Posted on 10/16/2007 7:51:31 AM PDT by PurpleMan
"At the Vietnam Wall we saw something unbelievable. We noticed three small index cards at the base of the Wall.
I knelt down for a closer look and noticed that a 4-star general's rank was pinned to each card.
The cards were personally addressed and said something like:
These are Yours - not mine! With Love and Respect, Your Platoon Leader, Pete Pace 1 Oct 2007
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs had laid down his rank for his boys who died in Nam. Oct 1 was the day he stepped down as Chairman."
(Excerpt) Read more at redstate.com ...
I may have seen Gen. Pace close up in September. How many four star generals are there? I saw a four star at the airport in Dublin, but forgot his name.
I know it sounds great, but something tells me there is something wrong here.
He KNEW someone would see this and most likely would publicize it.
I doubt he would have done something to public at such a public place that would be so public; ie, he showed his humility by doing something so publicly?
If he did this, GREAT, however, I am not so sure he actually did this. A man of his stature would avoid the public response of it all.
God, you make me ill.
By usung this thread in your seemingly self-serving desire to turn him into a candidate and run his campaign you miss the essence of Peter Pace.
Honor the man. Drop it and start a new thread.
>>>Words can’t express his class.<<<
His own words should have been headlines.
I cannot find a transcript of his speech, but CNN actually did a segment which uses the words that I remember General Pace saying at his farewell ceremony.
HOLMES: I’m T.J. Holmes. So glad you could be with us this morning. Up first this half hour, a final tribute by General Peter Pace, who used his own farewell to remember some of his men. We get this story from CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (on camera): On the day his 40-year military career ended, in part because of the war in Iraq, General Peter Pace remembered the first men he lost in combat in another unpopular war long ago.
CNN has obtained photos from a private moment the day General Pace retired as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on October 1st.
(voice over): After this farewell ceremony with the president, the secretary of Defense, and the new chairman, Pace went to the Vietnam wall and left some notes. Each was addressed to one of the men who died during his command in Vietnam in 1968. Look closely. Each note has a set of his four stars pinned to the card.
This note, to 19-year-old Lance Corporal Guido Farinaro reads, “These are yours, not mine. With love and respect, your platoon leader, Pete Pace.”
He remembered those same men and others when he closed his farewell speech just an hour earlier.
GENERAL PETER PACE, (RET.) U.S. MARINE CORPS.: I made a promise about 38 years ago to Guido Farinaro, Chubby Hale, Whitey Traverse, Mike Witt, Little Joe Arnold, Freddy Williams, Jon Miller that I would serve this country in whatever capacity I could, for as long as I could, and try to do it in a way that would pay respect to the sacrifice that they made following Second Lieutenant Peter Pace in combat.
STARR: Pace, of course, did not get a second term as chairman because of the Iraq war. But we now know he left office that day making one last private stop to say good-bye one more time to the men of his platoon in Vietnam.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
FYI.
That was not my intent. It was simply to illustrate what esteem this man is held in, and what honor he carries.
The Caption for the PHOTO:
U.S. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shakes hands with a retired Marine during the Columbus Day Parade along Fifth Avenue in New York City, N.Y., Oct. 9, 2006. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen
"A year later, after a year at The Basic School at Quantico, which molds all new second lieutenants, he (Peter Pace) was on his way to Vietnam. He arrived in time to be assigned as a platoon leader in Golf Company, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, then involved in heavy fighting in the Battle for Hue City. It was an experience that marked him forever. He was the third platoon commander in as many weeks. When he joined it, there were only 14 men remaining in the platoon instead of the authorized 43. Under the glass on his desk he keeps a photo of Lance Corporal Guido Farinaro, the first Marine to die while under his command. There would be many more to die. After 37 years he can still reel off their names. He himself escaped unscathed in his 13 months of Vietnam combat."
Respectfully,
I think if it had been a weasely clark he would have called the media BEFORE, he would have had the media there DURING.
He would not have left them there where they might not be noticed.
Did he know the MSM might pick this up? yes absolutly. might is not a guarantee. Did he care either way? no.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=47507
Above site reports a visit by Pace to Farinaro’s high school, and cites the circumstances of his death and it’s impact on Pace. Very worth reading.
The Washington Times has an article about the Republican Party in Virginia deciding not to have a primary race for Senate. They want to have a party nomination, Jim Gilmore, in order not to allow Tom Davis, RINO, on a ticket.
I think he knew he had to do it. It was always about the Marines who lost their lives while he was their platoon commander, especially Guido, who took a bullet for him.
He retired two weeks ago. If he wanted to make sure people “KNEW” about it, it would not have taken two weeks for it to come out.
Additionally, how do you know when it was done? It could have been in the dead of night.
(Googleized the name Guido Farinaro....)
BTTT!!
What a world class guy.
My understanding is that there about 300-400 3 and 4 star officers from all the services combined at any given time, maybe 1200 general officers (including admirals) in total.
“There is a great deal of talk about loyalty from the bottom to the top. Loyalty from the top down is even more necessary and is much less prevalent. One of the most frequently noted characteristics of great men who have remained great is loyalty to their subordinates.” General George S. Patton
“I find myself at the end of 40-plus years of service hopelessly behind in trying to give back,” he continued. “Because the more I have tried to give, the more that has been given to me. It’s been an incredible cycle that makes me feel humble to have had the opportunity to associate myself with so many wonderful Americans.” General Peter Pace
This USAF SGT. salutes General Peter Pace, a man of honor.
“If this is true, I WON’T expect to see it in the MSM”
Wrongo! Here’s the CNN clip of the Gen Pace’s notes.
http://mms.tveyes.com/ExpandGuest.asp?ln=228674
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.