Beware – Rant (below)

The US Government has wasted a mountain of treasure and vast numbers of its youth on pointless, worthless wars. Go to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC, walk the wall and tell me why they died.

Iraq and Afghanistan are different fleas from the same dog. 
The war on terror began a long time ago. The 9/11 attacks by Saudi Arabian nationals were answered by special forces actions in Afghanistan. We couldn’t do anything to the Saudis because they were our ‘friends’… I was one of those people who were intimately familiar with Afghanistan before Afghanistan was cool. The US under President George W. Bush beat the crap out of al Qaeda. That needed to happen.

Then Afghanistan went from a spec ops mission to a “big Army” mission and from there to an endless war.

If Hillary Clinton (woman who would be queen) should decide to go to war, her daughter Chelsea needs to be sent forward in an infantry unit. Chelsea can slog around in mud, blood, cold/heat/sand fleas/leaches and horror. The same goes for the rest of Congress and the Chiefs of the Executive Branch. Children of leaders must deploy as combat troops when they are of age, or maybe the war isn’t all that important after all.

It is time that we as a nation make commitments to fight NECESSARY wars rather than just wars of convenience.

I realize that some of you will be surprised at an anti-war rant coming from me. I am not anti-war. I am firmly against slaughtering and maiming young American men and women needlessly for this or that shred of turf that nobody cares about.

I do feel a bit of survivor’s guilt. Here I am, today (right), ordering lunch in Newport Beach at the Tommy Bahama Grill. My daughter, Emilie, joined me for lunch and took the photo.

Yes, as noted, I’m frigging old, well-off, white hair, fat, dumb and happy.

So many I knew never grew old. And I ask myself what cause justified their last true measure of devotion. And I’m not able to provide an answer in many cases.

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15 COMMENTS

  1. "Yes, as noted, I'm frigging old, well-off, white hair, fat, dumb and happy."

    Add entertaining to that list.

  2. All veterans have asked that question many times. The closest I can come to any reason, without writing a college thesis, is the words on the Georgia Memorial on the Gettysburg battlefield. It states, simply:

    We sleep in obedience;
    When duty called, we came;
    When country called, we died.

    And we all have the survivor guilt and wonder why we are still here. You are not alone in that respect.

    But you are looking good now.

  4. F. Scott Fitzgerald said that you could either be rich or fascinating. Never both. I guess that I chose poorly…

  7. I swear to God, I put a comment on here! Six times I tried and it went, I saw it….I'm confused. Google hates me.

    Anyway, what I said was….I think you have a good pint in that leaders and congress should send their kids into battle. Maybe their consideration would change a deal.
    Your final paragraph is very sobering.
    You look fabulous, Larry and I'm very jealous of your sunny al fresco dining and exceptionally large menu!

  9. Agree 1000%… But we both know it will never happen… Those with no skin in the game will continue to kill the young in our country… When you've lost friends/family, it tends to get a LOT more personal… And those who DO come back injured feel it most of all. Survivor guilt, plus injuries, plus the BS from the left and administration… Gah… Stopping now before I start cussing…

  10. That's a tough image. I've walked the wall, touched "my time" and pondered the same questions as you. No answer for the half step here, the pause before turning a corner there that allowed me to be typing this . . . simply not our day Larry . . . that's all I can come up with.

    For me what helps is what's come after. Married the woman who waited, had two great kids that make me proud every day. And have three granddaughters that is my and my wife's offering to the future. And I don't forget those engraved on the wall . . . sadly our leaders let them slip from memory all to often.

    "to absent friends . . ."

  11. Survivors are critical so that there are people to give voice to truths like those found in this post and all these comments. It's a heavy weight y'all carry– but don't let it be one of guilt…

  12. That my friend is a heartfelt tribute to your friends' sacrifices, albeit in an offhand way. Today, its plain as day that our political leadership doesn't give a rat's skinny ass about the men and women they send into harm's way. I wonder sometimes if that nasty old critter Charlie Rangel, might be right about one thing: restoring the draft and making sure that the children of the political class get NO EXEMPTIONS from front line combat duty. Maybe then they'll be reticent to start wars in which we have no real compelling national security interest at all.

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