Cadet VanOteghen ’12 Does CPRC

Four is a Charm

Memorial Day Is Every Day

High Praise for 61st Edition of The Quill

New West Point Dean Announced

147 Years,, But Civil War Soldier Gets Medal

The National Anthem

Gray Matter – Cadet Chapel Centennial

West Point Grad Makes Lasting Impression

The Pledge of Allegiance

Henry Flipper at West Point

WPST Member Scores Big!

Thinking Outside the Box

Fun With Anagrams!

The Gun is Civilization – a Commentary

Ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed our Declaration of Independence?

Five were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Nine fought and died from wounds or hardships during the Revolutionary War.

Two lost sons in battle.

Two had sons captured by the British.

Each signed and each pledged their lives to this document and this cause.  They pledged their fortunes and sacred honor.  They bet their very lives and those of their families seeking freedom.  So what kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

Eleven were merchants.

Nine were farmers and large plantation owners. 

Nearly all were men of substantial means and well educated, but they signed this Declaration of Independence anyway, declaring themselves and this nation forever free from the then most powerful nation on the face of the earth, knowing full well that the penalty would be death if captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts.  He died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and  poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.  At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters.   He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

 Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we should not.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Fly your flag, say the Pledge of Allegiance out loud. 

Think about then.  Think  about who they were, what they stood for, what they did, and what they lost so that you and yours might have this nation of today. 

That’s PR work in Civilian-speak

WPST’s own Cadet Michael VanOteghen ’12 was back home recently, but it wasn’t R&R.  It was more like W&W – work and more work! 

VanOteghen, accomplished son of proud parents Don and Pam, volunteered for Cadet Public Relations Council work, going home for a whirlwind visit mostly devoted to ‘spreading the word’ in local high schools and civic organizations.  

On May 27th of this year, Michael came home on the wings of CPRC, and hit the ground running.  He presented the West Point experience and why he loves it so much to several organizations. 

A multimedia PowerPoint was full of pictures of himself and classmates, doing all sorts of things – from snowboarding West Point’s white covered hills and driving an M1A1 Abrams battle tank, to happy group shots of the running buddies. It was part of his recruiting/awareness program.

During his quick visit home, Michael gave his presentation to Lee County (GA) High School, his Boy Scout troop, on a spur-of-the-moment request to the local Kiwanis meeting at Lee County's Grand Island Golf & Country Club. Even though the Kiwanis demographic isn’t very "recruitable", they wanted to hear him and had a bunch of questions.  Better still, they will now spread the word!

Note:  Don and Pam, left and center in the photo, shown with USSAPC co-president Hope Grant), are regular participants in WPST events and members of the US Service Academy Parents Club – Big Bend.  We sure value our association and friendship with them! 

Four WPST Area Candidates Head to West Point

The cafeteria at North Florida Christian was the scene on Saturday evening in mid-June.  Time for another quality send-off dinner for academy appointees, hosted by the US Service Academy Parents Club.  Scott and Hope Grant, co-presidents of USSAPC presided.   

At West Point, the 2010 version of R-Day will see four area young men report as New Cadets to the Cadet in the Red Sash:

Casey Brewer – Live Oak (center, photo above)
Daren Evans – Tallahassee
Michael Richardson – Tallahassee (left, photo above)
Preston Wilson – Chipley

(Daren and Preston, along with their families, were unable to attend) 

Each New Cadet will no doubt ‘enjoy’ the ‘leisurely’ and ‘relaxed’ atmosphere so common with R-Day and all others throughout New Cadet Barracks.  We wish them the best of luck. 

A very special treat for all present was the surprise attendance of newly commissioned 2LT Amelia Storey (right, photo above).  Amelia had much to share with the appointees and all were eager to speak with her.  Proud parents, USSAPC co-treasurers Mark & Doris Storey, were (justifiably) beaming throughout.   Amelia reports to flight training at Fort Rucker in July. 

Just a reminder – You don’t have to have kids at an academy to be a member of USSAPC!  Consider becoming an auxiliary member!  Dues are $40/yr and that small amount helps a great organization do some marvelous things.  Not only do member dues sponsor the annual send-off.  They also fund two “boodle box” shipments during the academic year.  Each cadet receives a goodies box and, this year, USSAPC has twenty-seven cadets at the various service academies.  It’s an expensive proposition.  Besides boodle, each US Postal Service pre-paid shipping box costs nearly eleven dollars.  (do the math --- 27 x 11 = $297 just for postage each time!).  WPST is pleased to help fund the boodle box effort.  Please think about joining USSAPC.    

Directorate of Academy Advancement (DAA)

8-9 August 2010

THIS EVENT IS ONLY OPEN TO WEST POINT GRADUATES!

What is it?  West Point grad are invited to join the Class of 2014 on the March Back from Camp Buckner at the end of Cadet Basic Training.  There are two options:  full 12-mile (limited to 160 grads; up to 40 slots for the 50-yr affiliation class, 1964), and the 2-mi (unlimited number of grads can join the formation at the ski slope for the last leg).

Just the March Back?  Of course not!  Get a briefing on Cadet Summer Training from Cadets.  See the New Cadet Talent Show.  Marchers can spend the night at Barth Hall at Camp Buckner.   And there is a post-march luncheon.  Plenty of snacks and great “issue items.”   Guests are welcome to join you at all of the extra events for one modest fee.

More Info?  Please read the Grad March Back Poop Sheet, even for those Graduates who have participated in previous March Backs.  Several things have changed.

How do I register?  Before you register please make sure you have read the Poop Sheet.  To register follow these three steps:

            1.   Register on line.  Registration will opened on 8 June!  You will be directed to the West Point AOG website; you must know your user ID and password to register.  You can use the Forgotten Password link if you do not know your login information.

            2.   Complete your liability form!  Print and complete; mail it.   Faxes/emails NOT acceptable.

            3.   Check-in at Herbert Hall.  All marchers required to check in Sunday, 8 August, 1300-1600.  No exceptions!

 Useful Links:

• Grad March Back Poop Sheet & FAQs  *Everyone should read this, even Grads who have participated before!*
• Grad March Back Issue Items
• Grad March Back Survival Guide
• Photos from 2009 Grad March Back
  • Photo Album 1
  • Photo Album 2

Anntoinette Rich Earns Her Fourth Florida Davis Productivity Award

Florida’s Davis Productivity Award program is a nationally recognized and acclaimed public-private partnership that annually honors the initiative and creativity of Florida state employees. 

Recipients are selected from thousands of deserving nominees.  Each winner is carefully selected and only after meeting very exacting criteria for excellence and exceptional effort.  This commitment to excellence translates directly to benefits for coworkers, state agencies, and citizens of the Sunshine State.   

Because many WPST members, spouses, friends and family work for the state, the Davis Productivity Awards program is special and meaningful.  Being nominated is recognized as a high honor.  Winning a single Davis is a career achievement and normally a solitary event.  But Anntoinette Rich, Training Specialist at the Office of the Florida Attorney General and very energetic Chairwoman of WPST Fundraising, now has THREE to put on her wall, earning two in 2010.  Congratulations, Anntoinette!

As part of a three member team, Anntoinette led an effort to adapt and transform an existing online employee orientation program.  Improvements to this training package are estimated to save the    Department of Legal Affairs and the State of Florida $150,000 annually and earned Rich a $500 award. 

Every year, one agency is singled out to receive the DPA Coordinator of the Year Award.  For 2010,  Anntoinette shared this award as Agency Coordinator of the Year with coworker Annette Cohen, Director of Investigations, Office of the Inspector General. 

(Right) Bob Hannah, FL Deputy Attorney General and Chief Counsel, Office of the Attorney General presents the Coordinator of the Year Award to Rich and Cohen.   

Contact VP Joe Manausa ‘87 – Proceeds Benefit WPST Pete’s Fund

OK, here’s a blinding flash of the obvious…..the home resale market isn’t in the best shape of the last 50 years.  Duh.  But it’s coming back.  People ARE buying and selling.  And that’s great for WPST.  Here’s why…..

As our members no doubt know, WPST vice-president Joe Manausa is the broker/owner of a very successful local Century 21 realty.  Referrals from WPST members to his reality, that result in a sale or buy, can earn real bucks for our annual scholarship, Pete’s Fund.   Or, if you want to get all serious – that’s the West Point Society of Tallahassee Brigadier General Peter D. Hidalgo Memorial Scholarship Fund.  (Editor’s note;  I hit every one of the key strokes in every edition…see why I usually prefer to just write “Pete’s Fund”?! J)    That’s the strategic look. 

Zoom into the tactical level and here’s how it works.  A WPST member buys a house, sells a house, or just refers someone who buys or sells a house….we score!  In a nutshell, every time a referral closes (meaning anything referred to us by a WPST member, not just WPST member buying/selling), Joe’s group will make a contribution to Pete’s Fund.

And, according to Joe, they can help people in most markets around the world, so we don’t have to limit them to Tallahassee!  Know a friend who is moving to Tulsa or Timbuktu?  Refer ‘em! 

http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/memorial-day-is-every-day/

Holly Pickett for The New York Times A Memorial Day ceremony in Baghdad

Memorial Day for many Americans is a nice reprieve from the demands of work and a day perhaps spent on a family picnic. Many communities also hold Memorial Day functions for uniformed service members and pay tribute to veterans killed overseas.

For many veterans, Memorial Day is no different than any other day. The memory of friends, superiors, and subordinates killed in combat is an ever present thought that continues long after Memorial Day.

Last week when President Obama gave the commencement address to the graduating West Point class he paid tribute to the graduates of West Point who had “given their lives for our freedom and our security in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Unfortunately, my graduating class of 2004 has the ominous distinction of having the most graduates killed in combat, currently at 11.

The events of Sept. 11, 2001, occurred our sophomore year, and my class was the first class afterward that had a choice of whether to stay in the military or opt out prior to our junior year. Cadets are not locked into their eight year military obligation (minimum of five years in the active duty) until the first day of their junior year.

The last two years at the Academy were filled with dramatic events: the invasion of Afghanistan, President Bush’s commencement speech, the debate over invading Iraq, and the invasion of Iraq.

By the time graduation rolled around, all of my classmates eagerly awaited “the real Army.” We were tired of reading and analyzing battlefield case studies, military history, and leadership scenarios. We felt it was our time to make our mark in history. Many of my closest friends wanted to go into combat arms, and for them it was a no-brainer. The nation and West Point had invested four years in our education and leadership development, it was expected that we would choose a branch in the combat arms: Infantry, Armor, Field Artillery, Engineers, Aviation, and Air Defense Artillery.

One of our first classmates killed in Iraq was Benjamin Britt, a popular classmate who charmed everyone with his down to earth humor. Ben was a scholar who was preternaturally gifted in mathematics, and who was always willing to help me in my academic studies. He was killed less than two years after graduation. In short order he had graduated West Point, finished the infantry officer basic course, graduated Ranger School, reported to his unit, and led a platoon in combat.

Death seemed to target my class’s best and brightest. Early in 2006, another classmate, Garrison Avery, was killed in Iraq . Garrison was a quiet professional. He graduated Sapper school, one of the Army’s most difficult courses while as a cadet. The Army life was not just a career, it was a calling. Garrison was keen thinker and savvy tactician, his influence was not only felt amongst his soldiers and his classmates, but also among local Iraqis. As one classmate, CPT Nick Ziemba recounted in September 2007:

Holly Pickett for The New York Times The ceremony took place at Camp Victory.

"The Brigade I’m assigned to, 2nd BCT 10th Mountain, assumed control of 2-101’s sector last September. Since then we have been fighting the South Baghdad fight with mixed and moderate successes. Recently we have started to enlist the help of Sunni volunteers for security in Al Qaeda-infested areas. During a talk with leaders from one of these areas, a couple of the sheiks brought up, out of the blue, a “LT Afry.” It took me a couple seconds to see through the pronunciation, but it all clicked when they started to talk about how he had been their absolutely favorite American, had visited and worked with their local schools numerous times, had recognized the tribe’s potential over a year before we stumbled upon them. As we exchanged our favorite stories about Gary, I could see that some of the sheiks were shedding tears in his memory."

Many of my classmates wear wrist bracelets honoring Ben, Garrison, and our other classmates. It is our version of the Live Strong bracelet. It is a humbling reminder of men who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

In response to these critiques, many observers point to Academy graduates who are in national leadership positions such as Generals Petraeus, Odierno, McChrystal, Austin, Eikenberry, and Shinseki, as proof of the high caliber of officers which West Point produces.

Although my classmates who died are not as famous as these general officers, my response to critiques of West Point is to list the following: Garry Avery, Ben Britt, Amos Bock, Mike Cerrone, John Dennison, David Fraser, Paul Pena, Robert Seidel, Adam Snyder, Daniel Whitten, and Dennis Zilinski. These are classmates who are among the best and brightest individuals I have ever met, men who were respected by their superiors and loved by their subordinates. While these individuals like all of my classmates often joked about certain West Point traditions or criticized certain policies, these men always embodied the notion of Duty, Honor, and Country.

While my classmates and I think frequently of our classmates lost in war, we also find our thoughts drifting towards those soldiers in our units who never made it back home. Many people will never hear of or know of Nils Thompson but I consider him an American hero and salt of the earth. He was killed by sniper fire in Mosul, Iraq. He was a soldier in my platoon and he died the day after his 19th birthday.

I was the new platoon leader, and he was the new soldier in the platoon. We saw each other several times at religious services but after Nils’ death I could never find a reason to return to these services.

Sometimes it is not just one’s memory that leads one to think about a fallen comrade but a random picture or article. With Garrison Avery, it was an an article about his wife, Kayla, and her struggles of managing her life after his death. With Nils, I am reminded of him whenever I see pictures of Arlington Cemetery where he is buried. Recently The New York Times Magazine included Nils’s bedroom in a photo spread of soldier’s bedrooms and how their families had kept them since their deaths.

In the upcoming months, I am not looking forward to any mass email notifications from my classmates because it typically means only one thing, another classmate’s passing. The surge in Afghanistan has claimed two of them already: Daniel Whitten and Paul Pena.

I have a crude theory that after several years, and once war has skipped a generation or two, people in America and the military forget the costs of war. Despite my class’s initial eagerness to prove ourselves, there is now an understanding of the limits of military action and the high personal costs of war.

Some people probably associate those in the military with a proclivity to use military force rather than diplomacy. I know that this is not the case for my classmates who are war weary. General Shinseki, a Vietnam veteran, had his qualms and I am sure that if anyone in my class ascends to the rank of general officer, they will undoubtedly also be reluctant to adopt a path to war which is unclear or which seems like a rush to judgment.

With the economy in the doldrums many people are quick to cite the high economic costs of war. While these numbers are staggering, the true cost of war for my classmates has been at the personal level and at a depth where the events of the past few years will be forever etched in our memories. Memories that are not only recalled on Memorial Day but every time we hear the national anthem or during moments such as family picnics. Picnics that would have been better enjoyed were it not for the knowledge and regret that some of our fellow soldiers and classmates who died overseas are not also able to experience such moments.

CPT. Tim Hsia is an active duty infantry captain serving in the United States Army. The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the United States government. Many WPST members will remember Tim  –Leon High School, West Point, Class of 2004.  Tim and his family have joined us for activities over the years, notably our autumn family picnic.  That’s Tim, giving out candy to kids during his last tour in the sandbox. 

West Point Dean, Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan retired on June 1, after nearly four decades in uniform.  As BG Finnegan leaves the Academy to become president of Longwood University, there’s no better way to send him off with our best wishes, than by sharing a bit of his retirement in own words…

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn. That there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning”. It is an honor to be able to continue to be involved in helping to shape our nation’s future through higher education and a privilege to have this opportunity at Longwood University. As one circle closes and another begins, Joan and I are excited about new adventure. While we will remember our time in the Army and at West Point with great fondness, we are eager to work with the wonderful and dedicated people in Virginia and are ready for the new challenges that await us. Great things lie ahead for Longwood and we will be proud to be a part of them. I look forward to continuing to see folks on Facebook on my Longwood President page.

I am proud and humbled by the honor and privilege of having been a Soldier. God Bless the United States Military Academy and God Bless America. Go Army! Go Lancers! 

Following the posting of the 61st (June’s) edition of The Quill, the unsolicited commentary appearing below was received from one of our members, Jim McDonough, Class of '69.   Jim's observations, I think, are right on target in expressing the appreciation felt by all members of WPST for the absolutely professional and tireless effort that goes into preparation of The Quill each month.  Special kudos to Dave and Woody for continually making our website and The Quill such outstanding products and special thanks to Jim for taking the time to express his appreciation for their selfless contributions.
(WPST president, Class of ’69)  Steve

*           *           *           *

date:  Thu, Jun 3, 2010 at 3:21 PM
subject:  WPST Newsletter for June is Posted!!

I have to say that this publication is a masterpiece.  I know they all are, but having read through this particular one in detail, I can express nothing but admiration and appreciation for its breadth and depth.  Full of up to date information, properly laudatory of those deserving of our recognition, historically interesting (and accurate), and reflective of a fine writing style, it exemplifies the highest standards of the institution it commemorates.

Our Society is truly a team effort, with so many of its members contributing so much.  But I must single out "The Quill" as a uniquely quality publication that could easily earn the distinction of the model for every other similar Society.

Well done and we are indebted to all of you that work this effort. 

I ask that you distribute this to all of our members, as I know that you and your team are too modest to do so, unless so asked.

Jim McDonough

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced recently that President Barack Obama has nominated Lieutenant General David H. Huntoon Jr. for reappointment to the rank of lieutenant general and assignment as the 58th superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

A 1973 West Point graduate, Huntoon was commissioned in the infantry and, after attending Infantry Officer Basic, served with the 3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) at Fort Myer, Va. He later became commander of the regiment.

He served with the 9th Division at Fort Lewis, the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) in Germany, and attended Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., later becoming deputy commandant there.

During Operations Just Cause and Desert Storm, he served with the XVIII Airborne Corps in Fort Bragg. 

He was the commandant of the United States Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pa., and until confirmation as Superintendent, serving as director of the Army Staff, United States Army, Washington. 

Huntoon earned a master's degree in international relations from Georgetown University.

COL Timothy Trainor

The Secretary of Defense, Robert M. Gates, has announced in Washington, that the President of the United States has nominated:

Colonel Timothy E. Trainor, United States Army, for promotion to the rank of brigadier general and assignment as Dean of the Academic Board, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York.

Colonel Trainor received his PhD in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University and an MBA from Duke University.  His research interests include optimization to support decision making tools for the military, and the application of decision analysis techniques to problem solving. He served in various command and staff positions in the Engineer branch.

COL Trainor is currently serving as Professor, Department of Systems Engineering, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife.
Who more than self the country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America ! America !
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life !
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!

By Dinesh Ramde, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 At 12:25 A.M.

DELAFIELD, Wis. — Seven score and seven years ago, a wounded Wisconsin soldier stood his ground on the Gettysburg battlefield and made a valiant stand before he was felled by a Confederate bullet.  Now, thanks to the dogged efforts of modern-day supporters, 1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing shall not have died in vain, nor shall his memory have perished from the earth.

Descendants and some Civil War history buffs have been pushing the U.S. Army to award the soldier the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration. They'll soon get their wish.  Secretary of the Army John McHugh has approved their request, leaving a few formal steps before the award becomes official. Cushing will become one of 3,447 recipients of the medal, and the second from the Civil War honored in the last 10 years.

Cushing died on July 3, 1863, the last day of the three-day battle of Gettysburg. He was 22.  The West Point graduate and his men, Battery A, 4th US Artillery were defending a Union position on Cemetery Ridge against Pickett's Charge, a major Confederate thrust that could have turned the tide in the war.

Cushing commanded about 110 men and six cannons. His small force along with reinforcements stood their ground under artillery bombardment as nearly 13,000 Confederate infantrymen waited to advance.  "Clap your hands as fast as you can - that's as fast as the shells are coming in," said Scott Hartwig, a historian with the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. "They were under terrific fire."

Confederate soldiers advanced into the Union fire, but finally retreated with massive casualties. The South never recovered from the defeat.

The soldier's bravery so inspired one Civil War history buff that he took up Cushing's cause by launching a Facebook page titled "Give Alonzo Cushing the Medal of Honor." Phil Shapiro, a 27-year-old Air Force captain, said such heroism displayed in one of the nation's most pivotal battles deserved recognition, even at this late date.  "We need to honor those people who got our country to where it is," said Shapiro, of Cabot, Ark.

Zerwekh first started campaigning for Cushing in 1987 by writing to Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire . Proxmire entered comments into the Congressional Record, she said, and she assumed that was as far as it would go. But current Sen. Russ Feingold later pitched in and helped Zerwekh and others petition the Army.  After a lengthy review of historical records, the Army agreed earlier this year to recommend the medal.

More than 1,500 soldiers from the Civil War have received the Medal of Honor, according to the Defense Department. The last honoree for Civil War service was Cpl. Andrew Jackson Smith of Clinton, Ill., who received the medal in 2001.

The Cushing name is prominent in the southeastern Wisconsin town of Delafield. A monument to Cushing and two of his brothers - Naval Cmdr. William Cushing and Army 1st Lt. Howard Cushing - stands at Cushing Memorial Park, where the town holds most of its Memorial Day celebrations.

Shapiro, the Facebook fan, said he thought of Alonzo Cushing plenty of times last year as he faced a number of dangerous situations during a five-month stint in Iraq.

"I'd think about what Cushing accomplished, what he was able to deal with at age 22," Shapiro said. "I thought if he could do that then I can certainly deal with whatever I'm facing."

Cushing Photo 2 (above):  A May 31, 1915 photo provided by the Waukesha County Museum shows a monument to Alonzo Cushing and two of his brothers _ Naval Cmdr. William Cushing and Army 1st Lt. Howard Cushing being dedicated in his hometown of Delafield, Wis.

Cushing Photo 3 (right):  In a photo provided by the Wukesha County Museum, Alonzo Cushing's sister-in-law, Mrs. William Baker "Kate"Cushing , with her two daughters Katherine Abell Cushing and Marie L. Cushing stand in front of the bronze tablet on Cushing Monument in Delafield, Wis. on May 31, 1915, at the dedication of the monument to Alonzo Cushing and two of his brothers _ Naval Cmdr. William Cushing and Army 1st Lt. Howard Cushing.

Cushing Photo 4 (Left):  In an undated photo provided by the Wisconsin Historical Society Alonzo Cushing, left, poses with, from left, Capt. L. Kipp; Major Clark; Lt. Col. Joseph Taylor; Major General E.V. Sumner; Capt. Samuel Sumner; Surgeon Hammond; Lt. Col. Lawrence.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/19/147-years-later-wis-civil-war-soldier-gets-medal/

West Point is an Armstrong Family Tradition

On a recent Saturday, Cadet Mark Armstrong, Jr. of San Ramon, California, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and was commissioned in the Army as a Second Lieutenant. A graduate of California High School in San Ramon, Armstrong was one of 1,002 cadets who received their Bachelor of Science during commencement exercises highlighted by an address by President Barack Obama.  "It's great to be finally graduating" said Armstrong. Asked why he chose to go to West Point, Armstrong said "I wanted to serve my country, develop my leadership skills and get a world class education.  At West Point I was able to do that and much, much more."

Armstrong Sr. administered the Oath of Office high above the rocky banks of the Hudson River upon which West Point sits.  "I was thrilled to be able to commission my own son into the Army" said Mark Sr. fully knowing his son may soon be deployed in harm's way in Afghanistan or Iraq.  "West Point has prepared him well to be a leader of character in today's complex, volatile, uncertain and multi-national combat environments."
 
Mark Jr.'s grandfather, Lieutenant Colonel John L. Armstrong, was a long time resident of Palo Alto and a 1946 graduate of West Point.  A Pearl Harbor Survivor and veteran of WWII, Korea and Vietnam, John died in 2004, shortly after Mark returned from a three year overseas assignment with his family in Germany and never got to see his grandson in uniform as a Cadet.  "We are all so proud of Mark Jr.  His grandfather would have been so proud of him too" said John's widow Kathryn Halsey Armstrong who still lives in Palo Alto.  "He is a fine young man and carrying on a wonderful tradition of service to our nation as part of the 'Long Gray Line,'" said Kathy referring to the nickname for the graduates of West Point since its inception in 1802.
 
Both of Mark's great-grandfathers attended West Point too.  Colonel John D. Armstrong of Palo Alto was a 1919 graduate, also a Pearl Harbor Survivor and a veteran of the WWII Italian Campaign as the Commander of the 365th Infantry Regiment, 92d Infantry Division.  His other great-grandfather, Major General Milton B. Halsey, was a 1917 graduate who joined the search for Pancho Villa in the desert southwest immediately after graduation.  Halsey later served with Patton and MacArthur and commanded the 97th Infantry Division in WWII when it liberated Czechoslovakia. He then moved to the Pacific Theater as Commanding General of the Yokohama Command and Chief of Staff of 9th Corps during the occupation of Japan then later as Chief of Staff of 8th Army overseeing operations in both Japan and Korea.
 
Back in 1891, Mark Jr.'s great-great grandfather, Colonel Frank Spear Armstrong, graduated from West Point and started the chain which hasn't been broken ever since.  Frank Armstrong was taught by the great Civil War Generals from West Point, served in the Philippines as a young officer and in France in WWI as the as Quartermaster Inspector of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and Chief of the Remount Service.  He later served as the Quartermaster of the United States Army.
 
Two of Mark Jr.'s uncles, John Armstrong, Jr. of Palo Alto (1978) and Jon Halsey of Los Altos Hills (1985), were also graduates of West Point.
The Armstrong military tradition in America started long before West Point was even founded.  The earliest Armstrong in his direct line of descendants to serve in America was Colonel John Armstrong who served with George Washington and made the famous Christmas Day crossing of the Delaware River during the Revolutionary War, earning the "Order of the Cincinnati". Mark Jr.'s brother Andrew is an ROTC Cadet at the University of California Santa Barbara where his sister Apryl recently graduated.  Asked whether his younger sister Leah will attend West Point, Armstrong replied "it is too early to say but don't rule it out".
 
After taking some well-deserved leave, Armstrong will attend the communications training in Georgia before learning to parachute at the U.S. Army Airborne School.  His first duty assignment will be in Bamberg, Germany as part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.

If This Doesn’t….

• Fill you with pride as an American,
• Mist you up as a veteran,
• Lift your heart as a grad, 
• Raise the tiny hairs on your neck,
• Put goosebumps just about everywhere, and
• Make you grateful for Duty – Honor – Country

Well, then, as we’d say up home, you sure-oughta probably start lookin’ fer a new place to call home.  This is America.  It’s for Americans.  Get with the program or get gone.  Simple as that in my world.

Our National Anthem….as it should be sung….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ETrr-XHBjE&fmt=18

• And isn’t it nice, welcome even, when the focus is this song, this emblematic proclamation, this beloved National Anthem…. and not some so-called “singer” testing his or her pipes, comedic interpretation, or an already overly pampered ego? 

Wacky, Weird…or Just Plain Fun And Interesting!

http://www.west-point.org/greimanj/west_point/songs/wpm/index.html [listen to all your West Point faves…..thanks and a tip of the ol’ shako to Leigh Fairbank ’63 for sharing the info!]

http://www.raf.mod.uk/careers/altitude/games/dz_game/dzgame.cfm [Make ‘the drop’ like a Brit!  From to Ray Lindimore in OH]

http://world-news.newsvine.com/_question/2010/05/12/4274124-do-you-support-arizonas-tough-new-law-on-illegal-immigration  [Vote!  From good buddy, SGM(Ret) Jim Ardese, in Germany]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pfBUUZNbFM [from the editor’s big bro’ and second childhood hero, Bruce Rich, in New Philadelphia, OH.  Well done, Boo.  Appreciate it!]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNUc8nuo7HI [On being American.  From COL-Ret Don Cline ’57 and MAJ-Ret Leigh Fairbank ’63.  Well worth the time to watch.]

http://vimeo.com/5645171 [VJ Day home movies....wow!  Thanks once again to Ray Lindimore in OH & Bill Webb in FL.  Great minds thinking alike!  Thanks to both.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=CMz1tXBVT1s [Safeguard your garage.  Another from Ray in OH.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gfnmDGk0KM&feature=related [Rolling Thunder 2010, D.C.; check out the Marine saluting;  Thanks to Bruce Rich, New Philadelphia, OH, for the link. Gracias, hermano.]

http://shock.military.com/Shock/videos.do?displayContent=215430&page=10 [The fleet has.  No lard for USNA ’13.]

11 June 2010 marked the centennial of the West Point landmark that dominates the cadet area and the Plain—the Cadet Chapel. Completed in 1910, the Military Gothic chapel looks like it is formed out of the mountain fastness itself and always existed exactly where it stands today. But the actual history is quite different. Even before the attention of much of the nation fell on West Point as it celebrated its centennial in 1902, the annual report of the Board of Visitors in 1901 called for major upgrades and renovations to the physical plant of West Point. Congress agreed and eventually provided the necessary funding.

There were many problems, not the least of which was to determine the style of architecture for the new construction. Many of the older buildings were executed in Military Gothic, granite structures with castellated towers and battlements. The Old Cadet Chapel (1836), however, was done in a Classic Revival style, with multiple columns. The new academic building, completed in 1895, attempted to blend the two styles, but Cullum Memorial Hall (1898) and the West Point Army Mess (1902) reverted to the Classic style. The solution (for the chapel at least) was to hold a design competition. From among the most prominent architecture firms invited to compete, a winner emerged—Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson—with a design in the Gothic style. But that was only part of the problem to be solved.

Originally, Trophy Point was the suggested site, but the architects disagreed, selecting a commanding spur overlooking the cadet area and relatively convenient to the barracks and the West Point Hotel. Although some modifications were necessary, attempts were made at historic authenticity, such as the leper’s squint in the east wall of the sanctuary (to allow lepers to attend and view services without alarming the healthy) and the ecclesiastical dungeon on the lower level (harking back to a time when the Church held temporal as well as ecclesiastical power over its flock). Another authentic architectural feature is the Galilee porch, or terrace, at the main entrance. In England, such a porch served as a chapel for penitents.

At the intersection of the transepts and the nave is a massive square tower, selected in lieu of a spire, to maintain the overall simplicity of the design while emphasizing military strength. The entranceway is not as deep or grand as those of similar cathedrals in Europe and there are no flying buttresses because they are not necessary as they are in Europe. Here there is no need to support walls with great expanses of stained glass. The lower east and west arcade walls are particularly stark, suggesting military strength and relating the lower walls more closely to the mountain upon which they stand. Two small turrets at the north end and battlemented parapets emphasize the military motif, suggesting a medieval fortress.

Over the north entrance is a window dedicated “To our graduates who died in the World War; Proudly their Alma Mater claims her own; May she have sons like these from age to age.” It was installed in 1923 and features the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac, alluding the many parents who sent their sons off to war. The massive sanctuary window 200 feet distant was conceived in June 1907, at an annual meeting of the Association of Graduates, when it was suggested that the association provide a memorial in the new chapel under construction. At the 1908 meeting, the association agreed to sponsor the sanctuary window. Among those graduates contributing to support the gift were Lieutenants Hap Arnold and George Patton.

The theme for the lower section of the window is “The Genius of West Point,” depicted by means of heroes of both the Old and New Testaments, and the academy motto of Duty, Honor, Country, emblazoned in letters of fire. A major military theme of the upper section is the Martyrs of Sebaste, Christian soldiers of the XIIth Roman Legion who were sentenced to death for their religious beliefs. Of the 40, only one recanted, but he soon was replaced by the Centurion in charge of the guard, who converted and replaced the one untrue legionnaire. Along the base of the window is written: “To the Glory of the God of Battles and in Faithful Memory of the departed Graduates of the United States Military Academy, erected by Living Alumni MCMX.” At the left of this inscription one may find the coat of arms of the United States, while to the right is the coat of arms of the Academy.

Another significant feature is the Cadet Chapel organ. First installed in modest format in 1911, it is now the largest church organ in the western hemisphere—and possibly the world. The original organ funded by Congress consisted of a total of 2,406 speaking pipes, but graduates and friends gradually donated gifts that increased the instrument significantly after the Chapel Organ Fund was established in 1912. In 1913, Chimes were added in memory of Brevet LTC William H. Harris, Class of June 1861. The largest single contribution was made by the Association of Graduates in 1930, with the addition of the Harmonic Division, with 3,607 speaking pipes in 62 ranks. At the end of the 20th Century, the organ boasted over 18,000 speaking pipes. Although struck by lightning a few years ago, it is back to full voice now, thanks to the generosity of thousands.

On the hinges of the great doors of the Cadet Chapel are words in Latin that translate to: O God, who dost crush out war, and by Thy powerful defense dost defeat the assailants of them that trust in Thee, come to the help of Thy servants who implore Thy mercy.” The words have survived a century thus far as the 235th anniversary of the founding of the United States Army is celebrated on 14 June 2010.

Much of the material for this Gray Matter may be found in The Cadet Chapel, United States Military Academy, by George S. Pappas ’44, 1987.

Your humble servant, J. Phoenix, EsquirePlease forward guest articles, comments and suggestions for futuretopics to JPhoenix@aogusma.org.

Did you receive this Gray Matter from a friend? If so, you may sign up to receive all future issues directly at: http://www.aogusma.org/CONTACT/signup.htm.

If you liked this news letter, you may also enjoy ASSEMBLY magazine, theVoice of the Long Gray Line. For additional information, visit http://www.aogusma.org/sd/pubs/site/index.cfm.

By J. Mark Jackson
The Washington Post, Sunday, May 30, 2010

Late last year, after eight months of service halfway around the world, I decided to take stock of myself: I had not been monitoring my stock portfolios and investments closely. I was not current on the machinations of the faltering economy or what the health-care debate meant for my insurance. I had never heard of the finalists on any of the reality shows.

Was I unenlightened and out of touch with reality? Perhaps, by a conventional definition of being connected, informed and up-to-date, I was woefully ignorant.

I was deployed in Afghanistan, and that combat sabbatical taught a completely different regimen of vital knowledge. I have learned:

-- Although soldiers are predominantly young, virile men, cut off from feminine wiles and charms, what they miss most is food. But having said that . . .
-- Megan Fox is to Afghanistan what Betty Grable was to World War II.
-- When you look into the face of a gravely wounded soldier, your eyes fill with tears.
-- With some imagination, the sling seat in the gunner's turret of a Cougar combat vehicle can seem like a rocking chair.
-- Sometimes it is better to stay on radio watch than freeze in your sleeping bag.
-- The bulk of soldiers would relinquish their birthright for one ice-cold beer.
-- I dread the specter of death but do not fear it.
-- I am capable of performing acts of brutality but don't.
-- Although all Americans are born equal, all boots are not.
-- Having a culture different than America's doesn't mean there is something wrong with that culture or that it is not as good.
-- When heated and liberally seasoned with Tabasco, all MREs are good.
-- You don't feel the effects of a battle until the day after. Then you are swept with feelings of anxiety, anger, thankfulness and a profound weariness. A hollow sense of shock descends. It passes, mostly.
-- Afghan food, although prepared in a way that would make a state health inspector faint, is tasty. And . . 
-- The vast majority of soldiers get sick on American, not Afghan, food.
-- The Afghan people are a giving, warmhearted group.
-- The Afghan children are absolutely beautiful, with their hopeful smiles.
-- Nothing is more important than family. Nothing.
-- When Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" said, "There's no place like home," she was spot-on.
-- Soldiers still flock like pigeons when mail arrives.
-- Notes, packages and letters from Americans we don't even know warm our souls to the core.
-- Pictures and letters from a first-grade class make our sacrifices seem worthy.
-- The Afghan people deserve better than they have gotten the past 300 years.
-- The M240B machine gun is a wonderful weapon and never jams.
-- The Afghans are tough as nails and extremely resourceful.
-- Mortar and rocket explosions are much louder at night. So is machine-gun fire.
-- American soldiers are here by choice. They want to make a difference for Afghans and provide security for the folks back home.
-- This war is necessary and worthwhile.
-- When you are cut off, out of fuel, water and food, it feels even worse than it sounds.
-- There is no risk too great or mission too dangerous for the U.S. soldier if the goal is to retrieve a missing comrade.
-- Narcolepsy is rampant in the military. No place is too uncomfortable to sleep.
-- When a roadside bomb explodes, even if you know it is coming, you still jump.
-- When I look at my right sleeve and see the 101st Airborne combat patch and the subdued American flag, I am stirred with pride.
-- The first thing you say in a firefight is: "What the hell was that?" This is quickly followed by: "Where the hell did it come from?"
-- You never know how beautiful a sunrise is until you don't know if you'll live to see it.
-- I am always incredulous when the bullets stop whizzing past and no one is hit.
-- American FRACU (Flame Retardant Army Combat Uniform) uniforms fade to dingy, mottled beige and are made of papier-mache.
-- Life for Afghans is an inexact science.
-- The MRAP is a fabulous, mine-resistant vehicle. It gives its life willingly so our soldiers do not have to give theirs.
-- Normally hard as tungsten and cold as sleet, a soldier will cry at a memorial service for fallen brethren.
-- The Afghans laugh at us behind our backs, too.
-- The war will not be won or lost in a conventional definition of victory or defeat. Stability is the ultimate goal, not notches on our national battle flags. We win when the Afghan people win, and not before. It is up to them, not us, when this war ends. We will persevere as long as they persevere.
The writer, a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, was in Afghanistan from April to December 2009.

05.31.10 - 12:39 am

The note read, “My name is Lewis Han. I’m from High Point, N.C., and I am part of the class of 2010. I branched field artillery and I am heading to Ft. Lewis, WA., as my new home. I hope you will take care of this hat that I have worn for the last four years. Every time you see it, you should be reminded that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. Always listen to your parents and those around you that love you. They will guide you in the right direction and will never leave your side. Remember, you can do anything that you truly set your mind and heart to. Best of Luck, Lewis Han.”

In a day and age when we see politicians and executives lying and lacking the most basic leadership skills, it is easy for one to spiral into negativity and feel that our country is headed in the wrong direction. But then a beacon of light like 2nd Lt. Han’s note appears and helps us realize our country is in safe hands with men and women like him in our armed forces.

I can’t help but imagine Cadet Lt. Han sitting down to write the note on the eve of the most exciting day in his young life, and what does he do? Does he complain that he will likely serve in a combat zone in the next 12 months? No, instead he did what all great leaders do: He didn’t make the moment about himself, but instead chose to think of someone else. He took the time to craft a motivational message that will hopefully shape a youngster’s life in some small manner. One can only hope that the politicians who are sending him into harm’s way will also learn something from Lt. Han’s words, and more importantly, his selfless actions.

Mike Cavanaugh

Doylestown, Pa.

In July 1970, a young widow received a letter from her late husband, who recently had died in Viet Nam in a helicopter accident with MG George W. Casey ‘45. It was a self-written obituary he had prepared with instructions that it be forwarded to his wife in the

event of his death. He said that he wrote it for several reasons, none of which he hoped would be considered trite: to spare his friends the usual clichés about being a good soldier; to avoid perpetuating harmful and inaccurate images of war, such as glory; and because he was “quite simply the last authority on my own death.”

John Alexander Hottell, III, Class of 1964, lettered in swimming, played football and rugby, graduated near the top of his class and was selected as a Rhodes Scholar. While at Oxford he won the British National Diving Championship two years in a row but lost to Cambridge in boxing. Afterwards, he commanded an airborne infantry company in Germany and an infantry company in the 1st Cavalry Division in Viet Nam before being selected as aide-de-camp to MG Casey.

He had lived a rich and satisfying life until that day in July 1970, referring in his obituary to living in Japan, England and Germany, skiing in the Alps, camping in Turkey, climbing Mount Fuji, visiting Greece, Ephesus, Rome, and Gordium (where a similarly young Alexander the Great cut the famed knot with his sword), attending the opera in Munich and plays in London, and enjoying and reciprocating the love of a wonderful woman. Likewise he had been an exchange student at the German Military Academy and the German jumpmaster school.

Perhaps the most quoted portion of his self-written obituary is as follows:

And yet, I deny that I died FOR anything—not my country, not my Army, not my fellow man, none of these things. I LIVED for these things, and the manner in which I chose to do it involved the very real chance that I would die in the execution of my duties. I knew this, and accepted it, but my love for West Point and the Army was great enough—and the promise that I would someday be able to serve all the ideals that meant anything to me through it was great enough—for me to accept this possibility as a part of a price which must be paid for all things of great value. If there is nothing worth dying for—in this sense—there is nothing worth living for.”

When this self-written obituary appeared in the New York Times, it struck a chord with a 1953 Naval Academy graduate, H. Ross Perot. He mentioned the leadership and character of this young West Point graduate many times and handed out countless copies of the obituary to friends and business associates. When selected to receive the 2009 West Point Sylvanus Thayer Award, he praised MAJ Hottell in his acceptance speech. Then, he took a generous step to insure that this brave young man’s legacy would not be forgotten by the Corps of Cadets of today and generations to come. He gifted the Military Academy with an endowed John Alexander Hottell, III ’64 Chair for Character Development. The future occupants of this chair will serve in the Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic under director COL Ronald Clark ’88 to provide research, curriculum development and assessment as the Academy continues to improve its integration of character development into all facets of every cadet’s 47-month West Point experience.

In recognition of the sacrifice of MAJ Hottel and the generosity of Ross Perot, a small, dignified ceremony was held in the Thayer Award Room of Taylor Hall on the morning of 16 June 2010. There, LTG Buster Hagenbeck ’71; MAJ Hottell’s widow, Mrs. Linda Pickett; Mr. Perot; and COL (Ret.) Bob McClure ’76, West Point Association of Graduates president, unveiled a large bronze plaque formally dedicating the new Chair for

Character Development. In his remarks, Ross Perot quoted from the obituary penned by this young major poised on the threshold of a star-bound career so many years ago. On 15 October 2009, when praising MAJ Hottell during his Thayer Award acceptance speech, Ross Perot noted that “Everything worth doing is done on a foundation of integrity and honor.” To continue the tradition of integrity and honor of MAJ Hottell and countless other Academy graduates into the future, Thayer Award recipient Ross Perot has honored John Alexander Hottell by endowing this Chair of Character Development in his memory.

Your humble servant, J. Phoenix, EsquirePlease forward guest articles, comments and suggestions for futuretopics to JPhoenix@aogusma.org.

Did you receive this Gray Matter from a friend? If so, you may sign up to receive all future issues directly at: http://www.aogusma.org/CONTACT/signup.htm.

If you liked this news letter, you may also enjoy ASSEMBLY magazine, theVoice of the Long Gray Line. For additional information, visit http://www.aogusma.org/sd/pubs/site/index.cfm.

 Bugles Across America, NFP was founded in 2000 by Tom Day,   when Congress passed legislation stating Veterans had a right to at  least 2 uniformed military people to fold the flag and play taps on a CD player.

 Bugles Across America was begun to take this a step further, and in recognition of the service these Veterans provided their country, we felt that every Veteran deserved a live rendition of taps played by a bugler. To this end, Bugles Across America is actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

Bugles Across America now has over 5000 bugler volunteers located in all 50 states and growing number overseas. Since the Department of Veterans Affairs is expecting more than 1/2 million veterans to pass every year for the next 7 years, Bugles Across America is always recruiting new volunteers.

Volunteer Online here.

Request a Bugler here.

Tom Day can be reached by email at tomjday@sbcglobal.net. 

http://www.buglesacrossamerica.org/Pages/default.aspx

From Slave to Army Officer

By COL(Ret) Charles Allen, Class of 1978

This week, the U.S. Army marked its 235th birthday on June 14 -- and another anniversary that has a personal meaning to many of us. In 1877, Henry Ossian Flipper became the first African American graduate of West Point, the same school where this May the president and Commander-in-Chief, Barack Obama, delivered the commencement address. That a black man would be elected president 130 years after the first black graduate of West Point would have been beyond the pale for many Americans of that generation and culture.

Henry O. Flipper was born into slavery in 1856 and gained his freedom after our bloody Civil War. In 1873, talented and well educated, Flipper received an appointment to West Point and left Atlanta University for New York state. While the U.S. War Department sought to create a cadre of African American officers, the military academy staff and students resisted the introduction of Negroes into the Corps of Cadets. Flipper was the seventh African American to enter West Point and, as a member of the Class of 1877, was the first to graduate and be commissioned as an Army officer. This was quite an accomplishment since from 1870 to 1898, 12 African Americans entered the Academy and only six stayed longer than one semester. Flipper would be one of only three black cadets who completed the curriculum and graduated in the 19th century.

Flipper's graduation was marked with curiosity, fanfare, and respect by some for his success as a cadet. That respect, however, did not readily translate into a successful Army career. Assigned to the Buffalo Soldiers of 10th Regiment U.S. Cavalry, Flipper was charged and faced courts-martial for embezzlement of funds. Though found not guilty of that charge, he was convicted of conduct unbecoming an officer for filing false official reports and was dishonorably discharged. After the Army, Flipper was a successful civilian engineer who would eventually serve in the Department of Justice and later would be a special assistant to the Secretary of the Interior.

In 1976, before the centennial of his graduation from West Point, Flipper's descendants filed for review of the courts-martial decision. The Army Board for the Correction of Military Records recommended setting aside the conviction and, as a result, the Army issued a Certificate of Honorable Discharge, citing the unjust nature of the proceedings and punishment. The story of Henry O. Flipper reached another Commander in Chief and in 1999, President Bill Clinton issued a pardon for him.

What is the legacy of this Georgia-born slave? Some might have expected that his graduation would have led to easier acceptance of African Americans into West Point and into the Army officer corps. That was not to be. Despite the evidence of heroic actions of African American soldiers on the western frontier and in the Spanish American War, our published U.S. history reflected something to the contrary. A 1925 study conducted by the Army War College offered the following conclusion:

"As combat troops under modern war conditions, [negroes] never rose to the standard of white units even when well led by white officers. The negro officers were educationally and in character far inferior to the whites, and troops under negro officers were unfit for battle against an aggressive and active enemy."

It was not until the Class of 1936 that the fourth African American cadet graduated from West Point, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. In 1940, his father, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. became the first African-American general in the United States military. When World War II started, father and son were the only two African American line officers in the Army.

As a cadet, Davis Jr. faced some of the same hardships as Flipper, subjected to "silencing" and isolation during his four years at the Academy. Davis Jr. would join the fabled Tuskegee Airmen, and then the 332nd Fighter Group "Red Tails." Later he would achieve the rank of Brigadier General. Another Tuskegee Institute graduate, Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr. would become the first African American four-star general in the U.S. military.

In 1948, perhaps taking note of the performance of African-Americans in WWII , President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981 directing the integration of the Armed Forces. Cadet Roscoe Robinson, Class of 1951, would become the first African American graduate to wear four stars and culminate his Army career as the United States Military Representative NATO. Robinson's alma mater honored him with the Distinguished Graduate Award in 1993. In 2000, West Point posthumously dedicated the General Roscoe Robinson, Jr. Auditorium.

This is more than just a history lesson; there is a personal connection for me. A West Point liaison officer who was recruiting young men of color to join the officer ranks of our Army contacted me as a high school senior in the fall of 1972. During my four years at West Point, I met cadets and officers of color of proven ability on the staff and faculty who accomplished great things in their service to the nation.

With the Class of 1978, we were among the first 300 black graduates. The West Point Classes of 1979 and 1980 included African American brothers, Leo and Vincent Brooks, who would follow their father's example and attain the rank of Army Major General. Vincent would become First Captain of the United States Corps of Cadets. During my teaching assignment in the late 1980s, we welcomed the appointment of Brigadier General Fred A. Gordon (Class of 1962) as the first African American commandant of West Point.

When I graduated from the United States Army War College in 2001, a retired non-commissioned officer presented me with a framed print of Henry O. Flipper--that print has been on my living room wall since. I returned to the War College faculty in 2003 and to the right of my office doorway is a display of the achievements of Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. This summer another group of students will enter the Army War College, and I hope each will take notice of the Davis print as they walk our hallways.

The legacy of Henry O. Flipper is long and significant. The institution that actively resisted enrollment of African American officers now has an award in his name to graduating cadets who exhibit "leadership, self-discipline, and perseverance in the face of unusual difficulties." As is often the case in our history, U.S. civilian leadership directs change of the Army. The Army, as an institution, resists change that is perceived to challenge its identity, its culture, and its core mission.

Institutional bastions, like West Point, are the holders of traditions and can be the fiercest resisters. Civilian direction and oversight is required to ensure that strategic change is not subverted and diverted. This is reaffirmed by the legacy of a talented former slave who was motivated to serve his country. The opportunity provided to Henry O. Flipper led to opportunities for countless named and unnamed soldier-leaders.

That's the way it should be in our institutions and our society. We should look for and identify talented people, protect and provide for their personal and professional development, and allow them to reach their full potential as leaders in our nation. This is what will keep America great.

Colonel Charles D. Allen (U.S. Army, Ret.) is the Professor of Cultural Science in the Department of Command, Leadership, and Management at the U.S. Army War College.

For more articles by COL Allen, see  http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/charles_allen/

Note to WPST members – the WPST secretary, makes an annual trip to the Flipper family grave site in nearby Thomasville, on behalf of the West Point Society of Tallahassee.  Purpose – render honors and give the area some TLC.  Anyone interested in joining the effort in 2011, holler!

It may be stated without fear of contradiction that the subject of this Gray Matter has no apparent West Point connection whatsoever. There are a few tangential references to World War II and the military in general, but it is safe to say that no Burma-Shave sign ever mentioned West Point or a cadet. Pity, for the story of those once ubiquitous advertising signs is a true Americana tale, and one last set of them now resides in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

The founder of a successful insurance agency in Minneapolis took sick in 1920, could not walk, and did not recover for three years, so his doctors suggested he find a less strenuous way of making a living. His attorney grandfather had sold a liniment through local drugstores for some years, and he decided to resurrect the business. Since most of the liniment oils came from the Malay Peninsula, he named it Burma-Vita. After a few marginal years, the company supplying the liniment ingredients suggested he try making a product with a larger potential customer base and gave him a sample of brushless shaving cream from England. It was gummy and sticky, but it was better than a brush and soap.

Some time earlier, Clinton Odell had heard of a local chemist who took sick and went to Arizona to recuperate. Having been incapacitated once himself, he sent the man a Christmas card, $25, and best wishes for a speedy recovery. In 1925, a recovered Carl Noren came to thank his benefactor, and Odell asked if he could conjure up a better shaving cream. After almost 300 failed attempts, Odell used some leftover formula 43 for a quick shave, and it worked well. Evidently aging improved the formula, and the Odells began selling it. Then one day his son Allan mentioned some small signs he had seen along a road advertising a gas station and said he read every one. The Burma-Shave sign concept was born, and a few simple signs were placed late in 1925. When repeat orders started coming in from drugstores, the sign idea was adopted fully in 1926.

Advertising at that time was generally “hard sell,” but Burma-Shave chose to be unpretentious and humorous in six signs placed about 100 yards apart with “Burma Shave” always the sixth sign. “The Answer to/ A Maiden’s/ Prayer/ Is not a chin/ Of stubby hair.” After four years, the Odells ran out of nifty jingles and sponsored an annual contest, awarding $100 for each jingle used. After several years, it was not uncommon for 50,000 entries to be received.

As the system spread over much of the country, advance men traveled ahead in the summer, getting farmers to sign contracts and marking the contracted sites with tape. The land owners received $25 per year for allowing the signs to be emplaced just inside their fence lines. Following a few hours behind would be a truck with a supply of signs and a few hardy Minnesota farm boys to dig the postholes and make the installation. Most farmers renewed their contracts by mail each year, and some even performed repairs and maintenance on the signs themselves. Often the advance man would double up by making sales calls on drugstores, while the farm boys, known as Ph.D.s (Post hole Diggers), doubled up by distributing free samples at sporting events. They quickly learned to hand out the samples as patrons left the event rather than as they entered. On a few occasions, umps or referees who made a bad call were pelted with half-pound jars of Burma-Shave.

One proof of the influence of the signs occurred when this jingle was posted: “Free offer! Free offer!/ Rip a fender/ Off your car/ Mail it in for/ A half-pound jar.” Many rusty, old fenders, probably rescued from junk yards, appeared, along with dozens of more manageable fenders torn off toy cars. All received the promised reward.

Perhaps the most interesting adventure experienced by the Odells involved a tongue-in-cheek offering: “Free-Free/ A trip/ To Mars/ For 900/ Empty jars.” Arliss French, manager of a Red Owl supermarket in Appleton, WI, took up the challenge. He put ads in the local newspaper and at his store, and whenever someone bought Burma-Shave, he emptied the cream into a container and kept the jar. Frenchy and Red Owl were deadly serious, since the stunt brought hundreds of shoppers to the store every day. A rocket ride in the store was popular with the kids, little green men were arrayed on the store roof, and the media of the time swarmed.

Facing this unexpected response, Leonard Odell suggested a trip to the Mars Candy factory and a weekend on the town in nearby Chicago, but a publicity man for Red Owl knew of a town in Germany (near Dusseldorf) that was spelled Moers but pronounced Mars. Red Owl agreed to pick up food and lodging if Burma-Shave paid the plane fare. Mrs. French was invited along too. Frenchy arrived in a space suit, the empty jars were delivered by armored car, the media on both sides of the Atlantic covered everything, and the town of Moers held a three-day festival in honor of Mr. and Mrs. French.

Since West Point is near the Catskill Mountains, this is the closest connection: “Rip van Winkle/ Said he’d rather/ Snooze for years/ Than shave/ With lather.” For a more military connection: “Soldier/ Sailor/ And Marine/ Now get a shave/ That’s quick and clean.” A more militant tone: Let’s make Hitler/ And Hirohito/ Look as sick as/ Old Benito/ Buy Defense Bonds.” Romantically: “’At ease,’ she said/ ‘Maneuvers begin/ When you get/ Those whiskers/ Off your chin.’” My favorite: “The draftee/ Tried a tube/ And purred/ Well whaddya know/ I’ve been defurred.” Postwar: “Tested/ In peace/ Proven in war/ Better now/ Than ever before.”

Burma-Shave even provided public spirited safe driving exhortations: “Drinking drivers/ Nothing worse/ They put/ The quart/ Before the hearse.” “Angels/ Who guard you/ When you drive/ Usually/ Retire at 65.” Finally, “The safest rule/ No ifs or buts/ Just drive/ Like everyone else/ Is nuts.”

This one must have emerged just before the Odells decided to start the jingle contests: “This is not/ A clever verse/ I tried and tried/ But just/ Got worse.”

Finally, “If you/ Don’t know/ Whose signs/ These are/ You can’t have/ Driven very far.” Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.

For the rest of the story, see: the verse by the side of the road, by Frank Rowsome, Jr., The Stephen Greene Press, Lexington, MA, 1965. Thanks to Sylvia Graham for suggesting this topic and sharing her book.

Your humble servant, J. Phoenix, EsquirePlease forward guest articles, comments and suggestions for futuretopics to JPhoenix@aogusma.org.

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Rich ’78 Finds Document Signed by Mahan, Class of 1824

The auction site was the best known on the internet, the seller a reputable dealer in American autographs, generally of the Civil War period.  The narrative accompanying the item was scant: 

Endorsed paycheck "D.H. Mahan" written by William Conant Church, publisher of the "Army & Navy Gazette".  Dated 5/23/1864.  Mahan taught at West Point for 41 years and said to have taught Military Science to all commanders on both sides of the Civil War.  Mahan committed suicide on 9/16/1871.

On of the front of the check, there is a small perforation left of center.  Barely visible are cancellation marks in the center.  Otherwise, the document is pristine, the tax stamp and printing as though new.  Handwritten information on the frontappears brown in color though it may have been black originally. 

Mahan graduated #1 in the Class 1824, and immediately began teaching at West Point.  In 1826, he sailed to Europe, studying advanced engineering techniques.  Returning in 1830, he was promoted to Professor of Civil and Military Engineering, becoming Chair of Engineering two years later.  Mahan wrote extensively on fixed and field fortifications, strategy and tactics. His books were standards worldwide until after WWI. 

Mahan had three sons who were also academy graduates -- naval historian and theorist Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan (#2, Annapolis, Class of 1859), Frederick August Mahan (West Point, 1867), and Dennis Hart Mahan (Annapolis, 1869).      

Cut to the chase…..the cost.  Let’s just say it was the bargain of this young century and leave it at that!  

General Westmoreland, General Lemnitzer, Mr. Secretary, General Decker, General Taylor, members of  the graduating class and their parents, gentlemen: I want to express my appreciation for your generous invitation to come to this graduating class. I am sure that all of you who sit here today realize, particularly in view of the song we just heard, that you are part of a long tradition stretching back to the earliest days of this country's history, and that where you sit sat once, some of the most celebrated names in our nation's history, and also some who are not so well known, but who, on 100 different battlefields in many wars involving every generation of this nation's history, have given very clear evidence of their commitment to their country.

So that I know you feel a sense of pride in being part of that tradition, and as a citizen of the United States, as well as President, I want to express our high regard to all of you in appreciation for what you are doing and what you will do for our country in the days ahead.

I would also like to announce at this time that as Commander-in-Chief I am exercising my privilege of directing the Secretary of the Army and the Superintendent of West Point to remit all existing confinements and other cadet punishments, and I hope that it will be possible to carry this out for the day.

General Westmoreland was slightly pained to hear that this was impending in view of the fact that one cadet, who I am confident will someday be the head of the Army, has just been remitted for eight months, and is about to be released. But I am glad to have the opportunity to participate in the advancement of his military career.

My own confinement goes for another two and a half years, and I may ask for it to be extended instead of remitted.
    
I want to say that I wish all of you, the graduates, success. While I say that, I am not unmindful of the fact that two graduates of this Academy have reached the White House, and neither was a member of my party. Until I am more certain that this trend will be broken, I wish that all of you will be generals and not Commanders-in-Chief.
    
I want to say that I am sure you recognize that your schooling is only interrupted by today's occasion and not ended, because the demands that will be made upon you in the service of your country in the coming months and years will be really more pressing, and in many ways more burdensome, as well as more challenging, than ever before in our history. I know that many of you may feel, and many of our citizens may feel that in these days of the nuclear age, when war may last in its final form a day or two or three days before much of the world is burned up, that your service to your country will be only standing and waiting. Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth. I am sure that many Americans believe that the days before World War II  were the golden age when the stars were falling on all the graduates of West Point, that that was the golden time of service, and that you have moved into a period where military service, while vital, is not as challenging as it was then. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is that the period just ahead in the next decade will offer more opportunities for service to the graduates of this Academy than ever before in the history of the United States, because all around the world, in countries which are heavily engaged in the maintenance of their freedom, graduates of this Academy are heavily involved; whether it is in Vietnam or in Laos or in Thailand, whether it is a military advisory group in Iran, whether it is a military attaché in some Latin American country during a difficult and challenging period, whether it is the commander of our troops in South Korea -- the burdens that will be placed upon you when you fill those positions  as you must inevitably, will require more from you than ever before in our history. The graduates of West Point, the Naval Academy, and the Air Academy in the next ten years will have the greatest opportunity for the defense of freedom than this Academy's graduates have ever had, and I am sure that the Joint Chiefs of Staff endorse that view, knowing as they do and I do, the heavy burdens that are required of this Academy's graduates every day. General Tucker in Laos, or General Harkins in Viet Nam, and a dozen others, who hold key and significant positions, involving the security of the United States and the defense of freedom -- you are going to follow in their footsteps and I must say that I think that you will be privileged in the years ahead to find yourselves so heavily involved in the great interests of this country.
    
Therefore, I hope that you realize – and I hope every American realizes – how much we depend upon you. Your strictly military responsibilities, therefore, will require a versatility and an adaptability never before required in either war or peace. They may involve the command and control of modern nuclear weapons and modern delivery systems, so complex that only a few scientists can understand their operation, so devastating that their inadvertent use would be of world wide concern, but so new that their employment and their effects have never been tested in combat conditions.
    
On the other hand, your responsibilities may involve the command of more traditional forces, but in less traditional roles. Men risking their lives, not as combatants, but as instructors or advisors, or as symbols of our nation's commitments. The fact that the United States is not directly at war in these areas in no way diminishes the skill and the courage that will be required, the service to our country which is rendered or the pain of the casualties which are suffered.
    
To cite one final example of the range of responsibilities that will fall upon you, you may hold a position of command with our special forces, forces which are too unconventional to be called conventional, forces which are growing in number and importance and significance, for we now know that it is wholly misleading to call this the "nuclear age", or to say that our security rests only on the doctrine of massive retaliation.
    
Korea has not been the only battle ground since the end of the Second World War.  Men have fought and died in Malaya, in Greece, in the Philippines, in Algeria and Cuba, and Cyprus and almost continuously on the Indo-Chinese Peninsula. No nuclear weapons have been fired. No massive nuclear retaliation has been considered appropriate. This is another type of war, new in its intensity, ancient in its origin – war by guerrillas, subversives, insurgents, assassins, war by ambush instead of by combat; by infiltration instead of aggression, seeking victory by eroding and exhausting the enemy instead of engaging him. It is a form of warfare uniquely adapted to what has been strangely called "wars of liberation", to undermine the efforts of new and poor countries to maintain the freedom that they have finally achieved. It preys on economic unrest and ethnic conflicts. It requires in those situations where we must counter it, and these are the kinds of challenges that will be before us in the next decade if freedom is to be saved, a whole new kind of strategy, a wholly different kind of force, and therefore a new and wholly different kind of military training.
    
But I have spoken thus far only of the military challenges which your education must prepare you for. The non-military problems which you will face will also be most demanding, diplomatic, political and economic. In the years ahead, some of you will serve as advisors to foreign aid missions or even to foreign governments. Some will negotiate terms of a cease-fire with broad political as well as military ramifications.  Some of you will go to the far corners of the earth, and to the far reaches of space. Some of you will sit in the highest councils of the Pentagon. Others will hold delicate command posts which are international in character. Still others will advise on plans to abolish arms instead of using them to abolish others. Whatever your position, the scope of your decisions will not be confined to the traditional tenets of military competence and training. You will need to know and understand not only the foreign policy of the United States, but the foreign policy of all countries scattered around the world who 20 years ago were the most distant names to us. You will need to give orders in different tongues, and read maps by different systems. You will be involved in economic judgments which most economists would hesitate to make. At what point, for example, does military aid become burdensome to a country and make its freedom endangered rather than helping to secure it. To what extent can the gold and dollar cost of our overseas deployments be offset by foreign procurement? Or at what stage can a new weapons system be considered sufficiently advanced to justify large dollar appropriations?
    
In many countries, your posture and performance will provide the local population with the only evidence of what our country is really like. In other countries, your military mission, its advice and action, will play a key role in determining those people will remain free. You will need to understand the importance of military power and also the limits of military power, to decide what arms should be used to fight and when they should be used to prevent a fight, to determine what represents our vital interests and what interests are only marginal.
    
Above all, you will have a responsibility to deter war as well as to fight it. For the basic problems facing the world today are not susceptible of a final military solution. While we will long require the services and admire the dedication and commitment of the fighting men of this country, neither our strategy nor our psychology as a nation, and certainly not our economy, must become permanently dependent upon an ever-increasing military establishment.
    
Our forces, therefore, must fulfill a broader role as a complement to our diplomacy, as an arm of our diplomacy, as a deterrent to our adversaries, and as a symbol to our allies of our determination to support them.
    
That is why this Academy has seen its curriculum grow and expand in dimension, in substance and in difficulty. That is why you cannot possibly have crowded into these four busy years all of the knowledge and all of the range of experience which you must bring to these subtle and delicate tasks which I have described, and that is why you will go to school year after year so you can serve this country to the best of your ability and your talent.
    
To talk of such talent and effort raises in the minds, I am sure, of everyone, and the minds of all of our countrymen, why – why should men such as you, able to master the complex arts of science, mathematics, language, economy, and all the rest devote their lives to a military career, with all of its risks and hardships? Why should their families be expected to make the personal and financial sacrifices that a military career inevitably brings with it? When there is a visible enemy to fight in open combat, the answer is not so difficult. Many serve, all applaud, and the tide of patriotism runs high. But when there is a long, slow struggle, with no immediate visible foe, your choice will seem hard indeed. And you will recall, I am sure, the lines found in an old century box in Gibraltar, "God and the soldier all men adore, in time of trouble and no more; for when war is over and all things righted, God is neglected and the old soldier slighted."
    
But you have one satisfaction, however difficult those days may be: when you are asked by a President of the United States or by any other American what you are doing for your country, no man's answer will be clearer than your own. And that moral motivation which brought you here in the first place is part of your training here as well. West Point was not built to produce technical experts alone. It was built to produce men committed to the defense of their country, leaders of men who understand the great stakes which are involved, leaders who can be entrusted with the heavy responsibility which modern weapons and the fight for freedom entail, leaders who can inspire in their men the same sense of obligation to duty which you bring to it.
    
There is no single slogan that you can repeat to yourself in hard days or give to those who may be associated with you. In times past, a simple phrase, "55-40 or fight", or "to make the world safe for democracy" – all that was enough. But the times, the weapons and the issues are now more complicated than ever.
    
Eighteen years ago today, Ernie Pyle, describing those tens of thousands of young men who crossed the "ageless and indifferent" sea of the English Channel, searched in vain for a word to describe what they were fighting for. And finally he concluded that they were at least fighting for each other.
    
 You and I leave here today to meet our separate responsibilities, to protect our nation's vital interests by peaceful means if possible, by resolute action if necessary, and we go forth confident of support and success because we know that we are working and fighting for each other and for all those men and women all over the globe who are determined to be free.

A Little Something to Keep Your Mind Active

Check out your lateral thinking power!  There are four images, number 1 through 4, clockwise, beginning in the upper left.  They are the puzzlers; the answers are given at the end.  See if you can figure them out.  Good luck in Thinking Outside the Box!.

ANSWERS

1. The last person took the basket with the egg in it.

2. All the other card players were women.

3. Pour the juice from the second glass into the fifth.

4. The recluse was a lighthouse keeper.

HOW WERE YOU AT THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX?

to Airborne & Special Ops Museum

FAYETTEVILLE - The Airborne & Special Operations Museum will soon be the home of the original "Iron Mike", The "Airborne Trooper" statue that once stood at the traffic circle between the Fort Bragg Officers' Club and the Post Headquarters. The mammoth rock base will be delivered Friday, May 28 and "Iron Mike" arrives June 7. The statue will remain crated until  work on the base structure is complete.

In the late 1950's, LTG Robert F. Sink, CG of Fort Bragg commissioned Leah Hiebert to sculpture an image of the Airborne Trooper. Hiebert, wife of the Deputy Post Chaplain, (LTC) Samuel L. Hiebert, began the statue in June 1960.

In September of 2005 a bronze statue replaced the original "Iron Mike" at Ft. Bragg. The original statue, after some completed restoration funded by the Museum's Foundation, was escorted to the museum on June 7, 2010. The official dedication of "Iron Mike" will be during National Airborne Day on August 14.

Steve Fleming, the structural engineer responsible for mounting "Iron Mike" to the base, stated that at least five boulders from Toccoa, Georgia, will be used as the base for "Iron Mike". The approximate size of each rock is 7’ x 7’ x 3’.  Maximum weight of each is approximately 25,000 pounds.

THE MUSEUM
Located in downtown Fayetteville, the Airborne & Special Operations Museum is part of the U.S. Army Museum System and tells the story of Army airborne and special operations units from 1940 to the present. Museum hours: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, noon - 5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday;  open Federal holiday Mondays. For more information call 910.643.2774 or visit the website at www.asomf.org.

PRESBYTERIAN:   When you rearrange the letters:  BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:  When you rearrange the letters:  MOON STARER

DESPERATION:  When you rearrange the letters:  A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES:  When you rearrange the letters:  THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH:  When you rearrange the letters:  HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE:  When you rearrange the letters:  HERE COME DOTS

DORMITORY:  When you rearrange the letters: DIRTY ROOM

SLOT MACHINES: When you rearrange the letters:  CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:  When you rearrange the letters:  IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS:  When you rearrange the letters:  LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS:  When you rearrange the letters:  ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

A DECIMAL POINT:  When you rearrange the letters:  I'M A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES:  When you rearrange the letters:  THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:  When you rearrange the letters:  TWELVE PLUS ONE
AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:

WEST POINT:   When you rearrange the letters:  PEON TWITS, SPITE TOWN, PEST IN TOW, PEST IT WON, STEP IT NOW, SWEPT INTO, TEST – PI WON, WE NIP TOTS, WE TIN POTS, WE TINT OPS,  WENT I POST

From WPST Lifetime Member, Leigh Fairbank ‘63

There's nothing to say except...AWESOME!!! 

To open click on Set 1, 2 & 3

Set 1  http://www.tom-phillips.info/images/cool.pics.military.htm

Set 2  http://www.tom-phillips.info/images/cool.pics.military.2.htm

by Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Ret)

Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or compel me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that's it.  In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force.  The gun is the only personal· weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing· with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we'd be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a [armed] mugger to do his job.  That, of course, is only true if the mugger's potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat--it has no validity when most of a mugger's potential marks are armed.

People who argue for the banning of arms ask for the automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that's the exact opposite of a civilized society.  A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.

Then there's the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways.  Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser.

People who think sticks or stones don't constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level.

The gun is the only weapon that's as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter. It simply wouldn't work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn't both lethal and easily employable.  When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation ... and that's why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

Editor’s Note:  Views expressed by the author do not reflect either the official policies or viewpoints of the WPST.  They are his and his alone, presented as a point of departure for discussion among our membership and online readers.  

(For those unaware: At all military base theaters, our National Anthem is played before movies begin)

This was written by a chaplain in Iraq, now a long time ago.  It still resonates:

I recently attended a showing of 'Superman 3' here at LSA Anaconda. We have a large auditorium we use for movies, as well as memorial services and other large gatherings. As is the custom at all military bases, we stood to attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature. All was going well until three-quarters of the way through The National Anthem, the music stopped.

Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000 18-22 year-olds back in the States?  I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a few rude comments, and everyone would sit down and yell for the movie to begin. Of course, that is, if they had stood for the National Anthem in the first place.

Here in Iraq, 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at attention, eyes fixed forward. The music started again and the Soldiers continued to quietly stand at attention. But again, at the same point, the music stopped. What would you expect 1000 Soldiers standing at attention to do?? Frankly, I expected some laughter, and everyone would eventually sit down and wait for the movie to start.  But No!!... You could have heard a pin  drop, while every Soldier continued to stand at attention.

Suddenly, there was a lone voice from the front of the auditorium, then a dozen voices, and soon the room was filled with the voices of a thousand soldiers, finishing where the recording left off:  

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave,
o'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

 It was the most inspiring moment I have had in Iraq and I wanted you to know what kind of soldiers are serving you.  Remember them as they fight for us!

Pass this along as a reminder to others to be ever in prayer for all our soldiers serving us here at home and abroad.  Many have already paid the ultimate price.

 Written by Chaplain Jim Higgins.
 LSA Anaconda is at the Ballad Airport, north of Baghdad.

God Bless America and all of our troops serving through out the world.