War Games

The kind of mindset (via Drudge) I never want to see from anyone even remotely tied to our nation’s military:

“Imagine Tea Party extremists seizing control of a South Carolina town and the Army being sent in to crush the rebellion. This farcical vision is now part of the discussion in professional military circles.”

Yeah, it’s just a retired Colonel and some no-good civilian “Civil War expert,” but the article was published in what was termed a “respected” military journal.

Also, there was a stir twenty years ago about a military coup article, but at least it contained a disclaimer that the scenario was “purely a literary device intended to dramatize my concern over certain contemporary developments affecting the armed forces, and is emphatically not a prediction.”

No disclaimer this time.

People who like to play expert with respect to things about which they really have no expertise nor understanding whatsoever . . . well.  Hopefully their foolish words are meaningless.

I, for one, know no military members willing to engage in this type of operation.

Cross-posted at No One Of Any Import.

 

Memorial Day Thoughts

I know that every one of you readers are patriots who love this nation and understand the sacrifices that help make it great.

Here at the No One house, we remember all the fallen on Memorial Day.  Yet, there is one we remember and miss every day.  I keep personal stuff under wraps most of the time, but Robert was an extraordinary fellow and worth sharing.  We were so blessed to have him in our lives for a time.

The Marine Corps was his true calling; above all else he wanted to serve his country.  A few years before 9/11 (back when we were young and gonna live forever), he introduced both my husband:

Robert giving Mr. No One his first salute

And me to military life:

“Welcome to the Navy, Mrs. No One.”

The military life has been a good one.  I just wish Robert were still part of it.  Semper Fi, buddy.

I hope everyone has a blessed day, and maybe some comfort from sorrow, should you need it.

cross-posted at No One Of Any Import

 

Veterans slam Obama for spiking the Osama Football

Heroes don’t spike the football.

Heroes put their lives on the line.

and

Heroes don’t politicize acts of valor!

Our service members sacrifice to protect our country

not to benefit his political campaign

VeteransForAStrongAmerica.org

 

 

Honoring the Veterans

On November 11, 2011, just as on every Veterans Day, there will be millions of heartfelt expressions of thanks to those who have served. For my part, I would like to express some personal gratitude to those in my life who have served this great Nation of ours.

To my uncles Ernest and Curt (Navy retired and deceased), Ted and Leon (Army). To my cousin Roger (USMC), who I still remember walking to the bus station when he was drafted to go to Vietnam. Thankfully we were one of the fortunate families – he came home. To my cousin Victor, who was supposed to be on a plane full of marines that crashed on its way to Japan in the 1950’s. Everyone on board was killed. He was late and had missed the flight. To my cousin Alvin, who after a tough start, found his direction in life and retired as an Air Force Officer.

To my classmates and friends, Joey and Brad, and to my friend and former co-worker Mike, all Colonels in the USMC. Oohrah and Semper Fi! To my classmate, friend, and boss, Kirk (Air Force Ret), to my co-workers Gary (Vietnam vet and Army Ret), Bob (Coast Guard Ret), Tom and Mike (Army Ret). Officers all and some of the finest men a girl could be lucky enough to know and work with.

To my friends Bob and Carter who served our country and continue to serve our Veterans. God bless you two; you are amazing. To my friend “Holden” who made that rare leap from enlisted to commissioned officer – no surprise to any of us; that talent was hard to miss.  (Just stop when you get to Two-Star, after that, it’s all political.)

To the hundreds of Veterans that I get to work with every single day, including my friends GIJoeyD, one of the coolest Special Forces guy ever, and Carl, who dared to teach me how to shoot defensively.  

And lastly (and because I don’t want to wait until Memorial Day), in memoriam to Navy LCDR Dennis Stanley Pike (Fixed-Wing Pilot) who went missing during a flight on March 23, 1972, 20 miles inside the Laotian border. On return from his mission, he radioed that his plane was having oil pressure problems. His Commander saw him eject, but his body was never recovered and in 1978 he was pronounced a casualty of war. My father gave me Pike’s Missing in Action bracelet later that year. It remains a treasured reminder of all the young men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice and of all the families who never saw their loved one come home.

To all of you and to all of the Veterans – I thank you, humbly, sincerely, and with gratitude. You are my heroes. We are not America without you.

 

Veterans Day 2010- Robert Beasley Jr. Commonwealth Attorney , Powhatan Virginia

Veterans Day: the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. We celebrate Veterans Day on the anniversary of the armistice that ended the First World War. In our country, we have set aside this day to honor all those who served in the armed forces of our nation. It is on this day that we recognize the sacrifice of our veterans—those men and women who gave of themselves freely and unconditionally the service of their country.

We honor our veterans on this day with flags and with speeches and with firm handshakes, thanking them for their service. We honor their courage. We honor their perseverance. We honor their sacrifice. But I fear that, all too often, we then simply stash them away amidst the hustle and bustle of the coming holiday season, and give them little or no thought again until summer returns on Memorial Day weekend. In doing so, we do both our veterans and ourselves a great disservice because we fail to understand just who veterans are.

Simply put, veterans are soldiers. And so to understand veterans, we must first understand the American soldier. Soldiers are men and women who at some point in their lives, most commonly in their youth, raised their right hand and swore before God that they would support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies; that they would bear true faith and allegiance to that Constitution; and that they would obey the lawful orders of the President and the officers appointed over them.

In a day and an age where truth seems to be relative and where man’s word has become negotiable, one group of American citizens—the soldier—still lives by certain core values: loyalty, duty, respect, selflessness, honor, integrity, and personal courage. These values make up the character of the American soldier.

A professor once asked a student to point to the United States on a map. The bright young student placed his finger on the map and smiled. “No,” said his professor. “That is Missouri.” Frustrated, the student tried again, this time striking the map a little harder as if the use of force could change the boundaries. “No. That is Kansas.” Now embarrassed, the student pointed to the bold letters scrawled across the face of the map reading “United States of America.” “Very good,” said the professor. “You may take your seat.”

You see, what the professor knew, and the student learned, is that the United States is not a place. You cannot find it on a map. You can find Missouri and Kansas. You can find Virginia and California. You can find Wisconsin and Texas. But you cannot find the United States. The United States is not made up of acreage or square miles. There is no land called the United States. The “United States” is an idea. It is an ideal. It exists only on paper and in the hearts of its people. That is why soldiers swear to defend the “Constitution of the United States,” not the country, and not an individual. Without the Constitution, the country does not exist. It is the Constitution that creates our nation. It is the Constitution that creates our government. Soldiers, in swearing to support and defend the constitution, are swearing to defend an ideal: the ideal of constitutional Republic; the ideal of liberty.

The soldier also swears to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution. The soldier swears not only to defend the Constitution but pledges his loyalty, his devotion, and his faithfulness, as well. From the Revolution to Afghanistan and in every conflict in between, the loyalty, selflessness, and courage of the American soldier has been unquestioned and unequaled.

On the battlefield, the extraordinary ability of the American soldier to improvise is legendary. And the drive to persevere and to accomplish the mission is a direct product of these soldiers growing up in a free and democratic society. As Adolf Hitler learned the hard way, the “spoiled sons” of democracy were not so soft after all.

The soldier’s loyalty extends out from the Constitution to his branch of service, to his individual unit, and to his fellow soldiers. Those who have served have no friends as dear as the people with whom they served. And their loyalty to one another is unrivaled.

Finally, the soldier also swears to obey the lawful orders of the President and the officers appointed over him. Soldiers, more than any other group, perhaps, respect the Office of the Presidency regardless of who the temporary occupant of the White House might be. But their oath is clear—it extends to the lawful orders of the President, not devotion to the whims of any individual.

I want to shift focus for just a moment, and look at that other group mentioned in the oath—the officer. A Marine Corps officer once said, “The more authority one has in the military, the more of a servant he truly becomes.” An Army officer put it this way, “Take care of your Soldiers. They are the most valuable and lethal resource we have in the Army. Don’t caudle them but motivate and inspire them to be leaders. Treat them with respect and correct them when needed but most of all care for them always!”

It is within this framework of servant-leadership that our soldiers function. It is within this framework that our soldiers have confidence in their leaders and so are able to carry out their lawful orders and accomplish their missions bravely, with a sense of duty and honor.

Now you know soldiers. And so now you know veterans. Veterans never forget their oath. Veterans never forget the values they learned during their active service. The service of a veteran never really ends, it just changes form.

It is right and proper that we hold ceremonies such as this to honor our veterans. It is good to thank a veteran, to shake his hand, and to recognize his sacrifice. It is important, too, that we remember those who did not come home: those whose bodies rest both here and abroad, having sacrificed their all for their countrymen.

But to truly honor the veterans of this nation, we must honor what they defended. We must honor the Constitution. It is the Constitution that creates our nation and our government. It is the Constitution that lays out the parameters within which that government must function. And it is the Constitution that by right restrains that government. Always remember that the Constitution grants no rights to the people. Instead, through the Constitution, the People establish our government and, at the same time, the People set limits upon it. The preamble to the Constitution reads:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty for ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

These are simple words. But they are words powerful enough to create a nation. If we wish to honor our veterans, then we must honor what they swore to defend: the Constitution of the United States of America.

May God bless all our veterans. And may God bless the United States of America.

 

The Only Thing That Could Divert My Attention From the Final Episode of Project Runway (A Veteran’s Tale)

First, I had a few possible titles for this post including The World’s Worst Boss; The Most Insensitive Person on the Planet; How to Screw Over a Veteran in One Easy Step, and a few others that are not fit for print.

A Service-Disabled Veteran asked me today if we had a policy regarding Service Dogs for our employees. I replied that if it were up to me, we’d all have dogs at work, and that Service Dogs were not only welcome, but also legally protected – as are their owners.

During the course of our conversation, I learned that this 10-Year Combat Veteran of the U.S. Army, who currently works for the Veterans Administration AT a VA Hospital in Ohio serving Veterans just got his own Service Dog to assist with his disability. This is not unusual; many Vets have Service Dogs and I’m sure that there are many who work for the VA who also have Service Dogs.

So, imagine my shock when he revealed that his boss told him that the VA was not bound by the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and that he was NOT permitted to have his new companion at the office. 

Surely, I said, people are not that dense. How, I asked, can someone who works for the VA not be aware of the ADA? It is their livelihood to protect and assist our Veterans – not to make their lives difficult.

Here’s the issue – he does not have a physical disability. He has PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Because he has an “invisible” injury, this shrew wants to know exactly what this dog can do. I told  him to tell her that she typed, filed, and fetched coffee on command. My co-worker was less congenial, she said to tell her the dog’s job was to bite her in the ass.

His Doctor prescribed the dog as a part of his therapy and recovery. Cruella Deville has decided that it is her job to override the professional. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen. He indicated that he had been advised by others to retain counsel. Easier said than done, this is a man making a modest salary with a family and a wife who stays home to raise their children. Money for legal fees is not something they keep lying around for a rainy day.

I’ve offered to call in a few favors and get the ball rolling on an Amendment to the ADA that prohibits anyone from discriminating against service dogs for unseen injuries. If anyone knows an attorney or firm in Ohio who would take this case pro bono should he wish to pursue this legally, please let me know. Litigation is not something I mention lightly; as a rule, I’m against lawyers and their blood-sucking ways, but this case is different. We are speaking of discrimination against an entire class of people. People who have served our Country proudly and made personal sacrifices that the rest of us can never comprehend. As our Warriors return home, we are going to see more incidents of PTSD, not fewer. And more doctors are likely to see the value of Service Dogs in their treatment.

In the meantime, we’ve made him – and his dog – an offer to come to work for us. AT the same VA Hospital. And Cruella can’t do a damn thing about his new girl coming to work with him if he does.