known to be wrong before (I'll admit it, sometimes I'm wrong...shocking but true). It turns out, if you take the time to READ the posting that Amy Proctor posts on her site, what he says is ENTIRELY DIFFERENT from the way Reuters would have you believe. Mr. Kissinger is one of the most brilliant political minds around, and he again shows his clarity of thought on international politics. Kudos to Mr. Kissinger for his insights, and a big THUMBS DOWN for the dinosaur media in distorting what he said.

Ahem. I retract my earlier position of being in favor of the draft. If Rangel thinks it's a good idea, it can't be good for us in the long run, in my opinion...

Once and always, an American Fighting Man

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