Posted on 04/22/2003 4:08:05 PM PDT by mikeb704
During Vietnam I was sent to Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio for medic training. The city is home to several military installations and the citizens, at least in my experience, were always friendly.
My first week there, several of us went downtown in hot pursuit of the Alamo. It was apparent we were soldiers as back then you didn’t see many teenagers sporting extreme crewcuts. We asked a strolling middle-aged couple for directions. They graciously walked us there, even though it was obviously out of their way.
The shrine of Texas liberty wasn’t, as I’d imagined, smack dab in the middle of nowhere in all its splendid isolation, but right across the street from a Woolworth’s. But that’s another story.
Ten weeks later we finished training. A Greyhound bus was used to transport some of us to our next duty station. Cruising down the highway, the bus lost a wheel near Wichita Falls. We were going to be stranded for at least a couple of hours. It was February and it was cold.
Then something remarkable happened. A bunch of women, I presume most were housewives, came out. Each took several soldiers to her house, offered us coffee and whatever snacks were available, and let us watch TV or play checkers or some other games.
The memory of how hospitable and friendly Texans were to soldiers during an unpopular war has always remained with me. So a new warning from the commanding general of Ft. Sam Houston is especially disquieting.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, Major General Daniel Porr issued a "Protective Measures Awareness" notice to his troops. He cited two recent examples of military being harassed. In one incident, several males accosted two sailors leaving a restaurant and warned them: "You'd better not go to war." So the general’s advised his soldiers to, "If possible, avoid wearing of the uniform when dining in public places."
Wearing the uniform of the United States once was an understandable source of pride. Now, because of loony anti-war creeps, it’s become something to conceal.
Axis Sally, Tokyo Rose and Hanoi Jane all did their parts for enemies in past conflicts. Operation Iraqi Freedom has engendered a different type of loathing, one that encompasses hopes that American soldiers die.
A Columbia University assistant professor has proclaimed: "The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military." This came with his wish for "a million Mogadishus," a reference to the 18 soldiers killed and 84 wounded in Somalia in 1993. Columbia’s president was, predictably, appalled by his employee’s remarks. Just as predictably, he took no action against him.
Salon is an Internet magazine known for its Leftist predilections. A writer for the Washington Post noted during the Clinton years, "White House allies sometimes tout Salon pieces to reporters before they are even posted on the Web."
Earlier this month Salon’s executive editor made a confession: "I have at times, as the war has unfolded, secretly wished for things to go wrong. Wished for the Iraqis to be more nationalistic, to resist longer. Wished for the Arab world to rise up in rage. Wished for all the things we feared would happen. I'm not alone: A number of serious, intelligent, morally sensitive people who oppose the war have told me they have had identical feelings."
And why did all these serious, intelligent morally sensitive people wish for bad things, things that would have meant more Americans killed, more Americans injured? Because a quick, decisive victory might help George W. Bush remain as President for another term, that’s why.
Anti-war folks can talk all they want about how much they support our troops, but their real views are palpable. Their hatred for the President dwarfs all other considerations.
They hold the military in contempt. They oppose the soldiers’ mission. They want them to fail. If that failure means dying, so be it.
And now commanders have to warn their people that wearing the uniform of the United States may be confrontational. What’s wrong with this picture?
Plenty.
That's exactly the right answer for the "liberals." But the right answer for the organizers and people who get these demonstrations rolling is they do it because they are commies and socialists.
None of them are anti war per se, I wish with all my heart that everyone would quit calling them that.
And university faculties think that displaying our flag is confrontational and offensive. It is, to a communist.
Another example of the inseparability of the Navy-Marine Corps team.
Marines might mess with our Dixie cup wearing brothers, but you'd better not.
A point with a good deal of validity I think.
"Two separate incidents against military personnel have occurred," Porr reported. "In the first incident, two males on the city's Northeast Side made threatening gestures and pounded on the car window of a drill sergeant and his spouse while they were on their way home.
He did have other suggestions:
"Porr also recommended: "Be cognizant of people who gather and voice their sentiments against the military efforts in Iraq. Do not get involved."
"When in public facilities, soldiers should avoid conversations related to work or military operations in general."
"Always practice the 'Buddy System' when traveling."
"When in uniform, minimize the number of stops when traveling from home to work or vice versa. Wear civilian clothing when possible."
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