To the Active and Veteran US Armed Forces

THANK YOU!

War Report Says that Poor Planning Undermined US Military Success. The Question Is, Which War Do They Mean?

Could it be the American Revolution where it took some time to realize that part time militia would not defeat hardened British regulars? Washington took years to develop and train the kind of army that would defeat the famous "thin red line."

How about the War of 1812? Our naval strategy of attacking merchant ships with frigates worked temporarily, until the main British battle fleet reached the East Coast and laid down a stifling blockade.

During the Civil War the United States Army rushed into the disastrous First Bull Run (or Manassas if you are from Hardy, Hampshire, or Pendleton County.) The Union Army, woefully unprepared for its first major engagement, drunkenly maneuvered its way to a complete rout that almost gave the enemy the national capital.

The Spanish American War saw ten times more people die of illness than bullets. The rendezvous point for the expedition to Cuba was in a swampy town called Tampa. In 1898, it was not a vacation dream spot.

World War II saw Douglas MacArthur get his teeth kicked in in the days after Pearl Harbor. He had several years to prepare for a sneak attack by the Japanese. They did not even sneak, but they did destroy most of his planes on the ground. The initial naval response in the ABDA fleet was less than effective. In the opening month of the war a handful of Marines and civilians on Wake Island became national heroes by sheer pluck. Our opening battle against the Germans at the Kassarine Pass was a disaster as well.

Up until that point the Mexican War (because of the ineptness of the enemy) and World War I (due to the exhaustion of the German Army) represent two unusual times when the military started a conflict and did not have to face a staggeringly destructive learning curve. Bull Run cost the Union Army 2,800 dead while Kasserine Pass resulted in 6,500 dead and the US commander being sent stateside for the remainder of the war.

Of course the report referred to the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters of the War on Terror. Some assumptions and ideas were proven wrong and the military may have taken too long to adjust its tactics and personnel. However, the loss of men was not as great as in the initial stages of wars that history looks back upon as strongly successful. With the advent of democracy and stability in Iraq, we can safely call it a United States victory. Now it is time to bring our power to bear again in Afghanistan. Let's hope the president has the courage to see the job through.

Honor those that gave us Freedom on Memorial Day

This weekend marks Memorial Day, a day in which Americans should pause and remember all those brave men and women who have served in our armed forces and who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom. In towns all across the country, the main streets turn into parade routes as Americans remember those whose blood was shed on unseen shores -- whether in the Argonne Forest, on Omaha Beach, at the 38th Parallel, on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, or in Baghdad.

Author James Michener quoted an unknown admiral in his book Bridges at Toko-Ri, "where do we find such men?" to which President Reagan answered, "where we've always found them in this country. On the farms, in the shops, in the stores and the offices, they are just the product of the freest society man has ever known."

May 17th marked Armed Forces Day in the U.S. which honors those who are currently serving in the military, whether apart of Operation Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, or stationed somewhere else abroad. Please join with me in not only honoring those who have given their lives for freedom but also in honoring those who continue to serve our great country. We are proud of their sacrifice and their sense of duty and patriotism.