This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Hondo

  • O’Keefe’s Latest

    Remember James O’Keefe?  The journalist who nailed  ANSWER  ACORN?

    Well, he’s at it again.  And this one is just about as good.

    Here ya go.  It’s rather eye-opening.

    One last parting thought.  From the linked article:

    In a 2011 speech at the border, President Obama claimed that his policies had ‘strengthened border security beyond what many thought possible.’

    ‘The fence is now basically complete,’ the president claimed.

    Really? Well, if that’s the case  – looks like someone’s got some ‘splainin’ to do . . . .

  • Fifty Years Ago Yesterday

    On 10 August 1964, Public Law 88-408 was signed by the POTUS, and became effective.

    It’s better known today as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. That resolution was described by then-Undersecretary of State Nicholas Katzenbach as “the functional equivalent of a declaration of war.”

    The resolution was passed by Congress at the request of the LBJ administration in Joint Assembly of Congress on 7 August 1964.  A “pair” of “hostile fire incidents” in the Gulf of Tonkin involving US Navy ships – the destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy – on the nights of 1- 2 and 3-4 August 1964 were the stated reason for the LBJ administration’s request.

    The first incident involving the USS Maddox was legitimate. Best evidence indicates that the second “incident” involving both ships actually was not a hostile fire incident at all, but was due to sonar/radar reflections being misinterpreted as possible hostile vessels and torpedo tracks.

    In reality, there was no second “hostile fire incident”.  In 1999, Robert McNamara – SECDEF at the time of the incidents – publicly acknowledged that fact.

    The evidence also indicates that LBJ likely knew full well that the second incident was questionable, and probably had not actually happened. He chose to ask Congress for the resolution nonetheless.

    Why? LBJ was wary of appearing “soft on Communism”. His opponent in the upcoming 1964 Presidential Election – Senator Barry Goldwarter of Arizona – was widely viewed as the more strongly conservative, anticommunist candidate. Getting Congressional backing for stronger action in Vietnam would neutralize Vietnam as a political issue – particularly if LBJ reacted strongly to a “provocation”.

    Further, LBJ had been urged over 2 months earlier by his Foreign Affairs Advisor, McGeorge Bundy, to declare the defense of Vietnam “essential” to the US – and that a declaration of authority and intent to use force was desirable. And of course, there’s this statement by LBJ to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in December 1963 (some of whom were also pushing for more US involvement in Vietnam): “Just get me elected, and then you can have your war.”

    At the time of his statement to the Joint Chiefs, LBJ may well have been playing one faction against another – classic “backroom politics”, at which LBJ was a master. But by mid-1964, that no longer appears to have been the case.

    The resolution gave LBJ carte blanch authority to maneuver the US into Vietnam in strength – without further consultation with Congress. He did exactly that, by stealth, beginning in early 1965.

    After he’d been reelected.

    The Army Times has an excellent article today on the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. It’s worth a read.

    And afterwards, maybe also take a moment to remember those who didn’t come back from that questionable conflict.

  • Quotations From Some Old Pieces of Paper

    The papers in question concern events during a 3-day period in July, 1943.  What follows is an series of quotations from those pieces of paper.

    They’re a few of of literally hundreds of such pieces of paper from that era.

    What follows may not be comprehensive; I don’t have a copy, so I can’t say for sure.  However, other published accounts I’ve located give the following as quotations. I’m convinced they’re accurate.

    I’ve omitted names and certain other personal information as they’re not really pertinent to my point in writing this article.  Asterisks below are present in those secondary sources, and apparently represent information that did not scan to text correctly or was not legible.

    . . .

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private XXXXX X. XXXXXXXXX (ASN: ########), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Company I, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, in action on 9 July 1943, in Sicily. Private XXXXXXXX, with utter disregard for his personal safety, provided water to the soldiers of his company during the hours of **** – ****. During most of this time he was exposed to heavy machine gun and small arms fire of the enemy and was sniped upon on many occasions.
    Action Date: July 9, 1943

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant (Infantry) XXXXX  X. XXXXXXXX (ASN: 0-######), United States Army, for gallantry in action as a member of Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, in action on 9 July 1943 south of ****, Sicily. Lieutenant XXXXXXXX landed by parachute in hostile territory with his section and immediately proceeded to secure his communications equipment in the face of intense machine gun fire. After destroying what he was unable to salvage, he organized his communications group as a rifle unit and led them through the subsequent action to successful completion of assigned missions.
    Action Date: July 9, 1943

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private XXXXX X. XXXXXXXX (ASN: ########), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Company A, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, in action on 9 July 1943, five miles west of ****, Sicily. An attack was launched on a fortified garrison by Private XXXXXXXX’s unit, during which Private XXXXXXXX after a hand-to-hand fight with two enemy soldiers, captured a light machine gun. Immediately following this action, a counter-attack was launched by the **** on the position and, under heavy artillery fire, the unit was forced to withdraw. Private XXXXXXXX and Lieutenant XXXXXXXX volunteered to stay in position until their unit completed withdrawal. Private XXXXXXXX and Lieutenant XXXXXXXX manned their post with enemy machine guns until another assault was made by the enemy. Seeing that their unit had by this time contacted friendly forces, Private XXXXXXXX and Lieutenant XXXXXXXX, although surrounded, began to withdraw. Lieutenant XXXXXXXX was killed. By passing through enemy lines, Private XXXXXXXX was able to rejoin his unit.
    Action Date: July 9, 1943

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private First Class XXXXX  X.. XXXXXXXX (ASN: ########), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Company B, 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 82d Airborne Division, in action on 9 – 10 July 1943, four miles southeast of ****, Sicily. Private First Class XXXXXXXX fractured his knee in a combat parachute jump southeast of ****, Sicily on 9 July 1943. He marched across country, taking part in guerrilla skirmished until the night of 10 July 1943, at which time he took part in the engagement northwest of ****, Sicily, against a portion of the **** **** **** Division. He made not complaint of the fractured knee during the two days of fighting. The morning of 10 July 1943, he reported to the medical aid station and was sent to the hospital to be treated for a fractured knee. In this gallant action Private First Class XXXXXXXX acquitted himself in a manner reflecting credit on himself and his country.
    Action Date: July 9 – 10, 1943

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private First Class XXXXXX X.  XXXXXXXX (ASN: ########), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Battery C, 456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, 82d Airborne Division, in action on 9 – 10 July 1943, about five miles southwest of ****, Sicily, and later about six miles northwest of ****, Sicily. In both instances, Private First Class XXXXXXXX, assistant gunner on a .50 caliber anti-aircraft machine gun crew, helped operate his gun against low-flying **** planes that were strafing the gun positions of his battery. Private First Class XXXXXXXX remained at his post in the face of heavy strafing. Two of the planes fired upon began to smoke heavily, rapidly lost altitude and are believed to have crashed. Later in the day, at another location, and again in the face of heavy strafing, a third **** plane was hit and observed rapidly losing altitude. In each instance the remaining planes flew away, permitting his battery to continue its mission.
    Action Date: July 9 – 10, 1943

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant (Infantry) XXXXXX X. XXXXXXXX (ASN: 0-#######), United States Army, for gallantry in action as a member of Headquarters Company, 3d Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, in action about five miles west of *** ***, in Sicily. Lieutenant XXXXXXXX, commanding a light machine gun platoon of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, participated in the attack on Hill *** near Route *** which drove back a superior force approximately one-half mile. The enemy counter-attacked with support from heavy artillery, mortars, and***, *** and *** ** tanks. Lieutenant XXXXXXXX personally led his platoon in the face of the heavy enemy fire, through scanty orchard cover to within 50 yards of the tanks. He directed the fire of his men to such effect that the tanks were prevented from crossing the ridge, where they could have inflicted severe casualties on his battalion. In this gallant action Lieutenant XXXXXXXX acquitted himself in a manner reflecting credit upon himself and his country.
    Action Date: July 10, 1943

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant XXXXXX X. XXXXXXXX (ASN: ########), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Company H, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, in action on 10 July 1943, six miles northwest of ***, Sicily. Sergeant XXXXXXXX was seeking to rejoin his regiment, having become separated during a night parachute descent on 8 July 1943. In response to the request of the Commanding Officer, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, Sergeant XXXXXXXX organized and led a squad of parachutists in a flanking attack on a strongly-held enemy position. Sergeant XXXXXXXX led his squad across the open terrain despite intense mortar and machine gun fire. They drove the enemy from the position, killing sixteen and capturing five enemy soldiers. The success of this attack was, in large part, due to the personal example and courage of Sergeant XXXXXXXX, and enabled the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment to resume its advance.
    Action Date: July 10, 1943

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private First Class XXXXXX X. XXXXXXXX (ASN: ########), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Company H, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, in action on 10 July 1943, six miles northeast of ****, Sicily. Private First Class XXXXXXXX voluntarily entered an attack on an enemy position holding back the advance of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division,. During the attack a *** machine gun placed flanking fire upon Private First Class XXXXXXXX’s squad and pinned it down. Private First Class XXXXXXXX fired his rocket launcher at the enemy machine gun nest, but the launcher exploded. With utter disregard for his personal safety, Private First Class XXXXXXXX secured another rocket launcher and returned to his squad. Firing a second time, Private First Class XXXXXXXX blew up the enemy machine gun nest, killing its crew of four. This action permitted Private First Class XXXXXXXX’s squad to resume its advance to the successful accomplishment of its mission.
    Action Date: July 10, 1943

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Second Lieutenant (Infantry) XXXXXX X. XXXXXXXX (ASN: 0-#######), United States Army, for gallantry in action as a member of Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, in action on 11 July 1943, south of ****, Sicily. Lieutenant XXXXXXXX rallied those around him to resist a hostile tank attack, and was eminently instrumental in preventing a general withdrawal. When his commanding officer was hit by a shell, Lieutenant XXXXXXXX attempted to render first aid under fire, and later, though wounded, refused to be evacuated until he had seen to the disposition of effects and burial of his commanding officer.
    Action Date: July 11, 1943

    And finally:  in the papers in question, the following text is repeated at least four times, and possibly more times than that.  The only change between the versions is different ranks and other personal information corresponding to the individuals involved. For what it’s worth:  the rank of at least 3 of the individuals was “Private”.

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant XXXXXX X. XXXXXXXX (ASN: ########), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Headquarters Company, 3d Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, in action on 9 July 1943, northwest of ****, Sicily. Sergeant XXXXXXXX, Section Sergeant, together with seven other men, manned two anti-tank guns which had previously been captured from the enemy. The seven men and Sergeant XXXXXXXX knocked out an *** “tankette” while they were exposed to heavy enemy machine gun fire. This “tankette” was leading an estimated enemy battalion in the approach march. These men had no previous experience in the operation of the anti-tank guns. By their action the enemy battalion became disorganized and withdrew.
    Action Date: July 9, 1943

    . . .

    The quotations above come from General Orders No. 29, Headquarters, 82nd Airborne Division, dated 29 August 1943.  As I noted earlier:  it’s but one of literally hundreds of such documents issued by various division headquarters during World War II.

    People often forget just how bitter that war’s fighting was.  And we often forget just how many people exhibited extreme heroism during that conflict.

    It was my great good fortune – and my honor –  to know one of those men.  Sadly, he’s no longer among the living.

    Still, in looking over the above, I can’t help but feel that Patton was indeed right.  “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.”

    Enjoy your Sunday, everyone.

  • “Eat ‘Em, G**damn It – They’re Better That Way”

    People talk about Army cooks all the time. But truth be told, it’s a fairly rough job – and an essential one.

    Yes, the conditions are fairly easy compared to some specialties.  But based on what I’ve observed as a non-cook over the years, the hours are damned long, the work doesn’t seem to be that much fun, and it’s pretty thankless.

    And having a decent chow hall can be make-or-break for a unit, morale-wise. The old saying, “An Army marches on its stomach,” is in the final analysis true. If the troops don’t eat, pretty soon they won’t be marching – or fighting.

    Still, as a group cooks tend to be . . . well, let’s just say that many of them seem a bit “ASVAB-challenged”. And some of them seem to be flat-out freaking crazy as well. I remember one unit mess sergeant telling me that he went out for a night of partying once, got into his car with a couple of ladies and a buddy or two, gave someone else the keys, and passed out in the back seat after talking about going somewhere in New York – then woke up some hours later somewhere on US15 in Pennsylvania, headed north.

    He had to be at work later that day. Somehow they made it back in time. I didn’t ask how fast they drove to get there. (smile)

    We also had a cook come to the unit one day on his off-duty time, point a pistol at the CQ (or maybe it was the CQ runner), and “dry fire” said pistol. That guy ended up PCSing to the crossbar hotel for a couple of years.

    Still, the most outrageous cook story I ever heard or saw wasn’t either of those – or even this story. Rather, it was one related to me by another mess sergeant around the time of the two incidents above.

    Disclaimer:  I wasn’t there to see what follows personally, so the story could be bogus.  Dunno.

    But it’s still IMO worth telling.  And since Jonn lets me post stuff here, well, you’re stuck with hearing it.  (smile)

    . . .

    Seems the second mess sergeant I spoke of above had run a mess hall in Germany before coming back to CONUS. His mess hall in Germany had supported one of the GOs there.

    At the time, the GO was senior enough to be authorized a personal cook; the guy was tapped to provide that cook from his mess hall. So he detailed one of his cooks – who was indeed a damn good cook – to be that General’s personal cook.

    The General in question was reportedly a very decent fellow. But like everyone else he did have his idiosyncrasies. One of this General’s quirks was that he only ate fried or poached eggs.

    The first day, the new cook made breakfast for the General. He took it to the General, and served the General’s his breakfast – a nice, big American-style breakfast, well presented on the plate, complete with a big serving of hot, fresh cooked eggs.

    Scrambled eggs.

    The General frowned. He turned to the cook and said, “I guess nobody told you.I only like my eggs fried, or poached.”

    The cook answered back. His alleged reply is the title of this article.

    Afterwards, the guy was no longer cooking for the General.

    It also seems that the guy wasn’t merely “ate up with the dumb@ss”, or trying to get out of the assignment (or the Army).  As the story was told to me, the cook was sent for mental evaluation after the incident – after all, he’d have to be freaking crazy to talk to a GO that way, right?

    Well, it turned out the shrinks found the guy really did have mental issues that he’d been hiding (or that his buddies had helped him hide).  The guy was sent back to CONUS posthaste. I think he was discharged from the Army not long afterwards.

    Still, I’d have loved to have been a fly on the wall when that cook told the General that scrambled eggs were better. The look on the GO’s face on hearing that had to have been priceless.

  • So, What Does the POTUS Really Think of Vets?

    Yesterday, the POTUS signed that “landmark” VA bill – throwing more money at a problem that isn’t financial.  That means he really cares about vets and their problems, right?

    Yeah, right.  Remember the VA scandal that caused that bill to be drafted and fast-tracked?  You know, the one that finally got former VA Secretary Shinseki    kicked to the curb    to resign?

    Wanna guess how many times the POTUS met one-on-one with Shinseki to discuss the scandal this year while it was ongoing?  Remember, the POTUS made it clear when speaking publicly that he regarded the crisis as “urgent”.

    Try once – on the day Shinseki resigned, May 30.   (He also saw Shinseki at two cabinet meetings Shinseki attended in January – but that’s hardly the same.)

    That’s it.

    Words, actions. One’s for show; the other is reality.

    You do the math.

  • He’s Baaaack!!

    Apparently the current Administration’s goings on have had an . . . unusual side effect. They’ve apparently caused at least one former political figure long thought dead to return from the grave.

    No? Well, how else do you explain the return of “Tricky Dick” on Twitter?

    Hell, I may have to break down and actually follow this guy.  He’s got Nixon down to a “T” – and many of the tweets are freaking hilarious.  (smile)

    Oh, and in case anyone is wondering about what “goings on” of the current Administration I’m talking about:  I’m talking about this obvious pattern of “stonewalling”.

    “Most transparent administration in history” my ass.  Even the Nixon and LBJ administrations were more open and transparent.

     

    (Hat tip to a TAH regular who forwarded me this article on the matter.)

  • Limousine Liberal Sightings

    Liberals are “friends of the little guy”, right? I mean, they’re always speaking out against the rich as being “greedy, evil bastards”.

    Well, let’s look at one such guy.

    Law Prof Who Specializes in Poverty Makes $205,400 – Teaching One Class Per Semester

    A couple of comments. First: the guy consistently blames one political party (I’ll let you guess which) for waging an “unforgivable war on poor people”. But he does this while making more than $200k annually, and owning real estate worth around $1.5M. And while married to a lady who pulls down over $400k annually in salary.   I’d love to know how much he gives to charity annually – you know, to “help the poor”.

    And second: the guy (and his wife) both “work” in academia – at state-supported public universities, so tax dollars pay their salaries.  But he’s so liberal (and so controversially outspoken in support of liberal causes) that his employer reportedly asks that any op-eds he publishes include the disclaimer that “He doesn’t speak for (name of university)”.

    But the tool above is not alone. After all: who could forget Robert Reich, that “good   Marxist   liberal” and former Labor Secretary currently teaching one class at UC-Berkeley – at a salary of about $240k a year.

    The subject of his classes? Income inequality.

    I sh!t you not.

    Freaking hypocrites.

  • An Updated “How Bad You’re Getting Screwed by Social Security” Calculator

    About 2 years ago, I published an article here at TAH on the above subject.  That article dealt with how we might have privatized Social Security in the early 1980s (the proposal was seriously discussed).  It also included a downloadble Excel spreadsheet to calculate what benefits a hypothetical “Super IRA” based on individual contributions with mandatory employer matching in the same amounts as your Social Security taxes (the OASD part) would have provided.  The assumption was that this “Super IRA” was invested in a hypothetical investment fund tracked the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), much like many mutual funds do today.

    The subject came up again yesterday in the comments to this article. So I decided to update the previous spreadsheet with new data.  It’s now current through July 2014.  File format is Excel 97-2003.

    Use it by filling in your own data, then using the links in the prior article on the subject to get an estimate of your possible future Social Security benefits.  (If Congress doesn’t reduce or eliminate them before you become eligible for them, of course.)  Embedded comments in the spreadsheet should answer most questions.

    Be forewarned – if you choose to use the spreadsheet, there’s a good chance you’ll probably be rather . . . . disappointed.  Or disgusted.