Memorial Day 2014

"I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States." — John Adams.

This Memorial Day morning I had to get up at 05:00 to take my daughter to the Ontario Airport to catch a flight to Dallas, Texas. Traffic was light and the trip to the airport was easy and quick. On the way home we passed the Medal of Honor Cemetery in Riverside, California. I immediately began regretting that I did not have my camera with me so I could stop at the cemetery and take some photos of all the little American Flags posted at each grave site. The last time I attempted to enter the cemetery on a Memorial Day the line to get in was huge. Perhaps tomorrow I will drive up early in the morning and see if the flags are still there.

Fortunately last night I watched on PBS the 25th Memorial Day Concert from the Capitol Mall in Washington, D.C. This was a very inspiring program hosted by Gary Senise and Joe Mantegna, one of the stars of the CBS show “Criminal Minds.” Both are patriots who devote of the time and treasure to support our veterans. This show was produced to honor the veterans, alive and dead, with many in attendance. It was jot, as most Hollywood-type productions are made to honor the stars.

Memorial Day provides a stark contrast between the best of our nation's Patriot sons and daughters versus the worst of our nation's civilian culture of consumption.

Amid the sparse, reverent observances of the sacrifices made by millions of American Patriots who paid the full price for Liberty, in keeping with their sacred oaths, we are inundated at every turn with the commercialization of Memorial Day by vendors who are too ignorant and/or selfish to honor this day in accordance with its purpose.

Indeed, Memorial Day has been sold out, along with Washington's Birthday, Independence Day, Veterans, Thanksgiving and Christmas Days. And it's no wonder, as government schools no longer teach civics or any meaningful history, and courts have excluded God (officially) from the public square.

According to Michelle Malkin writing in Human Events:

“A government that fails to secure its borders is guilty of dereliction of duty. A government that fails to care for our men and women on the frontlines is guilty of malpractice. A government that puts the needs of illegal aliens above U.S. veterans for political gain should be prosecuted for criminal neglect bordering on treason.

Compare, contrast, and weep:

In Sacramento, Calif., lawmakers are moving forward with a budget-busting plan to extend government-funded health insurance to at least 1.5 million illegal aliens.

In Los Angeles, federal bureaucrats callously canceled an estimated 40,000 diagnostic tests and treatments for American veterans with cancer and other illnesses to cover up a decade-long backlog.

In New York, doctors report that nearly 40 percent of their patients receiving kidney dialysis are illegal aliens. A survey of nephrologists in 44 states revealed that 65 percent of them treat illegal aliens with kidney disease.

In Memphis, a VA whistleblower reported that his hospital was using contaminated kidney dialysis machines to treat America’s warriors. The same hospital previously had been investigated for chronic overcrowding at its emergency room, leading to six-hour waits or longer. Another watchdog probe found unconscionable delays in processing lab tests at the center. In addition, three patients died under negligent circumstances, and the hospital failed to enforce accountability measures.

In Arizona, illegal aliens incurred health care costs totaling an estimated $700 million in 2009.

In Phoenix, at least 40 veterans died waiting for VA hospitals and clinics to treat them, while government officials created secret waiting lists to cook the books and deceive the public about deadly treatment delays.

At the University of California at Berkeley, UC President Janet Napolitano (former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security) has offered $5 million in financial aid to illegal alien students. Across the country, 16 states offer in-state tuition discounts for illegal aliens: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington. In addition, the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, the University of Hawaii Board of Regents and the University of Michigan Board of Regents all approved their own illegal alien tuition benefits.

In 2013, the nation’s most selective colleges and universities had enrolled just 168 American veterans, down from 232 in 2011. Anti-war activists have waged war on military recruitment offices at elite campuses for years. The huge influx of illegal aliens in state universities is shrinking the number of state-subsidized slots for vets.

In 2013, the Obama Department of Homeland Security released 36,007 known, convicted criminal illegal aliens, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. The catch-and-release beneficiaries include thugs convicted of homicide, sexual assault, kidnapping, and thousands of drunk or drugged driving crimes.

The same Department of Homeland Security issued a report in 2009 that identified returning combat veterans as worrisome terrorist and criminal threats to America.

In Washington, Big Business and open-borders lobbyists are redoubling efforts to pass another massive illegal alien amnesty to flood the U.S. job market with low-wage labor.

Across the country, men and women in uniform returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan have higher jobless rates than the civilian population. The unemployment rate for new veterans has spiked to its worst levels, nearing 15 percent. For veterans ages 24 and under, the jobless rate is a whopping 29.1 percent, compared to 17.6 percent nationally for the age group.

A Forbes columnist reported last year that an Air Force veteran was told: “We don’t hire your kind.”

It should be noted here that the “evil” Wal-Mart Company has pledged to hire 100,000 vets by 2016. To date the company has hired 22,000 vets and counting. This is the company the Democratic Party’s union supporters hate and call evil for the non-union policies.

Malkin continues:

“And last December, Democrats led the charge to reduce cost-of-living increases in military pensions — while blocking GOP Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions’ efforts to close a $4.2 billion loophole that allows illegal aliens to collect child tax credits from the IRS, even if they pay no taxes. The fraudulent payments to illegal aliens would have offset the cuts to veterans’ benefits.

America: medical and welfare welcome mat to the rest of the world, while leavings its best and bravest veterans to languish in hospital lounges, die waiting for appointments, and compete for jobs and educational opportunities against illegal border-crossers, document fakers, visa violators and deportation evaders. “

And we still have Marine Vet languishing in a Mexican jail while our government does nothing to get him home. Shame on us.

In his essay "The Contest In America," 19th-century libertarian philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote, "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

It is that "decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling" which accounts for why so many "miserable creatures" have downgraded Memorial Day to nothing more than a date to exploit for commercial greed and avarice. While units large and small of America's Armed Forces stand in harm's way around the globe, many Americans are too preoccupied with beer, barbecue and baseball to pause and recognize the priceless burden borne by generations of our uniformed Patriots. Likewise, many politicos will use Memorial Day as a soapbox to feign Patriotism, while in reality they are in constant violation of their oaths to our Constitution.

That notwithstanding, there are still tens of millions of genuine American Patriots who will set aside the last Monday in May to honor all those fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen who have refreshed the Tree of Liberty with their blood, indeed with their lives, so that we might remain the proud and free.

Since the opening salvos of the American Revolution, nearly 1.2 million American Patriots have died in defense of Liberty. Additionally, 1.4 million have been wounded in combat, and tens of millions more have served honorably, surviving without physical wounds. These numbers, of course, offer no reckoning of the inestimable value of their service or the sacrifices borne by their families, but we do know that the value of Liberty extended to their posterity — to us — is priceless.

Who were these brave souls?

In the Civil War an estimated 620,000 Americans died

In the First World War there were 417,465 military deaths from all causes with 204,000 wounded, many of which were permanently disabled.

In the Second World War over 16 million served and 420,000 of those made the ultimate sacrifice with 670,000 wounded. Some with wounds that never healed. Today less than 10% of those members of that “Greatest Generation” are still with us. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet with and interview five of those members in 2008.

The Korean War gave us another 36,000 dead with 92,000 wounded.

The Vietnam War caused 58,209 military deaths, the names of all of which are carved into the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C. Another 153,000 were wounded, some with severe mental problems and are suffering at the hands of the Veterans Administration’s failed health care system.

Finally the Iraq-Afghanistan war, with Afghanistan being the longest war in our nation’s history has given us 6,717 killed (Iraq 4,488, Afghanistan 2,229) and 50,897 wounded (Iraq 32,222, Afghanistan 18,675) with many more suffering the effects of PTSD, a mental disabling disease that will affect them the rest of their lives. It should also be pointed out that due to the advances in battlefield medicine roughly 60% of those wounded would have died in previous wars. No it is up to the corrupt Veterans Administration to provide life-time care for these brave volunteers. And this does not take into account the suffering the families of these fallen and wounded have to endure.

On 12 May 1962, Gen. Douglas MacArthur addressed the cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, delivering his farewell speech, "Duty, Honor and Country." He described the legions of uniformed American Patriots as follows: "Their story is known to all of you. It is the story of the American man at arms”.

Gen. MacArthur continued:

“His name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen. In his youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all that mortality can give. He needs no eulogy from me, or from any other man. He has written his own history and written it in red on his enemy's breast.

But when I think of his patience under adversity, of his courage under fire, and of his modesty in victory, I am filled with an emotion of admiration I cannot put into words. He belongs to history as furnishing one of the greatest examples of successful patriotism. He belongs to posterity as the instructor of future generations in the principles of liberty and freedom. He belongs to the present, to us, by his virtues and by his achievements.

In twenty campaigns, on a hundred battlefields, around a thousand campfires, I have witnessed that enduring fortitude, that patriotic self-abnegation, and that invincible determination which have carved his statue in the hearts of his people.

From one end of the world to the other, he has drained deep the chalice of courage. As I listened to those songs of the glee club, in memory's eye I could see those staggering columns of the First World War, bending under soggy packs on many a weary march, from dripping dusk to drizzling dawn, slogging ankle deep through mire of shell-pocked roads; to form grimly for the attack, blue-lipped, covered with sludge and mud, chilled by the wind and rain, driving home to their objective, and for many, to the judgment seat of God.

I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death. They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory. Always for them: Duty, Honor, Country. Always their blood, and sweat, and tears, as they saw the way and the light.”

Duty. Honor. Country — these are not for bargain sale or discount.

On Memorial Day of 1982, President Ronald Reagan offered these words in honor of Patriots interred at Arlington National Cemetery: "I have no illusions about what little I can add now to the silent testimony of those who gave their lives willingly for their country. Words are even more feeble on this Memorial Day, for the sight before us is that of a strong and good nation that stands in silence and remembers those who were loved and who, in return, loved their countrymen enough to die for them. Yet, we must try to honor them not for their sakes alone, but for our own. And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice."

President Reagan continued:

“Our first obligation to them and ourselves is plain enough: The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we -- in a less final, less heroic way — be willing to give of ourselves.

It is this, beyond the controversy and the congressional debate, beyond the blizzard of budget numbers and the complexity of modern weapons systems, that motivates us in our search for security and peace. . The willingness of some to give their lives so that others might live never fails to evoke in us a sense of wonder and mystery.

One gets that feeling here on this hallowed ground, and I have known that same poignant feeling as I looked out across the rows of white crosses and Stars of David in Europe, in the Philippines, and the military cemeteries here in our own land. Each one marks the resting place of an American hero and, in my lifetime, the heroes of World War I, the Doughboys, the GIs of World War II or Korea or Vietnam. They span several generations of young Americans, all different and yet all alike, like the markers above their resting places, all alike in a truly meaningful way.

As we honor their memory today, let us pledge that their lives, their sacrifices, their valor shall be justified and remembered for as long as God gives life to this nation. I can't claim to know the words of all the national anthems in the world, but I don't know of any other that ends with a question and a challenge as ours does: "O! say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?" That is what we must all ask.”

For the Fallen, we are certain of that which is noted on all Marine Corps Honorable Discharge orders: "Fideli Certa Merces" — to the faithful there is certain reward.

Thomas Jefferson offered this enduring advice to all generations of Patriots: "Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage on them."

We owe a great debt of gratitude to all those generations who have passed the Torch of Liberty to succeeding generations. In accordance, I humbly ask that each of you call upon all those around you to observe Memorial Day with reverence.

In honor of American Patriots who have died in defense of our great nation, lower your flag to half-staff from sunrise to 1200 on Monday. (Read about proper flag etiquette and protocol.) Join us by observing a time of silence at 1500 (your local time), for remembrance and prayer. Offer a personal word of gratitude and comfort to any surviving family members you know who are grieving for a beloved warrior fallen in battle.

On this and every day, please pray for our Patriot Armed Forces now standing in harm's way around the world in defense of our liberty, and for the families awaiting their safe return.

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." — John 15:12-14

Remembering Vince Flynn

“It's this upside-down world that we live in where we afford political correctness to the most intolerant group of individuals on the planet.” — Vince Flynn

Last month (June 19) Vince Flynn passed away after losing his battle with prostate cancer. The 47-year old author of the famous Mitch Rapp series of political thrillers is survived by his wife and three children.

I first became acquainted with Flynn’s writing in 1998 with “Term Limits”, his first book. Term Limits was a novel about a group of ex-Navy SEALS who were assassinating U. S. Senators and government officials in retribution for their leaking information about a raid where several SEALS were killed. In this book Flynn, like Tom Clancy and, Brian Haig, Brad Thor, were a bit ahead of the curve. (See Extortion 17)

This was quite a radical novel at the time as it portrayed the SEALS as the heroes of the book who were eventually given cover by the CIA for their actions. The book was on the New York Times best seller list for several weeks.

It was in his second book, Transfer of Power, that Flynn introduced us to his iconic anti-terrorism operative, Mitch Rapp, and his boss at the CIA Irene Kennedy. The stories in his next 11 books were centered around these two characters.

The fifth of seven children, Vince Flynn was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on April 6, 1966. He graduated from the Saint Thomas Academy in 1984, and the University of St. Thomas with a degree in economics in 1988.

After college he went to work for Kraft General Foods where he was an account and sales marketing specialist.

In 1990 Vince Flynn left Kraft to accept an aviation candidate slot with the United States Marine Corps. However, one week before leaving for Officers Candidate School, he was medically disqualified from the Marine Aviation Program, due to several concussions and convulsive seizures he suffered as a child following a car accident. While trying to obtain a medical waiver for his condition, he started thinking about writing a book, an unusual choice for Flynn since he had been diagnosed with dyslexia in grade school and had struggled with reading and writing all his life.

Having been turned down by the Marine Corps, Flynn returned to the work force and took a job with United Properties, a commercial real estate company in the Twin Cities. During his spare time he worked on an idea he had for a book. After two years with United Properties he decided to devote himself full time to writing: he quit his job, moved to Colorado, and began working full time on what would eventually become his first novel, Term Limits.

While writing Term Limits, Flynn supported himself by bartending at night. After five years and more than sixty rejection letters, he decided to self-publish, which was not as common at that time as it is today. Term Limits went to number one in the Twin Cities area, and within a week Flynn had an agent and garnered a two-book deal with Emily Bestler of Pocket Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint.

First Published by Pocket Books in 1997, Term Limits was a New York Times bestseller in paperback. Since then, his books became perennial bestsellers in hardcover, paperback, and electronic editions, and since the publication of Protect and Defend in 2007, have regularly been #1 New York Times bestsellers. Flynn’s novels have been praised for their extensive research and prescient warnings about the rise of Islamic Radical Fundamentalism and terrorism. His books have been read by current and former presidents, foreign heads of state, and intelligence professionals around the world, and are admired for their authenticity and imagination: one high-ranking CIA official told his staff, “I want you to read Flynn's books and start thinking about how we can more effectively wage this war on terror.”

Motion picture rights to Flynn’s character Mitch Rapp have been optioned by CBS Films with the intention of making a character-based, action-thriller movie franchise. Flynn was also an advisor for the Fox series 24 and in some was Kieffer Sutherland’s character, Jack Bauer, had a lot of Mitch Rapp in him.

The Survivor, Vince Flynn’s planned release this fall, is being postponed indefinitely. Vince had not yet completed the manuscript at the time of his passing last month. The reason it is “postponed indefinitely” as opposed to “canceled” is because it is too soon to know how much of the book was written or if Vince had plans or provisions in place in the event that he could not complete the book. This book may be published due to Flynn’s collaboration with best-selling author Brian Haig.

Here is a list of all of the books in the Mitch Rapp series:

Transfer of Power (1999)

The Third Option (2000)

Separation of Power (2001)

Executive Power (2003)

Memorial Day (2004)

Consent to Kill (2005)

Act of Treason (2006)

Protect and Defend (2007)

Extreme Measures (2008)

Pursuit of Honor (2009)

American Assassin (2010)

Kill Shot (2012)

The Last Man (2012)

The Survivor (2013 — unpublished)

You can read summaries of these books by clicking here I think you will find them interesting if you haven’t read the books and see how the character of Mitch Rapp evolved.

I have read all of the Vince Flynn books and each year I looked forward to his next novel about the adventures of Mitch Rapp and Irene Kennedy. Over the years I have seen Rapp and Kennedy more as real life people than as characters on the pages of a book. Flynn’s writing made them so.

Each book was an out-and-out page-turner. If you were reading a Flynn novel on a flight you were disappointed when the seat belt light came on an you were told you were about to land. You wanted your flight to last a little longer so you could get a few more chapters in. If you were reading the book at home you would find yourself looking at the clock and seeing it was 3 o’clock in the morning and telling yourself just one or two more chapters.

Mitch Rapp was the consummate American hero and terrorist hunter. He did not countenance politicians who were more concerned with their own image and power that the people of the United States. He was someone I hope we have on the government payroll somewhere. Irene Kennedy was Rapp’s governor and the intellectual and political half of the team. She could keep him under control while allowing him to carry forth his missions and protect him from the politicians. In the novel Protect and Defend Irene Kennedy is kidnapped by terrorists and Rapp will spare no one or waste one minute in his search to find her. And when he does — oh well you will have to read the book.

Rather than attempt to describe Mitch Rapp or Vince Flynn here are three videos of Vince Flynn describing himself and his character in his own words.

The first video has Flynn explain how Mitch Rapp became the terrorist-fighter be is.

In this next video Flynn talks about his 2008 book In Pursuit of Honor.

In this final video Flynn discusses Protect and Defend and talks a bit about himself.

Vince Flynn and his characters of Mitch Rapp and Irene Kennedy will be missed by millions of readers. It is now up to authors such as Brad Thor, Brian Haig, and Tom Clancy to carry on.

May God keep and bless Vince Flynn and his wife and children.

A Tribute to a Hero

"Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage on them." — Thomas Jefferson

On Saturday I had the privilege of attending the 90^th birthday party for a World War II hero. Ed “Doc” Pepping turned ninety on July 4, 2012 and the party, hosted by his family, was to honor the longevity and accomplishments of this once paratrooper and medic for the 101^st Airborne.

Ed, a talented musician, was a member of the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra and an avid opera fan before the war. He enlisted in September, 1942 and like the other members of the 506^th he volunteered for the paratroopers. When I asked Ed why he volunteered for the paratroopers he said he did so because of the extra pay and the excitement. In 1942 a PFC was paid a grand total of $54 dollars per month ($760 in today’s dollars) and paratroopers received an additional $50 dollars per month.

After his basic training he was assigned to “Easy” Company, 2^nd Battalion, 506^th PIR of the 101^stAirborne Division at Camp Taccoa, Georgia. If read the book Band of Brothers or watched the HBO series of the same title you would have seen a true depiction of paratrooper training at Camp Taccoa and the rigorous training regime these troopers went through. They were the finest trained Army troops in World War II.

One of the exercises these troopers had to do war run up and down a Curahee Mountain, a 1,740 foot peak outside of the camp, touch the geodetic survey monument, and then run back to camp. This exercise was used to get the troopers in mental and physical condition for what they would encounter in the battles to come.

Ed liked to note that he ran up and down Curahee Mountain some 33 times amounting to a total of 198 miles. Even though Ed was the third best marksman in his Company he volunteered for a Medical Detachment where he became the company’s medic. Ed had doubts as to whether or not he would be able kill someone and believed he could serve his nation and his fellow troopers better by saving lives. Medics were important elements of a company as they were the ones who risked their lives to save the lives of their fellow troopers and were right in the middle of the fight.

After the 506^th completed their training in Georgia they boarded a ship and sailed to England where they went through more training in the English country side as they prepared for the invasion of France and their D-Day drop over Normandy. Of course they knew nothing of the mission at that time and were pretty sick and tired of all the training. They were ready to go and anxious to get into the fight.

On the night of June 5, 1944, after they had waited through two days of bad weather while in full gear, they boarded their C-47 transport planes in groups of 18. These groups were called “sticks” and each trooper was assigned a number for his position on the plane. They were loaded down with over 100 pounds of gear including a M1 Grand rifle or carbine, ammunition, mines, hand grenades, knives, ropes, and a cricket clicker for identification in the dark of night. One click was to be followed by two clicks by friendlies. These clickers were only minimally successful as a German Mauser rifle made two clicks when the bolt inserts a bullet in the chamber.

It was a dark night over Normandy in the early hours of June 6, 1944. As a defensive measure the Germans had flooded many of the low lying fields to thwart paratroopers and tanks. They wanted to keep the tanks on the narrow roads so their anti-tank guns could pick them off. Many of these fields had water deep enough for the troopers to drown in especially as they were loaded down with so much equipment. Many of the troopers did in fact succumb to the water in the fields.

When the C-47 carrying Ed and the other 17 troopers arrived over the Sainte Mére Eglise drop zone they should have been flying about 700 feet above the ground at a speed of 95 miles per hour. In fact, due to the German flak and the evasive maneuvers of the pilots, they were doing 160 MPH at just over 300 feet. When Ed jumped the force of the high speed air racing by the plane forced his medical gear off of his body and when he hit the ground his steel helmet cracked down on his neck cracking 3 vertebrae.

Ed continued to serve in the field administering to the needs of the wounded troopers for fifteen days until he finally collapsed during the assault on Carentan and was evacuated to England. During the time Ed received the Bronze Star for pulling a wounded officer from a burning tank turret where he had been shot and fallen on top of the tank commander. This had caused the tank to stop and halt the movement of the entire column subjecting them to German fire. Ed climbed up on the tank, and under fire, pulled the wounded man to safety allowing the column to proceed. This action took place at a crossroads nicknamed “Dead Mans Corner” just outside of Sainte Marie du Mont.

Finally Ed was evacuated back to England where, after his neck healed, he served as a medic in an Army hospital tending to the wounded soldiers that were being evacuated from France.

Ed returned to France after his wounds healed but he did not resume his duties as a Medic. Instead he was assigned to a communications unit where he served as a switchboard operator connecting calls with officers. He said he enjoyed disconnecting the calls when the officers were talking to their “sweeties.”

He believed it was an honor to serve in a hospital extreme trauma ward where he could tend to the most seriously wounded. During his tenure with the 506^th he earned many decorations including a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, 2 Presidential Unit Citations and the French Croix de Guerre. He also received the Army's Legion of Merit medal and is a holder of the Combat Medic and Combat Infantry Badge.

In 2002 when Band of Brothers won an Emmy Award Ed was invited to attend the awards ceremony as a guest of Steven Spielberg. Here he was united with Col Dick Winters, his old company commander, and several of the troopers he served with the 506^th. Ed was driven to the ceremony by one of the reenactors of the 101^st, who he now refers to as his bodyguard.

Ed now resides in Whittier, California where he spends his time with his books and giving lectures to high school students on the values of honor, service, integrity, and patriotism. He is also active with the Boy Scouts serving as a mentor.

I met Ed in 2008 when I was acting as a photographer for the World War II Research and Preservation Society and the reenactors of the 506^th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), Second Battalion of the 101^st Airborne Division. The WWII RPS is a California nonprofit corporation that has been active in historical research and Living History Reenacting for over a decade. Members come from all walks of life, ranging from active military duty & retired military personnel, law enforcement, doctors, lawyers, artists, students, and business executives all with a passion for World War II history and a common goal of preserving our nation's part in that war. Part of that preservation entails depicting not only U.S. soldiers from that era, but also their Allies as well as their opponents.

At that event I also meet other members of the 506^th including Bob Noody, Bob Janes, Don Malarkey, and Bill True. All of these men were heroes for what they did. You can view a gallery of photos from that event by clicking here.

It was a privilege to share Ed’s birthday with his family and close friends. It said that these WWII vets are passing away at a rate of 1,000 per day. I can say that while having a few physical problems Ed is a sharp as ever and a great person to spend some time with. He is beloved by his family and all who know him. I can only pray that Ed sees his 100^th birthday and that his contributions to this nation and our society are not forgotten. God bless Ed.

For a gallery of photos from Ed’s party please click Here.

Leave it to the French

"No country upon earth ever had it more in its power to attain these blessings than United America. Wondrously strange, then, and much to be regretted indeed would it be, were we to neglect the means and to depart from the road which Providence has pointed us to so plainly." — George Washington

My last post was dedicated to the remembrance of D-Day and the invasion of Normandy. Since then I have been watching presentations on the History and Military channels honoring the 67^th anniversary of this momentous event of the twentieth century.

While looking for articles and blogs about the D-Day anniversary I came upon a disgusting report from France. AP reported:

“French artist Rachid Khimoune has installed 1,000 sculptures shaped like sea turtles on Omaha Beach to mark the 67th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.

The turtles’ “shells” are molded from American, Russian and German combat helmets, sprouting flippers and long-necked heads. The sculptures were arranged Sunday along the sandy expanses of Omaha Beach — where the Allies won a pivotal victory against the Nazis.

Some 215,000 Allied soldiers, and roughly as many Germans, were killed or wounded during D-Day and the ensuing nearly three months it took to secure the capture of Normandy.

A French artist of Berber origin, Khimoune is a sculptor, painter and video artist whose work often features everyday objects.”

Tell me: How could the French government countenance this art installation, which manages to be both juvenile and deeply insulting at the same time?

Khimoune claims his installation of 1,000 casts of Russian, German and American combat helmets of WWII which also represent turtles, to denounce global violence. What the turtles have to do with his protest art is beyond me. And what did the Russians have to do with the invasion of Normandy?

The AP report continues:

“The turtles’ “shells” are molded from American, Russian and German combat helmets, sprouting flippers and long-necked heads. The sculptures were arranged Sunday along the sandy expanses of Omaha Beach — where the Allies won a pivotal victory against the Nazis.”

I ask you: So, would the artist prefer that the Allies had refrained from committing any icky violence and instead not invaded Normandy, so as to preserve peace? In which case, France would to this day be called Frankenreich, the western province of Greater Germany?

I mean, OK, sure, stupid artists make stupid art making stupid points all the time. But the French government gave permission for this particular statement to be made on Omaha Beach on the anniversary of D-Day.

The ghosts of 10,000 men who sacrificed their lives that day to save France all say “You’re welcome!” in unison.

At this stage, there’s really nothing left to do but quote George Orwell:

“Pacifism is objectively pro-Fascist. This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side you automatically help that of the other. Nor is there any real way of remaining outside such a war as the present one. In practice, ‘he that is not with me is against me’. The idea that you can somehow remain aloof from and superior to the struggle, while living on food which British sailors have to risk their lives to bring you, is a bourgeois illusion bred of money and security. Mr Savage remarks that ‘according to this type of reasoning, a German or Japanese pacifist would be “objectively pro-British”.’ But of course he would be! That is why pacifist activities are not permitted in those countries (in both of them the penalty is, or can be, beheading) while both the Germans and the Japanese do all they can to encourage the spread of pacifism in British and American territories. The Germans even run a spurious ‘freedom’ station which serves out pacifist propaganda indistinguishable from that of the P.P.U. They would stimulate pacifism in Russia as well if they could, but in that case they have tougher babies to deal with. In so far as it takes effect at all, pacifist propaganda can only be effective against those countries where a certain amount of freedom of speech is still permitted; in other words it is helpful to totalitarianism.”

Apparently the French government is marking all the victories over the Nazis by allowing this guy to display his pacifism helmet-turtles at each world-famous French national landmark:

But what about the never-ending horrors of addlebrained moral relativism?

To my knowledge the French have never won a war in their history. They were beaten at Crécy and Agincourt by the English. They were beaten by the Germans at the battle of Sedan. Without the intervention of the British and Americans they would have been beaten by the Germans in the First World War. They were soundly defeated and occupied by the Germans in the Second World War. The lost Algiers to the Marxists Muslims and were routed at Dien Bien Phu. Yes, they assisted us in our revolutionary war with the British and we are thankful for that. There are monuments in our nation’s capital to Lafayette and streets named after him throughout the country. We certainly do not have statues of turtles with tri-cornered hats on them. Now we are following France in Libya. I can only guess how badly that will turn out.

I have been to Normandy on several occasions and I can tell you the people of the Calvados Coast appreciate the sacrifice’s the American soldiers did for them on D-Day and the weeks after the invasion when the battle for northwest France raged in the fields and boscage of Normandy.

When my wife and I were in Paris in 1977 we met a couple Kathy had been corresponding with prior to our trip. Francois was a vice president with the Bank of America in Paris and he had been sending Kathy tips on where to stay and eat. We finally met Francois and his wife Isabelle when we arrived in Paris and they invited us to dinner at their home in the Neuilly district of Paris. Both Francois and Isabelle were very pro-American. Francois had seen his older brother lined up against a wall and shot by the Germans.

Isabelle was a young girl living in Normandy in 1944. She remembered the hardships and restrictions imposed on the Normans by the German occupiers. She also remembered the day of the invasion and the shell firing and bombings. She said it was terrible, but he people realized it was necessary to drive the Germans out. She told me with a smile on her face that the first American she ever saw was a soldier riding atop a tank passing through her village. He recalled waving at the soldier and he smiled and tossed her a chocolate bar. It was the first chocolate bar she had ever had in her life. I am sure Francois and Isabelle do not think much of Khimoune’s “art.”

Another wonderful experience we had in Normandy was in the village Sainte-Mère-Église — the first town in France to liberated. We had been touring the Normandy battle sites and lost tract of time. When we reached Sainte-Mère-Église it was two in the afternoon and we were ready for some lunch. Not realizing that rural French cafes do not serve lunch after two we walked into the Le John Steele hotel and restaurant expecting to get something to eat.

When we entered the restaurant we saw a group seated in the far corner eating so we sat down. When we were seated a man wearing an apron approached us and informed us in French that the restaurant was closed. When we expressed our disappointment in English he asked if we were Americans. When we informed him we were in fact Americans he smiled and told us to wait. A few moments later he returned with two large ham sandwiches and two small pitchers of red wine. He smiled and told us to eat. When we finished our baguette ham sandwiches and asked him for the bill he told us there was no charge and thanked us for our contribution to France. Kathy and I were astonished and delighted. We thanked him and his family and left the restaurant. I am sure the man in the apron does not think much of Khimoune’s “art.”

When you visit WWII military graves and memorials in Europe, you will find a significant difference between those built by America and those built by European nations: American memorials honor the heroism and sacrifice of young men who fought to preserve our freedom. European memorials lecture the visitor on the futility and stupidity of all war, treating the war dead as mere victims. The idea that the Allied soldiers should be honored as heroes for sacrificing their lives to defeat an evil enemy, well, that idea is offensive to the guides at European memorials.

One question remains: How many Europeans still deserve freedom, and how many might as well be slaves and serfs?

D-Day Remembered

“Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you…….. Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.” — Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, June 6, 1944

67 Years ago the largest amphibious invasion in the history of the world took place on the coast of France at place called Normandy. The purpose of this invasion was to land an allied army in France with the objective to make the final push into Germany and defeat the Nazi war machine.

When some American, British, Canadian and French troops landed on the morning of June 6, 1944 Europe had been at war for 1,740 days and America for 912 days. Millions had already died at the hands of the Nazis as they occupied all of Europe and a large part of the Soviet Union.

The assault was conducted in two phases: an airborne assault landing of 24,000 British, American, Canadian and Free French airborne troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armored divisions on the coast of France commencing at 6:30 AM. There were also decoy operations mounted under the codenames Operation Glimmer and Operation Taxable to distract the German forces from the real landing areas.

The operation was the largest amphibious invasion in world history, with over 160,000 troops landing on 6 June 1944. 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships were involved. The invasion required the transport of soldiers and material from the United Kingdom by troop-laden aircraft and ships, the assault landings, air support, naval interdiction of the English Channel and naval fire-support. The landings took place along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.

Most of us have learned about the invasion of Normandy through book and films like “The Longest Day” and “Saving Private Ryan.” We have heard of the heroic actions of the 1^st and 29^th infantry divisions on Omaha Beach. We have seen reports and films of the American 82^nd and 101^st airborne divisions as they parachuted behind the German lines on the Cotentin Peninsula and the 6^th British Airborne Division at the Orne River.

The planning for the Normandy invasion began shortly after the entry of the United States into WWII. The first thing President Roosevelt and General George C. Marshal had to do was select an Army officer who would oversee the planning and execution of the cross channel invasion. For this task they selected a relatively unknown colonel who at the times was working in war plans at the Pentagon — Dwight D. Eisenhower. Recognizing a talent for planning, a deep understanding of logistics and the ability to lead diverse teams Marshal picked Eisenhower to be the commander of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), the organization that would plan, coordinate and execute all allied military operations in Europe.

It was Eisenhower’s responsibility to develop a plan for the invasion of France and bring our allies with diverse objectives to together for a unified propose, in essence he was more politician and manager than battlefield general. He was more strategic than tactical.

For his task Eisenhower selected:

• Deputy Supreme Allied Commander: Air Chief Marshal Arthur Tedder
• Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery (21st Army Group)
• Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley (12th Army Group)
• Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers (6th Army Group)
• Air Forces Commander: Air Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory
• Naval Forces Commander: Admiral Bertram Ramsay

On the night of June 4^th, after two years of planning a buildup this leadership team met to decide whether or not to give the “go” signal for the troops who were already on the ships ready to set sail for their cross channel journey. The weather was terrible. It had been raining for two days and the seas were high. These conditions would ground the airborne toops and planes that would be needed to support the invasion. The high seas would weaken many of the troops with sea sickness. Eisenhower and his staff were well aware of this and he delayed the invasion for 24 hours.

Based on a briefing by his chief meteorologist, Commander Arnold Stagg of the RAF, Eisenhower would have to make the final decision. Stagg had a six-man team of meteorologists working for him, a team that never agreed on anything. The Telegraph reported in a recent article:

“The allies narrowly avoided postponing D-Day by a fortnight to a date when the weathermen would have given the go-ahead and the result would have been utter defeat in storm-tossed seas. No detailed account of the forecasts has been given in the media before.

Previous accounts relied on the interpretation of James Stagg, a Meteorological Office man seconded to the RAF. But he merely reported to Eisenhower the analyses of three two-man teams of forecasters from the Met Office, the United States military and the Royal Navy.

Only the Navy men, Lawrence Hogben and Geoffrey Wolfe, survive. Dr Hogben said: "We six never agreed about anything except that Stagg was not a good meteorologist and that he was a bit of a glory hound." The six worked for months before D-Day, perfecting forecasting techniques many of which are still in use.

"I don't think people realize how close run it was," Dr Hogben said. "Not much would have to have changed for D-Day to have been a failure, and a failure caused by the weather."

Mr Wolfe, 92, agreed: "It was bad enough when they landed on June 6, but it could have been a disaster."

Each team produced forecasts and Stagg tried to achieve consensus before reporting to Eisenhower.”

During the afternoon of June 5^th Eisenhower called another meeting of his deputies and based on a revised weather report delivered by Stagg he decided to go forward with the invasion. This was no doubt the largest and most far reaching decision ever made by a general or politician. He had just taken total responsibility for the success or failure of the invasion. There would be no spinning or political cover if the invasion failed. It would be Eisenhower’s failure and his alone.

Eisenhower is known to have said; “plans are nothing; planning is everything.” He knew that once he set the invasion in motion he no longer had control of any part of it. The success now depended on the actions of the men in the boats and the paratroopers in the transport planes, men who had been training for this moment for two years. Eisenhower is quoted as stating; “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”

Many of these troopers had never seen combat before. In fact the entire 101^st airborne division had never parachuted into a combat operation before D-Day. They were well trained, highly motivated and ready to go. There were men in the boats, who would be landing on the beaches under heavy enemy fire who had never seen combat. The ultimate success of the D-Day invasion now rested on their shoulders.

General Erwin Rommel had been preparing the defenses along the French Coast for two years. He had crack, battle hardened troops stationed there. He had armor divisions including SS panzer units. Many of these soldiers had fought in North Africa, Sicily and Russia. He had lined the coast with protected artillery, bunkers, pill boxes, steel barriers. His guns were sighted well to provide murderous crossfire on any troops landing on the beaches. He had flooded the fields behind the beaches to drown the paratroopers. He had cut down thousands trees to plant in the fields to thwart glider landings. He had made the French Coast into something Hitler called “Fortress Europe (festung Europa).”

The landings went better than expected with causalities less than predicted, especially for the airborne troops. Within hours the invasion forces had overrun Rommel’s defenses, with the exception of Omaha Beach where the men of the 1^st and 29^th divisions had landed. The heights above Omaha Beach were defended by the battle tested 352^nd panzer grenadier division that had recently been moved to France from Russia.

The U.S. forces on Omaha Beach took a traffic beating from the murderous fire directed at them from the heights above the beach. They were pinned down for several hours and the causalities were mounting. Omar Bradley was getting very concerned as to the ability of the GIs to get off the beach. They had no tanks, like the other beaches had and they had to rely on ineffective artillery fire from the cruisers and destroyers off shore. In fact one destroyer got in so close that the captain risked grounding the ship so he could bring his guns to bear of targets he could see through the smoke. It looked like Rommel’s defenses would repel the men of the 1^st and 29^th divisions.

Two years of Rommel’s work and a crack German division held up the U.S. soldiers on Omaha Beach for five hours. By noon the troopers of the 1^st and 29^th had reached the heights behind Omaha Beach and were routing the Germans.

The late Stephen Ambrose attributed the success of the American troops to the characteristic imitative and ability to adapt of the American character. To paraphrase Ambrose, The German troops were products of the Hitler Youth were they were indoctrinated with Nazi ideology and trained to obediently follow orders while the Americans were products of the Boy Scouts.

Without the initiative and willingness to sacrifice for the ideals of liberty and their fellow man the invasion of Normandy would have failed. These men, often called members of the “Greatest Generation” were products of the great depression. Many had never been within 10 miles of their homes. They were not raised in the luxuries and entitlements we have today. Many had no more than an eighth grade education. But, they had one common belief and that was freedom and liberty.

We call people like Ed “Doc” Pepping, Bob Janes and Bob Noody, Bill True and Don Malarkey members of the greatest generation, and they were great. But, in talking with them, as I have, they will tell you they were not great, they were just doing their duty for the country and their fellow soldiers. They were men called upon by history for a purpose, the purpose of freeing the world from a vicious, evil tyranny. They fought with honor, great courage and valor. Let us not forget the words of Ronal Reagan as he honored those brave men.

But, let us not forget that there is another group of Americans who qualify for the honorific of “Greatest Generation” They are the men and women serving today in the Army, Marines, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard of his nation. They are fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are rescuing people at sea and protecting our coasts. They are the first ones in to deliver aid to stricken people. They protect this nation 24/7 and do it with pride and honor.

So on this 67^th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy let us remember the sacrifice of those who fought and died there, but let us not forget the same sacrifices being made by our military servicemen today.

The Forgotten War

The Forgotten War

"Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude; American will never forget their sacrifice." — President Harry S. Truman

On this Memorial Day much is made of the sacrifices made by our soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen over the years in wars past and present. Much is said of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the TV is filled with movies about the Second World War. Very little is said or taught about the Korean War, the war that we have forgotten. The Korean War was a war where over 36,000 Americans died and many thousands more were wounded.

In the United States, the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a "police action" as it was conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. Colloquially, it has been referred to in the United States as The Forgotten War or The Unknown War. The issues concerned were much less clear than in previous and subsequent conflicts, such as World War II and the Vietnam War. To a significant degree, the war has been "historically overshadowed by World War II and Vietnam".

On Sunday 25 June 1950 elements of the North Korean People’s Army (KPA) crossed the 38^th parallel and invaded South Korea. The 38^th parallel had been the dividing line between the two nations of North and South Korea. This line had been agreed upon by the U.S. and Soviet Union and formalized by the United Nations after the Second World War.

The invasion by the North took many people by surprise and soon the KPA had advanced all the way down to Korean Peninsula to the port city of Pusan where the United States Army established a defensive pocket.

President Harry Truman, with the sanctions of the United Nations order more troops sent to Korea to defend the feeble South Korean Army (ROK). Other nations like Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France and the Netherlands also sent troops to support the United States, but the main bulk of the fighting forces were Americans.

The Truman Administration was caught at a crossroads. Before the invasion, Korea was not included in the strategic Asian Defense Perimeter outlined by Secretary of State Acheson. Military strategists were more concerned with the security of Europe against the Soviet Union than East Asia. At the same time, the Administration was worried that a war in Korea could quickly widen into another world war should the Chinese or Soviets decide to get involved as well.

One facet of the changing attitude toward Korea and whether to get involved was Japan. Especially after the fall of China to the Communists, Japan itself increasingly appeared as the major East Asian prize to be protected. U.S. East Asian experts saw Japan as the critical counterweight to the Soviet Union and China in the region. While there was no United States policy that dealt with South Korea directly as a national interest, its proximity to Japan pushed South Korea to the fore. The recognition that the security of Japan required a non-hostile Korea led directly to President Truman’s decision to intervene. The essential point was that the American response to the North Korean attack stemmed from considerations of U.S. policy toward Japan. The United States wanted to shore up Japan to make it a viable counterweight against the Soviet Union and China, and Korea was seen as integral to that end.

The other important part of committing to intervention lay in speculation about Soviet action in the event that the United States intervene. The Truman administration was fretful that a war in Korea was a diversionary assault that would escalate to a general war in Europe once the U.S. committed in Korea. At the same time, there was no suggestion from anyone that the United Nations or the United States could back away from the conflict". In Truman’s mind, this aggression, if left unchecked, would start a chain reaction that would destroy the United Nations and give the go ahead to further Communist aggression elsewhere. Korea was where a stand had to be made, the difficult part was how. The UN Security council approved the use of force to help the South Koreans and the U.S. immediately began using air and naval forces in the area to that end. The Administration still refrained from committing on the ground because some advisors believed the North Koreans could be stopped by air and naval power alone. Also, it was still uncertain if this was a clever ploy by the Soviet Union to catch the U.S. unawares or just a test of U.S. resolve. The decision to commit ground troops and to intervene eventually became viable when a communiqué was received on June 27 from the Soviet Union that alluded it would not move against U.S. forces in Korea. This opened the way for the sending of American ground forces, for it now seemed less likely that a general war—with Korea as a preliminary diversion—was imminent". With the Soviet Union’s tacit agreement that this would not cause an escalation, the United States now could intervene with confidence that other commitments would not be jeopardized.

The overall commander was General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur soon realized that it would be difficult to fight back up the Peninsula and that the KPA forces had advanced so rapidly that they had over extended their supply lines. He ordered a landing at Inchon for September 15^th, a landing that would cut off thousands KPA troops south of the capital of Seoul. The landing was successful and within days the 1^st Calvary Division had reached Seoul and the U.S. Army and Marines began driving the KPA north across the 38^th parallel.

On September 30, Defense Secretary George Marshall sent an eyes-only message to MacArthur: "We want you to feel unhampered tactically and strategically to proceed north of the 38th parallel." MacArthur’s drive northward did not stop at the 38^th parallel but continued north to border with China at the Yalu River. By mid-October the U.S. Marines had reached a location close to the Chinese border known as the Chosin Reservoir.

On October 15^th thousands of Chinese troops crossed the Yalu into Korea and began attacking the Marines. Outnumbered the Marines had to retreat back down the west side of the peninsula where they could be evacuated. This is probably the greatest retreat of the Marines in their history.

Once the Chinese entered the war by sending hundreds of thousands of “volunteers” over the border the war took a turn against the UN forces. At one point MacArthur wanted to use nuclear weapons to stop the advancing Chinese. The war had now turned to conflict where the two main combatants were the United States and China. This is when public support began to wane in the United States.

Eventually MacArthur was fired by Truman and replaced with General Ridgeway, a paratrooper and combat veteran of WWII. Ridgeway turned the U.S. Army around, increased their morale and stabilized the conflict. The war dragged on for two years while negotiations for cease fire were going on. Finally on July 27, 1953 an armistice was reached and the fighting stopped with the combatants right back at the 38^th parallel where it all began. The war is considered to have ended at this point, even though there was no peace treaty.

I was 17 years old when the armistice was reached and very thankful for it. I would soon be eligible for the military draft and the possibility of being sent to Korea was real in my mind. Both never happened.

From June 1950 to July 1953 there was a dramatic change in the support for the Korean War within the United States. After the retreat of the Marines from the Chosin Reservoir and MacArthur’s comments on the use of the Atomic Bomb on the Chinese Americans were not only growing weary of the war there was a raising fear that it could produce a nuclear conflict.

When MacArthur returned to the United States, a country he had not stepped foot in for 16 years, he was met with cheering crowds in San Francisco. After his address to Congress there were calls for him to run for president on the Republican ticket. These calls and his popularity soon vanished after Congressional hearings on the war. It was the vastly more popular Eisenhower who captured the White House in 1954.

Unlike WWII there were no cheering throngs to greet them. There were no victory parades down Main Street. Alexander Haig, a young officer on MacArthur’s staff said; “when I returned to the United States and saw that people were living high with new cars, television and the latest products Madison Avenue could offer and they seemed not to care much about the sacrifice so many American soldiers had made I became disgusted and cynical for quite a while.” Was Haig simply forecasting what would happen to the American soldiers some 20 years later as they returned from Vietnam?

Why did this happen. The United States went into the Korean War with the good and honorable intentions thwarting the advances of the communist bloc and to protect the people of South Korea. Something we did even though the war ended in a stalemate. The American public, as General Patton once said; “love a winner”, and in their mind we had lost 36,000 Americans in a losing cause. They blamed the soldiers for this.

Some of this blame came from the reports of “turncoats”, men who were captured by the North Koreans or Chinese and “brainwashed” into betraying their country. This did not happen during WWII and the American people did not understand why American soldiers would betray their country when captured. This did not happen to many soldiers. The vast majority of captured American and British soldiers resisted severe and harsh treatment, including torture, at the hands of their captors. It was only a few who succumbed to the tactics of the communists. This subject was the theme of the 1962 movie “The Manchurian Candidate” starring Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury. The film was remade in 2004 with an entirely different villain.

There is another reason for this turnaround that is more subtle, yet more destructive and enduring, and that is the coming of age of the Red Diaper Babies of the 20’s and 30’s. Historian Ronald Radosh, in his book Commies: A Journey Through the Old Left, the New Left and the Leftover Left describes Red Diaper Babies as: “They were a subculture within a subculture: the proverbial hard Left of card-carrying Stalinists. Summers were spent at youth camps in the Catskills, where woodcraft took second place to ideological moulding, partly at the hands of the Red balladeer, Pete Seeger”

It was the communists and their fellow travelers like Whittaker Chambers, Alger Hiss, Owen Lattimore , Woody Guthrie, Paul Robeson, the Rosenbergs, Henry Wallace and Dalton Trumbo who were influencing American culture with their writings, songs and films. They were anti-war and anti-American. They believed in the “one world” theory, except their one world would be led by Joe Stalin or Mao Zedong. They believed communism was for the people — a better way of life than the evils of Adam Smith or John Locke. They conveniently ignored millions who died in Stalin’s gulags or Mao’s purges.

These were the people who were beginning to shape public opinion in he United States. They did it with their films, books and songs. It was not until Joe McCarthy came along with his Senate hearings that the American people began to take note of the creeping communism within our government and culture. While “Tail Gunner Joe” was heavy handed in his tactics he was on the right track. History and the release of the Venona Papers after the collapse of the Soviet Union have proved him to be much more correct than he was given credit for.

All of this rising leftist and communist influence in our media and politics worked against the Korean War and the men who served so valiantly. It is now the children of these Red Diaper Babies that are the college professors that are teaching the next generation of Americans to be good little leftists with anti-American beliefs. It was our current president, Barack Obama, who studied at the knee of a RDB, Frank Marshal Davis.

To this day the veterans of the Korean War are largely forgotten. Recently a friend of mine passed away. He was a veteran of Korea and served as a Navy Corpsman with the Marines. He was decorated for his service with a Purple Heart. Jimmy Toler was a patriot who served his nation and his fellow Marines with honor and valor, yet he was one of those forgotten heroes of a war we fought 60 years ago.

There are many tales of valor and heroism told of the U.S. Marines. There is the raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi and the defense Khe Sanh, but the one that comes to the mind of most Marines is the retreat from the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea.

At the Chosin Reservoir, the 1st Marine Division found itself surrounded and outnumbered eight to one by the Chinese army. The worst weather in 50 years cut off air support and assaulted the Marines with snow, wind and temperatures of -40 degrees F.

Even so, the "Chosin Few," as they would come to be called, decimated 10 Chinese infantry divisions and fought their way back to the sea to rejoin the American forces.

No Marines have ever faced worse weather, terrain, or odds than those who fought at Chosin Reservoir. But to anyone familiar with the Marines’ spirit of determination, there was no doubt the 1st Marine Division would prevail. It was General Lewis "Chesty" Puller, commander of the 1^st Marine Division who was quoted as saying of the retreat, “retreat hell, we’re just attacking in a different direction.” You will not find one Marine, former of serving, who is not aware of Chesty Puller’s leadership or his comment. Let us not forget the men who fought so courageously in Korea.