Weary Nostalgia
He showed up all wet
On the rainy front step
Wearing shrapnel in his skin
And the war he saw
Lives inside him still
--I Don't Want to Wait, Paula Cole
Lucky I'm sane after all I've been through
I can't complain but sometimes I still do
Life's been good to me, so far
--Life's Been Good to Me So Far, Joe Walsh
We should feel sorrow, but not sink under its oppression
--Confucious
_______
Another installment in Ranger's Nostalgia Weekend:
On the rainy front step
Wearing shrapnel in his skin
And the war he saw
Lives inside him still
--I Don't Want to Wait, Paula Cole
Lucky I'm sane after all I've been through
I can't complain but sometimes I still do
Life's been good to me, so far
--Life's Been Good to Me So Far, Joe Walsh
We should feel sorrow, but not sink under its oppression
--Confucious
_______
Another installment in Ranger's Nostalgia Weekend:
Writing an anti-war blog, Ranger is drawn to reminisce about the days when tabs and badges adorned his uniform.
Earning a Ranger tab was a purely physical feat requiring mind over matter. They didn't mind, and we didn't matter. Simply putting one boot in front of the other was a mark of success. Lack of sleep, food. . .no sweat: WETSU.
It was a game of sorts, but it was deadly serious, too. Still in training, Ranger Buddy Perry Holloway, after breaking his hip in a fall, was carried off a freezing mountain on our backs; all involved were stressed to the max. The casualties of Rangers started before we even graduated.
That was when Ranger tabs were proudly worn on our uniforms, and everything needed fit in a rucksack or hung from our bodies. The later propaganda campaign, "An Army of One," grew from this notion of solo competency born of rigorous training and single-mindedness of purpose.
Now I'm an older man, unable and unwilling to run across the street. My rucksack is in my head, and it's a heavier load than ever was carried on my back. I'm older now, and questionably more mature, but those tabs and badges still cling to my soul.
The point to my ramble is, there comes a time when intelligence trumps brute physical force. After much head-butting, one realizes there might be another, less destructive way to accomplish similar ends.
If Ranger understands this on the personal level, then why is this realization so elusive for our wise national leaders? Even those voters skeptical of GWB hoped for security with the hoary Cheney -- the voice of age, and most venal of all.
As his recently publicized tape of 1994 indicates, he knew that "taking out Saddam" wasn't worth the American lives such an undertaking might cost. For some reason, after doing a cost-benefit analysis probably involving stock portfolios vs. the health of the nation, he chose to suppress that assessment this time 'round.
Kicking ass is not a foreign policy -- it is a form of insanity. Somewhere, sometime, somehow our leaders must stop to think.
America doesn't need to be stronger -- it needs to be smarter. If an old Ranger can see this, why can't our learned leaders?
Labels: america needs smarts
posted by rangeragainstwar at 6:29 AM
12 Comments:
Yo Ranger,
I think that's a Joe Walsh w/o the Eagles song, "Life's Been Good." True he was with the Eagles for Hotel California and for The Long Run, but I don't think that song wasn't on either album.
I'm pretty sure it was released on a Joe Walsh compilation album.
PS to Ranger,
The essay was an excellent one. I didn't mean to convey otherwise with my comment about Joe Walsh.
What I wonder is, can we expect intelligence from a US Military that is run by folks like David Betray-Us?
Thanks, Sean, for keeping us on-target with song attributions. (That one sounded a bit too hard to be straight Eagle pedigree.)
Ranger has some definite ideas about Petraeus I'm sure he'll want to add later. Pretty gory news re. the White House pre-writing the report for him.
--Lisa
i, for one, have never really understood that whole army of one campaign. my training was all about the team. on the first day of training a lt. commander came in. dude was bemedaled and scarred. as a cool fashion touch his eyepatch matched his tropical whites perfectly. he glared at us with his one cold black eye and said "eyes right." we looked right. "eyes left." we looked left. "eyes front." we snapped forward. he paused again, as if taking our measure, and said "if you are here on graduation day, those other two bastards won't be." the attrition was brutal and well over 65%. thing was, i was standing between my two best friends from boot camp that day. all three of us graduated. the numbers played out in other parts of the room. after the murderous grind of "hell week" our training did not ease off much, but the focus had shifted. more and more of our tasks and challenges were evaluated on a pass or fail as a unit method. on a run we were only as fast as our slowest member, same with the swims. on a jump, a twisted ankle hobbled the entire team, requiring adjustment and adaptation. we lived and died as a team. which was exactly what we found on the battlefield.
an army of one is a recipe for defeat. a perfect example was shown during the NBA playoffs when the individual greatness of LeBron James was neutralized and defeated by solid teamwork. a great team will always defeat a great player.
The War As We Saw It from this morning's New York Times. Written by non-commissioned officers finishing up a 15 month tour with the storied 82nd. these fine men write with clarity and blunt realism. their courage amazes me, their loyalty gives me hope.
i hope that their leaders can muster up a fraction of their mettle.
minstrel boy,
I certainly hope you could hear eyeballs click when he told you to look "right" and "left."
In my IOBC, we would count off by two's, and they would tell the even numbers to sit down; the instructor would say "look around; that's how many of you will be dead next year." Such happy memories.
Ranger school was much more individual than your SEAL training. In SF training it is more similar to the teamwork you describe. Of course, my experience is 39 years old.
In SF, we were members of a team, whereas Ranger school was training future team leaders as individuals.
I suspect that SF have done nothing but become mini Ranger units. Look at their implementation in Afghanistan and Iraq; the emphasis appears to be on direct action.
I have always thought the "Army of One" campaign did a disservice to young recruits, and was deceiving. It is only as a team member that we have any value to the military. This ad campaign implied an isolation of strength, which is untrue.
On a separate note: One thing that I envy you is your superior grasp of music. That is something I lack, and I am sure it provides you comfort. As Leonard Cohen said, we are ugly, but we have the music.
I hope to meet you some day, West of the Mississippi, of course.
--Jim
it would be fun to go for a horse trip ranger.
not to excuse the misattribution, life's been good was first recorded by joe walsh before he joined the eagles. i believe it was part of both the album and the tour of hell freezes over.
m.b.,
Jim will be happy to read this.
And thanks for the heads up on our song attribution. We have also been taken to task by another alert reader! Keeps us honest,
--Lisa
Sean,
Thanks re. Joe Walsh.
Re. intelligence: Do you mean gathering/collating/usage, or do you mean the I.Q. type?
Re. leadership: Keep in mind the military's not led by Petraeus; he's far down on the totem pole. Both he and Lutz are the newest 4-Stars, and as such, they're the new guys on the block.
The Chief of Staff of the Army and Chairman JCS lead things, in conjunction with our civilian leadership, such as it is. At least that's how it's supposed to be.
Remember, the military didn't attack Iraq without orders originating with the Commander in Chief. This is where we should have both types of intelligence displayed.
(What I really wonder is, who wrote The Book of Love?!)
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ranger,
Check out this op-ed in the NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/opinion/19jayamaha.html?ex=1345176000&en=5a8349a0e944e61b&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
It was written by some NCO's in the 82nd Abn. Very impressive. Their writing skills and analysis doesn't square with my memories of ABN grunts. Maybe the younger generation is smarter.
After reading it I began to wonder, did these NCO's lose confidence in GEN Petraeus's resolve to tell it like it is? Did they decide they had get a accurate SITREP to the American people?
The Well-rounded Engineer
roger,
The op-ed piece you site was impressive. They have a writer in their midst, or a good NYT editor. But their thinking cannot be faulted. It is precise, and a sad summary of the situation both sides are mired in.
Perhaps they just wanted to tell it like it is. They were "embedded" in the most authentic of manners, after all.
--Lisa
Roger,
Jim sending: I'll be posting a comment on that Op-Ed piece soon,
Thanks,
Jim
Post a Comment
<< Home