House of Eratosthenes

Think of that picture above and the courage it took to take that first step. Many of the men who saw this vista died without ever getting past the shore. What made them take that step? Certainly discipline strengthened them, but these men knew that they faced one of the most evil regimes the world had ever known — and that the Nazis wouldn’t stop with Europe. Evil could not be contained, nor appeased; it had to be fought and destroyed, and that it would take a tremendous sacrifice to end it. They went forth to battle evil, and even if they as individuals fell, these men knew that liberty and justice would defeat evil, and that their sacrifice would make that victory possible.

What compelled free men do such a thing sixty-seven years ago? Probably the fact that eighty-seven years ago, that thing little kids do with with the “Why do I have to do it? It’s his/her tuuuuuuurn…” was thought of as a little-kid thing. By the time a child reached majority age, he was expected to say something more like “If it’s gotta be done, then who better to do it than me?” You know, the kind of guy you’d like to be the closest neighbor if your house caught fire.

The good news is, that if such a mission were ever made necessary again, God forbid, we have the young men & women who would and could do it. The outcome of the war would not be won so decisively, I’m afraid…in American history, it hasn’t happened very often since WWII that a foe was well and truly vanquished.

But with liberal degenerates taking over everything, it’s still possible to bring out the best in people. The military is in good hands.

That doesn’t mean, however, that we can’t learn a lot from such historical examples. There is a world of difference between a free man seeing what needs to be done & doing it, and a communist slave-in-all-but-name just plodding along at something to the detriment of his own interests, for the “greater good.”

The military is in good hands.

I wonder about that. Seriously. I don’t worry about the rank and file… which is to say the E’s and the Junior O’s. But I DO worry about anyone and nearly everyone from O-5 (my SN2 excluded) up to and including all the folks with stars on their shoulders. And don’t get me started on our erstwhile CinC or congresscritters who “serve” on the various military committees and subcommittees. Political Correctness infects the military to an alarming degree and careerism with its “don’t rock the boat” mentality is rife.

We ain’t turnin’ out any more Nimitzes, Pullers, Pattons, or LeMays these days. So: I worry.
- bpenni | 06/06/2011 @ 09:08
Agreed, my comment does not extend to the brass.

Just sayin’, from reading of the daring exploits of those who are closest to the actual work, it’s important to bear in mind the continuing deterioration of our “Can-Do” culture does not extend to all places. It’s provable, and good to see. These people deserve a shout-out and an acknowledgement that this spirit did not breathe its last at Normandy.
- mkfreeberg | 06/06/2011 @ 09:28
We didn’t actually “well and truly vanquish the foe” in WWII. The Soviet Union, which made the war when it signed the Hitler-Stalin Pact, got everything they wanted and more from the war. Almost as big a mess as the end of WWI was. I think you have it wrong here, sir. It is not a time thing, it’s a matter of which party is in power. Want a clean, police action with causalities in the hundreds (at most), Republican President with Republicans controlling at least part of Congress. Want a messy (if Heroic) war with millions dead, victory on the battlefield and defeat at the table, Democrat President with Democrats in charge of Congress. While the Democrats are in denial about this (Ted Kennedy quote “Well, first of all, I heard the same kinds of suggestions at the time of the end of the Vietnam War. The ‘Great Bloodbath,’ we’re going to have over 100,000 people that were going to be murdered and killed at that time. And for those of us who were strongly opposed to the war, [we] heard those same kinds of arguments.”. This quote is from 2006!), we don’t have to be.

Bpenni, we may well be turning out “Nimitzes, Pullers, Pattons, or LeMays”. How would we know? We cherish them because they gave us Victory when we were LOSING. The Republicans didn’t like the losing part, and have built such a professional and well equipped military that the Democrats have to keep adding to the ROE in a bizarre attempt to make it a “fair fight”. I, for one, am much happer with the Republican way, with it’s Total Overwhelming Victory and tens or hundreds of KIA’s, then the Democratic way, with it’s War to the Knife, National Survival on the Line, and Millions MIA, KIA. But the Democrats do give Heroes many more chances to shine, it’s true. It all comes down to what’s important to you…….
- Robert Mitchell Jr. | 06/06/2011 @ 10:54
Uh wait a second, I said “a foe was well and truly vanquished,” not “all military conflict in the human equation was ended for a time.” It is highly unusual that such a thing would ever take place. There were skirmishes and quarrels between the Americas, France and Britain after we won the Revolutionary War, and there was a whole lot of infighting and violence after the Civil War. But those conflicts ended in success as far as well-and-truly-vanquishing an inimical force and delivering a decisive victory.

WWI, not so much. I agree with you on that.

There is one other example to offer on the decisive-victory side, and it occurred after the founding of the U.N. and the invention of this misguided “global test”: The invasion of Iraq by the Coalition of the Willing. Highly unpopular now, made so by energized, agenda-driven propaganda efforts. Its wisdom, or lack thereof, will be debated for decades. But it worked. Point being, we all win when warfare is viewed as an effort to make the other side all-the-way-gone, rather than an extra inning of pointless diplomacy that happens to involve exploding things & projectiles.

For what it’s worth, by the way, I’m of the view that George Patton ended up on the right side of history here after his early demise, with his comments about the Soviets. Not exactly a “going out on a limb” view.
- mkfreeberg | 06/06/2011 @ 11:23
How would we know?

That’s pretty easy… just read the press releases and speech excerpts from any member of the JCS and other general/flag officers in the four services. Then ask yourself if you could imagine Chesty Puller (et al) sayin’ the same thing(s). QED.

Further: look what happened to McChrystal. The general could well have been cut from the same cloth as Patton and look where his candor… or rather that of his staff… got him.
- bpenni | 06/06/2011 @ 11:38
I understand that sir. But I am hard pressed to call a foe “well and truly vanquished”, when the war was fought to keep Poland out of the hands of the people who started the war (Hitler and Stalin), and at the end of the war, not just Poland is in the hands of Stalin, but Eastern Europe. Doesn’t look like the cops stopped the bank robbery to me. Looks like the cops got called in to split the loot…..

There are plenty of examples on the decisive-victory side in the modern day. Kind of my point. Panama, Grenada, The first Iraq War. All fought by the Republicans, all so decisive that people don’t think of them as wars, but only “police actions”.

As to you, Bpenni, ah, no. That sort of thing has been with the Military since the beginning. The time serving wienies are in charge during peacetime, and they do a very good job of keeping people like Patton and Puller down. They got their chance because of brutal wars, not because the Military ever valued the sort of thing Chesty might say. The Republicans have just been too good about protecting the country these last few decades, so there hasn’t been a “conflict” so brutal that the TSW’s have run to the hills. That’s why we haven’t see the rise and fall of the “Straight speaking solider” for a while…..
- Robert Mitchell Jr. | 06/06/2011 @ 12:04
Yes, good points, all.

Col. Nathan Jessup nailed it shut. We don’t get the truth, whole truth, nuthin’-but-the-truth…because during peacetime we manage to demonstrate, repeatedly, that we can’t handle it.
- mkfreeberg | 06/06/2011 @ 12:46

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