[June 24, 2015] As a young boy growing up in the Deep South, the Confederate Flag had little symbolic value but was more of a historical icon of the “Great Civil War.” The reason, I believe, was that all the adults in my life (baseball coaches, boy scout leaders, teachers, veterans) taught me to believe that it was… Read More »
[June 23, 2015] On this date in 1992, Mafia boss John Gotti, nicknamed the “Teflon Don,” is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty to commit murder and racketeering. Earlier, he got the nickname after escaping unscathed; he was found not-guilty from several trails during the 1980s.1 That is not exactly what I mean when leaders… Read More »
[June 22, 2015] While we’ve all heard about the recent rise in racist behavior in America and its pervasiveness throughout the world, one thing we don’t hear about is how racism can affect decisions in war. For those who study racism, one of the best areas is how it worked to the disadvantage of United Nations (UN) forces… Read More »
[June 21, 2015] By the time General Douglas MacArthur commanded the occupation troops in Japan after World War II, it was nearly unanimous that his character was deeply flawed. After Communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, MacArthur – who was put in charge of all UN troops – devised a brilliant plan to cut off the… Read More »
[June 20, 2015] The U.S. Army just announced that it will open the Combat Engineers to enlisted female soldiers.1 This is part of a long campaign by senior women in Congress and many who believe that there is no basis for excluding women from any military job and that men-only jobs are discriminatory. Clearly, this is an important… Read More »
[June 19, 2015] When we listen to military leaders, we expect to hear unbiased viewpoints and, most of all, we expect to hear the truth clearly stated. Americans don’t like getting the run around or someone trying to twist words into something that confuses us. When that happens we lose trust in them. Thus, the disappointment in many… Read More »
[June 18, 2015] Growing up as a kid with so many Korean and World War II veterans around me, it was odd that the American hero I admired the most was Captain Eddie Rickenbacker the World War I ace. Rickenbacker was much more, however, than being the most productive fighter during WWI with 26 aerial victories. His deeds… Read More »
[June 17, 2015] In the 1991 while surveying land for future military activity, a number of my fellow U.S. military officers were jailed by Panamanian police. Because they looked Hispanic they were assumed to be ex-presidente Manuel Noriega1 troops in disguise; the police force arrested them. The legal process to free them through the Department of State would… Read More »
[June 16, 2015] I missed the anniversary yesterday of the signing of the Magna Carta1 in 1215 AD; 800 years ago. A good friend alerted me to an editorial in the New York Times entitled Stop Revering Magna Carta which tells that the Magna Carta’s “fame rests on several myths” and then goes on to say that it… Read More »
[June 15, 2015] I once had a senior officer tell me that because I was commissioned through ROTC that I would never make Flag rank. Those senior positions, he told me, are reserved for those from military academies like West Point. Needless to say, I proved them wrong but there remains many myths about military leaders that should… Read More »