In Vietnam I decided our generals were no longer leaders but politicians and politicians are interested only in what benefits them. Today we are ruled by selfish, liars with nothing in mind but the succession and continuation of their own power. If true patriots do not stand up as Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, all the founding fathers did, the United states is doomed to the garbage heap of history. I remember Jim Stockdale well. He would never stand by and watch what is happening to happen. We may be long in the tooth but we still have teeth. It's time to bare them.
I was profoundly affected by your piece, which came to me from another Retired Marine, both of us the Sons of Marines. My Father, also Retired, was a veteran of WWII, Korea,and Viet Nam. My friend's Father a veteran of WWII went across the beach at Iwo Jima. Needless to say this helped to shape our outlook. Likewise, in a current fashion, your view of our nation's current situation, and your prescription for how we deal with what you so clearly lay out, despite the dire outlook, using a solid Stoicism combined with the example of Admiral Stockdale is sage advice. I have come to similar conclusions as you, but appreciate your ability to clearly and comprehensively lay out the path before us. Admiral Stockdale's example as you have laid out will stick with me. We will need many of his kind. Thanks.
He left out one important part of the 'bright future' he sees... eventually. All of the Muslims that are now on our soil... they're not going away. I hate to paint them with a broad brush because as with all humans, there are good and bad. This refers to the bad. They are the biggest danger I see and I see no way of getting rid of them, especially, since they reproduce at a higher rate than we Americans with our now small families and aborted potential Americans. Add to that the number of stupid people that insist that they should be in our government. Without a civil war, I see no relief.
Trump was right again when he said he was smarter than his Generals. Just look at Antifa-supporter GEN Mark Milley. No one gets a face that puffy, or looks that prematurely aged than a lifelong drunk.
It’s obvious the Biden Admin made a deal with Milley- go along with our idiotic politically correct agenda, and we’ll let a drunk be Head, Joint Chiefs. And after that, he’ll benefit from wealthy Defense Industry post-retirement Board memberships.
Barry ObamImam started the purge of warfighting Flag Officers, to be replaced by know nothing “no-load” Flag Officers. A certain DFC- awarded Intruder B/Nanagator was stripped of one of his two stars after being railroaded out of the Navy under totally bogus charges. I followed his career and mistreatment because he was a friend at the West Coast Intruder RAG, and was definitely a “golden boy”!
His dad was an Intruder Skipper, he was an Academy grad, he became an Intruder Squadron Ops Officer, during times of major conflict and critical Middle East bombing campaigns as a LT, (UNHEARD OF!), and was on a fast-track to four stars.
Then someone in Barry Obama’s Admin decided that in order to totally emasculate the military, it was necessary to replace “fighting Flags”, with incompetent boobs like Lloyd Austin and Mark Milley. Their “Escape from Afghanistan” movie was a sequel to Escape from NY and LA, starring the great Snake Pliskin. When the day comes that we have male Blue Angel pilots performing their air shows wearing dresses under their flight gear, we will have come full circle from Ronald Reagan’s 600 ship Navy.
(I believe the Air Farce has already recruited a Thunderbird bubba in a dress….)
I remember Admiral Stockdale and his effect on the Naval War College. The ethics course he initiated there is still taught, but I was fortunate enough to be in the Seminar Class in 1991 with the man who wrote “Foundations of Moral Obligation - the Stockdale Course.” That would be Joseph Brennan, a remarkable professor, and the best I encountered in my time at Newport.
I wish your outlook would prevail. However once workfare became welfare it was only a matter of time. Paying people to have babies to get a free life destroyed the family organization
The loosing of hundreds of thousands of migrants with free living provided only hastened the process. Buying votes with “FREE” money was a downfall.
Why did this occur? Because welfare programs once started will never end. Where are the politicians who will sacrifice their reelection to fight such stupidity? Certainly not among the Dems who use this to gain power and become rich on tax payer money.
Certainly not the Reps who only worried about keeping their chance for riches at tax payer expense.
Think I never beleaguered them for years trying to get them to Listen? For years and hundreds of stamps and calls. None cared except with meaningless chatter. Nothing changed.
Having read the bios of Adam’s, Washington, Hamilton and other founding fathers and reading the speeches of that day snd the tremendous hardships and sacrifices it amazes me that this nation could tear itself apart.
But Jefferson and his ilk tried even back the to sink the ship. In FACT Jefferson succeeded. HE IS the one! HE is the one who fought Hamilton and won to grant one person one vote. Even though some may only benefit snd never contribute. Thus the downfall. Free money to those who vote for me.
An economist from France studied our system in the late 1700’s during the French Revolution and told his government our system would survive until the people discovered they could vote themselves money!
I am a baby boomer, grew up in the '50s and '60s, and served 2 years n the USMC (stateside, no hero here). After WWII, we have had, for the most part, ~76 years of world peace, i.e., no other world war. But, with Biden's election, I predict two wars, perhaps occurring simultaneously. The Democrats wish to disarm the law-abiding gun owners, incurring a 2nd civil war (damn the 2nd Amendment, they believe) and their projection of weakness will lead us into World War III. This country grew out of war, ended slavery through war, smashed the Axis powers in World War II, reached a stalemate in Korea, lost in Vietnam, and lost in Afghanistan. What am I getting at? I predict this country will be sorely tested in the next world war. I'm 73, and don't know if I will be around to see the consequences. Therefore, it behooves the younger generation to carry on the light of freedom to fight socialism/communism. All I can say is that it will not be easy. God only smiled on this country because we had patriot-warriors who stood against tyranny, sacrificing and dying in the process. Will we have enough such people in the future?
Leaders like VAdm Stockdale don’t hide in the flock of sycophants like today’s Dem-Socialists and they bristle at the crooked proddings of a false Shepherd like Joe Biden. We need more Man-Wolves leading our pack out of the worsening Socialism of America.
We again need to put America First to retake world leadership of a controlled and just peace through strength. Every page of our History glows of success when we did do … until review of today’s sad tale.
Look in every corner of today’s America and realize the failures of the Den-Socialist’s plan:
- to urge away evil,
- to oversee and mandate government compliance over every aspect of our lives,
- to the specific ruination of our economy and over-control of our businesses,
- to runaway inflation and rising costs for everything,
- to unbelievable and growing National Debt,
- to growing taxes,
- to endless and growing social programs,
- to the dumbing down of our schools on the assurance that minorities can not compete so school should be easier for them and all,
- to rampant and growing crime in all our major cities,
- to Homelessness as a growing epidemic on our sidewalks,
- to the legalization of drugs and the establishment of a recreational drug society to generate tax revenues from addiction and slothful living,
- to unfettered immigration,
- to mandatory Covid shots for citizens but none required or health vetting of immigrants from known cess pools of disease,
- to the forced resettlement of immigrants throughout USA insuring the spread of disease and depravity,
- to the never ending and unsolvable debate over equity and equality,
- to the pandering of LGBTQ and Others of Non or Binary appellations such that no one is truthfully unique or even just as created,
- to the continued and growing subjugation of the minorities and poor to keep them in their place …
If the above coupled with the below are not enough to give pause to all Americans in the ballot box come the 2022 Midterms and the 2024 General Election then we are lost to decline, ruination, and to the footnote status of
being another of ~500 year great society.
The author of the below expresses optimism that America will awaken and tighten belts and take action to again reach our boot straps … I sincerely hope he is right but I don’t see enough Jim Stockdales now.
Dem-Socialists are not individually bad people and many speak glowingly about their concerns for others and inclusion and fairness, but in the actualization of their platitudes they call up and use policies that have always failed but they rely on a populace that is too busy in petty personal pursuits to study either American History or American Civics to know that today’s Dem-Socialism will too fail.
If the below Author’s assessment is true that “belt tightening” is what we need - there are many tab ends to be grabbed.
My greatest respect to all who served in Vietnam. My apologies for having raised anger. I have passed Mr. Heflim’s Stockdale article on to many folks of like mind. Great man, great timing for the article.
Marty, thank you for guiding me back onto this line of thought! Stoicism IS a ‘warriors creed’ school of thought. Pure and strong.
In the end though, honest men will usually admit to weakness of spirit when faced with the eternal and that’s where Hellenistic (Greek) thought was subsumed or overcome by early Christianity.
I went back to look more deeply into Stoicism:
Wikipedia version:
Many Stoics—such as Seneca and Epictetus—emphasized that because "virtue is sufficient for happiness", a sage would be emotionally resilient to misfortune. This belief is similar to the meaning of the phrase "stoic calm", though the phrase does not include the "radical ethical" Stoic views that only a sage can be considered truly free and that all moral corruptions are equally vicious.[3]
I like to think, I’d bet all YOUR readers do, but that said, I ain’t no Sage!
Thanks,
David Old. ATP/MEI/Commercial Rotor.
Ps thanks for the other kind comments on the string!
Stockdale was a heroic but only partially educated man it appears. I was moved by it all until the end when his purely humanistic approach fell apart on the rocks of scriptural and theistic ignorance.
I will do as the noble Stockdale says, have done so in many ways, but: in the end I will trust in Jesus the Captain of our Souls and the Author and Finisher of our (my) faith.
In Vietnam I decided our generals were no longer leaders but politicians and politicians are interested only in what benefits them. Today we are ruled by selfish, liars with nothing in mind but the succession and continuation of their own power. If true patriots do not stand up as Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, all the founding fathers did, the United states is doomed to the garbage heap of history. I remember Jim Stockdale well. He would never stand by and watch what is happening to happen. We may be long in the tooth but we still have teeth. It's time to bare them.
I was profoundly affected by your piece, which came to me from another Retired Marine, both of us the Sons of Marines. My Father, also Retired, was a veteran of WWII, Korea,and Viet Nam. My friend's Father a veteran of WWII went across the beach at Iwo Jima. Needless to say this helped to shape our outlook. Likewise, in a current fashion, your view of our nation's current situation, and your prescription for how we deal with what you so clearly lay out, despite the dire outlook, using a solid Stoicism combined with the example of Admiral Stockdale is sage advice. I have come to similar conclusions as you, but appreciate your ability to clearly and comprehensively lay out the path before us. Admiral Stockdale's example as you have laid out will stick with me. We will need many of his kind. Thanks.
He left out one important part of the 'bright future' he sees... eventually. All of the Muslims that are now on our soil... they're not going away. I hate to paint them with a broad brush because as with all humans, there are good and bad. This refers to the bad. They are the biggest danger I see and I see no way of getting rid of them, especially, since they reproduce at a higher rate than we Americans with our now small families and aborted potential Americans. Add to that the number of stupid people that insist that they should be in our government. Without a civil war, I see no relief.
Trump was right again when he said he was smarter than his Generals. Just look at Antifa-supporter GEN Mark Milley. No one gets a face that puffy, or looks that prematurely aged than a lifelong drunk.
It’s obvious the Biden Admin made a deal with Milley- go along with our idiotic politically correct agenda, and we’ll let a drunk be Head, Joint Chiefs. And after that, he’ll benefit from wealthy Defense Industry post-retirement Board memberships.
Barry ObamImam started the purge of warfighting Flag Officers, to be replaced by know nothing “no-load” Flag Officers. A certain DFC- awarded Intruder B/Nanagator was stripped of one of his two stars after being railroaded out of the Navy under totally bogus charges. I followed his career and mistreatment because he was a friend at the West Coast Intruder RAG, and was definitely a “golden boy”!
His dad was an Intruder Skipper, he was an Academy grad, he became an Intruder Squadron Ops Officer, during times of major conflict and critical Middle East bombing campaigns as a LT, (UNHEARD OF!), and was on a fast-track to four stars.
Then someone in Barry Obama’s Admin decided that in order to totally emasculate the military, it was necessary to replace “fighting Flags”, with incompetent boobs like Lloyd Austin and Mark Milley. Their “Escape from Afghanistan” movie was a sequel to Escape from NY and LA, starring the great Snake Pliskin. When the day comes that we have male Blue Angel pilots performing their air shows wearing dresses under their flight gear, we will have come full circle from Ronald Reagan’s 600 ship Navy.
(I believe the Air Farce has already recruited a Thunderbird bubba in a dress….)
I remember Admiral Stockdale and his effect on the Naval War College. The ethics course he initiated there is still taught, but I was fortunate enough to be in the Seminar Class in 1991 with the man who wrote “Foundations of Moral Obligation - the Stockdale Course.” That would be Joseph Brennan, a remarkable professor, and the best I encountered in my time at Newport.
I wish your outlook would prevail. However once workfare became welfare it was only a matter of time. Paying people to have babies to get a free life destroyed the family organization
The loosing of hundreds of thousands of migrants with free living provided only hastened the process. Buying votes with “FREE” money was a downfall.
Why did this occur? Because welfare programs once started will never end. Where are the politicians who will sacrifice their reelection to fight such stupidity? Certainly not among the Dems who use this to gain power and become rich on tax payer money.
Certainly not the Reps who only worried about keeping their chance for riches at tax payer expense.
Think I never beleaguered them for years trying to get them to Listen? For years and hundreds of stamps and calls. None cared except with meaningless chatter. Nothing changed.
Having read the bios of Adam’s, Washington, Hamilton and other founding fathers and reading the speeches of that day snd the tremendous hardships and sacrifices it amazes me that this nation could tear itself apart.
But Jefferson and his ilk tried even back the to sink the ship. In FACT Jefferson succeeded. HE IS the one! HE is the one who fought Hamilton and won to grant one person one vote. Even though some may only benefit snd never contribute. Thus the downfall. Free money to those who vote for me.
An economist from France studied our system in the late 1700’s during the French Revolution and told his government our system would survive until the people discovered they could vote themselves money!
Our outcome will be Argentine’s
.
Frank Ingels
May GOD richly bless you and all those who defend us! Buford-85-DAV/US Army
I am a baby boomer, grew up in the '50s and '60s, and served 2 years n the USMC (stateside, no hero here). After WWII, we have had, for the most part, ~76 years of world peace, i.e., no other world war. But, with Biden's election, I predict two wars, perhaps occurring simultaneously. The Democrats wish to disarm the law-abiding gun owners, incurring a 2nd civil war (damn the 2nd Amendment, they believe) and their projection of weakness will lead us into World War III. This country grew out of war, ended slavery through war, smashed the Axis powers in World War II, reached a stalemate in Korea, lost in Vietnam, and lost in Afghanistan. What am I getting at? I predict this country will be sorely tested in the next world war. I'm 73, and don't know if I will be around to see the consequences. Therefore, it behooves the younger generation to carry on the light of freedom to fight socialism/communism. All I can say is that it will not be easy. God only smiled on this country because we had patriot-warriors who stood against tyranny, sacrificing and dying in the process. Will we have enough such people in the future?
Leaders like VAdm Stockdale don’t hide in the flock of sycophants like today’s Dem-Socialists and they bristle at the crooked proddings of a false Shepherd like Joe Biden. We need more Man-Wolves leading our pack out of the worsening Socialism of America.
We again need to put America First to retake world leadership of a controlled and just peace through strength. Every page of our History glows of success when we did do … until review of today’s sad tale.
Look in every corner of today’s America and realize the failures of the Den-Socialist’s plan:
- to urge away evil,
- to oversee and mandate government compliance over every aspect of our lives,
- to the specific ruination of our economy and over-control of our businesses,
- to runaway inflation and rising costs for everything,
- to unbelievable and growing National Debt,
- to growing taxes,
- to endless and growing social programs,
- to the dumbing down of our schools on the assurance that minorities can not compete so school should be easier for them and all,
- to rampant and growing crime in all our major cities,
- to Homelessness as a growing epidemic on our sidewalks,
- to the legalization of drugs and the establishment of a recreational drug society to generate tax revenues from addiction and slothful living,
- to unfettered immigration,
- to mandatory Covid shots for citizens but none required or health vetting of immigrants from known cess pools of disease,
- to the forced resettlement of immigrants throughout USA insuring the spread of disease and depravity,
- to the never ending and unsolvable debate over equity and equality,
- to the pandering of LGBTQ and Others of Non or Binary appellations such that no one is truthfully unique or even just as created,
- to the continued and growing subjugation of the minorities and poor to keep them in their place …
If the above coupled with the below are not enough to give pause to all Americans in the ballot box come the 2022 Midterms and the 2024 General Election then we are lost to decline, ruination, and to the footnote status of
being another of ~500 year great society.
The author of the below expresses optimism that America will awaken and tighten belts and take action to again reach our boot straps … I sincerely hope he is right but I don’t see enough Jim Stockdales now.
Dem-Socialists are not individually bad people and many speak glowingly about their concerns for others and inclusion and fairness, but in the actualization of their platitudes they call up and use policies that have always failed but they rely on a populace that is too busy in petty personal pursuits to study either American History or American Civics to know that today’s Dem-Socialism will too fail.
If the below Author’s assessment is true that “belt tightening” is what we need - there are many tab ends to be grabbed.
My greatest respect to all who served in Vietnam. My apologies for having raised anger. I have passed Mr. Heflim’s Stockdale article on to many folks of like mind. Great man, great timing for the article.
Saturday evening and finished flying!
Marty, thank you for guiding me back onto this line of thought! Stoicism IS a ‘warriors creed’ school of thought. Pure and strong.
In the end though, honest men will usually admit to weakness of spirit when faced with the eternal and that’s where Hellenistic (Greek) thought was subsumed or overcome by early Christianity.
I went back to look more deeply into Stoicism:
Wikipedia version:
Many Stoics—such as Seneca and Epictetus—emphasized that because "virtue is sufficient for happiness", a sage would be emotionally resilient to misfortune. This belief is similar to the meaning of the phrase "stoic calm", though the phrase does not include the "radical ethical" Stoic views that only a sage can be considered truly free and that all moral corruptions are equally vicious.[3]
I like to think, I’d bet all YOUR readers do, but that said, I ain’t no Sage!
Thanks,
David Old. ATP/MEI/Commercial Rotor.
Ps thanks for the other kind comments on the string!
Stockdale was a heroic but only partially educated man it appears. I was moved by it all until the end when his purely humanistic approach fell apart on the rocks of scriptural and theistic ignorance.
I will do as the noble Stockdale says, have done so in many ways, but: in the end I will trust in Jesus the Captain of our Souls and the Author and Finisher of our (my) faith.