tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2550174175728910992024-03-14T01:00:34.214-07:00Barrett Tillman's Rant PageRants and ruminations by historian, novelist, essayist, and commentator, Barrett Tillman.Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.comBlogger147125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-27802204830543711162024-01-29T09:21:00.000-08:002024-01-29T09:21:48.632-08:00REMEMBERING JOE<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Twenty-one years ago this month America and the world lost an exceptional man.<br /><br />During World War II, South Dakota farm boy Joseph J. Foss became an American icon. He rose to national prominence for his combat heroism flying at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, engaging Japanese aircraft almost daily for three months.<br /><br />I was privileged to call Joe a friend. But so were legions of others. I never knew anyone with so many devoted friends—not merely acquaintances or colleagues.<br /><br />Joe grew up on a farm near Sioux Falls, inheriting the work ethic of his Norwegian emigrant family. Hard work and independence formed the core of his character. At seventeen he coped with the shock of losing his father in a freak accident, and continued pursuing his ambition.<br /><br />Enamored with aviation from childhood, Joe paid off his family’s mortgage, put himself through college, and entered naval pilot training. He won his wings of gold in 1941, opting for the Marine Corps “because I wanted in a fightin’ outfit.” By cleverly gaming “the system,” he avoided assignments in gliders and photo reconnaissance to gain his goal: flying Grumman F4F Wildcats.<br /><br />Then-Captain Foss arrived at Guadalcanal with Marine Fighter Squadron 121 in October 1942. With experience to match his talent, he shot his way to the top of America’s ace roster, becoming the first to match the World War I score of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker with 26 victories. <br /><br />Joes’ record was not easily achieved. He was shot down or force landed four times but he kept coming back for more. When he returned home in early 1943, he received the Medal of Honor from President Franklin D. Roosevelt only four months after leaving combat.<br /><br />Life magazine’s cover of June 7, 1943, showed Joe wearing his medal over the title “America’s No. 1 Ace.” Joe retained the title until Army Air Forces Captain Richard Bong reached 28 in the Pacific during April 1944. In 1945 Bong ran his tally to forty, becoming America’s all-time ace of aces, but died in an accident that summer.<br /><br />Six other American aces exceeded 26 victories during World War II, and Joe remains tied for seventh on the all-time list.<br /><br />After tolerating “the dancing bear act” selling war bonds, Joe formed his own squadron and took VMF-115 to the Solomons in 1944. But he contracted malaria and was waylaid for months in recovering at home.<br /><br />At war’s end Joe remained the Marine Corps’ leading ace, although the service foolishly accepted the 28 unverified claims of Gregory “Pappy” Boyington. All of Foss’ 26 victories were scored in Marine service. Boyington’s total recognized by the American Fighter Aces Association is 24 including two (versus six claimed) with the Flying Tigers. Eight decades later the Marines still have not corrected the record.<br /> <br />Returning to South Dakota, Joe formed a flying business and helped establish the South Dakota Air National Guard. During the Korean War, Colonel Foss served in the Central Air Defense Command where he broke the boredom by practicing duck calls. Frequently his expressive clucking and quacking reduced his colleagues to fits of laughter.<br /><br />Eventually Joe rose to brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve, retiring in 1975.<br /><br />Joe could not avoid public service. He was elected to the state legislature and subsequently he won two terms as governor.<br /> <br />From thereon Joe was frequently in the public eye. In 1959 he founded the American Football League, leading to the Super Bowl. Along the way he was national chairman of Easter Seals, partly because a daughter suffered from polio. Also, he was president of the National Rifle Association and the fighter aces association; was invited into the elite Golden Eagles naval aviation society; and was elected to the National Aviation Hall of Fame.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br />As governor of South Dakota, Joe had mentored a youngster named Tom Brokaw. Decades later Brokaw included Joe in the best seller The Greatest Generation. Joe shunned the notion: “We weren’t the greatest, we just did what we had to do.” He insisted that the republic’s founders were The Greatest. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">He was right.<br /><br />A Marine contemporary of Joe’s maintained “the old corps” ethic by dividing the human race into two categories: copers and non-copers. Alternatively, grass eaters and meat eaters. <br /><br />Joe was a coping carnivore. The roller-coaster ride of his life threw repeated challenges in his path, from the crucible of combat and the heights of glory to the grief of losing friends of his youth plus two children and a marriage. <br /><br />At age fifty he nearly died from accidental poisoning, casually sucking on a sprayed corn stalk while hunting pheasant. He often referred to himself in the third person, saying, “The Grim Reaper had Old Joe backed up to the one-yard line and was about to score.” His recovery was an epiphany: from there on Joe was an evangelistic Christian. Not the lapel-grabbing variety, but never reluctant to express his faith.<br /><br />At dedication of the National World War II Museum’s Pacific wing in 2001 Joe said, “They told me not to mention God or guns so that’s what I’m gonna talk about.” The audience laughed and applauded—except for the marine general sitting behind him.<br /><br />Joe and his beloved Didi founded the Foss Institute that year, providing patriotic lesson plans and veterans as speakers to school classes.<br /><br />In 2002 Joe made headlines when Phoenix airport security detained him en route to speak at West Point. The guards worried that his Medal of Honor’s beveled edges “might hurt someone.” Joe exclaimed, “<i>Hurt someone?</i> Why do you suppose they gave me the medal?”<br /><br />That October Joe suffered a stroke and lapsed into a coma. He remained comatose nearly three months, and it occurred to me that his final battle mirrored his Guadalcanal battles between October 1942 and January 1943.<br /><br />Joe died in Scottsdale Arizona, January 1, 2003, age 87.<br /><br />Joe’s friends and contemporaries accurately described him as “bigger than life” and “a man’s man.” But mainly I remember how much <i>fun</i> it was to know Joe Foss, whether shooting together or enjoying his Christmas oyster soup. <br /><br />Joe Foss: an American original.</span></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-47631099244592997722023-12-31T13:53:00.000-08:002024-01-01T12:49:57.947-08:00THE VIEW FROM 75<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Recently my chronological odometer turned past the 75 mark, but I like to think that my factory warranty remains valid. (No, I do not know the expiration date, but checking insurance actuarials, presumably I’m good for another 13 years. That’s better than my ancestral DNA would indicate, a median of 80 years.)</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">But I digress.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was born in 1948, a fourth-generation native Oregonian (and I shall spare you my rant about the factual and semantic problems inherent to the misnomer “Native Americans”). </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Though I’ve lived and worked in Phoenix and San Diego, my roots run deep. It was a sentiment shared with my late friend Governor and General Joe Foss (and if you ask “Joe who?”, then you stumbled onto the wrong blog). He said, “I was born a farmer and I’ll always be a farmer.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I grew up in a Northeast Oregon town of about 900, attending a four-year high school with 120 students. A great grandfather and grandfather were mayors; one got the streets paved. I was on the city council as police, park, and library commissioner. Maybe I’m the only police commissioner anywhere who loaded ammo for his “force.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The ranch was a life lesson. Aside from growing wheat, peas and cattle, we raised horses, mules, bison, and llamas. My youngest brother considered camels but Dad’s response was predictable: he Just Said No.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Summer vacation? What’s that? Ten-hour days before, during and after wheat were typical. I think the record was fourteen. The routine was almost happily broken by runs with Dad’s tricked-out fire truck. Previously he’d been chief of the rural fire department because he owned the truck.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Upon turning 75, I harkened back a quarter century to recall my 50th birthday. (Sidebar: one of my valued friends was a Navy test pilot who said his 30th birthday was the biggest surprise of his life). Like almost everybody who attains half a century, I pondered the fact that I was farther from The Beginning than The End. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Somewhere in my archive is a list of Things I Learned In Fifty Years. I wish I could find it because some of the entries remain even more valid now. Particularly “The guilty will punish the innocent.” You can make of that statement what you will, but from my perspective here in Arizona Territory, it’s applicable to the XXI Century. Like totally.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">So how to make best use of the remaining time?</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well, assuming 13 years is valid, that should be more than enough to write the four books I want to complete. The subjects remain Beyond Top Secret lest one of the dozens of my blog readers usurp my originality. One of the incomplete manuscripts has sulked in the back of my file cabinet since about 1980, victim of the inability of my coauthor to finish his portion before he up and died on me.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">If my warranty expires prematurely, I will not be overly disappointed. I was blessed with a mother who gave her sons the gift of curiosity, and a father who provided a strong example and good living off the land. Recalling the family motto: <i>Spes Alit Agricolum</i>. “Hope Flies With the Farmer.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="color: #2d0039; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">L</span>ike so many American families, mine has a record of long voyages and risk taking. From Northern Europe to England in the 8th century, to America in the 17th (<i>Mayflower</i> and all that) ultimately to the shores of the Pacific. And here we remain—there’s nowhere else to go even if we wanted to.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s been a long journey, often dangerous. Both sides of my family were engaged in the Revolutionary War but my father’s side was split. Lieutenant Colonel Tench Tilghman was George Washington’s aide de camp who took news of the Yorktown victory to congress in 1781. Tench’s father and brothers remained loyalists.</span></p>
<p style="color: #fc101b; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">My mother joined the DAR on two ancestors who commanded the militias at Lexington and Concord: Captain John Parker and Colonel James Barrett, respectively. She had a cousin named Parker Barrett. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">My maternal great-great grandparents trekked the Oregon Trail in 1852, and Martha Jane Nye left a journal that I transcribed about 120 years later. I still think it would make a terrific book if my agent could convince a publisher. Those people had soaring optimism—and heart. They left behind everything they knew for an uncertain future in the Oregon Country. It was a five-month race against nature, starting when the grass was high enough to sustain oxen pulling wagons, and ending before winter descended with chilling-to killing finality.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I wonder what the Founders generation would make of their posterity today. We seem to be pushing away their principles with both hands. The nation and its culture are bitterly divided, and whatever healing followed the debacle we call “Vietnam” has withered in a welter of political bitterness, open corruption, double standards, and frequent violence.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m reminded of the oft-cited ancient Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’ve done almost everything I was capable of doing if not everything I wanted to do—particularly becoming a military aviator. (I couldn’t catch a break: asthma, eyes, and flat feet.) But I grew up restoring and flying historic aircraft, earning a decent living writing about them, now tallied at 50-some books and 800 articles worldwide. Believe-you-me: that is <i>not</i> easy to do.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">OK, I’m eligible for a Geezer card because my hearing impairment arose long before I reached “retirement” age. A lifetime of shooting, dating from before ear protectors were perfected, and several hundred hours in open cockpits. But I wouldn’t exchange that disability for anything.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">My most memorable month: May ’65 when I soloed and made Eagle Scout.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">My worst month: June, several years running when I lost life-lines including three writing colleagues and two of the closest friends I’ve ever had. Two died violently: one flying a P-38; the other—a retired Marine general—was murdered in a home invasion. For years I grew twitchy around the middle of May because experience proved I was not being superstitious.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I grew up with two accomplished younger brothers, both multi-talented and successful in business and academics. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I won state and regional championships in high school as a percussionist and speaker-debater.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’ve traveled to Canada, Mexico, Britain, and the Philippines. I have hunted in Africa, and led a national championship shooting team. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have enjoyed—and deeply appreciate—the friendship of men and women who share two qualities: all are ethical and unusually intelligent—and most are <i>accurate</i>.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">And late in life I found Her, The One, whom it would have been dreadfully easy to miss. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thank you, God. For everything.</span></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-78368482681808062472023-11-02T07:36:00.000-07:002023-11-02T07:36:09.430-07:00"NEVER AGAIN"?<p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is a vitally important message, relevant beyond the borders of Israel when blatant antisemitism has arisen and is condoned in American and Western institutions.<br /><br />Read it in context of other massacres of unarmed populations, whether the the 2014 mass murder in China (31 killed, 140 injured with knives) or the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris (12 killed, 11 wounded with various firearms).<br /><br />The author reminds me of a late friend, colleague, and mentor Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper, USMCR, who wrote, among many other things: “Fight back! Whenever you are offered violence, fight back! The aggressor does not fear the law, so he must be taught to fear you. Whatever the risk, at whatever the cost, fight back!"<br /><br />Remember, dear readers: in one’s final moments, it’s possible to die like a samurai—or an insect.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Reprinted by permission of The Prickly Pear October 25, 2023. <br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Never Again”, My Tuchus - PRICKLY PEAR (thepricklypear.org)<br /><br />“NEVER AGAIN” MY TOKHES <br />By Charles M. Strauss <br /><br />“Never again” what? Never again will Jews allow themselves to be led like sheep to the slaughter? Never again will Jews be surprised by depraved maniacs that want to kill them? Never again will Jews be unprepared to defend themselves, to fight for their own lives, and the lives of their children? <br /><br />Well, here we go again. In Gaza within the past three weeks Israeli Jews did allow themselves to be led like sheep to the slaughter; they were surprised, and they were unprepared to fight. <br /><br />“Hold on there! How dare you blame the victims!” Sorry, but we blame victims all the time, when they deserve to share the blame. Control your outrage for a minute and think about this fairly common scenario. You see a story in the news that says a drunk driver crossed the center line, and ran head-on into another car, killing the young woman driving, and her two-year-old child. <br /><br />Who is to blame? The drunk driver, of course! Not the victims! How dare you blame the victims! But then you find out that the mother was texting on her phone at the time, and never saw the wrong-way driver coming, and took no evasive action. Also, the mother was not wearing a seatbelt, and the child was neither in a child seat nor wearing a seatbelt, but was jumping around on the back seat. Now who’s to blame? Can we agree that the drunk driver is primarily to blame, but the mother shares part of the blame, for failing to mitigate the harm to herself and her child? </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, who is to blame for the terrorist attack on Israeli kibbutzim? The terrorists, of course -- primarily. But the Israelis who were completely unprepared to fight back must accept some blame, for forgetting about the slogan, “Never again.” <br /><br />How did that happen? How did Israel go from a nation of lions to a nation of sheep, with neither guns, skill, or will to kill people trying to kill them? One of the underlying themes of “Never again” (which originated in 1945) was the idea that if Jews had their own country, then “never again” would they be attacked by their next-door neighbors, as they were throughout Europe. <br /> <br />Maybe once Israel was created in 1948, complacency set in, as people thought, “OK, now that we have our own country, we are safe. We have fences, and walls, and observation posts, and a strong army, so we don’t need to take individual responsibility for our own safety.” Clearly (and to many of us, predictably) that did not work out so well. <br /><br />In his book, Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic and International Terrorism (1995), none other than Benjamin Netanyahu (of all people) wrote: "Restrict ownership of weapons. Tighten gun control, beginning with registry of weapons. Israeli law, for example, requires careful licensing of handguns and prohibits the ownership of more powerful weapons, yet gun ownership is widespread” (page 147). Maybe gun ownership was widespread in 1995, but in the ensuing years, Netanyahu’s careful licensing of handguns, and prohibition of rifles and submachine guns, effectively neutered a once-proud people. For fostering complacency and unreadiness, he must accept part of the blame. <br /><br />Note that there were a few (regrettably, very few) Israelis who were prepared, and did fight back. And they won. The most famous, Inbal Rabin-Lieberman, is a 25-year-old woman who organized the defense of Kibbutz Nir-Am. Her twelve-member security team, armed with rifles, killed 25 terrorists over a period of three or four hours, until the IDF arrived. (“When minutes count, the IDF is only hours away.”) There were zero, repeat, no, li’eppes casualties among the approximately 800 residents of Nir-Am. The fight-backers won, 25-0. <br /><br />Wait a minute – what’s wrong with this picture? Twelve people with rifles to protect 800? Why weren’t all of the adults armed? <br /><br />Like many (most) Americans, I was under the impression that the Israeli populace was armed, with Uzi submachine guns and Galil rifles, in accordance with the spirit of “Never again.” Wrong. Over the years, the Israeli government (and people) have become more “liberal” politically (ironically, meaning “more restrictive”). Now gun ownership in Israel is rare. Something like 2% of the population have permits to own guns, but only handguns – no Uzi or Galil or AR15 ownership permitted. Furthermore, they are permitted to possess only 50 rounds of ammunition at a time! For those readers who are not shooters, 50 rounds is barely enough for a short practice session. In other words, those few Israelis who get their government’s permission to own handguns are effectively prevented from developing any proficiency with them. Brilliant. <br /><br />Good news! As a result of the terrorist attack, the Israeli government has decided to relax the restrictions, and permit the potential victims of terrorism to possess – are you ready? – 100 rounds of ammunition! Whoop-ti-do. These are unserious people, who do not take the concept of “Never again” seriously. <br /><br />One report said that the procedures for handgun licenses will be eased, and that 8,000 people have applied for permits. Eight thousand? Out of seven million Jews? Is that a joke? Neither the government nor (apparently) the people have recalled the spirit of “Never again.” In a country surrounded by people openly proclaiming their desire to kill every Jew (and acting on it), every Israeli adult should be demanding the right to carry a handgun at all times, everywhere; and there should be one rifle for every adult in every home. If the government were serious about “Never again,” it would be requesting four or five million rifles from the U.S., and seven magazines and a thousand rounds for each rifle. Every kibbutz and every town would have a shooting range where people could practice. <br /><br />Here’s the catch, though: just owning a gun is not enough. As the late Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper wrote, “You are not ‘armed’ because you own a gun, any more than you are a ‘musician’ because you own a guitar.” <br /><br />Of course, an armed populace (i.e., “militia”) needs to be trained in marksmanship and tactics (i.e., “well-regulated”), but even more important that that is mental conditioning, what Cooper called “Combat Mindset,” or “fighting spirit,” the readiness and willingness to fight. “Hell no, I won’t get in that railroad car.” “Hell, no, I won’t surrender.” “Hell no, I won’t allow myself to be taken hostage.” <br /> <br />The sheep-person’s bleat is that if he resists, he will be killed. That excuse may have been valid for the Jews who allowed themselves to be herded into the railroad cars in Germany, thinking their lives would be spared, but now we know better. Now we know that if you don’t fight back, you certainly will be killed, but if you do fight back, you only probably will be killed. (And remember the 25-0 score of the Nir-Am kibbutzniks.) If you are going to die either way, you might as well take one or two of the terrorists with you. <br /><br />Having a gun is a great morale-booster and force-multiplier, making it easier to decide to fight back, but not having a gun does not preclude Combat Mindset. If you know you are about to die, you can throw yourself at a terrorist and drive your thumbs into his eyes before he knows what is happening. You can hit him upside the head with a frying pan. You can stick a butter knife between his ribs. If your choice is to die curled up on the floor, begging “Please don’t cut my baby’s head off,” or die with your thumbs in a terrorist’s eye sockets, then for G_d’s sake, die fighting. <br /><br />“Fight back! Whenever you are offered violence, fight back! The aggressor does not fear the law, so he must be taught to fear you. Whatever the risk, at whatever the cost, fight back!"</span><br /></span><br /></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-88569753151174815622023-10-16T08:00:00.001-07:002023-10-16T08:00:26.966-07:00HILLARY'S DEPROGRAMMING SCHEME<br /><p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>This month's entry is from my latest American Thinker contribution. <br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><a class="OWAAutoLink" data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/10/hillarys_deprogramming_scheme.html" id="LPlnkOWALinkPreview" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/10/hillarys_deprogramming_scheme.html</a></span></p><p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>The railroad cars squealed to a
stop where lines of police and soldiers stood by to receive the deplorable
passengers.<span> </span>The human cargo—nearly all
middle aged to seniors—debarked with their few permitted possessions and turned
where the uniformed guardians directed.<span>
</span>Those using crutches or wheelchairs took separate routes for greater
efficiency.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Some of the deplorable detritus
still sported red hats rather than yellow stars.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Welcome to Hillary Clinton’s
Amerika.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>In a CNN interview earlier this
month Clinton said, “At some point maybe there needs to be a formal
deprogramming of the (Trump) cult members.”</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>That sentiment is from a former
Democrat presidential candidate who has been in the public eye, holding
national offices, for thirty years.<span>
</span>Perhaps she still does not realize that in 2016 by characterizing Donald
Trump voters as “a basket of deplorables” she energized the GOP base and fence
sitters.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>A few salient points that the
former first lady omitted from her deprogramming scheme:</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Establishing legality (perhaps a
minor concern on the left.)</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Providing considerable funding
(perhaps a minor concern on the left, which has run our debt north of an
unrecoverable $32 trillion.)</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Establishing the institutional and
physical infrastructure.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span></span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Providing qualified deprogrammers
for untold millions of Deplorables.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span></span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Identifying the offenders other
than by their red MAGA hats or bumper stickers.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Convincing the Deplorables to
board trucks and trains.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Since millions of Deplorables are
not voluntarily going to board transport to deprogramming camps—Clinton is
appalled that they cling to their guns—the process would immediately turn
confused, messy, and loud.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>As a Yale-educated lawyer, Clinton surely knows that in the American justice system, the accused are
presumed innocent until proven guilty.<span>
</span>How to prove who were/are “cult members,” and how to square that accusation
with First Amendment rights?</span></span></p><p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Obviously: you do not.<span> </span>But it doesn’t seem to matter.<span> </span>Clearly, Clinton’s political zealotry
has overcome any residual trace of rule of law.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>The foregoing reflects what <i>The
Wall Street Journal</i> (October 6) properly labeled “the totalitarian heart of
Hillary Clinton.”<span> </span>That phrase reflects
upon the two-tiered justice system now institutionalized in the United States.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Nor does the matter end with Hillary Clinton.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>CNN’s interviewer Christiane Amanpour
could have pressed Mrs. Clinton on the subject but apparently Amanpour is
more astute in such matters than her colleague. Amanpour’s husband James Rubin
was an assistant secretary of state under Bill Clinton and became an advisor to Hillary Clinton and other prominent Democrats.<span>
</span>Numerous viewers wonder if Amanpour was exercising de facto
editorial control over her careless colleague.<span>
</span>CNN’s star certainly was not practicing objective journalism, nor
anything within telescopic range of it.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Aside from the ethical and legal
problems of Deprogramming (easily overlooked by political zealots—ask Lenin,
Hitler, Mao, and Pol Pot among others), there’s the unavoidable matter of
housing and/or detention space for the Deplorables.<span> </span>Of the 74-some million Trump voters, assume
that 10 percent are declared eligible for Deprogramming.<span> </span>That’s about the same number of illegal immigrants
that Clinton’s party has allowed to violate U.S. sovereignty since
President Biden took office.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>(Sidebar: the 7 million figure
comes from The Department of Homeland Security, in the same administration as
the White House spokesperson who continually bleats “The border is secure.”<span> </span>Seven million equals or exceeds the
populations of three dozen states.)</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Leftists openly advocate draconian
measures to advance their agendas.<span> </span>In
2019 teenage activist Greta Thunberg (“That Swedish truant”) famously called
for climate deniers to be put “against the wall.”<span> </span>When pinned down, she apologized in case
anyone “misunderstood.”</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>For more historical context,
recall that in the Soviet Union, unknown thousands of dissidents were sent to
mental institutions for detention or “cure.”<span>
</span>Building on existing policies, the 1958 addition to Moscow’s criminal
code was aimed at those promoting “anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda.”<span> </span>There was no right of appeal.</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>If any Democrats condemned Clinton’s appalling suggestion, so far the statements seem to remain well
hidden.<span> </span>No matter how phrased, my Google
searches for the subject produce this:</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>“It looks like there aren’t any
great matches for your search.”</span></span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="Body"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>That fact alone implies liberal
tolerance for, or outright acceptance of, Hillary Clinton’s nascent American
gulag.</span></span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> <br /></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-13661958696584033142023-08-29T18:03:00.002-07:002023-08-29T18:04:50.267-07:00THOUGHTS ON HEROISM<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Who is a hero, and what is heroism? </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The subject occurred to me during the O.J. Simpson case in the 1980s, when seemingly every news cast referred to Simpson as “a sports hero.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I wondered: what is a sports hero?</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Is there actually such a thing?</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">No, it does not. And I’ll tell you why.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Unless the penalty for failure involves death, dismemberment or torture, it is therefore not heroic and needs to be called something else.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Whether Simpson was a double murderer or not, he was never a hero, and neither was any other athlete. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">With extremely rare exceptions, the greatest dangers in athletics are non-lethal injuries and not making the playoffs. Especially not making the playoffs.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yet our culture is so degraded that I found two dictionaries with secondary definitions of hero: “Someone who is well known.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">That is disgusting.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’ve written two books about the Medal of Honor partly based on a dozen or more recipients among friends and associates. (Sidebar: there is no such thing as “Medal of Honor winner.” Recipients insist, “You don’t win the medal. It’s not a contest.”)</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Setting aside the political context of the Medal of Honor, and often other decorations, maybe it’s more instructive to consider the nature of heroism. I’ve come to believe that the defining factor is not merely courage, but time.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Time to think. Time to ponder the consequences.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">There’s a huge difference between impulsive courage (“I have two seconds to jump on that grenade”) and reasoned courage (“I’m giving my parachute to a wounded crew mate.”)</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Among my friends is John, a retired Oregon sheriff. He ran into a burning house to search for trapped victims and narrowly escaped. Later he said, ‘I didn’t think about it, I just did what I had to do.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes courage involves knowledge of the risk.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Examples of enthusiasm versus heroism occurred in the Crimean War of 1853 to 1856 when Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire fought Russia for control of the peninsula. Afterward, Britain turned a captured Russian cannon into the source of the world’s most prestigious military decoration—the Victoria Cross. The first awards were made in 1857.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">In at least two instances, British lieutenants jumped into enemy tranches without looking before they leapt. And in both instances wiser noncoms, knowing the facts, rescued their officers from crowds of Russians. The sergeant and corporal received VCs because they acted despite knowing the severe risk.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">During World War I the British Army’s Victoria Cross committee considered more standardized measures. Two recorded sentiments were, “A hero does not save the wounded; he kills the enemy.” </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Another: “You have to do a bit of fighting. You have to shoot somebody.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, different standards often apply. Of the three recipients of two VCs, two were life-saving medical personnel. And on Iwo Jima in 1945 at least seven Marines justly received the Medal for leaping on grenades to shield their friends.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yet time after time, objectivity fails.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Immediately after the 9-11 attacks in 2001, it seemed that every U.S. politician within reach of a microphone chanted the unthinking mantra, “cowardly suicide bombers.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Apparently that industrial-grade oxymoron remained unchallenged, perhaps for fear of appearing “unpatriotic.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">But the Islamic zealots who hijacked three American airliners were as devoted as Japanese pilots 56 years before. In both cases, true believers in their respective causes were willing to sacrifice their lives for their beliefs. The main difference was scale: the 9-11 attacks involved eleven terrorists in one day; in 1944-45 probably more than 3,000 kamikazes perished over ten months. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Heroism also rides with some otherwise unsavory characters. In the Revolutionary War, General Benedict Arnold was renowned for his battlefield courage. He was twice wounded before he turned traitor to the American cause.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Far later, future <i>Reichsmarshal</i> Hermann Goring received the coveted <i>Pour le Merite</i> as a fighter pilot and leader in World War I—one of 81 airmen so honored. About 600 other army and navy officers received the blue plated Maltese cross, from infantry captains and naval lieutenants to field marshals and grand admirals. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, more than 600 Victoria Crosses were awarded during the Great War.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Though ineligible for the “Blue Max” as an enlisted man, another German soldier became even better known. Corporal Adolf Hitler was twice decorated and twice wounded including temporary blindness from mustard gas. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, atitude counts in heroism.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Over Guadalcanal in 1942, when eight Grumman Wildcats clawed for altitude to intercept more than thirty Japanese bombers and fighters, the normal American response likely was, “My gosh! We’re outnumbered!” That was situation normal.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">But Captains Joe Foss and Marion Carl plus others saw the same setup and licked their chops. “Look at all those targets!” Skill bred confidence, which re-enforced heroism. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">One of the aces’ contemporaries, later a vice admiral, said, “I learned on Guadalcanal that frequently how much courage a man has depends on how much food and sleep he’s had in the last 72 hours.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The admiral’s comment speaks volumes, spanning the history of human conflict. Context defines the type and extent of heroism. And regrettably, the record shows that physical courage is far more common than the moral variety. Throughout time, men who demonstrated physical courage and valor failed their moral gut check. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps Aristotle best addressed the subject seventeen centuries ago: “You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.” </span></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-5272451822132017102023-07-04T15:27:00.005-07:002023-07-04T15:29:14.982-07:00WHAT WOULD TENCH THINK?<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I<span style="background-color: white;">n 1974 I started a reference folder that lingered in my files nearly half a century. When I retrieved the original this year I found that some of the lengthy passages were preserved on carbon paper, written with the Royal Standard my father bought before I was born.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I intended to write of my distant cousin Lt. Col. Tench Tilghman (Old English spelling) as the first in a series built around my family’s history. More information is available from the Tillman side than the Barretts, hence my decision. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Tilghmans/Tillmans probably were representative of most 18th century American families, moving from Continental Europe to Britain, thence to the New World. Actually, without knowing it before the days of internet research and DNA sampling, I might have considered reaching back beyond recorded history when my ancestors walked out of the Caucasus Mountains 40,000 years ago.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Throughout our history, the hunting and warring instincts have been constant—perhaps an inheritance of our Teutonic influences. Tillmans were warrior-leaders as both Jutes and Saxons. My forebears settled in what became the Kent area of southern England in the mid Fifth Century, and by the late 600s were well established as land owners and military chiefs of feudal kings.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">We are related by marriage to the Saxon kings of England as well as William the Conqueror and the Plantagenets. Reportedly, before establishment of the heraldry school at Oxford, the Tilghman coat of arms was nearly identical to that of the royal family’s. The crest still bears testimony to that heritage: a lion rampant wearing a crown. The motto, <i>Spes Alit Agricolum,</i> had particular meaning to my ranching family: “Hope flies with the farmer.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The first Tillman native in the New World was Gideon of the (Chesapeake) Eastern Shore, born in 1640 two years after his father Richard settled in Maryland. The other branch of the family, descended from Dr. Richard Tilghman (Richards are numerous among us), arrived twenty-three years later in 1671, and his direct descendant, Lt. Col. Tench Tilghman, was George Washington’s aide-de-camp.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">When Tench was born in 1744, life expectancy for white males was 28 to 32, depending upon demographic sources. Tench died in 1785 at 41. His mentor, George Washington, lived to 67. And Tench’s friend the Marquis de Lafayette survived heavier odds than fate would allow, lasting an impressive 76 years.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">There have been other notable Tillmans, but few with Tench’s credentials. They include a United States Senator from South Carolina, one of Theodore Roosevelt’s political foes, though two navy ships bore his name. Others include a superintendent of West Point; a well-known Oklahoma lawman; and the wife of airpower pioneer General Billy Mitchell. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tench’s family was rent by the revolution. His father remained loyal to the crown, and a younger brother was a Royal Navy officer. Throughout the war, Tilghman Island in the Chesapeake was a British base. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Most notably, among dozens of Tench’s first cousins was Margaret “Peggy” Shipping, aka Mrs. Benedict Arnold.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tench’s Philadelphia business was burned by British loyalists (Tories) in 1774, the year of The Intolerable Acts, which Tench publicly opposed. They included blockading Boston Harbor against commercial traffic; imposed severe restrictions upon Massachusetts governance including only one public meeting annually; and requiring home owners to quarter British soldiers.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">After a stint with the treaty delegation negotiating with The Six Nations of Indians in 1775, Tench turned his attention to the war. He became Washington’s aide-de-camp in August 1776 and remained for most of the war. Washington thought so highly of Tilghman that he chose his aide to tell Congress in Philadelphia of the momentous victory at Yorktown in 1781.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The essence of American independence was aptly described two centuries later in the stage play and movie <i>1776</i> by Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards. In debate over the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin (Howard Da Silva) tells fellow Pennsylvanian John Dickinson, <span style="color: #3c4044;">“We've spawned a new race here, Mr. Dikinson. Rougher, simpler; more violent, </span><span style="color: #4d5055;"><i>more enterprising</i></span><span style="color: #3c4044;">; less refined. We're a new nationality. We require a new nation.”</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #3c4044; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">But London was determined to maintain its goal to “Make the world England.” Apart from North America, the British Empire was engaged in the Caribbean, Ireland, India, and the Franco-Spanish siege of Gibraltar. American independence finally came in 1783.</span></p><p style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">My hope to complete Tench’s story as a Bicentennial tribute to his nation languished while I wrote other things. If he were alive today, undoubtedly he would observe the current state of the republic with mixed emotions. From what I learned of the man, his joy at seeing what he helped birth two and a half centuries ago would be tempered—even blunted—by what our federal government has become. Don’t forget: the Continental Army went to war opposing arbitrary decisions by remote bureaucrats. It opposed excessive taxation and extravagant spending. Widespread internal division and turmoil hampered the chances for a successful conclusion to a long, wearing struggle. Tench’s wartime service was almost constantly against a more numerous, better equipped foe, and he would be astonished to see America’s diminished world standing despite its unexcelled military power.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">On the other hand, what would Tench find for encouragement? In 1974 I wrote, “Perhaps the most telling of all would be the fact that anyone who believes it necessary (and some who apparently do not) can openly and freely criticize his government without fear of censure or retaliation. That kind of freedom was rare in the world that Tench Tilghman knew. We can only pray that in another two centuries our posterity may find it still so.”</span></p><div><br /></div>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-47800517988453931542023-06-06T08:58:00.003-07:002023-06-06T08:58:25.723-07:00D PLUS 79<p> </p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">History is where you find it. </p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Certainly it’s found in books, and on television. But while we still enjoy the company of perhaps 150,000 Americans who served in World War II, they include veterans of June 6, 1944, and the scores of D-Days that preceded and followed the Normandy invasion. We can still appreciate their sacrifice and their service.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">For a moment, let’s consider what those veterans meant to America and the world. Let’s ponder what their victory accomplished -- and what it did not.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Operation Neptune (the naval portion) delivered Overlord (the invasion) to five beaches along the Normandy coast: two American, two British, one Canadian. Some 175,000 Allied airborne and ground troops comprised the initial landings, with perhaps 4,400 dead or missing, including 2,500 Americans.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">German losses remain uncertain; perhaps 9,000 total casualties. </p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">French citizens suffered severely from the Germans, from the Allies, and from internecine conflict. Allied bombers and artillery inflicted massive damage: surveying a ruined French city, an American soldier gained anonymous immortality when he said, “We sure liberated the hell out of this place.”</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Among the eloquent oratory attending the World War II Memorial and the D-Day anniversary is a frequent refrain: The Greatest Generation preserved America’s freedom. It is, however, a gross overstatement. The plain fact is that neither Germany nor Japan ever had the ability to conquer America.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">By June 1944, both Axis powers had lost control of the sea, lacking the ships and manpower to occupy North America. (If Hitler was unable to invade Britain in 1940, how could he possibly occupy America?) In fact, the Axis already was fatally overextended on the Eurasian landmass and in China.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Even today, orators continue overstating the threat to America’s freedom. While our security may be at risk in the war on terror, our freedom is as secure as We the People want it. Not even during the height (or depth) of the Cold War was American freedom at stake. The Soviet Union had the power to destroy us, but never could have enslaved us. Only Americans have the ability to deprive Americans of their freedom.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">What, then, was America’s stake on Normandy beaches? </p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The question answers itself. At stake was Western Civilization and the freedom of most of Europe. France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Italy, Poland, Greece, Yugoslavia, Norway, and other nations awaited liberation. In fact, so did Germany and its European allies: Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. Sadly, many of them exchanged one oppressor for another: Nazism for Communism.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: center;"><b>A Monumental Undertaking</b></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">World War II was a people’s war. More than 15 million of 138 million Americans entered the armed forces. If today’s military represented the same proportions, we would have over 30 million of America’s 331 million people in uniform. Today, there are but 2.1 million in the active, reserve, and National Guard forces. </p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The production feat was enormous, easily the greatest in history. Of more than 5,000 ships and landing craft in Operation Neptune, most of the former and all the latter had been built since 1941. But long before D-Day, the Allies had to defeat Hitler’s U-boats, a campaign largely completed by mid-1943. Once the Atlantic pipeline was opened, a flood of men and materiel spanned the sea lanes, bringing the wealth and youth of the New World to the rescue of the Old.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">It was a war of logistics. Consequently, it was won at home, in factories and on farms. Among other things, America manufactured 79,000 landing craft; 297,000 airplanes; 2.5 million trucks; 12.8 million rifles; and 190 million pairs of boots and shoes.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Logistics also bore heavily upon manpower, as less than 25 percent of the Allied troops in France belonged to combat units. For every infantryman, tanker, or artilleryman who crossed Omaha and Utah beaches, four or five other GIs backed him up: clerks, cooks, mechanics, truck drivers, doctors and nurses.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">So when you think of the World War II vet, don’t allow your mental computer to default to the traditional image. He may have been your father, grandfather, or the neighbor you hardly knew. But give him tribute, gentle reader, whether he wielded a bazooka, a bomber, or a bulldozer.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">When you think of the World War II vet, think of the uncle who collected scrap metal or the aunt who learned to use a rivet gun.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">When you think of World War II, think of a nation unified in its purpose with steely resolve. It was the kind of singlemindedness that took us from 30,000 feet in the skies of Europe in 1944 to the lunar Sea of Tranquility only 25 years later.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: center;"><b>Millions paid the price</b></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">It’s astonishing to contemplate. Germany, with a population of 77 million, challenging virtually the rest of Western Civilization. The United States counted 138 million people; Russia around 108 million. Yet it took the United States, the Soviet Union, and the British Empire nearly six years to defeat Nazi Germany.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">It’s an inherent fault of democracies, which seldom learn the ancient wisdom of fourth-century military writer Vegetius. Fifteen centuries before D-Day, he wrote: “Who desires peace should prepare for war.” That’s why years of European appeasement and American complacency required a generation of young men to crawl up fire-swept beaches, leaving their blood and the friends of their youth in sandy venues from France to New Guinea to Okinawa.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The Atlantic Wall was an imposing barrier, with Wagnerian bunkers concealing powerful cannon. But it was a porous blockade, often thinly manned. Germany disposed of 850,000 troops in France but only 80,000 in Normandy.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The Allied deception plan worked; Hitler’s strength lay in the Pas de Calais. Against 175,000 Allied troops enjoying uncontested air supremacy, it seems remarkable that the issue was ever in doubt. And yet it was, however briefly. The Allied Supreme Commander, General Dwight Eisenhower, penned a note for release in event that Overlord failed.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Overlord was coalition warfare writ large -- writ huge, in fact. Five Allied nations were involved at sea or ashore: America, Britain, Canada, Free France, and Poland in exile. It set a standard for what followed on larger scales in Korea, Southeast Asia, and the wastes of Mesopotamia.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In the unlikely event that Overlord failed, the Allies had an ace up their sleeve. Operation Anvil-Dragoon landed in southern France two months later, making the Riviera the most glamorous arena of the war.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">However, the larger picture involved the Soviet Union. Had the western allies failed to gain traction in France, eventually Josef Stalin’s tankers would have parked their T-34s at Calais. The entire postwar history of Europe would have been vastly different.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Meanwhile, there are eleven U.S. government cemeteries in France. They contain the graves of some 60,000 Americans who died liberating that country, roughly 30,000 each in both world wars.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Somehow, the Great War -- the one that was to end all wars -- escaped the same degree of memorialization. There is little tribute to the 116,000 Americans who died in uniform in 1917-18; the Kansas City World War I memorial opened in 2006, five years before the last doughboy died.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">While most French citizens were grateful for liberation, their governments then and since remain truculent. Perhaps it’s Gallic resentment of essential American aid in two world wars, combined with a cultural invasion expressed in Levi’s and McDonald’s. If so, surely America’s huge debt to France in the Revolution has been paid with interest.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Let a retired airline pilot describe the situation: “On the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 2004, I was flying a 757 from JFK to Paris. After the usual post-landing customs dance, we met the wizened little Frenchman with the large white moustache who drove our crew bus to town. He had decorated his dashboard with a little display of crossed American and French flags, and he greeted us with repeated, ‘Sank you, Americans! Sank you!’”</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Despite the political rhetoric, America did not free itself on Utah or Omaha Beach. America did something grander: It freed a continent of enslaved peoples. And for that, <i>Mon vieu</i>, most U.S. veterans would reply, “You’re welcome.”</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.6px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">This column is reprinted with permission of American Thinker, June 6, 2023. <a href="https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/06/dday_history_and_memory.html"><span style="color: blue;">https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/06/dday_history_and_memory.html</span></a></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-37888500811141076612023-03-30T16:00:00.004-07:002023-03-30T16:05:21.755-07:00LETHAL FORCE AND WOKE VIOLENCE<p> <span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Less than three years ago, America was burning. Yet some people seem to forget.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">A perfect storm of political-cultural unrest and the worst pandemic in a century combined to produce deaths and injuries among months of rioting, arson, and looting. Liberal mayors and governors, eager to demonstrate solidarity with the “protesters,” did little or nothing to quell the violence in Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, and elsewhere. National figures in the Democrat Party were largely silent, although the current vice president said that the “protests” needed to continue and would continue. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Spurred by controversial police use of force, political partisans and hell-raisers seized the opportunity to run rampant in extremely permissive jurisdictions. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Nationwide riots followed George Floyd’s May 2020 death in Minneapolis, spurred by emotionally-charged video of a white police officer kneeling on the black man’s neck. Aside from at least 25 ensuing deaths, the national mayhem was estimated at $2 billion by insurance companies although many businesses were uninsured or underinsured. Some of those—operated by black and other minority owners—would never recover.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Caught in the political crossfire are minority police officers who, like their uniformed brothers and sisters, are vilified and heartsick as their cities are torched and trashed, and a precinct house was burned in Minneapolis, ground zero for the riots. Meanwhile, at least two reports by CNN and MSNBC featured reporters commenting on “mostly peaceful protests” while stores burned in the background.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">More recently some focus shifted to abuse of Asian Americans, as if it’s something new. In March 2021, six Asian women were among eight killed in three Georgia massage parlors. Some media assumed the gunman’s motive was racial when subsequently it appeared that he was spurred by conflicting religious and sexual beliefs. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Meanwhile, a California State survey in 2019-2020 reported nearly a 150 percent increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans. The presumed reason: devastating effects of the Chinese-Wuhan-Corona Virus.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In fact, the trend was widely covered nearly 20 years ago during the Los Angeles riots of 1992. Four LAPD officers were acquitted in the prolonged beating of Rodney King, a black parole violator captured after a highspeed drunk driving spree. Eventually two of the cops went to prison.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Public response to the acquittals was immediate and violent. Four days of arson, looting and vandalism left about 50 people dead and perhaps 1,000 injured. Monetary loss was reckoned at $1 billion with more than half sustained by Korean-American or Korean immigrant businesses. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Left to fend for themselves, store owners’ family and friends took turns standing guard and patrolling rooftops—popular antigun imagery in the mainstream media. Missing from reports was that many of those business outlets doubled as residences, often on the second story. Gun-toting citizens were protecting their homes as well as their livelihoods.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Last June a St. Louis couple, both attorneys, brandished an AR-15 and a handgun in the face of a mob that broke through their community’s gate, intending to protest at the mayor’s nearby house. Instead, the crowd confronted the homeowners with threats of violence and arson. The city attorney announced charges against Mark and Patricia McCloskey, saying, </span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" face=""Arial Unicode MS", sans-serif" lang="AR-SA" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>“</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation or threat of deadly force will not be tolerated.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Missouri’s Republican governor quickly stated that if the couple were convicted for defending their home, he would issue a pardon. Eventually the attorney and her staff were removed for conflict of interest in linking personal agendas to the case. Apparently no charges were filed against any trespassers but the case against the home owners was resolved when they received probation for a year.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Whatever the circumstances, when business or home owners defend themselves with police absent or overwhelmed, armed citizens are branded “vigilantes.” The media, almost universally lacking in knowledge or context, apparently neither knows nor cares about San Francisco in the 1850s. Absent adequate law enforcement, and amid obvious civic corruption, “committees of vigilance” filled the vacuum. The comparison between Then and Now are readily apparent. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Politics is not the only reason for large-scale riots. Look no farther than Detroit “celebrations” of the Tigers’ World Series victory in 1984 and the Pistons’ NBA win six years later. Mobs numbering thousands caused multiple deaths, rapes, arson, and property destruction. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Regardless of the timeframe, facing a determined, unarmed attacker can be high risk. Year by year the FBI Uniform Crime Report shows 600 to 700 people killed by blows from fists or feet. (Youtube has numerous videos of gangs stomping victims on the ground.) So what are the odds of escaping a swarm of enraged assailants? Or those armed with pipes, bricks or skateboards? (Google for Kenosha and Skateboard.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Whether the police or DA would acknowledge the “unarmed” threat is of course another matter. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">So: assume that everything you do will be filmed—that’s the world today. It could be a Good Thing if it shows you had to defend yourself, although remember this is the XXI century, and often facts do not matter. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">A new option for armed citizens is body cameras. They’re usually affordable (up to $250 online) and can provide valuable context in court. The problem with body cams, as often seen on police videos, is limited field of view, sometimes mainly showing the officer’s hands and bottom of his pistol grip. In those cases, audio can take up some of the slack.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Perhaps of more relevance to citizens is the potential shooter’s perspective. Viral video from the St. Louis incident only shows the home owners holding firearms. Viewers did not see through their eyes, facing a hostile, trespassing crowd. So consider withdrawing inside the doorway, limiting a mob’s ability to surround victims, and clearly showing criminal trespass at the entrance or inside a home.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Train for muzzle awareness. The St. Louis couple was prosecuted partly for pointing guns at the mob. Check your state laws on “brandishing.” If you have a long gun, maintain low ready until-unless you reach your trigger decision. With a sidearm, certainly low ready is an option but consider “holster ready” with hand on the grip because you know how long it takes to draw and shoot. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As for “nobody needs 30 ‘bullets’” consider facing a vicious mob with 10 rounds in your firearm. You’re surrounded by urban jackals with no cops in sight—and the Supreme Court has twice declared (1989 and 2005) that police have no obligation to protect any individual.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Be sure to check state and local laws. For instance, here in Arizona, trespassing charges usually require a knowing violation of posted or spoken notice to offenders. Meanwhile, arson of an occupied building justifies lethal force—not necessarily valid elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As the ancient wisdom notes, there is strength in numbers. Consider the case of Kyle Rittenhouse in August 2020. He was armed with an AR-15, voluntarily patrolling the troubled streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, reputedly to protect a car dealership. Other citizens also augmented the overwhelmed police. In the turmoil Rittenhouse was separated from his partner—a significant factor. A rioter grabbed the AR’s barrel; the teen shot the assailant and retreated, pursued by an enraged crowd. Eventually Rittenhouse killed another attacker who struck him from behind and wounded a third who threatened him with a handgun. Over a year later Rittenhouse was acquitted of criminal charges, but a “wingman” might have averted or at least reduced the violence level. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Ultimately, avoidance is the preferred tactic whenever possible. You can still contribute by serving as an observant, objective witness. But sometimes that option is unavailable, and you become your own first responder.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-38916693890413094342023-02-25T11:56:00.011-08:002023-03-07T07:50:05.708-08:00BALLOONS VERSUS AMERICA IN PERPSECTIVE<p><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: Arial;">The current focus on Chinese and other balloons in U.S. airspace probably is so popular in part because it’s</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">so unusual.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">But America’s experience with hot air and other balloons goes far, far back.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The French Montgolfier brothers captured France’s imagination with their hot air creations in the 1780s. Though other nations took note, the first large-scale military use of balloons occurred during our Civil War (1861-1865). Professor Thaddeus Lowe, a prolific inventor with four years ballooning experience, emerged as President Lincoln’s “chief aeronaut.” His unit deployed several hydrogen balloons for observation of Confederate forces in the next two years, then was disbanded.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, Lowe’s influence extended abroad. His success drew European attention, including Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin who returned to Germany with optimistic reports. Subsequently the Prussian returned to obtain more information, leading to the rigid airships of Great War fame.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Before Zeppelins caught the world’s attention in 1914, tethered balloons were recognized as excellent observation platforms. They were especially suited to modern artillery, which could engage targets far beyond visual range on the ground. Usually filled with hydrogen, depending on winds aloft, “kite balloons” could fly at 4,000 feet, bearing one or two men armed with binoculars and voice communication with the ground crew.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Nearly 80 fighter pilots became “balloon aces” by flaming five or more “gasbags.” Thirty were German or Austrian; 26 were French; 15 British Commonwealth. Due to limited opportunity, only five U.S. Air Service pilots achieved that distinction, led by Lt. Frank Luke, the famed “Arizona Balloon Buster” credited with 14 before his death in September 1918. </span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">America’s first balloon unit arrived in France at the end of 1917, training alongside French aeronauts. By the end of the Great War in November 1918 the U.S. Army balloon corps logged nearly 7,000 hours aloft, losing 48 to all causes. Contrarily, Yank pursuit pilots were credited with 69 German <i>drachen</i> destroyed.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">A lighter-than-air sidebar involves hydrogen-filled barrage balloons. The unmanned, tethered items were deployed by WW I combatants to deter air attack, some floating as high as 15,000 feet. They were far more prevalent in WW II, especially in Britain to foil German dive bombers and later V-1 “buzz bombs.” U.S. forces used them at the Normandy beach heads in 1944.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Though the Chinese spy balloon of early this year astounded millions of Americans, almost none knew of the offensive use of balloons almost 80 years before. Japanese scientists had discovered the high-altitude jet stream in the 1920s when weather balloons revealed extremely fast winds aloft. Eventually the northern stream was determined to flow west to east well above 30,000 feet, often at more than 100 mph, sometimes twice as much.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">During WW II, Japan lacked the ability to attack the continental United States in any meaningful way. A handful of submarine shore bombardments and a single sub-launched aircraft were limited to 1942.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, the Japanese Army proved innovative and resourceful. Beginning in late 1944, thousands of <i>fu-go</i> balloons were launched against America.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The paper or rubberized hydrogen balloons were about 30 feet in diameter, armed with as much as 80 pounds of incendiary and explosive bombs. The goal was to ignite forest fires in the U.S. and Canada, but the Japanese recognized the low prospects for success. One estimate held that 10 percent of <i>fu-gos</i> would survive a trip of perhaps 6,000 miles in two to four days. That guess proved optimistic.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Fu-go </i>engineers devised a sophisticated system for maintaining altitude during the Pacific crossing. Aneroid barometers monitored air pressure, controlling duplicate systems for releasing weights to maintain desired altitude. At the end of the journey the balloon descended to begin releasing its ordnance. The timing of course was wildly erratic, with impacts spanning thousands of miles.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The balloons alit across the continent, in 18 states as far east as Michigan and six Canadian provinces. A few even reached Mexico. Among 9,300 launched from November 1944 to April 1945, at least 300 were found during the war, but the timing was poor. When the <i>fu-go</i> campaign began, a record winter in North America severely limited the balloons’ potential effects.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">But one balloon inflicted lethal damage. In May 1945 a Sunday school outing in southeastern Oregon ended with six dead when youngsters found a balloon and apparently wanted to play with it.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fast forward to this month.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">For reasons yet unexplained, the Biden administration allowed a Communist Chinese surveillance balloon to complete an eight-day, 4,000-mile mission across our continent. The device finally was shot down off the East Coast on February 4.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Pentagon embarrassed itself with obvious duplicity. A general refused to tell reporters where the balloon was at a particular time owing to National Security Concerns when civilians not only tracked the object but photographed it. Subsequently the defense secretary claimed that the U.S. refrained from downing the intruder to avoid damage on the ground.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">That was absurd.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The balloon transited huge wide-open expanses in Alaska, western Canada, and the Great Plains. The odds of harm to humans hovered around Absolute Zero. According to FAA statistics, during the week-long transit, about three dozen planes crashed in the United States without any reports of harm to groundlings.</span></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">My current and retired airline friends with US Air, Delta, and Continental confirm that airliners seldom fly as high as 40,000 feet. So the balloon usually was above commercial traffic, but of course there was no way to know if it would stay there.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">When the thing finally was downed, an Air Force fighter expended a missile reckoned at $400,000 to accomplish the deed. Some knowledgeable pundits asked why the far cheaper option of a jet’s 20mm cannon wasn’t used, at a cost of about $27 per round. I asked some fighter pilots and learned that at 40,000 to 60,000 feet, often jets cannot maneuver precisely enough to line up for a gun kill.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Obviously embarrassed by the growing scandal, the government tried playing catch-up in a frenzy of balloon assassinations. In the ensuing week or so, a variety of Air Force fighters downed four objects over Alaska, the Yukon, and Lake Huron. The fact that rules of engagement permitted pilots to destroy unidentified objects (apparently including a Hobby Lobby toy) demonstrates the administration’s desperation to repair its image.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">As ever, <i>politics uber alles</i>. </span></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-91646893327468028012022-12-26T09:47:00.009-08:002022-12-26T09:56:15.272-08:00INVENTIONS TAKEN FOR GRANTED<p> </p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;">Reprinted courtesy of The American Thinker.</p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;">https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/12/inventions_taken_for_granted.html</p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Around Y2K the internet and media were full up with everyone’s list of Most Important Inventions. Many were slam-dunks: the wheel, gunpowder, telegraph, radio, steam and internal combustion engines, airplanes, rockets, nuclear power, etc.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Near the top, often just below the wheel, was the printing press. Well, no argument there, for all the obvious reasons.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">But…</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">What good was Herr Gutenberg’s 15th century invention without paper? In half a dozen random lists I found paper on most of them but paper money rated high on two. Paper generically was not included in two others.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">(For those interested in pursuing the subject, the websites were Big Think, Cadcrowd, Tom Triumph, Live Science, History.com, and the Exeter Daily.)</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Alright then: we have a printing press and we have paper.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">What’s missing?</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">You got it: <i>ink</i>!</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Writing and/or alphabets are strangely missing from some lists, but both existed long before paper. Consider Egyptian hieroglyphics and Sumerian cuneiform in clay tablets. It took the combination of paper and ink to achieve written communication on a broad scale. Even when many or most texts were laboriously copied by monks in candle-lit monasteries. </p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">So, I nominate ink as a leading contender among inventions that we take for granted—without a thought.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Did you ever wonder where ink comes from?</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I’m a professional author with 40-plus books and 800 published articles, but the question never occurred to me until lately. So I did some Googling.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">According to Wikipedia, ancient-ancient Egyptians used red and black ink once papyrus was available. Chinese and Indian civilizations also developed ink millennia ago. Formulas varied as you would expect, involving iron, ochre, phosphate, animal hide glue, carbon black, and so on.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The ink in your disposable ballpoint pen is composed of colorants (pigments or dyes) and binders, or vehicles. Pigments cost more but are color-fast whereas dye inks contain solvents for quick drying.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Which probably is more than you want to know the next time you write a check. Or even when you endorse one.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Other taken for granted inventions</b></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I consulted my email circle, composed of really bright, accomplished professionals in various fields. They include mostly retirees from the military (submarines to jets), law and law enforcement, journalism and academia (one-each Rhodes Scholar.). Some remain active authors.</p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Early responses included the button.</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Think about that—which is the object of this exercise—where would we be without buttons?</p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Who first thought of sharpening a bone fragment, poking a hole in one end and using it to draw a string through a piece of leather or wool? What was the string? Plant fibers? We’ll never know of course, but buttons are traced to the Indus Valley at least from 2,000 BC. </p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Button holes also are found in surviving Roman garments. So give a nod to 3,000 years of progress the next time you button your shirt or blouse. </p>
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<p style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Then there are horses.</p>
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<p style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Saddles should feature in history’s significant inventions for obvious reasons. </p>
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<p style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Enter the stirrup.</p>
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<p style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">When my grandfather’s black gelding spooked and started bucking, my six-year-old feet remained in the shortened stirrups, avoiding a long fall from Omack’s quarter deck. </p>
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<p style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Otherwise, even as an adult, getting aboard—and staying there—was problematical. As an Oregon ranch kid, when I swung onto Shorty’s saddle, or Rooster’s in Arizona, it was because of the stirrup. </p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The Mongols probably did not have many horse whisperers—the Khan’s minions were not known for subtlety or kindness—but the steppes reverberated with racing hoofbeats for centuries. Archaeology indicates that the Mongols likely perfected the metal stirrup around the 11th century, with advantages over the simple leather loop. Metal imparted rigidity, the better to stand while galloping and aiming the powerful recurve bow.</p>
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<p style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Mounted knights could not joust or fight absent stiff stirrups, and Europe’s history might have been different otherwise. </p>
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<p style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The foregoing examples remind us that much of what we take for granted is or has been essential to our civilization. In a period when supply chains lapse or back up with items as basic as toilet paper, we might ponder everyday items such as paper, ink, and buttons, and what they mean to us. </p><div><br /></div>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-68195874604065944582022-11-18T14:40:00.001-08:002022-11-19T07:57:51.718-08:00FLY 'EM OR GROUND 'EM?<p> </p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">There’s been much coverage this month attending the loss of a Commemorative Air Force World War II Boeing B-17 and Bell P-63 at a Texas airshow. All five people aboard the Flying Fortress were killed as well as the King Cobra pilot who collided with the bomber.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Immediately the bleating began. “World War II airplanes are too old to fly. They should be grounded.”</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Well, bat guano.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Aircraft are among the most closely monitored and analyzed structures on Planet Earth. Flight times are meticulously recorded, down to the tenth of an hour. The fact is, whatever the Boeing or Bell or Consolidated or Grumman or other engineers calculated, there was no realistic way to predict an airframe’s service life</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The variables were many, including aerodynamic stresses; temperatures and environment; corrosion; and quality of maintenance. But for well maintained and inspected airframes, the upper limits are astonishing.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">For proof, look no farther than the classic Douglas DC-3 airliner of the 1930s and its C-47 military counterpart of the 1940s. The historic twin-engine transports have logged an eye-watering record for longevity. Now-defunct Providencetown-Boston Airlines flew a dozen of them, including the world record high-timers. Some went over 50,000 hours, apparently a couple in the 80,000 range, and the champion was retired with 91,500 hours.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">To put those figures in context, Britain’s main World War II bomber was the four-engine Avro Lancaster. About 7,300 were built and more than 40 percent (3,200) were lost during the war. The RAF computed that the average “Lanc” survived 14 or 15 sorties—half the length of a typical aircrew combat tour. </p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The main reason WW II airframes are so durable is that almost none were pressurized. An exception was the B-29 Superfortress, successor to the B-17. Pressurization’s advantages included a shirt-sleeve environment at most altitudes, reducing crew fatigue and need for heavy, bulky flight suits.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In contrast, pressurized airliners have been common throughout the jet age. But there are complications. The Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 that lost much of its forward fuselage in 1988 remains a prime example of structural fatigue. The jetliner had logged over 35,000 flight hours with 90,000 “flight cycles” or pressurization/depressurization. Reportedly that was twice the figure Boeing intended, though the crew landed safely with one fatality.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">So it is as certain as magnetism and gravity that structurally, warbirds are not yet “too old to fly.”</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Technical problems exist, of course, including spare parts. Engines remain available if not plentiful, and components can be manufactured. Not necessarily so with propellers, wheels, and even tires. Furthermore, it’s uncertain how long suitable aviation gasoline will remain available. World War II aircraft engines performed well with 100/130 octane gas but environmental concerns arose, and general aviation’s standard 80/87 became unavailable. Now warbirds usually burn 100 low lead.</p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">A factor often overlooked outside the warbird community is insurance. The annual premiums for a P-51 vary widely depending on pilot experience and whether the owner wants hull insurance. A leading insurer shows $1,000,000 annual coverage from $700 to $940 for pilots only while pilots and hull coverage range from $5,800 to $13,580.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">As long as wealthy to filthy-rich pilots can support their habit, warbirds will continue flying. In fact, as far back as the 1980s financial analysts identified historic aircraft as excellent investments. </p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Warbird values have only increased. Perhaps the classic example is Britain’s iconic Supermarine Spitfire fighter. Recent prices for flyable Spits run in the $2 to $5 million range. America’s most popular fighter, the P-51 Mustang, with about 250 airworthy, seldom goes for less than $2 million. B-17s change hands so rarely that it’s hard to establish a baseline but $10 million has been cited.</p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Thus, the most popular warbirds are considered “recession- and panic-proof.”</p>
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<p style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I grew up in the antique/warbird community, and maybe 85-90 percent of my flight time was in machinery older than I was. Creak. Whether to fly 'em or ground 'em has been discussed for decades. Some hard-core warbirders agree that when the survival count gets into low single digits, We should consider grounding.</p>
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<p style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">When Dad and I restored and flew our Dauntless in the early 70s it was the only one airworthy. The CAF had destroyed one a few years previously. But we knew that other SBDs/A-24s were available for full restoration. Today ours sits in original A-24B configuration at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.</p>
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<p style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The comparison I've long made is the difference between taxidermy and a zoo. We can get up close to nose-rubbing distance in a taxidermy shop but in a zoo you get to see the creatures in something approaching their natural habitat. Just FWIW.</p>
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<p style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Thing is:</p>
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<p style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">When many warbirds go for millions, who's going to take the financial hit? If in fact the government decides no more flying, shouldn't the government pay market value? (My crotchety attitude: at one time in living memory The Govt had thousands of examples of many-most warbirds and seldom bothered to retain many.)</p>
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<p style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The situation is complicated by foreign types in the U.S. For instance, no-kidding Messerschmitt 109s remain active in Europe. Should the ground 'em order apply to foreign aircraft owned by Americans? Etc., etc.</p>
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<p style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I get really edgy at the notion of politicians and unaccountable bureaucrats deciding the subject. Most appear driven by agendas and ignorance. When the F-86 jet crashed into the ice cream parlor in Sacramento in 1972, the first pol to the mike exposed himself as an idiot. "That plane was 20 years old. There is no reason it should be considered experimental." What the duty idiot did not bother to check is that nearly all ex-military jets, and some prop planes, are licensed Experimental because there's little or no basis for a Standard type certificate. Man-o-man...</p>
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<p style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Idunno—maybe a mega tax credit to owners of grounded warbirds? But outright banning amounting to confiscation is a guaranteed Supreme Court case.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">As it should be. </p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-31185913118063549912022-09-29T10:54:00.000-07:002022-09-29T10:54:12.511-07:00RUSSIA, CHINA, AND UKRAINE<p> <span style="color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">This month I’m pleased to have a guest contributor who knows his subject intimately.</span><span style="color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Dr. Richard P. Hallion is the historian emeritus of the U.S. Air Force and remains a Pentagon advisor on air and space issues.</span><span style="color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">He’s not only a long-longtime colleague, but a valued friend.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;"><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>+ + + + +<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">Even allowing for the Kyiv source and the over claiming characteristic of both sides, Russian vehicle/equipment losses have been shocking and substantial, reflecting many failures in the post-Soviet military.</span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">These include in particular: failure to create an Air Force that can seize control of the air in the face of pervasive and layered, redundant missile defenses; failing to train recruits to become self-reliant and team-focused soldiers; the absence of a disciplined and effective Western-style NCO corps; the lack of well-trained and well-exercised field and company-grade officer cadres; failure to appreciate how revolutionary and innovative technologies are changing traditional war, particularly the growth of very small, smart, and lethal semi-autonomous air-delivered munitions; failure to appreciate how integrating in real time distributed sensor plus intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) systems--from hand-held cell phones to drones of varying size and complexity, and many others of varying sorts--an close both the sensor-to-shooter and shooter-to-target loops; and failure to build reliable and robust logistical combat chains that are not limited to linear road and rail based travel.</span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">The variety and diversity of types and variants lost offers a tremendous opportunity for intel exploitation and development of counters. The compromise of Russian battlefield command, control, communications and intelligence systems is a very serious development. The recovery of a recent-generation jamming pod off a Super Flanker—if true—is a particularly serious loss, and signals that other Post-Soviet electronic warfare avionics systems/capabilities may now be laid bare for Western analysis. Jamming and deception pods in particular have a tactical (and even strategic) significance that extends far beyond common appreciation of their value.</span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">Now a historical observation: this is all, once again, very reminiscent of what happened to Russia when it went to war against Finland in 1939-1940, when the Finns captured vast quantities of Soviet equipment that they then turned to their own use. </span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">Still, Finland had to reach a settlement in 1940 when Stalin overwhelmed the defensive Mannerheim Line because of the vast disparity of bodies and artillery that Voroshilov’s Red Army possessed over Marshal Carl Mannerheim’s defending Finns (and today Ukraine may still find itself having to accept some territorial losses <b><s>today</s></b> for the same reasons).</span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">But as Russia soon found, its Pyrrhic victory had given it little more than (as one Soviet officer remarked) “enough land to bury our dead.”</span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">And the implications about Russian combat performance then—as now—went far far beyond mere numbers and types of equipment lost, and the compromise and exploitation of that equipment.</span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">At the time of the Winter War, Russia and Germany (which traditionally detested each other) were linked by a non-aggression treaty signed in August 1939 with secret protocols covering each nation. These included turning a blind eye to the other’s aggressions, and even providing for a mutual dismembering of Poland, whose existence as an independent state both Hitler and Stalin considered an affront to their regimes. </span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">For awhile Germany scrupulously honored the pact. But when Russia’s military proved so woefully incompetent against Finland (which like Ukraine today had been expected to fold in days or no more than a few weeks), Hitler and his generals (itching for expansionist war) were greatly encouraged to abandon the pact and plan instead for an invasion of Russia. That invasion, Operation Barbarossa, came in June 1941, and came very close to destroying the Soviet regime, leading to the death of millions.</span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">Today, Russia and China are linked in a similar pact, which (like the 1939 Nazi-Sovist Non-Aggression Pact) likely has secret clauses covering aggression by both parties against bordering states—think Russia vs the Baltic states and Ukraine, and China vs Taiwan. </span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">But traditionally China and Russia have detested each other. Today China is in the same position as Nazi Germany in 1939-40. It has a robust and aggressive leader (Xi) and a large, modernized military with generals who speak intemperately of regional war and are again itching to fight.</span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">Recall that in the 1960s China and Russia fought a series of bitter border clashes along the Usurri River region, reflecting the Sino-Soviet split that lasted through the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. China remembers both these and, looking to the more distant past, has not forgotten how Russia muscled it over the last two centuries to get control of territory including much of Siberia. </span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">As China witnesses Russia performing so abysmally in the Ukraine, might not Xi and his generals see an emerging opportunity to regain via diplomatic muscling or coercion under threat its lost Asian territories?</span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">Both sides are of course, atomic powers but previous Sino-Soviet history suggests that such considerations do not per se automatically act to curb such coercion, particularly given the woeful state of the Russian economy and its growing domestic discontents.</span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">And what of the Central Asian cockpit (Chechnya, Georgia, and the “-stans”) that have centuries of ethnic, religious, and nationalist enmity towards Russia? As Russia shows its growing weakness, might not these always-restless peoples seek to exert their own historic claims?</span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">Bottom line: the geo-strategic stakes for Russia in this conflict are far broader than just Moscow’s relationship with the NATO alliance and its European neighbors, or Putin’s own personal future…Indeed, Putin’s ill-considered aggression has created a risk for the entire Russian state on all its borders. </span><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #323130; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; padding: 0in;">While this poses its own set of challenges and dangers, requiring very careful handling, it also affords the West and other coalitions (such as the ASEAN nations) an interesting range of their own influence and coercive actions to keep the resurgent Russian bear chained and in its cage.</span></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-18214536613707550562022-08-15T15:09:00.005-07:002022-08-15T15:09:59.598-07:00AUGUST 1945: THE MONTH THAT CHANGED THE WORLD<p><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-size: large;">Reprinted courtesy of American Thinker.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 238); color: #0000ee; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: large;">https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/08/august_1945_an_eventful_month_in_world_history.html</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-size: large;">Some historians describe both world wars as one prolonged conflict, beginning in Europe in August 1914 and ending in the Pacific in August 1945. The interim from 1918 to 1939 featured many and varied clashes, including those in Poland, Armenia, Spain and China to name a few. Key interim players included Japan and Russia.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Certainly the apocalyptic end of World War II has been described by eminent historians over the last seven decades. But in searching for my next book, I applied what I grandiosely call “negative market analysis.” What has not been covered, or not in recent years with current scholarship? That was how I conceived </span><i style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Whirlwind </i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">(Simon and Schuster, 2010) because there had never been a dedicated study of all air operations over Japan.</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was also how I decided upon <i>When the Shooting Stopped</i>. There have been excellent studies of the global events of June 1944 (notably D-Day in France and U.S. conquest of the Marianas on the other side of the planet) but I found none devoted to August 1945, the month that shaped the world.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Events accelerated in the spring and summer of 1945. Germany surrendered on May 8 but Russia already was shipping massive amounts of men and materiel eastward. Moscow and Berlin had a non-aggression treaty that Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin cancelled on August 9. That night a three-pronged Russian assault into Japanese-held Manchuria opened the Far East end game, briefly overlapping Japan’s surrender to the Allies.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">American forces began deploying from Europe and the continental United States anticipating the two-phase Operation Downfall, invasion of Japan’s home islands. The first assault, on the southern island of Kyushu, was slated for early November. The second, on the main island of Honshu, was due in March 1946.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, the atomic age had dawned in a 20-kiloton flash in the New Mexico desert on July 16. The three-year Manhattan Project yielded awe-inspiring results, and Tokyo’s refusal of the Allies’ Potsdam declaration for unconditional surrender ensured that the atoms would be loosed. U.S. B-29 Superfortresses from the Mariana Islands 1,500 miles south of Japan were prepared to conduct “special missions” beyond conventional bombing methods. An A-bomb destroyed Hiroshima on August 6 and, lacking any reply from Tokyo, a second weapon leveled Nagasaki three days later.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Even then, Japan’s war cabinet remained evenly divided between surrender and continued war. Finally, on August 15, Emperor Hirohito took the unprecedented step of personally intervening in government affairs. His decision “to bear the unbearable” was met with fierce resistance in the palace guard but the plotters were quickly overcome. In his announcement Hirohito credited the A-bombs with his decision, citing “a most cruel new weapon.”</span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">For three decades a bitter feud was fought in an information vacuum with academics and others arguing whether the bombs were necessary. The mantra “Tokyo was about to surrender” gained some public traction despite clear evidence to the contrary. Then from the 1970s to the 1990s declassified intelligence documents showed that President Harry Truman and his advisers were reading Tokyo’s mail via decoded messages. Hirohito’s intervention was the only way to break the logjam.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Speculation as to the cost of invading Japan continues today. General Douglas MacArthur, the vainglorious Army supremo who would command Operation Downfall, discounted intelligence (understated, as it proved) showing the Japanese heavily reinforcing the Kyushu defenses. His personal goal was leading the greatest military operation of all time. But that summer the U.S. government ordered an additional half million Purple Heart medals for expected killed and wounded in Downfall--enough to last into the Vietnam War of the 1960s and 1970s.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, the U.S. Navy had second thoughts. The Pacific Fleet’s Admiral Chester Nimitz knew all too well the cost of the three-month Okinawa campaign, especially facing Kamikazes that had sunk dozens of ships and damaged hundreds since the Philippines operation from October 1944.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Nimitz’s superior in Washington, Admiral Ernest King, shared reservations about Operation Downfall. Neither admiral doubted it would succeed, but at what cost?</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The only viable option was continuing blockade. At some point Japan would face massive starvation—there were already food riots that spring—with consequences likely exceeding military conquest. Aside from deaths in Japan itself, postwar analysis estimated more than 100,000 deaths on the Asian mainland, <i>per month</i>, almost entirely from war-related disease and starvation. As it was, Japan inflicted at least 12 million deaths upon Asia-Pacific nations.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, the postwar world was taking shape. Outgoing British Prime Minister Winston Churchill coined the phrase “iron curtain” that summer, anticipating Russia’s draconian policies in Eastern Europe. Residents of Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Balkans and the Baltic states realized that they had exchanged Nazi tyranny for the Soviet variety.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Apart from China, the world was also reshaping itself in Asia. The colonial era ended in India, Indonesia and Vietnam. In fact, Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh declared a provisional government the same day the surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay. The war against French occupation lasted until 1954. </span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">At the same time India’s independence movement under Mahatma Ghandi bore fruit in 1947 while Indonesia fought a long internal war against Communist insurgents until 1949. </span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Prior agreement between the U.S. and Russia divided Korea in the middle, at the 38</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> parallel, setting the stage for a three-year war launched by Pyongyang in 1950.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Though Japan announced its surrender on the 15</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">, Pacific time, those at the sharp end continued fighting, killing, and dying. Earth’s time zones affected the process, as the last B-29 bombing mission took off the afternoon of the 14</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> and was returning to its roosts after midnight. But U.S. and British Pacific Fleet units in Japanese waters still conducted scheduled missions, resulting in several clashes. Of six USS <i>Yorktown</i> fighters jumped by enemy aircraft, only two pilots survived. Other dogfights lasted into the afternoon as some Japanese doubted the surrender announcement—and others chose to ignore it.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">America’s final combat fatality—Sergeant Anthony Marchione--died on a photographic mission on August 18. </span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The formal end of six years of combat occurred in barely a half-hour ceremony aboard the battleship USS <i>Missouri </i>in Tokyo Bay, September 2. Among those I interviewed from the 1970s onward were General Jimmy Doolittle, who bombed Tokyo in 1942, and several Navy pilots who participated in “Operation Airshow.” The overflight of Tokyo Bay made dramatic film footage but a squadron commander confided that the crowded sky beneath low clouds caused more fear than he experienced in combat.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In considering the next book, the August ’45 narrative appealed to me on different levels. As a baby boomer, I grew up amid relatives and neighbors for whom “the war” was the central event of their lives. Four decades afterward, a girlfriend and I appreciated the fact that we only met because our fathers survived the war.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The family aspect also entered into <i>When the Shooting Stopped</i>. In September 1945 my mother was an Oregon rodeo princess who recalled the spirited adventures of some naval aviators who buzzed the arena, nearly blew over fishing boats, and generally had a fine old time violating almost every conceivable safety regulation. The fliers attached themselves to the round-up court, and I mused on the rarity of writing about one’s parents in a history book.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Elsewhere, of course, the lid was off. Joyous celebrations erupted around the world, most notably an estimated 2 million New Yorkers who jammed Times Square when Japan’s surrender was confirmed. The iconic <i>Life</i> magazine photo of a sailor kissing a “nurse” (she was a dental technician) remains a vivid depiction of that ecstatic moment.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">But not all celebrations were justifiable. From Boston to San Francisco, days of riotous behavior broke out with violent clashes between servicemen and police. Deaths, assaults, and vandalism often went unpunished—ill suiting the misty-eyed image of “the greatest generation.” But in the larger picture, the VJ Generation returned dozens of nations to their rightful owners, and was greatness itself.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">From 1939 to 1945 Earth’s 100 or so nation-states lost perhaps 3 percent of their 2.3 billion humans to all war-related causes. The specific numbers keep increasing (partly due to Soviet juggling) from an estimated 50 million in the 1990s to as high as 85 million today. All losses to military action, including civilians, run between 50 and 60 million.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">About 405,000 American families lost service members—at least two examples with four and five each--plus nearly 700,000 wounded or injured. Thousands U.S. more civilians added to the toll in the Philippines, China, and elsewhere.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today there are 195 nation-states with nearly 8 billion inhabitants. They continue living with the benefits and downsides that characterized the Second World War seven decades ago.</span></span></p><div><span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-71444550645698268282022-07-30T17:29:00.003-07:002022-07-30T17:31:14.519-07:00JULY: THE FORGOTTEN MONTH OF 1945<p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">My current book is<i> When the Shooting Stopped: August 1945 </i>from Bloomsbury-Osprey in Britain. Near as I could tell, no single volume covered “the month that shaped the world.”</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Inevitably each August produces another reprise of The Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings, though by now it should be obvious there was no acceptable alternative to loosing the atoms. The options were blockade or invasion, both certain to kill more people on both sides. And that did not include the enormous toll in Asia—reckoned postwar at about 100,000 <i>per month</i>. As it was, Japan’s aggression killed at least 17 million people in the Asia-Pacific realm, perhaps closer to 20 million.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">For those desiring more analysis, consult the works of John Toland, Richard Frank, and Sir Max Hastings.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Which takes us back to July.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The main event was the Potsdam Conference where the Western Allies and Soviet Union decided the course of the Pacific War and the shape of the postwar world. It was the same time when outgoing British Prime Minister Winston Churchill coined the enduring phrase “Iron Curtain.”</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">But from an operational perspective I’m drawn to the U.S. Navy air strikes on the main Japanese naval base at Kure, near Hiroshima. Much of Tokyo’s inert fleet had laid up there for months, drawing repeated attacks by Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers from March onward.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s still argued whether the cost was worth the results. I’ve had ample opportunity to examine the subject both in <i>Whirlwind</i> (Simon & Schuster 2010) and <i>When the Shooting Stopped</i>. What follows is a compendium.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">On March 19 more than 320 Fifth Fleet planes struck Kure, inflicting marginal damage. The heavy defenses downed 25 planes in exchange for damage to nine ships. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">That same day Japanese pilots nearly destroyed the fleet carrier USS <i>Franklin </i> (CV-13), killing 800 men and knocking her out of the war. The definitive account is Joseph Springer’s <i>Inferno</i> (Zenith, 2007.)</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kure was back in the crosshairs three times in July.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">A cogent assessment was offered by then-Lieutenant Commander William N. Leonard of Vice Admiral John McCain’s Task Force 38 staff. “Some Neanderthals back at PacFleet Headquarters wanted continuation of a navy versus navy fight and we lost many good people to no good purpose. With the Jap navy lying doggo, PacFleet began to assert itself more and more into the assignment of missions and objectives of the fast carriers.” </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Leonard’s attitude largely mirrored that of McCain, </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: #091535; font-kerning: none;">who</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> considered the Kure strikes “a waste of time” but could only go so far. Occasionally he argued with Third Fleet’s Admiral William F. Halsey, though seldom successfully. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">McCain opposed targeting shipping, preferring to strike airfields and aircraft factories. However, his priorities also were skewed: Third Fleet knew the benefits of sinking Japanese coastal traffic such as Hokkaido’s rail ferries. But whatever their service, airmen were magnetically pulled toward the enemy’s aviation industry, while steamers and merchantmen lacked the perceived glamor of aircraft factories. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Without delving into tactics and targets, the Kure strikes offer a lesson in the morality of military leadership. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Nobody would admit it—certainly not in writing—but at least some of the impetus for the July operations probably had more to do with service politics than winning the war. Both the Navy and the Army Air Forces anticipated the inevitable postwar Washington battle, determining whether there would be an independent air force. Almost certainly the admirals wanted to run up the score, demonstrating naval aviation’s huge contribution to destroying the enemy fleet, and the fat pickings at Kure became irresistible: over 200,000 tons in major combatants.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In some ways, Kure represented the greatest flak trap in history. The big harbor contained nothing that could seriously harm the Third Fleet, as the remnants of the Imperial Navy lacked sufficient fuel and crews to pose a major threat. But geisha-like, Kure smiled (or smirked) behind her ornamental fan, crooked a fetching finger at King, Nimitz, and Halsey, and coyly invited them in.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">They rushed to accept.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">On July 24 the tailhookers left 57 planes in Kure Harbor and adjacent waters, drowning a battleship and cruiser in the shallow harbor and damaging a dozen lesser vessels.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kure was part of the next day’s strike menu, though no warships were sunk.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Results on the 28th were significantly better: totaling severe damage to three battleships, three cruisers, and three carriers plus lesser victims. Some of the warships were effectively sunk, resting on the muddy bottom.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Overall, Halsey’s three days of strikes on Kure and environs proved costly: at least 126 aircraft with 102 fliers. Eighteen of the losses occurred in “routine” operations over Shikoku. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Whether the cost justified the Kure strikes remains questionable. In his often self-serving memoir, Halsey enumerated four reasons for the strikes. He opined that America’s national honor and morale required total destruction of the Japanese Navy; that such destruction was necessary to prevent interdiction of future convoys to Russia; that Tokyo might use its remaining fleet for negotiating leverage as Germany had done in 1919; and ultimately that he had orders. He concluded, “If the other reasons had been invalid, that one alone would have been enough for me.” </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Halsey’s arguments remain transparently unconvincing. In the first place, American morale in no way turned on destruction of the rusting remnants of the Imperial Navy. The greatest morale involved was “Bull” Halsey’s. The huge majority of Americans merely wished the war over, and the main seagoing phase had ended in October 1944.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Secondly, the U.S. Navy could easily dominate the North Pacific in the vastly unlikely event that a Japanese force escaped its mine-choked harbors to deploy more than 1,000 miles from home. Furthermore, absent requests from Moscow, no such requirement pertained. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Halsey’s third point was even more absurd. The Allies’ pre-existing demand of unconditional surrender automatically scuttled any naval bargaining that Tokyo might have attempted in such nonexistent proceedings.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The fourth point would seem the strongest, as King and Nimitz had decreed an end to the “defueled doggo fleet.” But by July 1945 Halsey surely felt bulletproof. He had escaped all accountability (if not major blame) for the Leyte Gulf debacle and failing to avoid a ship-killing typhoon in December. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The defenders of his position were five-star guardians: Pacific Fleet commander Chester Nimitz, who allowed sentiment to trump objectivity, and the decidedly unsentimental Ernest King, chief of naval operations in Washington, who refused to hand the Air Force a political victory. But the fact remained that between Leyte Gulf in October 1944 and “Halsey’s hurricane” in December the Third Fleet commander was widely considered directly or indirectly responsible for the unnecessary loss of seven ships and some 1,450 sailors and aircrew.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Had Halsey declined to expend scores of fliers and over 100 aircraft in a needless exercise, his chances of being replaced approached absolute zero. But rather than take counsel of the Task Force 38 staff, The Bull was eager to comply with orders that gratified his vanity at the expense of at least 83 young men who died attacking impotent, immobile ships. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Halsey’s seeming indifference to casualties drew sharp criticism from subordinates. One aviator spoke for many when he noted, “Halsey is going wild on publicity and we are all fed (up) to the teeth listening to all the crap he is putting out….Halsey is a big disappointment to me as he is to most of us.” </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In this 77th anniversary year we might remember that the WW II generation often was ill served by its leaders.</span></span></p><div><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-25829922647603561622022-05-31T07:36:00.003-07:002022-06-21T08:16:49.315-07:00UVALDE AFTERMATH<p><span style="font-size: large;"> <i style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">“If you are a police officer and you think for even one second that you will not be able to run towards the gunfire, please quit now.”</i></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Atlantic Beach, Florida, Police Chief Michelle Cook, 2018</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Chief Cook (now sheriff of Clay County) referred to reports that a Broward County deputy had “failed to take action” during the Douglas High School shooting that killed 17 people. The accused deputy’s trial is scheduled this year.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Following the massacre of 21 students and teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, this month, national focus again returned to police actions and obligations. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">After the Columbine, Colorado, school killings in 1999, the public demanded explanations for police actions or inactions. Following protocol, officers established a perimeter and surrounded the scene, pointing their guns at the building. Additional time was spent organizing a multi-agency SWAT team, calling for ammunition and equipment.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The two teenaged killers shot themselves about 50 minutes after opening fire. SWAT entered one hour thereafter. Subsequently in a televised interview, one of the officers mentioned concern about friendly fire in the confusion.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Professional debriefs noted that even local police had little or no idea of the school’s interior. Officers interviewed some students who escaped early, trying to visualize the floor plan.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Subsequently, most metropolitan police and sheriff’s offices revised their active shooter policies. In the Phoenix area at least two departments adopted a “run to the guns” philosophy, preferably with two or more officers first on the scene. It makes sense, considering that large-scale shootings usually occur in the first ten minutes or less.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Though many PDs emblazon their patrol cars with the slogan “To protect and serve,” the Supreme Court has twice ruled that police have no obligation toward individuals. The relevant cases are DeShaney v. Winnebago County (1989) and Gonzales v. Castle Rock (2005).</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">Meanwhile school shootings are nothing new. </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">The first recorded incident recorded occurred in Virginia in 1840 when a law professor was mortally wounded by a student. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">One of the dangers of focusing on firearms is that “gun myopia” ignores every other means of mass killings.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">While excluding nearly 3,000 killed by terrorists on 9-11 and the 1995 Oklahoma City fertilizer bomb, here’s a brief survey of non-firearms mass murders:</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 1910 suspected anarchists killed 38 and wounded 143 using a horse-drawn wagon loaded with dynamite on Wall Street. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then in 1927 the Bath School bombing in Michigan killed 38 children and six adults—a worse toll than any U.S. school shooting to date.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 1990 Julio Gonzalez killed 87 people at the Happy Land Social Club in New York City, mostly Hondurans celebrating Carnival. He used a plastic bucket with $1 worth of gasoline, and a match.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">That same year 33 Turkish intellectuals were killed when radical Islamists set fire to the group’s hotel.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 2003 an unemployed South Korean taxi driver started a fire in a subway, killing 198 people with nearly 150 injured.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 2014 and 2015, 83 Chinese were knifed to death in two attacks.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Massive school killings are not limited to the U.S. In 2004 Chechyn nationalists took over a Russian school for three days, killing 333 people including 186 children. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Among police and security professionals there seems growing frustration that the same mistakes still occur decades after Columbine and other atrocities. The Uvalde massacre came just two months after area police completed refresher training for an active shooter.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Especially in today’s panicked “defund the police” climate, some officers insist it’s not up to cops to divert scarce resources to guarding schools among rising crime and violence. To quote one law-enforcement friend: “If people want to have children, the parents need to protect their kids. The cops have too much to do as it is.”</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">So what should we do?</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">One popular option seems limiting school access to a single entrance and exit. The theory holds that an assailant would have to get past the gate guard—who likely would be unarmed. But whether the guard or guards carry weapons, they could easily be neutralized.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then the killer or killers have a building full of victims unable to escape. Locking students in some rooms could reduce the number of targets, but certainly not all.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And as street cops remind us: “When seconds count, we’re minutes away.”</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Think about that.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, trying to head off mass murderers is a complex onion of many layers. There have been advance notices-warnings by some killers, including the Uvalde cretin who posted his intention online. Apparently nobody took notice.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">But the legality of so-called “red flag” laws remains questionable. The Fifth Amendment says that people’s rights cannot be infringed without “due process.” Red flag laws rely on unverified, possibly malicious, allegations, with no “due process” opportunity for the accused to refute the allegations.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Schools do not help the situation with contradictory policies. In just one example, last year a Georgia male teacher was suspended for laying hands on a female student who brought a gun to school and holding her until police arrived. Apparently the school district dropped charges to avoid witness testimony.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In any case, a quick glance shows a clear pattern: School attacks averaged one or two deaths through most of the 20th century. So what accounts for the huge increase since the 1990s? That decade produced a 59% increase in attacks over the previous decade with an 80% increase in deaths.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are of course several factors including reduced rate of committing potential killers to mental institutions—and then-Senator Joe Biden’s 1990 “gun-free school zone” legislation. The law was overturned by the Supreme Court five years later (<i>United States v. Lopez</i>) but remains a de facto guideline for policy makers. Technically, 18 states allow teachers or staff to be armed on-campus (with official permission) but few of those are implemented: they include liberal bastions California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Oregon. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The NEA “educators” are solidly opposed to armed staff in schools by an overwhelming 68 percent. Ironically, that’s one point less than a recent online poll showing Real Americans favor the concept.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">So what should the policy involve?</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Police can seldom divert scarce resources to guarding schools. In fact, at two of the worst attacks, on-scene officers failed to purse the killers in time: at Columbine in 1999 and most recently in Florida. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Much as many would concur with parents, at least two parents were detained by police when trying to enter the Uvalde school. One father was tasered and a mother was handcuffed. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, police continued entering the school after a brief exchange of gunfire minutes after the killer began shooting. Apparently he then locked himself in a classroom, safe from nearly twenty officers eventually assembled in the hallway. They remained there until a staffer arrived with a key. Police increasingly ask why the officers did not have breaching equipment to open the door.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We continue holding school fire drills though apparently the last significant school fire occurred in Chicago in 1958. So why not expand active-shooter drills?</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">One solution:</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Allow teachers and school staff to carry pistols, all day every day—and night. Establish meaningful qualifications and training with at least four recertification events annually.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Require the academic “sheepdogs” to keep their weapon on them full time: no stashing in a desk or locker. For maximum safety and security, wear the pistol unloaded with one or two magazines on the belt. If the shooter prefers a revolver, carry speed loaders. In either case, the gun should be worn in a retention holster to prevent an easy snatch-and-grab. If the gun’s unloaded, it’s no use with the ammunition carried separately. And in an emergency either type of firearm can be loaded quickly, though revolvers require more practice.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The ten seconds or less to load a pistol and chamber a round beat the best police response times (typically five to six minutes at best) all to hell.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">One more thing:</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">President Donald Trump suggested paying bonuses to teachers or staff who qualify to carry guns in schools. Some police recommend more: a fund that pays $1 million to anyone who kills or stops a school murderer. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">That’s something most taxpayers would support.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-91343624964761230742022-04-27T10:43:00.000-07:002022-04-27T10:43:22.712-07:00 GUADALCANAL 2.0<p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">This month's entry appeared in <i>American Thinker</i> on April 21.</span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">In <i>Return to Paradise</i> James Michener wrote, “In the South Pacific there is an island, dark and brooding. It is not large as islands go, nor yet so small as to be forgotten when one has seen it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The island was Guadalcanal.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Nine sweltering degrees below the equator, the 90-mile-long island dominated the Solomons, 600 miles east of New Guinea. With 7,500 foot mountains among its 2,000 square miles “the Canal” featured beaches, rivers, and a decent harbor at adjacent Tulagi.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mitscher’s brooding isle occupied the strategic focus of the United States and Japan for six sanguinary months in 1942-43. On July 4, 1942 an American reconnaissance plane noted the Japanese building a bomber-capable airfield on Guadalcanal. The threat was implicit: with long-range aircraft, Japan could interdict Allied sea lanes to Australia and New Zealand. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The timing was providential. In June the U.S. Navy had blunted Japan’s six-month string of victories in the climactic Battle of Midway, affording a chance to shift from the defense. Commanding Japan’s Combined Fleet was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto who had led the Pearl Harbor and Midway operations. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Joint Chiefs in Washington seized the opportunity and authorized Operation Watchtower, America’s first offensive of the war. The First Marine Division splashed ashore at Guadalcanal (code name Cactus) and nearby Tulagi on August 7, two months to the day after Midway.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">America was blessed with experienced, competent leaders. Major General Archer Vandegrift commanded the First Division, including subordinates such as Merritt “Red Mike” Edson and Louis “Chesty” Puller. All had learned the brush fighting trade from the Central American “banana wars.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Japanese Army was tough and capable, but China was poor preparation for professionally-led Marines. Time and again Vandegrift’s leathernecks gave better than they got.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Not so at sea. In the first clash between the U.S. and Imperial navies around the monolithic Savo Island the night of August 8-9, Tokyo’s practiced torpedo men sank four Allied cruisers without loss. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">From Rabaul, New Britain, the Japanese Navy’s world-class bombers and fighters routinely flew 1,200-mile round trips to Guadalcanal—an astonishing feat. The obvious answer was to get U.S. planes on the island, and the first Marine squadrons landed on August 20, “plankowners” in what became The Cactus Air Force. Marine, Navy and Army squadrons operated from Henderson Field (named for a Marine hero of Midway) plus two other airstrips in coming weeks. Fliers and mechanics said, “Cactus was the only place you could stand up to your knees in mud and get dust in your eyes.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The late Vice Admiral David Richardson, a Guadalcanal fighter pilot, spoke for many. “I learned that often how much courage a man has depends on how much food and sleep he’s had in the last 72 hours.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thus began a symbiotic relationship among riflemen, airmen, and sailors. Control of the sea and sky frequently changed hands by day and night, and the Japanese perfected the nocturnal “Tokyo express” delivering troops and supplies by ship, then scurrying back north by day. The Americans relied on coastwatchers—mostly courageous Australian planters and administrators—to radio of Japanese ships and planes. “Thirty bombers headed yours” became a watchword.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Americans were strapped for everything; Operation Watchtower was called “Operation Shoestring.” But the defenders held on. Guadalcanal became a strategic teeter-totter that summer and fall, the balance tipping in either direction. In Hawaii the Pacific Fleet’s Admiral Chester Nimitz decided to change horses in Pacific midstream, replacing cautious Vice Admiral Robert Ghormley with an Annapolis football team mate, William F. Halsey. In his splashy memoir “Bull” Halsey exclaimed, “This was the hottest potato they ever handed me.” But on the eve of the campaign’s second carrier battle, he messaged his command, “Strike, repeat strike.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Battle of Santa Cruz on October 27 represented a Japanese tactical victory. USS <i>Hornet</i>, which had launched the Doolittle Raiders against Japan in April, was lost. But Yamamoto’s elite naval aviation arm sustained grievous personnel losses—even more than at Midway. It was a long-term deficit that could not be regained.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Japanese battleships and cruisers pasted the Americans that month, concentrating on Henderson Field. At dawn one morning the Cactus Air Force had one dive bomber operational. But the aviators clung to their battered nest.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">On the night of November 12-13, Rear Admirals Norman Scott and Daniel Callaghan led 13 U.S. ships against 14 Japanese plus transports intent on landing troops. Scott and Callaghan were killed in the 40-minute nocturnal brawl. Between them they lost six warships to three Japanese, including the battleship <i>Hiei </i>that succumbed to Navy and Marine aircraft after daylight. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">One of the lesser-known heroes of the campaign was Rear Admiral Willis Lee. A brilliant analyst, he was a big-ship gunfighter in search of a gunfight, and he found it the night of November 14-15. Leading the battleships USS <i>Washington</i> and <i>South Dakota</i>, he tackled a superior enemy force and blasted the Japanese <i>Kirishima </i>into sinking rubble. “SoDak” lost power during the 30-minute slugfest, leaving <i>Washington</i> and her four destroyers to handle the chore. Lee lost three “small boys” but prevented the Marines from sustaining another punishing bombardment, and proved his mastery of radar.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">At length the Japanese recognized the inevitable and began a well-conducted evacuation in early February 1943. Richard B. Frank, author of the definitive study, concluded that Japan left 30,000 imperial warriors to all causes on and around “Starvation Island.” Meanwhile, victory cost more than 7,000 Allied personnel. Along the way, Guadalcanal produced twenty Medals of Honor--ten Marine, six Navy, four Army. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">The U.S. and Japan both lost more than 600 aircraft in the campaign. Twenty-nine American ships were sunk and thirty-one Japanese (plus six submarines) in four surface battles plus two aircraft carrier duels and associated operations.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Admiral Yamamoto did not long survive. On April 18, 1943—anniversary of the Doolittle Raid—his plane was downed by Guadalcanal-based P-38 Lightnings. It was the result of superb intelligence and exquisite timing over a 600-mile dogleg route to avoid detection. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Halsey’s command raised its sights thereafter. Allied landings on Bougainville in November put more land-based aircraft within range of the Japanese fleet base at Rabaul. Though Allied squadrons began flying from Bougainville before year end, the aerial siege of Rabaul continued until VJ Day. Australian troops were heavily committed to ground actions on Bougainville during the last ten months of hostilities. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today, though remaining associated with the British Commonwealth, the Solomons are an independent nation of six major islands and hundreds of lesser ones. The nation eventually achieved independence in the 1970s but fell into decades of instability and violence despite international peace-keeping efforts. Then in March of this year the Solomons signed a memorandum with China leading to likely military and naval basing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Beijing is spreading a wide trident’s net. Strategically-located Kiribatai, retaining ties to the British Commonwealth, governs 32 atolls in the Gilberts. In 2019 Kiribatai dropped its Taiwan relationship in favor of Beijing. Sprawling near the international date line, Kiribatai covers hundreds of nautical miles north and south of the equator, totaling 1.4 million square miles. Considering that Beijing has built islands in the South China Sea, developing bases throughout the Pacific seems assured. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">China, not America, will determine if the Guadalcanal legacy remains past or represents prologue.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-92054056689667396822022-03-29T16:20:00.001-07:002022-03-29T16:20:15.677-07:00The No-Fly Zone Debate<p><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span>A slightly shorter version appeared in American Thinker, March 24th.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;">https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/03/the_nofly_debate.html</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Should NATO establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine?</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Aside from public airing of prospects for sending aging MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, the larger question involves other nations establishing controlled airspace to reduce Russian airpower’s effect during its invasion.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The question turns on prospects for a clash of allied and Russian aircraft erupting into a wider conflict. </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We have been there before. Repeatedly.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In November 1944 Italy-based American fighters attacked a Soviet road convoy in Yugoslavia. Accounts vary as to the cause: either a navigation error or the Russians’ failure to announce an unexpected breakthrough. In any case, the P-38 Lightnings mistook the Russian vehicles for German and strafed them. Reportedly among the dead was a general.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Russian top cover descended, resulting in a dogfight that claimed two P-38s and four Yakovlev fighters.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anticipating high-level problems, U.S. headquarters immediately sent the group commander Stateside. And sure enough, Moscow demanded his execution. However, Colonel Clarence “Curly” Edwinson retired as a brigadier general.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Throughout the Cold War, Communist fighters downed at least fifteen American aircraft, several in international airspace. Additionally, surface to air missiles (SAMs) downed U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers, captured in Russia in 1960, followed by Major Rolf Anderson, killed in his U-2 over Cuba two years later.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No wars ensued.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">American and allied air forces clashed with Soviet jet fighters throughout most of the three-year Korean War. At least six Russian planes were splashed by U.S. naval aircraft with four MiG pilots killed in one combat off Vladivostok in 1952.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Long after, Moscow acknowledged losing 335 planes and 120 aircrew among a total 299 personnel killed in Korea. Against orders, some Soviet MiG-15s were pursued to destruction at their sanctuaries in Manchuria. </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No wider war ensued.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A much wider war did occur, of course, when General Douglas MacArthur’s notoriously sycophantic staff discounted intelligence of China preparing a massive offensive as Americans neared the border in 1950. The quilted tide flooded south, eventually with something over 200,000 Chinese killed or missing before the 1953 armistice.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Soviet Union provided massive support to Hanoi during the long Vietnam War. The main contributions were jet fighters and surface to air missiles with technicians and trainers for each. The official Russian figure is sixteen deaths in Indochina from all causes.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">China was even more active, especially with engineering and anti-aircraft units. Vietnam War scholar Merle Pribbenow places Communist Chinese casualties at 1,100 killed and 4,200 wounded through 1975.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No wider war ensued.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Soviet fighters destroyed a Korean Airlines jetliner off the Russian coast in 1983. Nearly 270 civilians died, including conservative Georgia Congressman Larry McDonald.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No war ensued.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No-fly zones have been enforced by coalition nations for longer than some readers remember. For 12 years, 1991 to 2003, Operations Northern and Southern Watch divided Iraq into thirds, protecting Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south, leaving the middle portion available to Saddam Hussein’s government.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But NFZs pose inherent risks to operators. In a bungled 1994 interception, F-15 Eagle fighters destroyed two U.S. Army helicopters with 26 fatalities from the U.S. and four other nations. In 1998 Saddam Hussein’s forces began firing on coalition aircraft in NFZs without effect though U.S. and British jets retaliated. </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Northern and Southern Watch ended with the allied invasion of Iraq in 2003.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Operation Deny Flight was a 12-nation NATO exercise over Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1993 to 1995. The most significant action erupted in 1994 when U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcons shot down four Serb jets that had bombed a factory. Deny Flight expanded into Deliberate Force, authorized to attack a wider variety of targets.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 2011 the U.N. approved a no-fly zone during the Libyan civil war, lasting from March to October. Mostly the U.S., Britain, Canada, and France launched aircraft and missiles against Muammar Qadhafi’s forces in that period and conducted a naval blockade. Six other nations contributed operational or logistics support but each assigned its own name; America conducted Odyssey Dawn while Britain launched Ellamy, etc.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Today, rather than patrolling fighters in Ukraine airspace, undoubtedly NATO long-range surface to air missiles (SAMs) would be considered splitting hairs in Moscow, as presumably the result would be the same—a reduction in Russian sorties against Ukraine. </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">NATO countries already have sent shoulder-mounted SAMs to Ukraine, most notably the U.S. Stinger that featured heavily in defeat of the Soviets in Afghanistan. Videos show Ukrainian Stingers destroying Russian jets and helicopters.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Uraine is almost the size of Texas, far larger than all of Iraq which is more akin to Wisconsin. But maintaining a nation-wide NFZ might dilute or fracture the enormous international support for Ukraine. A Ukraine NFZ would require a massive multi-national effort including tankers and round the clock maintenance-logistics. The huge majority of civilian casualties are inflicted by artillery, cruise and ballistic missiles. Therefore, NFZ aircrews would have to find those launchers but many are in Russia and Belaruss.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Assuming a Ukrainian NFZ, certainly the Russians would ramp up their anti-air capability, perhaps prompting the U.S. to deploy stealth F-22 Raptor with trouble-plagued F-35 Lighting II fighters, and even B-2 strategic bombers. However, stealth is no guarantor. In 1999 a clever Yugoslav missile battery shot down an F-117 stealth “fighter”—actually a subsonic attack aircraft with no air to air capability—and reportedly damaged another.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Consequently, even committing stealth jets to Ukraine would require jamming aircraft to escort the strikers, and only the U.S. Navy retains that capability with its EF-18 Growlers. Washington might be reluctant to show its stealth and electronic warfare hands in an arena removed from American interests. </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Retired Admiral Leighton Smith commanded NATO forces in Bosnia 1994-1996, being knighted for his leadership. He has rare insight to no-fly zones, as he had been involved in Provide Comfort, recalling, “There was no opposition in Iraq. We had complete control of the air and made iron-clad promises to the Iraqis that any violation, or offensive action, would be dealt with immediately and with considerable force.”</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Of a Ukrainian no-fly zone Admiral Smith says, “I don't know how you would control a NFZ in Ukraine without getting into it with the Russians. A very tricky thing to do unless we declare a humanitarian corridor, and patrol that to allow aid to flow unimpeded. Even then, maintaining an NFZ would be tough. I can't imagine what the rules of engagement would be!”</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Admiral Smith’s air corridor is reminiscent of a concept from the dawn of the Cold War. In 1948 Russia blocked allied land access to Berlin,100 miles inside the Soviet zone of occupation. But rather than abandon their sectors of the German capital, the western powers launched aerial relief despite harassment by Russian fighters. Lieutenant General Curtis LeMay, commanding U.S. Air Forces Europe, oversaw the 11-month Berlin Airlift, and no wider war developed.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But as always in comparing history to the present, “that was then and this is now.”</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div><span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-66143913771529654602022-02-12T08:27:00.001-08:002022-02-12T11:26:39.540-08:00A UKRAINE INVASION?<p> </p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ukraine is in the news daily owing to the persistent threat of Russian invasion. But when reputedly only about two-thirds of younger Americans can identify the U.S.A. on a world map, some background may be helpful.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Depending on definitions, Ukraine is the fifth most populous nation in Europe, as the autonomous republics of Crimea and Sevastopol on the Black Sea boost the population from 41 to 48 million. The latter figure is smaller than Italy (59 million) but larger than Poland (38 million).</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">At 603,000 square miles, Ukraine is the second largest of 51 European states in area, after Russia and ahead of France. It is bounded by Russia some 1,400 miles from southeast to northeast; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west ; and Romania to the southwest.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Ukrainian language is distinct from Russian although both use the Cyrillic alphabet with minor differences. A friend who grew up speaking both compares them to Spanish and Italian.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Russia and China are Ukraine’s major trade partners, as exports include iron and steel, grain, electronics and computers. Two of Russia’s major sources of helicopter engines are Ukrainian. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">With the foregoing in mind, here’s a combined assessment from two learned commentators: George Mellinger, one of the leading Western scholars on the Soviet and Russian military; and my brother John who took Russian studies at Stanford and toured the Warsaw Bloc from Oxford.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>*<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>*<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>*<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>*<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>*<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>*<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">I</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">t is that old damned concept of Spheres of Influence. We proclaimed ours with the Monroe Doctrine, and later the Zimmerman Telegram incident. And even more sharply with Cuba since 1959. And again in Grenada 1983. It is our right, and one we should be invoking in Venezuela and Central America. Every nation asserts its sphere where it can. And needs to know its boundaries. The culture, religion, and history of Russia and Ukraine place them together. At the same time, NATO, formerly defensive, has become aggressively expansionist. Like Macedon in the 3rd Century BC, the Mongols, Bonaparte, and the Soviet Empire, NATO pursues its momentum of success. In fact, even the new United States followed the principle with several thwarted attempts to expand into Canada.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">What would be the consequence if NATO were to succeed in defending Ukraine? Surely it would be necessary to incorporate Ukraine and reclaim Crimea, which would become a 21st Century analogue of Alsace-Lorraine. </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Georgian conflict of 2008 and the recent Armenian-Azeri war would surely offer yet another need for further spread. Not to mention an urge to spread Western Enlightenment northward into Russia's "soft underbelly.” As they used to say, ”Bearing the European Man's burden.” And that is assuming NATO succeeds.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">What will Putin do, and what is his intent? A good chess player makes both defensive and offensive moves, and a great one plays so that his moves are both simultaneously.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">While we hear about Putin's 130,000 troops along the fronts, Ukrainian President Zelensky's forces supposedly number 250,000, though it appears Russia's are better organized and equipped, but with very weak logistics and supply capabilities.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">To borrow a trope, Russia's Army appears overwhelmingly capable on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and totally incompetent on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That is "the fun challenge" of war both as a game and reality. You only find out with the actual engagement.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some westerners anticipate that Ukraine would become "Putin's Vietnam.” If Russia were to occupy Western Ukraine that is a distinct possibility. The Ukrainian National Army maintained an active, armed resistance from the end of 1944 until 1962, and that was against Stalin and Khrushchev, either of whose brutality contrasts against Putin's relative restraint. </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, in a hypothetical war, a NATO "liberation" of Luhansk, Donbas, and Crimea could well prove to be "NATO's Vietnam.” It has already proven for the past seven years to be "Ukraine's Vietnam,” which I do not expect my earlier "NATO Success" scenario to actually occur. It’s that old rule of dog's fighting best on their own turf.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And here I'd like to venture an analogy with Africa. When the European colonial empires decolonized during the 1960s, the national boundaries of the new African nations were drawn according to the lines of the old colonial possessions with scant regard for cultural and tribal realities, often dividing tribes between nations while uniting hostile tribes together in the same nation. </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Something analogous happened after the collapse of the old, little-lamented Russian Empire. Lenin and Stalin started reshuffling the cards trying to assure that it would be impossible for the various Soviet Socialist Republics to ever disentangle themselves. That sort of worked so long as you had a tyrant ruler, but when it came apart, it became a real dog's breakfast, much like a full scale copy of the Yugoslav test model. Hell, the first Armenian-Azeri war, and several clashes in Central Asia among different flavors of Turk and Iranian neighborhoods began even before Boris Yeltsin. There are many millions of people in this world who who have absolutely no willingness to be Mister Rogers' neighbor.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">*</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Deploying 8,500 US troops to Poland and Romania, plus new sanctions, are unlikely to deter Putin, should he decide it's in his best interests to invade Ukraine.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ukraine's active ground forces numbered 169,000 in 2016, but probably more than that now. Most of them, however, are tied down are tied down in the Donbas. Its independent air assault forces contain seven brigades, plus support units. </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Ukrainian brigades are unlikely to be fully manned. Still, being generous, those decent troops could total 20,000. Special operations forces are credited with 4,000. The air force and navy add 45,000 and 6,500 active personnel. Thus, today presumably Ukraine could field 250,000 active armed forces members.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: white; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">It's also building up its citizen territorial defense force though some are training with wooden weapons and may not be ready for a winter invasion.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: white; font-kerning: none;">P</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">utin wouldn't invade with just 100,000 ground troops. He'd probably beef up that number substantially, to an estimated 100 battalion tactical groups, i.e., 33 brigade-equivalents or 11 divisions. Plus airborne and naval infantry. Add in his overwhelming air and seapower, and Ukraine doesn't stand a chance, in my chairborne ranger opinion.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Russia probably lacks sufficient logistical train to sustain thrusts up to ten likely avenues of attack, but it doesn't need to. Just reinforce those armored columns that make the best progress. </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Russian maneuver brigades are unlike any other such formations in the world. They have as many self-propelled gun-howitzer, multiple rocket and antitank missile and artillery battalions as they have tank and mechanized infantry. Plus two air defense battalions, one all SAM and the other a mix of AAA and missiles, like the antitank battalion. A U.S. brigade has just one howitzer battalion and no AT or AD battalions. But all this firepower requires trucks to keep the batteries supplied.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: white; font-kerning: none;"> The Russians might ease their logistics problems by leaving several anti-air units behind.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">An invasion might begin with seizing the Black Sea coast with a drive out of Crimea, supported by naval infantry, to deprive Ukraine of resupply by sea. On the first night, Russian airborne troops could seize all Dnepr bridges and dams. Attacking out of Belarus, Russian forces could cut off Kyiv in days, and shut down its power in overnight. Columns south and north of the Donbas would aim to encircle the bulk of Ukraine's army there. Other columns would aim to relieve the airborne troops on the Dniepr.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: white; font-kerning: none;">Presuming the almost certain Russian victory, then what? </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Guerrilla conflict is a possibility, especially if supported by NATO member states.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, let us keep our eyes on the geo-strategic horizon. China claims the whole world as its sphere of influence, and a Russian-occupied Ukraine would not alter that fact.</span></span></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-83805759462732383832022-01-22T08:13:00.003-08:002022-02-12T08:27:44.823-08:00THE TAIWAN TRIGGER<p> </p><p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">A potential clash between Communist China (the Peoples Republic or PRC) and the Republic of China (Taiwan, of the ROC) has gained persistent media attention of late. It’s an old story with legs, as the prospects ebbed and flowed from year to year. </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">For a bit of background, readers of this blog may recall my previous comments, including these:</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">From February 2011</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Beijing has considerable internal problems to address before embarking on the road to conquest. China’s unemployment rate has remained steady at around 4 percent for over a decade. That’s the good news. The bad news: The Middle Kingdom now must find some 30 million new jobs per year to maintain that figure. That’s essential for for growing the middle class, which is necessary to bolster the internal economy without relying so heavily on foreign markets. (And if that sounds suspiciously non-communist, you’re right. Nobody said that politics has to make sense.)</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">“China’s internal situation is a complex subject owing to economic and demographic concerns. I already cited the need to generate some 30 million new jobs annually. That figure keeps popping up. It’s also the number of young single men who are unlikely to marry owing to the long-term single-child policy.”</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/chinas-30-million-bachelors/story-e6frerdf-1111116459631"><span style="font-size: large;">http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/chinas-30-million-bachelors/story-e6frerdf-1111116459631<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span></span></a></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">“As stated my Aussie mate Peter (an army veteran whose company does business in the PRC), ‘That’s a lot of surplus infantry.’”</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, from September 2014:</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Today the military-industrial complex’s go-to bogeyman is China, which is not about to start a war with its number one trade partner. That feud would destroy both economies, but the Pentagon and the pols need <i>somebody</i> as an excuse for buying platinum-plated stealth airplanes and submarines.”</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, That Was Then and This Is Now.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">China’s massive hacking of U.S. government and industry networks largely has come and gone in public awareness. Here’s one quick survey:</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/china-another-hack-us-cybersecurity-issues-mount-rcna744</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #1d1c1b; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">And h</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">ere's another revelation spanning a three-year period:</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><a href="https://money.cnn.com/2016/07/13/technology/china-fdic-hack/index.html"><span style="font-size: large;">https://money.cnn.com/2016/07/13/technology/china-fdic-hack/index.html<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></a></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">America’s erratic China policies have swung on the geopolitical pendulum. In 1972 Republican President Richard Nixon amazed the world by visiting Mao tse Tung, and in 1979 Democrat Jimmy Carter recognized Beijing. The Democrat Clinton administration’s contradictory 1990s positions on human rights and most-favored-nation status continued the diplomatic roller coaster. </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">https://www.heritage.org/report/the-collapse-clintons-china-policy-undoing-the-damage-the-mfn-debate</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">For years China has been our number one trade partner, after the European Union. And what card-carrying capitalist could pass up one-sixth of the world’s population? Especially with low-low manufacturing costs despite transpacific shipping expense. But President Donald Trump imposed much higher tariffs on Chinese imports to reduce the U.S. trade deficit. Then America’s lopsided reliance on the PRC belatedly came to the fore with the 2020 pandemic.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Beyond economics, Beijing has spent decades gaining influence in the U.S., positioning itself for broad-based advantage. As noted, industrial-grade cyber attacks have largely gone unanswered, and Chinese have inserted themselves in business, universities, and government. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s communications director was a registered agent of Communist China, and California Senator Diane Feinstein’s driver for 20 years was a Chinese operative.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">https://iotwreport.com/top-pelosi-staffer-registered-as-foreign-agent-to-lobby-for-chinese-state-media-outlet/</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/08/01/details-chinese-spy-dianne-feinstein-san-francisco/</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Through the decades, Beijing has waged an extremely patient, broad-based approach to expanding its influence. It’s not always according to diplomatic norms. Sometimes PRC officials resort to physical force, demonstrating their attitude with incidents against Fiji and New Guinea. </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, the PRC claims international waters as its own, even building islands in the South China Sea while engaged in a massive naval buildup. Combined with growing influence in Africa and South America, clearly Beijing has a holistic approach to global dominance.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Which returns us to war against Taiwan.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Despite the diplomatic rift, he U.S. has continued political and military connections with Taiwan. Among my D.C. contacts is a military analyst who has traveled in the PRC and ROC. He notes the immense importance of “face” in Asian politics, both internal and external. (America lost enormous “face,” or credibility, with the Afghan debacle last year but continued with business as usual.) Therefore, it’s almost certain that Beijing would not attack Taiwan with anything less than total commitment; the cost of failure would be unbearable in the PRC. Some observers opine that it might even upset the Communist Party’s totalitarian grasp.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Would the U.S. and other Pacific nations physically oppose a PRC invasion of Taiwan? It’s far from certain, though standing by while issuing Strong Diplomatic Objections seems more likely at present. Certainly the Princes of the Potomac would gauge the public pulse, determining whether the electorate would endorse military action supporting a nation that many Americans could not identify on a world map.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Naval analysts note that the 100-mile stretch of the Taiwan Strait imposes a serious challenge to an invader. The Peoples Liberation Army Navy (!) is expanding its amphibious capability to accomplish a forced landing against a nation that has been preparing for war since 1949. However, if Beijing decides to press the trigger anytime soon, probably dedicated ‘phibs would be augmented by non-specialized or modified ships to deliver infantry and armor divisions to Taiwanese beaches.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Regardless of how well planned and coordinated, it’s extremely unlikely that a PRC invasion could achieve surprise. The necessary buildup of an invasion fleet would be noticed by “overhead coverage” (read: satellites) almost immediately. Rating high on China’s priority would be minesweepers—lots of them with constant overhead fighter protection. Today Taiwan is belatedly investing in more minelayers and attack submarines with fast missile-firing corvettes.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/taiwan-making-major-investment-mines-deter-china-193238</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, considering the huge disparity of forces—notably manpower and airpower—Taiwan probably would face a losing battle, absent outside support. Even “severe” diplomatic responses such as trade embargoes would be irrelevant during the fighting. We can expect a unified assault, integrating sea, air, land, and cyber forces toward a common goal.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Aside from completing a seven-decade ambition to “reunite” China, Beijing may envision other benefits. Taiwan produces a large share of the world’s computer chips. If the PRC grabs the ROC, Beijing stands to increase its market share. However, reportedly Taiwan has determined to destroy its production plants in event of invasion. Meanwhile, TSMC, which controls one-fourth of the global market, is building two microchip factories in the U.S. </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">War over Taiwan could adversely affect the PRC in other ways. Communist china imports huge quantities of crude oil, far more than any nation. We’ve been there before: in 1941 Japan went to war against the West to secure the petrowealth of the Dutch East Indies. We know how that turned out.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: white; font-kerning: none;">During a war, and probably sometime thereafter, n</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">o tankers could arrive from the Persian Gulf. China would have to rely on pipelines from Russia, themselves sitting ducks. Simultaneously, there would be little or n</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">o power for coal or gas from abroad. Meanwhile, Beijing also imports electrical machinery, ores and plastics—all necessary for manufacturing.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some pundits posit a global coordinated plan with China against Taiwan, Russia against Ukraine, and Iran against anybody. If they were timed together, the impact would be enormous at every level.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">When? </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well, a retired military officer says, “All our adversaries are strong, ruthless leaders; all can see and assess the weakness in the U.S. leadership. I remain in my expectation with others that we are going to see turmoil throughout the globe after the Olympics.” (To be held in China throughout February.)</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In domestic U.S. politics, successful invasions of Ukraine and Taiwan, with likely negative impact on the stock market, supply chains and inflation, could drop President Biden's job approval from the present 35 to 40% or even down to VP Harris' 25%, dooming Democrats in both the House and Senate, regardless of long-term fraud dating from Lyndon Johnson’s era.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Is America prepared for the consequences of defending Taiwan—and losing? The answer is No. Very few Americans are even aware of the question.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Presumably Pacific nations would not allow the violent conquest of Taiwan, lest it set a long-term pattern. So: assuming the PRC conquers the island, then what? Could allied nations organize and mount a forcible return of Taiwan to its rightful owners? Even assuming so, surely the results would leave most infrastructure destroyed or severely damaged, requiring years to rebuild. Wargamers can dine out on that scenario for a long time. </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then let’s think about the unthinkable:</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Depending on Beijing’s reading of the geostrategic calculus, limited nuclear use conceivably could be an option—using tactical nukes against hardened targets such as buried command and control centers. But at what point does the nuclear genie escape the bottle?</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">China has enough ICBMs to strike the 200 largest U.S. cities (down to Waco, Texas with 138,000). And the PRC is building 300 more silos plus mobile missiles in 3,000 miles of tunnels. </span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thus, any retaliation would have to be against people, starting with CCP leaders, but unavoidably millions of innocents. China has many densely populated megacities with eight as big or bigger than New York. Each of 1,000 US warheads could kill 100 to 500 thousand people, if used against cities. A quarter to a third of China's 1.4 billion people could die.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/top-large-cities.htm</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f7f5f4; color: #131312; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">By contrast, the CCP might be able to kill "only" ten million Americans, “mostly Democrats” quipped one Independent observer.</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Far more likely, another chip on Beijing’s table is quiet extortion. Well beyond its massive influence among corrupt American politicians, the PRC could plant radioactive samples throughout the U.S. with notes, “Take your Geiger counters to these places. Other sites contain backpack weapons. Now stay away.”</span></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #262524; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">To quote future Senator Fred Dalton Thompson as Admiral Painter in 1990’s <i>The Hunt for Red October,</i> “This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we’ll be lucky to live through it.”</span></span></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-48581783964468231582021-12-07T09:03:00.005-08:002021-12-07T09:54:38.937-08:00PEARL HARBOR PLUS 80: "DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT"<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">On January 23, 2010, a retired Air Force officer died in San Diego, age 96. His name was Kermit A. Tyler. For most of his life, he was one of the least understood players in the Pearl Harbor tragedy. On December 7, 1941, Tyler was the officer who told radar operators plotting a large inbound bogey, “Don’t worry about it.” Those four words, spoken in a total information vacuum, led to decades of criticism. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">On that day of infamy, Tyler was a 28-year-old first lieutenant. He had grown up in California and enlisted as an aviation cadet in 1936. By late 1941, he had four years’ experience. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">At the time, Tyler was a pilot in the 78th Pursuit Squadron at Wheeler Field, north of Pearl Harbor. Wheeler was Oahu’s fighter base, home to eight squadrons. The 78th owned 16 P-40Bs and three P-26As—not unknown in that transitional period. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">At 4:00 that Sunday morning, Tyler reported to Fort Shafter to begin learning collateral duties at the interception control center, east of Pearl Harbor. That trip, however, was merely the second time Tyler had seen the facility. His previous visit had been a familiarization briefing that Wednesday. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">Tyler was to go off duty at 8:00 a.m. and, thereby, was caught in an historic time warp, as the bombs began falling at 7:55. But the incident for which he became known occurred nearly an hour previously. The radar station at Opana Point, on Oahu’s north coast, reported a large blip. Tyler was the only officer present; the others were at breakfast or still en route. Knowing little more than zero and unable to consult anybody, he was the one who had to make the decision because senior officers didn’t begin arriving until 20 minutes after the attack began. Consequently, in response to the Opana report, he uttered the apparently damning words, “Well, don’t worry about it.” </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">Contrary to many accounts, Tyler suspected but did not know of a flight of B-17s approaching from the mainland. The fact that a Honolulu radio station was transmitting before 4:00 a.m. was as much indication as he received. Subsequently he testified that he believed the radar plot referred to friendlies: “I thought they were off course and that they were maybe working out some problem, and it confused me.” Due to inter-service secrecy, he had no information on U.S. Navy or Marine Corps flights, although a scouting mission was inbound from the carrier USS <i>Enterprise. </i></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">Tyler’s most telling testimony came months later: “I did not know what my duties were. I just was told to be there and told to maintain that work.” </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">In short, Kermit Tyler inherited an untenable situation. Lacking training and supervision, he was wholly on his own. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">An assessment of the Hawaiian command structure goes a long way toward explaining Tyler’s dilemma. The U.S. Army was primarily responsible for the defense of the islands, under Lt. Gen. Walter Short. But there existed only moderate cooperation between the Army and the Navy, despite months of growing concern over Japanese ambitions.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">The Navy commander was Adm. Husband Kimmel, whose predecessor had been fired by President Roosevelt for opposing the Pacific Fleet’s move from California to Hawaii. Rather than deterring Tokyo, the move merely placed a tempting target within range of Japan’s uniquely capable carrier striking force. Pacific War historian John B. Lundstrom aptly described <i>Kido Butai’s</i> six carriers as “a 1941 atom bomb.” Nobody else had anything remotely comparable.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">Following the attack, Tyler worked at headquarters of the 18th Pursuit Group and flew scheduled patrols. An inquiry held in 1942 cleared him of any wrongdoing, and like most prewar pilots, he advanced rapidly. Promoted to major only nine months after Pearl Harbor, he assumed command of the 44th Fighter Squadron, serving in the Southwest Pacific until May 1943. While flying P-40s, he claimed a Zero, probably destroyed. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">After the war, Tyler rose to lieutenant colonel and briefly led a Lockheed F-94 wing. His final position was with the North American Air Defense Command at Colorado Springs, Colorado. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">Upon retiring in 1961, Tyler returned to California with his wife and four children. He attended college; earned a real estate license; and enjoyed golf, tennis, and surfing. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">Tyler still incurred criticism and vitriol among the relatively few people who knew his name. One website even established a whimsical Kermit Tyler award for unpreparedness. The blogger acknowledged, however, that Tyler was not directly responsible for the Pearl Harbor debacle when everyone above him was far more culpable, reaching back to Washington, D.C. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">Tyler was convinced to emerge from obscurity for a Pearl Harbor symposium in 1991, when the public learned more about the actual conditions at Fort Shafter. Although in declining health, he occasionally spoke to reporters who sought his perspective. In 2007, he told the Newark <i>Star-Ledger, </i>“I wake up at night sometimes and think about it. But I don’t feel guilty. I did all I could that morning.” </span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">At this late date, it’s appropriate to tell Kermit Tyler and his family, “Colonel, don’t worry about it.”</span></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_w9YioNUOrNxrqWTk_dgRAJL0CGLGgxNQOjVzR9P5IA9eY_uDhrb19Q2TA0Y2pnFUJs5FLh51p-3tQjOtDIyGr16ispqs9_MieOfs_qyUxzHx0LI0fEdUM5cP8Dz3lV8OTVvTFPtkVJV/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="2400" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_w9YioNUOrNxrqWTk_dgRAJL0CGLGgxNQOjVzR9P5IA9eY_uDhrb19Q2TA0Y2pnFUJs5FLh51p-3tQjOtDIyGr16ispqs9_MieOfs_qyUxzHx0LI0fEdUM5cP8Dz3lV8OTVvTFPtkVJV/" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span><p></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-725414458325831242021-11-17T07:29:00.001-08:002022-01-22T08:56:52.639-08:00THE RITTENHOUSE TRIAL<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">Guest appearances are rare on my blog (which is rarely published on schedule) but this contribution requires dissemination. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">If you are of a particular vintage, you recall the late Warren Zevon’s hit, </span><i style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">Lawyers Guns and Money</i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;"> The following analysis is from "Charles M. Strauss," my attorney friend, shooting partner, and estate planner. He comments on the Kyle Rittenhouse trial now underway in Wisconsin.</span></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;">++++++++++<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Since you didn’t ask, I will give you my opinion anyway.</span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> </span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">If facts mattered, the jury would find Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts, except for possession by a minor. However, facts don’t matter. If facts mattered, he would not have been charged. So, there is always the possibility that the jurors are a bunch of nitwits who believe in their hearts that possessing an AR15 is prima facie proof of homicidal intent, or that going into a danger zone with a gun is prima facie proof of homicidal intent. (Except for Grosskreutz, of course. Rittenhouse’s lawyer never asked him why he brought a gun into the situation. <i>Why not?</i>)</span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> </span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">My prediction is that the jury finds not guilty on all counts (except for possession by a minor), for two reasons:</span></p>
<ul>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: #f9f7f6; font-kerning: none;">The verdict needs to be unanimous, and although I believe there are many stupid people in the world, and some on juries, I think it unlikely that all 12 would be that dumb. So worst case, hung jury, which is the same as acquittal except the prosecutor could refile the charges. (Unless the judge grants the motion for dismissal at that point.)</span></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: #f9f7f6; font-kerning: none;">The prosecutor needs to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Rittenhouse was not acting in self defense. If a juror says “I think Rittenhouse may not have been acting in self-defense, but I admit it’s at least plausible that he was acting in self-defense,” then that is supposed to be a not guilty verdict. For a verdict of guilty, the jurors would have to believe “No reasonable person could possibly think this was self-defense. Self-defense? That’s crazy talk. That’s like claiming space aliens pulled the trigger.”</span></li>
</ul>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> </span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">However, at the last minute, the prosecutor proposed reduced charges, so jurors could feel sorry for the prosecutor, and want to give him a consolation prize. Or they could be afraid of rioters/retribution, and want to throw the wolves a bone to take heat off themselves. Or they could say, “I think he’s not guilty, but surely the DA would not have brought this case if there was nothing there, right? He must be guilty of something.” It’s easy for them to say “I don’t think he’s guilty, but let’s give him ‘only’ ten years in prison instead of life in prison. He’ll only be 28 when he gets out, so no big deal.”</span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> </span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">About the prosecutor:</span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">It’s hard to believe he is that incompetent. Any lawyer knows Thou Shalt Not bring up the subject of invoking the right to remain silent. You can get suspended for that. And on and on. This guy is stunningly horrible. But, is he really that bad, or is he throwing the case on purpose? It’ll be interesting to see if he brings up <i>verboten</i> material in his closing argument, causing the defense lawyer to object (something rarely done) or more likely, causing the judge to interrupt him.</span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> </span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">About the defense lawyer:</span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Not bad, but not great. Did a good job getting the witnesses to say the right things. Did a great job prepping Rittenhoue. (Especially Grosskreutz.) But there are a couple of things I think he could have done better.</span></p>
<ul>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: #f9f7f6; font-kerning: none;">The self-defense case re Rosenbaum is based on whether a reasonable person could believe that Rosenbaum was (a) grabbing for the gun and (b) would have used it to shoot Rittenhouse if he had gotten it, versus he was not grabbing for the gun, or he was grabbing for the gun just to disarm Rittenhouse and he would not have used the gun himself. IOW, was the unarmed Rosenbaum defending himself against the armed Rittenhouse? (Will the prosecutor lay it out like that in his closing argument?) </span></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: #f9f7f6; font-kerning: none;">That’s a good argument, because it is not clear “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Rosenbaum was not grabbing the gun or would not have used it. Nevertheless, the defense should have had a backup plan – having an expert witness dispel the myth that you can’t shoot an unarmed man because an unarmed man does not present “deadly force.” <i>The expert should have educated the jury that 6-700 people a year are killed by people who are unarmed vs. maybe half that by people with AR15s.</i> Because the defense did not bring it up, the prosecutor is likely to raise it in his closing argument.</span></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: #f9f7f6; font-kerning: none;">The prosecutor intends to make a big deal about Rittenhouse using full metal jacket (FMJ) ammunition, which is evidence that he recklessly disregarded the risk of bullets over penetrating and hitting a bystander. Because the charge of reckless endangerment was added at the last minute, that gives the prosecutor an opening. The defense lawyer should have gone after that in the argument for jury instructions. </span></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: #f9f7f6; font-kerning: none;">“Your honor, there are only two kinds of ammunition: hollow point and non-hollow point. If a defendant uses hollow point ammunition, the prosecutor can claim that is evidence that the defendant wanted to inflict maximum pain and death. If a defendant uses non-hollow point ammunition, the prosecutor can claim that the defendant recklessly disregarded the risk of over penetration. No evidence was presented at trial to show that FMJ ammunition fired from an AR15 penetrates more (or significantly more) than hollow point, so the prosecutor should not be able to make that argument.” </span></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: #f9f7f6; font-kerning: none;">Alternatively, the defense lawyer should have gotten an expert to talk about the likelihood of over penetration of that brand of ammunition from that barrel length, in comparison with other types of ammunition. At the very least, the defense lawyer better be prepared in closing argument to tell the jury that there was no such testimony, but that in any case, they could interpret the use of FMJ as evidence that Rittenhouse did <i>not</i> want to use “more deadly” hollow point ammunition. </span></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: #f9f7f6; font-kerning: none;">I remember how Harold Fish got screwed when the prosecutor raised the subject of hollow point ammunition for the first time in his closing argument, and how the judge let it go, and Fish’s lawyer let it go. I hope the prosecutor doesn’t get away with it this time. See this link: <a href="https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4266"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: blue; font-kerning: none;">https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4266</span></a> </span></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: #f9f7f6; font-kerning: none;">There was a better answer to “Why did you have a gun?” Answer: “I thought it would be a deterrent. I thought rioters and arsonists would see people with guns and decide to go somewhere else and leave that business alone. I never thought I would actually have to shoot somebody.” </span></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></li>
<li style="color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: #f9f7f6; font-kerning: none;">“Then why did you load the gun?” “Just in case I ran across some psychotic violent criminals, off their meds, who would be crazy enough to try to kill me while I was carrying a gun.” “OBJECTION!” “Sustained. The jury will disregard the statement about psychotic violent criminals off their meds.”</span></li>
</ul>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> </span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">About the judge:</span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">He knows that this is a bullshit case, which should never have been brought. He has left open the defense motion to dismiss. I would not be too surprised if, after closing arguments, the judge says “I have made a decision regarding the motion to dismiss. The prosecutor’s conduct has been so egregious that I grant the motion to dismiss, with prejudice. Rittenhouse is a free man, and I will be recommending that the Wisconsin Bar investigate the prosecutor’s unethical misconduct.” I would especially expect that if the prosecutor steps over the line again during his closing argument.</span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> </span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">The judge really would prefer to pass the buck to the jury, and let them come back with a not guilty verdict. So, if he reads the jury as being inclined to not guilty, he may let the jury decide the case, knowing that if they do find Rittenhouse guilty, he has an ace in the hole, a judgment notwithstanding the verdict – effectively overruling the jury. That is almost never used, but I’m thinking this guy is 75 years old. He is ready to retire, and he is pissed off at what he sees as a gross miscarriage of justice. “Let the heathen rage” – his pension is secure. He can move to Florida, and he can supplement that fat pension with consulting expert fees on Fox News and elsewhere.</span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> </span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">My revised prediction: The jury finds Rittenhouse guilty on a lesser charge. IMO, that would be a terrible injustice; this is as clear a case of self-defense as ever there way. But, sometimes injustice prevails. Sometimes the bad guys win.</span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"> </span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Now let’s just wait and see how wrong I was.</span></p>
<p style="background-color: #f9f7f6; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><br /><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-75004495196019336852021-08-18T16:49:00.005-07:002021-09-11T12:48:41.801-07:00THE AFGHAN EXIT<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">There’s a reason that Afghanistan has long been called “the graveyard of empires.” Conquering and keeping the place (it’s not really a nation) has been tried by experts from Alexander the Great to the Mongols onward. Some like the Russians and British have tried twice or even three times. In that company, Uncle Sam is a latecomer who has learned precious little from the experience of others.</span></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Without delving overmuch into the Biden administration's vast ineptitude (how about removing U.S. staffers and civilians BEFORE the panic?) I’m offering some perspective. A bit of badly-needed background, some from my younger brother who was embedded with our hometown National Guard unit in 2005. He brings a Stanford-Oxford approach to the subject.</span></p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">“Nation building was bound to fail amid tribal societies. Afghanistan is a decentralized, tribal buffer state with boundaries drawn by the Persian, Russian and British Empires, cutting across tribal territories. So naturally the tribes ignore them. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">“It would have been cheaper just to pay provincial warlords to kill any Pakistani Pashtun invaders and local Afghan Pashtun Taliban. National army and police are bound to fail in such a decentralized entity. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">“My solution was to give Luristan, Pashtunistan and Baluchistan to Pakistan, the Sunni Tajik (Dari), Kyrgyz, Uzbek and Turkmen bits to their respective Central Asian republics and Herat to Iran. The Dari-speaking Shia Hazaras could decide whether to go with Tajikistan or Iran. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">“Dari is intelligible to Farsi speakers, but Iranians regard it as a hillbilly dialect although they’re equally valid Persian dialects. Pashtun is about equally distant from Persian and Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu), as befits the geographic position of Pashtunistan astride the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">So what could have been done better?<br />
<br />
Snark alert: Just about everything.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">We failed to organize Afghan defense along Afghan lines, trying to create national military and police forces in a decentralized region. </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: black; font-kerning: none;">T</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">he often unpaid army troops didn't have a country for which to fight. Our leaders never grasped that Afghanistan isn't a country, but a collection of tribes with arbitrary borders, drawn by neighboring empires. It's a nation state in name only. Kabul's writ doesn't run in the rest of the “country.” </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">The Pashtuns are the largest tribal group in the world, united by a code of behavior and mutually intelligible dialects, but divided by the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, meaningless to them. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Arming and training local militias might have stood a chance, especially if paid regularly. But that would mean tolerating heroin trade or paying them ourselves indefinitely. Now, under the Taliban, poppy production will increase.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: black; font-kerning: none;">Presumably we could have held the Kabul-Bagram corridor, thus keeping some aircraft to support the Afghan commandos willing to fight. A helicopter pilot who’s been shot at on three continents adds, “</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">I wonder if the abandonment of Bagram Air Base was just a stupid Biden blunder or part of a plan. We liked the Russian airstrips. The Chinese are gonna love ours. They come complete with climate controlled hangars, bombs and ammo and fully stocked with Hesco barriers and MREs.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">A couple of my DC contacts state that Biden & Co. was urged to withdraw THIS COMING WINTER. The Taliban, and Afghans generally, live for fighting. It’s what they’ve always done best. (For excellent insight, read John Masters’ masterful account of the prewar Indian Army on the Northwest Frontier, <i>Bugles and a Tiger</i>.) There’s always been a Fighting Season, and historically the Taliban/whatever suspend their yearly campaigns to sit out the weather, usually across the border in Pakistan. They can regroup, re-equip, and tell war stories while enjoying their poppy product.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Sidebar: in 1839 during the First Anglo-Afghan War (there’s a clue if ever we saw one) 16,500 British— mostly civilians—abandoned Kabul, hoping to make the 73 miles to Jalalabad. A week later one survivor reached safety; others likely were captured but disappeared.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">In any case, in 2021-2022 waiting for a winter withdrawal would allow a planned, phased exit without the disastrous, panic-stricken flail we’re seeing this month. Leaving perhaps 3,000 U.S. and 8,000 NATO troops throughout the exit process certainly could have permitted negotiating room with the Taliban, rather than re-inserting several thousand Americans at the worst possible time.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">You have to wonder whether Biden & Co. was misled by exceptionally bad “intelligence” (telling the front office what it wanted to hear), contradictory conclusions, or wishful thinking. Asked about a comparison with the Saigon evacuation of 1975, the president said “There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a (sic) embassy of the United States from Afghanistan.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"><br />
Days later we saw helicopters lifting off the roof of the U.S. embassy in Kabul.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Pundits play with numbers all the time, and the oft-cited stats for the conquest of Afghanistan are 300,000 Afghan Army troops (trained and lavishly equipped by We The People for 20 years) versus maybe 75,000 Taliban. How is that possible?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">It has to do with motivation. The Afghan mujahadeen had almost no parity with the Soviets but wore them down over nine years, possessing a righteous belief in Holy Islam. By nearly every current account, the Afghan National Army suffered from problems endemic to the region: massive corruption, incompetence, and poor leadership, relying on U.S. air and artillery. This month apparently almost the only exception was several thousand special forces, many of whom literally fought to the last round, then were slaughtered by the Taliban.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">At the operator level, the U.S. military still pulls off some spectacular feats. None moreso than the Air Force C-17 transport that somehow staggered into the air with 640 refugees aboard. (Early reports said 800; the published max capacity is 188.) Because the neighboring borders are closed—THERE is something for the U.S. Government to ponder about Our Border—air evacuation has to go elsewhere, such as Qatar.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">But what of the Americans stranded in hostile territory? On August 15, shortly before closing, the embassy issued a notice: “The security situation in Kabul is changing quickly including at the airport. There are reports of the airport taking fire; therefore we are instructing U.S. citizens to shelter in place.” That means: “You’re on your own.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">Incidentally: the Russian consulate and Chinese embassy remain open.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">Meanwhile,</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: black; font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">China shares a short border with Afghanistan along the narrow Wakhan Corridor. While hostile to Islamic militants, at least in China, Beijing will take advantage of the situation. Afghanistan offers the PRC another route to their port in Pakistani Baluchistan and for pipelines to Iran, plus natural resources. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none;">In summarizing America’s chaotic, humiliating Afghan exit, we should remind the puppet masters in Washington:<br />
<br />
<b>THE ENEMY ALWAYS CASTS A VOTE.</b></span></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-64175313326112801202021-06-25T16:10:00.000-07:002021-06-25T16:10:12.504-07:00THE BEST FIRE I EVER ATTENDED<p> </p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">My father Jack (1922-2014) just loved his projects. And among his favorites was his fire engine. He formed the Sand Hollow Volunteer Rural Fire Department in Umatilla Country, Oregon, before I was born; he was the chief because he owned the truck. He’d attended a two-week fire science program at Purdue in the early 50s, prompting the state publication to opine, “Chief Tillman is a very progressive fire fighter.”</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Eventually the war-surplus truck wore out and Dad needed a replacement. Early 70s he got a deal-deal on a well used flatbed that he towed from Walla Walla Grain Growers while I steered, relying on marginal brakes to keep some tension on the tow chain.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">When the engine was repaired, Dad outfitted the rig with a 1,200-gallon water tank, pump and hoses plus a siren, light bar and rotating red flasher. Decked out in ranch colors of yellow and white, it was quite the image of agricultural flame suppression. We attended about 25 crop, structure, and vehicle fires over the decades, as I applied stencils commemorating each run.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">In the list of Fires I Have Attended, I’d rate the Rugg wheat blaze of August 1975 as the most memorable. We had been finished with harvest for several days and had moved the truck into town. That was regular procedure since it put us in easier range of the more likely trouble spots.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">At 7:30 that evening we were sitting on the carport sipping iced tea or whatever was going. Dad with his usual Jack Daniels and 7-Up, when Rollin Suenkel stopped by. As the Western Farmers office manager in Athena, he was concerned with some matter about the elevator. Dad offered him to sit down and have a brew, which he did.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Minutes later Rollin, who was facing east toward the edge of town one block away, saw smoke. Excepting Dad, due to his polio, we all jumped up and ran a few steps on the driveway. Sure enough, a healthy-sized wheat fire was blazing in the middle of Quentin Rugg’s field. It had just started, but there were only a couple of hands on the scene and they had no equipment.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">“Let’s go,” Dad said, and we piled on the truck. Rollin jumped on back with my brother Andy and me, and as we started up, Dad shouted to Mother. “Wait by the phone. If Quentin calls for help, tell him we’re on the way!” Then he punched the siren button and the rotating light started to flash.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Despite his infirmity, my dad still could enjoy himself at fifty-three.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Though the fire was probably less than a half-mile from the house, we couldn’t get directly out to the field. Dad drove down Fifth Street, slowed at Fred’s Market, and turned left onto Main heading out of town. Rollin, Andy and I hung on to the handholds, trying to keep our balance as the truck rocked back and forth.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Just past the “Welcome to Athena” sign, Dad turned hard left again and was bouncing across the field toward the fire. The two kids we’d seen before were beating at the edge of the blaze with gunny sacks, apparently forgetting the combine directly in the fire’s path about 300 yards away.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Then the Rugg-Barnett foreman arrived in his pickup. Dad passed close aboard the starboard beam and slowed just long enough to shout, “Never fear, Tillman’s here!” At the same time I was tugging on the tope to start the pump while Rollin opened the big valve at the base of the tank. In seconds we were ready to engage.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">The first priority was to cut off the fire’s path toward the parked combine. So Dad swung wide to the east and then cut sharply back to the west, giving us time to set up on the right side of the truck bed. Rollin and Andy were to starboard and I had one of the port-hand hoses at the rear. </span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Dad was yelling instructions, which we couldn’t hear very well over the truck’s engine, the whine of the pump, and the crackle of the fire. But I knew what he wanted. I got Rollin’s attention and yelled, “Use a heavy stream to knock down the flames.” Rollin nodded and pulled the brim of his green WFA hat down over his eyes. The heat was getting painful as we neared the flames. Both Rollin and Andy opened their nozzles about a quarter turn, producing a strong stream from their hoses. I turned my nozzle about three-quarters for a heavy spray.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Then we were in it. The thick, characteristically black smoke swirled around us, and the flames glowed bright orange. Dad drove close up to the edge of the burning Hyslop wheat to get maximum advantage from the heavy pressure of the water. But he was in the cab; we were exposed to the full effect of the searing heat.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Andy was up front, training his hose at the base of the flames ahead while Rollin followed up and swept along the line as we passed by. I trailed my spray off the starboard quarter and behind, saturating the ground to prevent a subsequent flare-up. It was strategy based on years of experience.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">The fire couldn’t have been more than 200 yards long. But you don’t fight wheat fires in a hurry. For results, you have to go slowly, allowing maximum exposure time to beat down the flames and saturate the soil. At first the heat was merely bad, but it became intense and then almost unbearable. I felt certain we’d all receive blisters. And in the smoke it was difficult to tell how much progress we were making. Wouldn’t we <i>ever </i>break into the clear?</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">I looked up forward. Andy and Rollin were both stooped, frequently turning their faces from the flames. I swung my nozzle in their direction, allowing the spray to whip over them. Then I had to turn around myself. With less pressure to handle, I could hold the hose with one hand and partially shield my face with the other arm.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Then we were out of it. Andy shut off his nozzle while Rollin and I continued spraying toward the rear. We all breathed deeply in the fresh air. Dad turned right this time, heading to the rear of the fire. We were glad of that; the heat wouldn’t be as bad.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">This time we all sprayed the base of the fire, moistening the unburned wheat. There was no point fighting the flames themselves from this side, since whatever was beyond the burned line in front of us was already destroyed. The concern here was to deluge the blackened earth and surviving wheat to retard the fire’s progress if the wind shifted.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Then Dad shouted that he was going round the front again. I don’t know if Rollin or Andy had any thoughts on the subject, but I almost said aloud, “Oh, no!”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Our first pass had largely checked the fire’s progress but it was still burning wildly within its borders. Again we passed close alongside and were exposed to the searing, radiating heat. The three of us aimed our hoses at the base of the flames again, waving the streams of water back and forth. For a moment in the smoke and spray I had the weird illusion that we were hacking down flames with scythes of water. We were harvesting fire instead of grain.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">As before, it was a long, uncomfortable trip down the face of the blaze. The bright early evening sunlight was mottled and obscured by the dense, black smoke, and it was another week of hours before we were again clear of the wretched heat.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">By now help had arrived. Another rig was on the scene—one of Johns-Smith-and Beamer’s, I thought, from the other side of town. And one of the kids who’d been flailing the fire with a gunnysack was plowing the circumference of the burned area, turning up dry dirt in the path of the flames.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">In a few more minutes the last of the blaze was out, and we surveyed the aftermath of every wheat fire. The blackened, scorched, over-cooked heads and charred earth. The smell of a huge outdoor oven. Rows of unburned grain trampled beneath the wheels of tractors, fire trucks and pickups. Rollin took off his soot-grimed hat and wiped his reddened face. “Well, that’s not so bad,” he said in his Midwest accent. “Only about six acres.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Andy confessed that he did not want to fight another fire like that one again soon.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">We began coiling up the hoses, securing them to the truck bed. Water dripped everywhere. And with the pump shut off, the evening was strangely quiet.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">The foreman drove up once more, his face and glasses covered with dust and soot. He leaned out the window, “Thank you, boys, until you’re better paid.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">“No charge,” Dad replied.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">It had been a great fire.</span></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-7768102950888086962021-04-30T10:53:00.002-07:002021-04-30T10:53:22.784-07:00YOU ARE THE FIRST RESPONDER<p> <span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">America is burning. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">A perfect storm of political-cultural unrest and the worst pandemic in a century have combined to produce deaths and injuries among months of rioting, arson, and looting. Liberal mayors and governors, eager to demonstrate solidarity with the “protesters,” did little or nothing to quell the violence in Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, and elsewhere. National figures in the Democrat Party were largely silent, although the current vice president said on camera that the “protests” needed to continue and would continue. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Spurred by controversial police use of force, political opportunists and hell-raisers seized the opportunity to run rampant in extremely permissive jurisdictions. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Nationwide riots followed George Floyd’s May 2020 death in Minneapolis, spurred by emotionally-charged video of a while police officer kneeling on the black man’s neck. Aside from at least 25 ensuing deaths, the national mayhem was estimated at $2 billion by insurance companies although many businesses were uninsured or underinsured. Some of those—operated by black and other minority owners—would never recover.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Caught in the political crossfire are minority police officers who, like their uniformed brothers and sisters, are vilified and heartsick as their cities are torched and trashed, and a precinct house was burned in Minneapolis, ground zero for the riots. Meanwhile, at least two reports by CNN and MSNBC featured reporters commenting on “mostly peaceful protests” while stores burned in the background.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">More recently some focus shifted to abuse of Asian Americans, as if it’s something new. This March, six Asian women were among eight killed in three Georgia massage parlors. Some media assumed the gunman’s motive was racial when subsequently it appeared that he was spurred by conflicting religious and sexual beliefs. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Meanwhile, a California State survey in 2019-2020 reported nearly a 150 percent increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans. The presumed reason: devastating effects of the Chinese-Wuhan-Corona Virus without resolution from an uncooperative Bejing regime wielding enormous influence with the World Health Organization.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In fact, the trend was widely covered nearly 20 years ago during the Los Angeles riots of 1992. Four LAPD officers were acquitted in the prolonged beating of Rodney King, a parole violator captured after a highspeed drunk driving spree. Eventually two of the cops went to prison.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Public response to the acquittals was immediate and violent. Four days of arson, looting and vandalism left about 50 people dead and perhaps 1,000 injured. Monetary loss was reckoned at $1 billion with more than half sustained by Korean-American or Korean immigrant businesses. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">LAPD was largely absent from what appeared an inter-racial war zone frequently with black looters feeding off Asian merchants. Korean business owners watched their neighborhoods go up in flames, unopposed by police. As one merchant said, “The community felt abandoned by law enforcement.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Left to fend for themselves, store owners’ family and friends took turns standing guard and patrolling rooftops—popular antigun imagery in the mainstream media. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">After last year’s rampages the mayors of New York and Chicago asked vacating business owners (mostly whites) to return to often police-free environments. It was all the more ironic with the Big Apple’s De Blasio, whose NYPD relations have been toxic almost since he took office in 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Then last June a St. Louis couple, attorney Mark McCloskey and wife Patricia, brandished an AR-15 and a handgun in the face of a BLM mob that broke through the community’s gate, intending to protest at the mayor’s nearby house. Instead, the crowd confronted the homeowners with threats of violence and arson. The city attorney announced charges against the McCloskeys, saying, </span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>“</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation or threat of deadly force will not be tolerated.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Missouri’s Republican governor quickly stated that if the McCloskeys were convicted for defending their home, he would issue a pardon. Eventually the attorney and her staff were removed from the case for conflict of interest in linking personal agendas to the case. Apparently no charges were filed against any of the assailants but the case against the McCloskeys continues.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Whatever the circumstances, when business or home owners defend themselves with police absent or overwhelmed, armed citizens are branded “vigilantes.” The media, almost universally lacking in knowledge or context, apparently neither knows nor cares about San Francisco in the 1850s. Absent adequate law enforcement, and amid obvious civic corruption, “committees of vigilance” took matters into their own hands. The comparison between Then and Now are readily apparent. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Politics is not the only reason for large-scale riots. Look no farther than Detroit “celebrations” of the Tigers’ World Series victory in 1984 and the Pistons’ NBA win six years later. Mobs numbering thousands caused multiple deaths, rapes, arson, and property destruction. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Regardless of the timeframe, facing a determined, unarmed attacker can be high risk. Year by year the FBI Uniform Crime Report shows 600 to 700 people killed by blows from fists or feet. (Youtube has numerous videos of gangs stomping victims on the ground.) There seem no figures for how many people sustain permanent injuries. So what are the odds of escaping a swarm of enraged assailants? Or those armed with pipes, bricks or skateboards? (Google for Kenosha and Skateboard.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Whether the police or DA would acknowledge the “unarmed” threat is of course another matter. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">So: assume that everything you do will be filmed—that’s the world today. It could be a Good Thing if it shows you had to defend yourself, although remember this is the XXI century, and often facts do not matter. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Train for muzzle awareness. The St. Louis couple was prosecuted by socialists partly for pointing guns at the mob. Check your state laws on “brandishing.” If you have a long gun, maintain low ready until-unless you reach your trigger decision. With a sidearm, certainly low ready is an option but consider “holster ready” with hand on the grip because you know how long it takes to draw and shoot. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As for “nobody needs 30 ‘bullets’” consider facing a vicious mob with 10 rounds in your firearm. You’re surrounded by urban jackals with no cops in sight—and the Supreme Court has twice declared (1989 and 2005) that police have no obligation to protect any individual.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Avoidance is the preferred tactic whenever possible. But sometimes that option is unavailable, and you are your own first responder.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255017417572891099.post-91506649348025751882021-03-31T19:11:00.003-07:002021-03-31T19:11:58.746-07:00A TALE OF TWO PANDEMICS<p> </p><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Long ago when I served on my home county’s land-use planning committee, we heard about “hundred-year floods,” which sometimes failed to appear and sometimes doubled up. The theory was that major events were rare enough to classify as once in a century.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Today we have enough perspective to recognize major global pandemics as “hundred year floods.”</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Near the height of the First World War, which claimed an estimated 11 million military and civilian lives, the “Spanish Flu” piled misery upon misery. Named for King Alfonso, an early survivor, the Great War pandemic is commonly believed to have arisen in early 1918, lasting to the spring of 1920. </span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Unlike the Covid 19 virus, which certainly emerged in Wuhan, China, under still mysterious circumstances, the Spanish Flu has not been positively identified as to origin. Various theories have been advanced, most commonly for the United States, but including Europe and China. In any case, the Great War provided an ideal breeding ground for the virus with huge numbers of people living close together for extended periods.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Perhaps 500 million people—about one-third of the global population—contracted Spanish Flu with fatality all over the map, ranging from 17 to 100 million. Why it ended remains unclear, but epidemiologists suspect warm weather and something approaching “herd immunity” as major factors.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Were it possible, pandemic time travelers would recognize the situation whether they advanced to 2020 or regressed to 1918. The defensive measures had much in common: masking, distancing, frequent hand washing, quarantine, and closing or restricting public facilities such as schools and many businesses.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">A century ago health professionals were uncertain whether the pandemic was viral or bacterial—it was not confirmed until the 1930s. Only in 2005 did a lengthy study finally map the Spanish Flu’s genome—the generic composition of the organism.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Additional pandemics arose from Asia in 1957 (c. 1 million deaths) and 1968 (1 million or more), Russia in 1977 (700,000) and swine flu in 2009 (nearly 500,000).</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">As of this month, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore places Wuhan Virus deaths at 2.8 million among 130 million cases in 200 countries. </span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Despite President Donald Trump’s cutting vaccine production from years to months, public confidence in the national health bureaucracy has waned in the past year. Originally the head of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases said Covid 19 “is not something for citizens of the United States to worry about.” </span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Subsequently NIAID and the Centers for Disease Control modified the official line, evolving from masking is unnecessary to more recently recommending two and even three masks. Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of NIAID since 1984, famously conceded that his early message against masking was intentionally misleading in order to preserve the supply for medical personnel and first responders. Omitted from the discussion is why manufacturers of masks could not have directed their products to the desired users.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Critics note that Dr. Fauci completed his residency in 1968 and has not practiced medicine in the 53 years since. That may or may not be a fair criticism but it does lend perspective.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Aside from an understandable early confusion and uncertainty surrounding the Wuhan virus (there were no Covid 19 authorities), there’s suspicion of the health bureaucracy cooking the Covid books. Throughout the pandemic, some jurisdictions have required any death in which covid is present to be certified as THE mortal cause. The fact is, we may never know the actual number.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Meanwhile, millions of Americans remain skeptical of the need to stifle the economy, stop classroom teaching, and isolate individuals from families and friends indefinitely. This comment from a former Army aviator is representative:</span></p>
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<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">“I fly single-engine, single-pilot helicopters in wars, on three continents, in the mountains, in the desert, over water, at night, in the arctic, on wildfires, in the clouds and teach touchdown emergency procedures, long line, rescue hoist, gunnery, night goggles, and mountain flying in two languages in the third world. A bad case of the flu…one with a 99.98% survival rate, let’s just say does not frighten me much. I’ll take those odds without the government telling what’s dangerous and what isn’t.”</span></p>
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<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">The bottom line appears to be: you cannot hide from a pathogen. Quarantining the healthy while sending infectious patients into populations of the most vulnerable, as did five Democrat governors, is the opposite of what is indicated. </span></p>
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<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">The obvious wise course, followed by few jurisdictions, was to protect the vulnerable while letting the less susceptible develop non-fatal cases, in order to create community (herd) immunity. States with the most stringent lockdowns suffered higher mortality than those that maintained the most freedom and human dignity.</span></p>
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<p style="background-color: white; color: #181817; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Part of the problem was lack of data from China, but more deadly, in the view of civil libertarians, has been the apparent statist urge for control of more people.</span></p>Barrett Tillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03425564115230375081noreply@blogger.com2