Update no.667

Update from the Heartland

No.667

22.9.14 – 28.9.14

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

To all,

In Update no.662, I wrote about the notification of an important book’s publication.  I finally completed reading every word – very carefully.  The book:

Timberg, Robert.  Blue-Eyed Boy – A Memoir.  New York: The Penguin Press, 2014.

The book is available in hardback print and electronic formats.  Before you read my words, I enthusiastically and strongly urge everyone to read Timberg’s book.  His story goes far beyond one man or one life.  It is a story of an era in our history.

First Lieutenant Robert J. “Bob” Timberg, USMC (Ret.) [USNA 1964] went to Viet Nam in 1966, as an infantry officer once commissioned as a lieutenant of Marines, completing The Basic School (TBS) in Quantico, Virginia, and also completing transition at Camp Pendleton, California. He went to Viet Nam as part of Bravo Company, First Antitank Battalion, First Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force Pacific.  The 1^st AT Bn. was based near Da Nang in the I Corps Tactical Operations Area, the northern most of the four tactical areas and closest to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV, AKA North Viet Nam).  The unit operated the ungainly little tracked monster known as Ontos (officially the Rifle, Multiple 106 mm, Self-propelled, M50A1).  Ontos means “thing” in Greek and its main armament consisted of six 106 mm recoilless rifles.  These facts alone establish an affinity connection with those of us honored to wear the Eagle, Globe & Anchor, and more so the subset of Marines who endured the Little Boys Boat & Barge School.  I was in my Plebe Year at the Naval Academy when Timberg was in combat in Viet Nam.  On 18.January.1967, 13 days before his scheduled Rotation Tour Date (RTD) back to the United States, Bob was pressed into special duty service as the unit pay officer that day, covering for another lieutenant who was the scheduled pay officer for the bi-weekly pay day but had a conflicting assignment.  He was riding on AmTrac (Amphibious Tractor) [officially Landing Vehicle, Tracked, Personnel (LVTP-5A1)] – a lightly armored amphibious landing craft, not designed to be a land, armored, personnel carrier but used that way in Viet Nam.  While enroute to a deployed unit, Timberg’s AmTrac was hit by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), seriously wounding him and others.  That moment dramatically altered the course of his life.  Blue-Eyed Boy is Bob’s story of his life from that moment through the following decades of his life.

            We rarely get a glimpse into a life worthy and well lived.  This book is one of those rarities.  Timberg takes us through the extraordinary recovery process he endured for several years.  He frankly and candidly shared the personal struggles he faced in returning to some semblance of normalcy.  As Bob reached the limit of his immediate treatment, he chose and was selected to attend the Stanford University Graduate School of Journalism to learn the basic skills of what he thought could be his new profession.  Bob walks us through the stepping stones of his journey from disfigured isolation to a successful, accomplished, and acclaimed journalism career.  Of particular interest to me was his behind the scenes experience developing the story of what became his bestselling account of the Iran-Contra Affair [25.11.1986] – The Nightingale's Song [1995].  Timberg wrote, “I didn’t realize how angry, indeed merciless, the criticism had become until some commentators compared [Ollie] North to Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi hanged in Israel in 1962 for his role in the extermination of six million Jews during World War II.  Those critics, recalling the striking phrase ‘the banality of evil’ employed by author Hannah Arendt in writing about Eichmann, bestowed it on North as they sought to equate his defense for his actions to Eichmann’s in that both maintained that they were ‘just following orders.’”  I found numerous connections and intersections with Timberg’s story.  Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Laurence “Ollie” North, USMC (Ret.) [then Midshipman First Class] trained and prepared me for Jungle Warfare School, Ft. Sherman, Canal Zone, Republic of Panama, during the summer of 1967 (as Bob Timberg was well into the long recovery from his wounds, I might add).  Ollie was also a central character in Bob’s books.  We also share an appreciation for common authors like John le Carré and David Halberstam.  Humility may prevent Bob Timberg from claiming himself as a favorite author, but that limitation does not apply to me.  Halberstam’s The Best and the Brightest [1972] had the same impact on me as it did on Timberg.  Bob did not mention Halberstam’s The Powers That Be [1979] or The Coldest Winter [2007] [300], yet I imagine he has read them, enjoyed them, but they were simply not relevant to his story.  I have learned from Blue-Eyed Boy and Bob Timberg’s writing.

            Just a bit of a related history detour, Bob joined other military burn victims who overcame their fear of public aversion by taking on very public careers.

-- Warrant Officer William Geoffrey “Bill” Foxley, RAF:

A Vickers Wellington bomber, with Foxley serving as the navigator, crashed during take off from RAF Castle Donington aerodrome on 16.March.1944.  He was admitted to Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, West Sussex, with horrific burns to his hands and face.  The pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe, Kt, CBE, treated Foxley over the next three and a half years during almost 30 operations.  Foxley was a founding member of McIndoe’s Guinea Pig Club.  Foxley spoke widely about burn treatment, and performed a prominent role as Squadron Leader Evans in the epic movie Battle of Britain (1969).

-- Brigadier General William Willing “Bill” Spruance, USAF (Ret.):

Those of us aviators of my vintage quite probably heard Bill speak about aviation safety based on his experience after a T-33 airplane crash (4.June.1961) in which he suffered serious burns.  Bill reportedly made more than 3,000 speeches and presentations, of which I heard him on a handful of those occasions.  His impactful presentation certainly and positively affected my flying life.  I never had to deal with an aircraft crash, but thanks to Bill, I knew I was prepared properly to deal with such an event should it occur.  I had the honor of serving with Bill during my tenure at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.  He was a confident, engaging, persuasive, amiable and valuable friend.

-- Corporal Jose Rene “J.R.” Martinez, USA:

On 5.April.2003, while serving with the 101^st Airborne Division in Karbala, Iraq, his Humvee hit an IED.  He suffered serious burns and endured the treatment common to burn injuries.  J.R. overcame his wounds and the treatment for those wounds to become a motivational speaker and appeared on several television programs – not exactly a shrinking wallflower.

            Bob Timberg overcame his injuries and treatment as these other brothers in arms did over generations.  His writing is physical, lasting proof of his success as a journalist, and as an author.  True, he is flawed as we all are; yet, he is a far better man than most as he laid bare his inner-most demons and mistakes.  We are all much better for Bob Timberg’s generosity, courage and sharing.  He is truly an American worthy.  I must say in conclusion, Bob Timberg is a man with whom I would love to share a few beers and swap war stories with on a sunny afternoon.  Every citizen should read Timberg’s memoir – it is far more than a trip down memory lane.  Lastly, I would like to thank all those friends of Bob Timberg who encouraged him to write this story – perfect!

The follow-up news items:

-- President Obama pulled the trigger on airstrikes in Syria.  While I am convinced hitting ISIL [652, 665] on their home turf was the correct and necessary action, I am rather confused.  The President signed into law PL 113-164 [666] a week ago Friday, including §149(i) that clearly states no “United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situations wherein hostilities are clearly indicated by the circumstances.”  Perhaps they have decided ISIL possesses no air defense systems.  While we know ISIL has 23mm and 57mm anti-aircraft guns, I’ve seen none of the RADAR-directed versions.  Pilots of any branch or forward air controllers of any branch are “U.S. Armed Forces” and Syria is definitely hostile.  I suppose he could exercise his authority as Commander-in-Chief; however, by 21.October.2014, he will run into §149(j) and the War Powers Resolution [PL 93-148; 87 Stat. 555].  I just hope everyone involved returns safely.  We do not need another constitutional crisis.

-- Uncle Voldya continues to flex his military muscles [636, 640, 658, 665] with violations of the airspace of other sovereign nations from the Baltic States to the United States.  Latvia has experienced the most violations with Estonia and Lithuania not far behind.  NATO interceptors have been scrambled with each incident.  These are armed aircraft.  It would not take much for a major incident to occur.  I cannot imagine there is any doubt remaining with respect to Putin’s intentions to intimidate or dominate Russia’s neighbors.

We have a fascinating Senate race playing out here in Kansas.  The incumbent, Senator Charles Patrick “Pat” Roberts (Republican) is embroiled in quite the contest according to the polls, the local talking heads and prevalent television advertisements.  The Democratic Party candidate, Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor won his party’s primary election, and then withdrew from the race a few months later.  Taylor’s withdrawal leaves only Independent candidate Gregory John “Greg” Orman.  The twist in all this is Kansas Secretary of State Kris William Kobach (Republican) refused to remove Taylor’s name from the ballot, claiming the law allowed a candidate to be removed only if he was unable to serve if elected, and Taylor refused to so declare.  An emergency case was brought before the Kansas Supreme Court and Kobach argued the law by his interpretation and lost.  Then, Kobach expressed doubts whether there was sufficient time to change the ballots, creating confusion.  There is little doubt why Kobach fought so hard to retain Taylor on the ballot – bleed off votes that would be meaningless and might otherwise go to Orman against Roberts.  The teller for me and a sure sign of Roberts’ desperation is the markedly negative, content-less advertizing his campaign is broadcasting about Orman.  Fortunately, the Orman campaign has not taken the bait.  They have kept their advertising message positive, constructive and above board, which makes the Roberts negative messages seem all the more desperate.  What party Orman decides to caucus with is immaterial to anything important in Kansas.  What matters is how he votes on the issues before Congress.  Apparently all this political dust-up here on the Great Plains has attracted national attention, as George Will wonders whether the Republicans might lose control of the Senate.

“Staking the Senate on Kansas?”

by George F. Will, Opinion writer

Washington Post

Published: September 24 [2014]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-staking-the-senate-on-kansas/2014/09/24/d0841d52-4344-11e4-b47c-f5889e061e5f_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opin&wpmm=1

News from the economic front:

-- The U.S. Treasury Department issued sweeping new rules to crack down on companies that move their headquarters overseas to reduce tax via a maneuver known as an “inversion.”  Under the new rules, it will be harder for U.S. companies to meet the requirements for an inversion and more difficult for companies that invert to access their overseas cash piles without paying U.S. tax.  Unfortunately, taxes are just another expense to be minimized or eliminated; therein lays the perpetual conflict.  Nonetheless, if true and seen to fruition, I say Hallelujah!

-- The preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 50.5 in September, compared with a final reading of 50.2 in August.  The PMI reflects business activity in China's manufacturing sector and the value shows modest growth, which may ease some concerns over the Chinese economy.

-- The U.S. Commerce Department reported the world's largest economy grew at a 4.6% annual rate in 2Q2014, up from the 4.2% pace previously estimated and matching the pace of growth since 4Q2011.

Comments and contributions from Update no.666:

Comment to the Blog:

“Regarding the approval of arming ‘appropriately vetted’ Syrians, they will still wind up using our weapons against us. No amount of logic or emotion supersedes actual history as the best predictor of the future.

“Scotland remains restive, and the promised autonomy measures have yet to be revealed, much less implemented. Underlying all of this is the simple fact that no nation is willing to be conquered, even hundreds of years after the fact. That is the central fallacy of conquest, whether military or economic.

“I see a hint of the best way to address domestic violence at the end of your comment on that subject. This is another issue where the ‘us versus them’ good guys/bad guys outlook is failing us. Something very similar to the mental health approach would serve us better, although society (i.e., Congress) has refused to provide adequate funding even for what we already have. A forcible element would need to be included as it is with some forms of mental illness due to the inherent danger to spouses and children.

“I take offense to your statement that, ‘There is only one God.’ No, no, a thousand times no. I do not share the God you (and Christians, Jews, and Muslims) believe in.”

My response to the Blog:

            Re: vetted Syrians.  Perhaps so, but that is the point of the law as written.  Congress wants a CYA provision, so they can sit back in their righteous aloofness and pronounce, “I told you so.”  I do not know how such a vetting process will work.

            Re: Scotland.  So, you would agree the secession movement in Scotland is emotional rather than logical or substantive.

            Re: domestic violence.  Yes, I think that gets us back to the notion of social police – some degree of official intervention short of prosecution and punishment.  Social police is a bad term, but my little pea-brain cannot seem to produce a better descriptor.  Yes, exactly, the mental health portion of my proposal must have several layers of intervention between “wait for violent action” and criminal prosecution.  At least several of those levels would include some form of due process and physical restraint / treatment.

            Re: one God.  We have discussed this point many times, so I’m not sure where your offense is grounded.  My contention is, God is not some Judeo-Christian-Islamic construct; God is God.  I respectfully contend, we see God in all religions including agnosticism and atheism.  My definition / image of God is far more inclusive than the clerics of the revealed religions profess.  Further, I am not asking you to believe anything other than what you already believe . . . that is your God.  Perhaps you see Him differently than me, but it is God nonetheless.

 . . . Round two:

“If we would have our nation return to any kind of leadership, we will have to get beyond CYA in our attitudes. This particular move just reinforces the pattern of arming people who turn on us.

“Cap, I don't know any more ways to tell you that most of human behavior is ‘emotional rather than logical or substantive.’ Only the likes of Churchill, Stalin, or Putin get behind the emotion and actually operate on substance. Often enough, even they act on emotion.

“I do not, cannot, and will not accept the notion that I worship the same god as delineated in the Pentateuch or any of the other Judeo-Christian-Muslim sacred texts. That is as silly as it is unacceptable. On top of that, ‘him’ is not an appropriate pronoun for at least half of the deities in my pantheon.”

 . . . my response to round two:

            Re: CYA.  Indeed and precisely!  The CYA attitude is the blame game in reverse.  I am not a fan of either, which is exactly why I am not pleased with HJ Res 124.  We have debated the Military Force resolutions [PL 107-040, 115 Stat. 224; and PL 107-243, 116 Stat. 1498] at length.  This version is even more ambiguous.  I doubt it has any true meaning legally.

            Re: emotional.  Perhaps so, that is not how matters of State should be decided – far too prone to error, misstep and injury.

            Re: God.  The beauty of freedom is our right to believe as we wish and choose as we wish.  Just as a footnote, I think you are missing my point, if you look beyond the detailed descriptors, whether mono- or poly-, whether male or female, or called by any name, the higher power is the same, order to society.  If you don’t like the name God, fine, call Him whatever you wish, by however many names & genders as you wish.  My point is, in the main, your descriptor(s) does not alter the reality that you recognize a higher power.  I hope that makes sense.

 . . . Round three:

“We certainly agree on the deficiencies of the CYA approach, but I expect we disagree on what would be effective, and therein lies the rub. Politicians live for elections, and they will do what gets them re-elected. If the people who finance elections urge nonsensical and ineffective actions, the politicians will take nonsensical and ineffective actions. They cannot count on a given position pleasing enough voters to overcome big money's influence.

“I see no point in how things ‘should’ be done. Emotion is the nature of people, and unless you can propose both an effective method and a clear reason to change that, emotion is what we have to work with.

“If one sees ‘order to society’ as their God, I have no quarrel with that, but that goal or God is far from universal. A quick study of the Old Testament brings up the Tower of Babel (the idea was to unite everyone), the deluge, and other examples of destruction. That is not limited to the Abrahamic religions. The Hindus have Shiva and Kali, the Hawaiians have Pele, the Native Americans various trickster gods, and the Celts have the Morrigan. All of these are important figures that are disruptive. Usually the disruption is in service of positive ends, but disrupt they do. The world's religions share little, and the individuals who follow them even less. I have seen recently the idea that we all seek the same end, but I do not see that short of the level of the entire Universe (or Multi-verse to be more correct in physics). I believe those who see all routes as the same miss the entire point of religion, and especially of freedom to choose one's religion. I still reject any imaginable connection to the Abrahamic God.

 . . . my response to round three:

            Re: CYA.  Oh well, life goes on.  Every vote counts.  There are more of us than there are of them.

            Re: emotion.  Perhaps you are correct.  I can only say, we must strive to overcome emotion and decide based on facts and reason.

            Re: God.  I have not and will never claim to speak for the beliefs of others.  I only offer kernels of reasoning for a more expansive perspective of God.  My suggestion points to a far broader, more inclusive, more expansive perspective that requires looking beyond the trappings, labels, ceremonies and rituals.  From my study of various religions, I see far more in common than I do differences.  Our problems with religion hang upon the facial details and feeble interpretations of flawed men who serve as clerics of these various religions.  We tend to get so hung up on the façade of these flawed interpretations.  The fanaticism we see in radical jihadist Islam stems directly from those flawed clerics who incite the believers to violence in the name of parochial megalomania. 

Another contribution:

“I am not sure I want to say anything, but we arrived at your Update #666. Let's hope this week is smooth!  :o/   ;-?

“Take care Cap.  I meant to reply to some items to Update #665, and unfortunately did not get them out to you before this past weekend.”

My reply:

            Update no.666 was last week’s Update.  Everything is smooth so far.  Update no.667 is this week’s Update to be published next Monday.

            No worries.  Actually, you are (anyone is) welcome to respond to any Update [FYI: it makes it easier for me if you refer to the particular Update you are responding to, but not a requirement].  Or, you can raise any topic you wish, any time you wish.  The door is always open, the modest fire in the fireplace makes it warm inside, and we leave the light on for you.

A different contributor:

“I write in reply to your statement ‘Saner minds prevailed.’  When I read that, I thought,  ‘Great Scott, how did Cap arrive at that conclusion?’  I don't think the Scots who voted to secede are less sane than other Scots.  I was reminded of 2 things from history.  From the days of the Revolutionary War, consider the minds of the secessionist Ben Franklin and the anti-secessionist King George III.  George was the one who died insane, not Ben.  Then there is that twice told tale from the Old Testament in the Bible about the secession of the10 tribes after the death of King Solomon.  In verses 1 Kings 12:24 and 2 Chronicles 11:4, God says the secession was His idea.  Surely you don’t think God is less sane than the mere mortal anti-secessionists living in Jerusalem about 920 B.C.”

My response:

            In both the examples you offered, there were a long list of grievances (abuses if you will) that stimulated and justified the secession.  Shoot, even the Confederate secession (1860) had their grievances.  I have seen nothing of the grievances in Scotland to justify such a radical move.  As you recall, the Declaration clearly states, “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”  In that context, what has become so insufferable in Scotland?  What has been so bad and evil in Scotland?  How have the Scots been abused (in contemporary times)?  I understand the history of centuries ago, but to me the past is an emotional response, not logical.

            I will avoid “God’s will” for now. 

 . . . Round two:

“I know of nothing unsufferable in Scotland.  My response to you was more about your statement about saner minds prevailing.  I still am convinced that the Scots who voted to secede are no less saner than other Scots.  That is, sanity is not a factor in why people choose to secede or not secede.  This is loosely related to your writing about mass shootings where you write that the issue is more about detecting people with mental health problems than gun legislation or something else.  Determining sanity/insanity is hard to do, I think, at least in borderline cases.  Yet you wrote as if it were easy for you to determine.

“I have 2 stories relating to secession that I hope won't bore you to tears.  First, I have a Canadian friend who is from Quebec.  His name is Rene Bertrand, so like you, he has a French last name.  We have talked about the election held about 20 years ago, which dealt with the secession of Quebec.  I think the vote was about 51/49 percent split.  He told me that his family was split on this issue.  I think he told me his dad, who is now dead, was against secession, and one of his dad's brothers was for it.  Like Scotland, I know of no unsufferable stuff in Quebec, just that for some reason enough Quebecois wanted to vote about this.

“The 2nd story is about a Biafran I met mowing his lawn next to a friend's house I went to visit about a year ago.  He is about 4 or 5 years younger than we are.  He was a boy soldier in the Biafran attempt to secede from Nigeria in the war that took place most of the time we were middies, roughly 1967 to 1970.  Over a million people died in that war.  He gave me a business card, which I have kept.  He is a Christian and is working on translating some of the books in the New Testament into some language he knows but I forget which language it is. I judged him to be as sane as I am.

“So I am interested in the subject of secession and how it is a factor in today's world and results in many deaths.  Some Tibetans, Basques and Kurds would like to secede and have their own country.  Panama, Peru and Equador all used to be part of Colombia, although I think it was called Grande Colombia at some time.  Why they seceded, I don't know, except in Panama, the U.S. interfered because some U.S. citizens wanted to build the canal.  The Colombians would not agree to that, so Teddy Roosevelt got involved in getting the Panamanians to secede and agree to letting U.S. folks build the canal.  I don't think there was any unsufferable stuff going on in Panama, yet they seceded.  And my guess is they were as sane as any other group of humans.  I don't know about Teddy.  I am interested in the secession of Panama because it is a part of U.S. history.”

 . . . my response to round two:

            Re: sanity.  OK, I concede . . . certainly in the classical sense.  From my perspective, decision-making based on emotion is a form of insanity, as it often blots out facts and reasoning; thus, my statement.  I certainly agree with your principal contention that diagnosing and identifying mental illness for treatment or at least isolation to prevent injury to others is not a simple or easy process.  I have long contended we need an intervention process between over-taxed social workers and stretched law enforcement.  I call them the social police, but I am not satisfied with that label.  They would have triage process of progressively greater intervention to ensure public safety and proper treatment for mentally ill citizens.  My proposal for the social police is, better safe than sorry.  I would rather have slight overreaction than no action, as we have suffered for decades . . . examples galore.

            Re: Québécois.  A good example of emotion over reason.  The Canadians have gone out of their way to accommodate the Québécois in almost every aspect of public life. 

            Re: Biafran.  Wow, we learn something every day.  I was not aware of the Biafran secession effort.  I suppose Viet Nam dominated my attention back in those days.  Their grievances may have been valid 45 years ago, perhaps not so today.  I do not know in this instance.

            Re: secession.  I suppose the essence of the question is whether secession is for “light and transient causes.”  As with most things, where do we draw the line?  Does every individual become a State?  Panama is a bad example of the past – TR imperialism or at least jingoism.  Yes, Panama’s secession from Columbia came in the interests of the United States, although in that instance I could argue international interests, like international eminent domain.  We could also argue the Russians are trying to do the same thing in Eastern Ukraine as Americans did in a century ago in Panama.  We cannot undo the past.  So, we return to what is unsufferable in Ukraine, Quebec, Biafra, Scotland, et al?

My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)