Bunker Mulligan "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

Slice returns this week after a tour in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, my grandson has been practicing beach landings in preparation for Daddy’s return.

Marines prefer the beach to being aboard ship.

In The New Republic, Lawrence F. Kaplan cites many problems with letting the genie out of the bottle–having 4-star endorsements for candidates.

All my military career I was, like the majority of military men and women, apolitical. I voted, but I didn’t get involved. The President, whoever he might be, was my Commander in Chief. I was expected to do what he felt was necessary. Period. There is no place in the professional military for politics. Military folks understand this. Politicians don’t.

During the eight years of Clinton’s Presidency, his wife was deeply involved in the promotion of flag officers. Kaplan mentions this as something of an aside. Everyone with stars gets them through approval of the White House, and eight years is a significant portion of an officer’s career. I have to wonder who we have at the top right now. Anyone with three stars or less was probably promoted during that time. I hope they were promoted on merit. I not sure that’s the case. For that reason, Kaplan’s analysis agrees:

The politicization also may have a longer-term pernicious effect. There is a reason–beyond the Constitution–that political neutrality and military professionalism go hand in hand: As the nonpartisan ethos of the Armed Forces weakens, so, too, can traditional measures of military effectiveness. “Politicization erodes the cohesion, morale, and professional dedication of the officer corps,” says Kohn, who points to a hemorrhage of officers during the Clinton era as evidence of what follows when the military adopts partisan views and expectations. And it has: According to a survey taken by the Triangle Institute for Security Studies before the 2000 election, 64 percent of officers identify with the Republican Party, twice the percentage who did two decades before, and only 8 percent list themselves as Democrats. Given recent history, this may stand to reason. But, now more than ever, the Armed Forces need to be able to retain officers, maintain morale, and operate effectively, regardless of the party in the White House.

It might surprise many Americans to discover that this separation is uncommon in the world. When this country was formed, it was unique. It is the reason America has never sincerely feared a military coup.

I’d say there are two polar opposites in this game which can help with the distinction. Merrill McPeak has been vocal, first for Dean and then for Kerry. He wants a job. He didn’t receive the respect he felt he deserved as Air Force Chief of Staff. Tommy Franks said nothing. He delayed making an endorsement, then backed away from the public eye once he did so. McPeak the opportunist, and Franks the professional.

They each fit the candidate they endorsed.

I’ve had quite a few search referrals for General Merrill “Tony” McPeak, and felt I should add a little of my knowledge for those who are looking for information about him.

When he worked for Howard Dean, I wrote about him. When he began working for the Kerry campaign, I wrote once more. He’s looking for a job, I guess.

I don’t try to judge anyone who achieves flag rank without good reason. They got there due to intelligence and skill. Once you get a star, moving higher comes with a balance of military and political skills. Some lean one way, the rest another.

McPeak was the Air Force Chief of Staff when I finished out my career. That means he was in charge of the Air Force contingent at the Pentagon, and was not in the operational chain of command. He restructured the Air Force during his tenure, and made a lot of moves those of us in the field never really understood. I was in the 1st Special Operations Wing, a unit with significant history. When he changed everything, 1st SOW became 16th SOW. McPeak thought there should be only one “1st” and that was the 1st Fighter Wing. Other things made even less sense like wanting to base A-10s with C-130s so they could learn to work together better. They never do, work together that is.

Anyway, those were his decisions to make. McPeak worked for the Secretary of the Air Force, Donald Rice. Rice accompanied me on our deployment to Ethiopia in 1989. I was impressed. We had two congressmen along, and he did his level best to keep them out of our way. He was definitely a no-BS kind of guy.

A friend who was working in the Pentagon at the time called to tell me a story that was going around. The image of Rice fits the man I knew, so it seemed legitimate to me. During a meeting, McPeak said something Rice didn’t like. Rice turned to him and said, “General, shut up and worry about your new uniforms.”

Kev Gillett is a Vietnam Vet–from Australia. Oh, I’m sorry. You thought Johnson took us into Vietnam unilaterally.

Kev is pissed. And so is Peter:

This isn’t about George Bush or who has a Senate majority for me. It isn’t about politics. It’s about a bunch of young men who never grew old. It’s about the families of some 58,000 men who cannot answer the slander that this War Hee-row has never retracted.

I tried to answer that slander in 1971, I had no one to hear my voice. No way to reach anyone but my family. I have that way now, if only commenting on other people’s forums.

It isn’t about me. It isn’t even about politics. It’s about restoring the honor to the 58,000 names carved in black granite.

Peter left that as a comment on this post.

Kev had something else to add:

If you were the man who, in 1970, phoned the recently bereaved parents of a mate from my battalion and told them he deserved to die or the man in Adelaide who told me the dead of Long Tan deserved to die or the young women, who in 1971, ask me how many babies I had killed, or anyone who agreed with them then read the letter and look into your soul.

This is the essence of the Swift Boat campaign. It is something Kerry nor his minions in MSM or MoveOn.org or Hollywood can grasp because they’ve never felt this sense of Honor. With a capital H.

I just saw a banner creeping across the screen on MSNBC regarding Army Training Accident Kills Paratrooper. Since Birdie is in charge of weapons and EIB training for the Regiment, I made a quick call. His wife answered the phone. “He got in about eight this morning. Do you want me to wake him up?”

No. Let the young man sleep.

One 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper was killed and 25 were injured Thursday in a truck accident at Fort Bragg, the Army post said in a statement.

You know, something like this concerns me more than the entire time he was in Afghanistan and Iraq. For all the wailing and gnashing of teeth in the media about combat deaths, they care little about those lives lost frequently in training situations. As the leader for training (the other NCOs call him “Sergeant Major Junior”), Birdie was on the scene all night.

Sleep well, son.