Over at California Conservative I was taking a few moments to read one or two posts to catch up. I’d leave a couple of crazy, often times facetious sorts of comments (with near-riot consequences). I was pinged by the California Conservative after one such comment-drop. It seems they have a new series: Why We Fight. I was unaware of the Why We Fight Series over at Reporting for Duty, and I was asked to think about submitting a post.
Here’s the post I’m thinking of submitting folks, and I hope you like it. If not, well, who cares! 
Wander on over to someone else’s site where they are uncovering some whacko conspiracy theory about Newt Gingrich and Jack Abramoff having some unholy alliance! And while you are there, just realize, it’s futile, you’ll never catch them without wrangling more than a few moonbats in your lofty mission to rid the world of illegal-doers. Those wascaly wee-publicans!
I digress.
It goes without saying that my parents were, and still are, very supportive and proud. They were also very anxious because they both lived through World War II and Vietnam. Wouldn’t you be anxious if your only son goes traipsing off to join the military in such a topsy-turvey world that seemed fraught with peril?
There are three primary reasons that I chose to enlist in the United States Air Force. Along with the prime motivators that most can share with me, there are a few emotional and growth related reasons that I am sure many of you weighed as you entered service. I think we all have a few deep seated reasons that are quite similar, even if there are subtle differences. I’ll drop these on ya, one reason at a time.
As a Boy, People that made a Huge Difference
Hearing about brave men taking to the skies to fly some of the fastest planes in the world captured me. I can still remember the days when I’d be outside playing, or on the playground, and we’d hear the “BOOM” from the sonic boom of our fastest and bravest. Later, with God’s ever careful hand, I was stationed at a base where I worked on “The Sled”. She is the most amazing girl in the sky. I know some of you go back to the P-51 or the B-29, but for me, the Blackbird is my girl. No one can come close - except maybe the Dragonlady, her closest sister, or the Spectre or “puff” as she is known. Oh my, we have some amazing birds in the sky, don’t we? And, each bird is given the greatest gift which is her crews and the ground personnel that keep her flying without mishap.
In the civilian sector, when I was very young, I would stand at the window at San Francisco International Airport, watching the ground crews ready the DC-8s or later some 747s, for the next flights to the four corners of the world. As a 5 year old boy getting ready to ride United Airlines with my family, those planes spoke to me in a very real way, and I wanted to be on the ground making her take people where they wanted to go - safely.
I was very fortunate to meet a great man, a Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, and his wife, that were very good friends of my Mom and Dad. They were my first, “Military Family”, and he was larger than life! Colonel Benedict, God rest his soul, was an amazing man with an amazing story. And yet, he was very quiet and the farthest you could get from braggadocios. And, Colonel Benedict was the kindest man I had ever met, outside the men in my own family. A man’s man, a great man, and a man of honor.
With influences like this, would you think that joining the military was a joke?
Grandparents, Great Uncles, Uncles, and my Dad Served in so many branches of service
My Dad’s Dad, my Grandfather, worked to keep the British war effort in World War II on track and received the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire). I still have a very, very, worn piece of paper where the head office of my Grand Dad’s factory was praising his entire line for being far ahead of production and achieving higher than standard quality!
Uncle John, a Great Uncle on my Mom’s side, and one of my major male role models, was in the US Army. He was a tall man, quiet, and took great care in showing us he loved us. He would always take the time to talk to us and treat us like equals - even though we were little kids. I have so many other Great Uncles who served - going quite a ways back in time.
My Uncle worked as a civilian engineer on the electronics systems (I can’t tell you anymore than that - I’ll have to kill you, really!) on the first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571). If you know nothing about SSN-571, you really need to read up. She was, and still is, a marvel of engineering and commitment! Go Navy!!!
My Dad emigrated here from England. He told me stories of how their family had to endure the waves and waves of bombers and buzz bombs. And with the evil V-2 rocket on the horizon? Having been in the RAF as an ex-RAF Radio and Radar Site Operator, my Dad’s service instilled in me the commitment to ones country and the protection of those less capable of protecting themselves. There is a theme and something that is probably key to most of us that have served.
I had so many examples there was just no other path for me. College was to be later, and such an, anticlimactic experience. Those of you that have fond memories of college, I am in no way disparaging your experiences. But, for me, with my family history and my own experiences in the United States Air Force, anticlimactic is an understatement. Really.
With a lineage like that, why wouldn’t you join the US Military?
World Events, the Lack of a Backbone, and US Leadership Sinking Fast
I remember sitting in the car, when I was small, and hearing my parents getting upset because Richard Nixon was impeached. And, even though they were upset, I knew that there was a thread of truth that must be explored before I could own that history.
Then, in High School, that terrible day where so many proud men (only men back then, there were no women in combat at the time) lost their lives. That day was the day that Jimmy Carter failed to keep this country safe. That day was the day he totally botched the insertion into Iran to save the hostages. He spent so much time “talking” and not enough time DOING, that we had no strength. The friggin’ “group hug” brigade was in charge, and the great United States of America was goin’ down fast. My parents were calling for that man to get tossed out on his ear. No luck, we were stuck with that flippin’ bucket of peanut shells and his loser beer swillin’ brother! What a pair (fast forward to Arkansas, people, see any similarities? i do)! Jimmy Carter’s failure to get our hostages out of Iran got me all fired up, and placed me at the table taking my ASVABs (my scores vaulted me into an area which got the Navy to HOUND me to go subs!).
Leadership, and the lack of it, became cemented in my mind as one of the most important skills and aspirations for me, as a young man. Without true leadership, so many things become a frightful debacle placing our great country on a collision course with the giant “Soviet Iceberg”! From there, and my personal search into John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Teddy Kennedy, and later Jimmy Carter, did I truly see what was all around me. A new, post ’60s fervor, was beginning to rise, and it was challenging all of my beliefs. It was also threatening our great nation, and was exacting a terrible price from every American.
I enlisted while I was a Senior in High School (DEP - delayed enlistment program) in the United States Air Force. It was my life changing moment.
Did ya think I would have done anything less?
Now, the emotional stuff of which I am made, and why I fought
In Basic Training, one of the guys in my flight, on a truly bad day, asked me, “If you woke up tomorrow morning and your bags were at the end of your bed at home, what would you do?” I said then, and I say to myself every FRIGGIN’ morning that I wake up, “I’m ready to go.” And I would do everything that I did, to the letter, even though some of the things that happened in the military and in the civilian sector weren’t that much fun at times. It has made me who I am, who my wife loves, and who my two girls look up to and love. That kind of commitment, and sacrifice, is something many cannot afford to experience. It is often a lonely road, and one a select few take every day. But those who undertake the challenge can say they have done something not everyone in the world has done.
I am one of only a handful that have launched and recovered the SR-71 during the Cold War. I am one of many that has supported the President’s Mobile Airborne Command Post, the E-4A/B. I have worked on a planes with nicknames like, “Rivet Joint” and “Looking Glass”. I have been privy to supporting the great many of the 7th SOS while I was at Rhein Main AFB in Frankfurt during the Cold War. I have walked up to the “wall”, I have seen Fulda Gap (that was an eye opener!), and waited to be saluted by an East German Officer. You see, during those days, they must salute first - that’s protocol. Oh, and that’s what happens when you LOSE! I’ve had some Airborne guys adopt me on a TDY because I cold hold my liquor (Te-Kill-Ya Shots, my friends, tons of ‘em in a 3 hour sitting) and still push them outta the way to get to the bar to get one more. “Who’s this runt moving me aside? He’s had WHAT?! Give him some room! Hoorah!”
Camaraderie. The Stars and Stripes. Freedom. Family. Safety. Clear objectives. God. Kids laughing. Wives grieving. Arlington National Cemetery. The War of 1812. Paul Revere. The Minutemen. The Constitution. John Wayne. Right and Wrong. Breaking the sound barrier. Midway. Pearl Harbor. World War II. Apollo 13. Navstar. Nike Missiles. The Other Cowboy Ronald Reagan. End of the Cold War. On and on …
That is why we fight. That is why we are who we are. That is why, when people say, “I support the military, but I don’t support the mission”, you all hear a scuh-fuffle from us. You all lie like a shag rug, and we see right through every one of you. And when you begin to sell us out, force us to wear blue friggin’ helmets and no American flags on our uniforms, answering to some group of tin horn dictators, just so the Europeans will like you better?! When you turn the White House into a Hooters or Motel 6? We’re still there, fighting the good fight, because we see beyond the President. We see Old Glory, our fallen brothers, and those that will continue to serve beyond us as why we fight. Presidents will come and go, but the United States of America shall never falter - not while we’re on watch!
You may think we are brash, pig-headed, cocky, “ate up” (you have to have served to know that one), lifers, and yes, some say we are immature. But, I’ll let you in on a little secret, those of you that see us that way …
We do not care. We know who we are. We know why you are who you are. And, when your house is being overrun by bad guys, guess who stands in front, between you and that threat, and takes the bullet so you, you whiner, can continue your litigious little forays into stupidity, suing my friends and neighbors?
The Great Men and Women of the United States Military! We answer the call, no matter WHO picks up the phone and calls us.
Sleep tight, and, you’ll have no more bed bugs while we are on the line.
God Bless, and God Speed.
TAGS: Fix4RSO, Milblog, Military, Why+We+Fight, USAF
