Winners and Losers

DAV Magazine (Mar/April) p. 22

Long way from my home
Sometimes I wish I could fly
Like a bird up in the sky
Oh, sometimes I wish I could fly
--Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,
Van Morrison

There's nothing sacred
Breathing hatred
We have to face it
No one can take it
And feel no pain
--Feel No Pain, Sade
__________________

This picture from the March/April 2011 DAV Magazine shows USMC Cpl. Tim Jeffers being visited by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James F. Amos. The article is on the long-term effects of traumatic amputation resulting from war.

Ranger was affected negatively by the photo as it forces him into the position of that of the collective crazies picketing military funerals. How can any sane patriotic American say anything negative. It is outre to criticize the dead military personnel or those broken beyond any useful functions. But that is not what this is about.

This photo shows two strong Marines in clean, straight up uniforms in a sterile, emotionless room talking to a remnant of a former Marine, the helmet on the corporal's head telling the entire story to include the prosthetic legs. The strange part of such photo ops is that the editors think somehow that this will be uplifting, to which Ranger says, bollocks.

Why do we continue to sacrifice fine young troopers like Cpl. Jeffers? He is too valuable an asset to waste; why does the DAV Magazine and other sources continue to portray these needless wounds as a patriotic endeavor when it is actually an exercise in futility?

It seems ghoulish to even comment on such a photo, but it evokes too many visits to cold and sterile DVA hospitals and wards. The broken Marine is a commodity, easily discarded after his usefulness as a photo prop. Will his Company, Battalion or Brigade Commanders ever visit him in the future, or will he sit in a lonely VFW or American Legion bar on weeknights remembering what he was before the event that made him what he isn't? Let's get real: Will his old Platoon leader even visit him after he is discarded?

Let us go a step farther, and consider the wounds beyond the loss of limbs. What damage has been inflicted upon his brain? A blast that rearranges body parts also rearranges the functions of a brain. There is more to a photo than pixels.

Ranger wishes the best to Cpl. Jeffers and nothing that I say diminishes his valor, nor has it been our intention to belittle his sacrifice. The comments are about us rather than him, since we all bear responsibility for his damage.

The eagle has left the building.

Designated Loser

These days I'm feeling all right
'Cept I can't tell my courage from my desperation
--Local Hero, Bruce Springsteen

Well, I stand up next to a mountain
And I chop it down with the edge of my hand
--Voodoo Chile, Jimi Hendrix

When you go up on the mountain top
And you look out across the sea
And you know there's another place perhaps
A young man can be
--It Ain't Easy, Three Dog Night

A man hanging on the ropes in a helpless state,
with his toes off the ground, shall be considered down
--Marquess of Queensbury Rules
____________

A continuation of "Dak To, Redux," following news that "U.S. and Afghan troops have abandoned a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan where militants killed nine American soldiers this week (U.S. Troops Pull out of Afghan Base After Attack.)"

Dak To turns out to be the perfect analogy to this unnamed action, for after the battle for the hills around Dak To the famous Army Airborne Infantry regiments pulled up stakes and moved to greener pastures. This, after expending good lives on both sides on meaningless real estate.

In past wars terrain was purchased with blood, but every fight led one inch closer to victory, unlike then and now. At least at Dak To the paras gave as good as they got, which is the best that can be said for the valor and dedication of these wonderful U.S. soldiers.

But why did nine soldiers die on a worthless piece of terrain in a worthless country in a worthless phony war? It just doesn't add up in any rational tally.

"Sunday's attack by some 200 militants armed with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars was the deadliest for the U.S. military in Afghanistan in three years. Rebels fought their way into the newly established base, wounding another 15 Americans and suffering heavy casualties of their own, before the defenders and warplanes could drive them back.

"Some 50 officers were headed to the area to try to regain control, said Ghoolam Farouq, a senior provincial police official."

So the anti-coalition forces kick the U.S. Army out of the area and we are to believe 50 Afghan cops are going to successfully walk that beat. Let's get real. This is not a fantasy Survivor episode -- this is actual death.

"The assault underlined how Islamic militants appear to be gaining strength nearly eight years after the ouster of the Taliban, and the difficulties facing foreign and Afghan forces trying to defeat them."

False. It has nothing to do with their gaining strength; they never lost it. They merely husbanded their strength. It IS however a clear indication that U.S. forces do not know how, when, where or why they are fighting, and that our actions violate the very basics of infantry combat, minus COIN considerations.

The basics have gone missing -- mutual support, escape routes, and most importantly, the assessment of significance of any combat action in the COIN environment. Ranger will bet the farm that the village of Wanat was actively supporting the militants. Those villagers that weren't were doing so passively.

As an aside, it is interesting that the anti-coalition forces are called "militants," but our soldiers are called "soldiers." Aren't they the same thing?

"NATO said the post, which lies amid precipitous mountains close to the Pakistan border, had been vacated, but insisted that international and Afghan troops will 'retain a strong presence in that area with patrolling and other means.'"

Translation: We will hand out a bunch of Purple Hearts and Silver Stars and call it a victory. That is, after we have turned tail and run. Nobody asks: Why did we occupy that terrain in the first place? Why did our soldiers die? Did a Division, Brigade or Battalion commander need his ticket punched?

In the Civil War and the Napoleonic tradition the Army that vacated the battlefield was designated the loser. At Gettysburg, Lee left the field to the Union forces, ergo the North is viewed as the victor. By that yardstick, the U.S. is a loser, and 23 Purple Hearts richer. This is enough to break a heart. In memory of battles past, I nominate this action be called "Heartbreak Ridge."

This strikes Ranger as playing soldiers rather than warfighting. And a soldier is a terrible thing to waste.