Today is Memorial Day and it's fitting to remember the courage and sacrifice of our young men and women in uniform. I hope you'll become a regular reader of this blog because you'll be exposed to some of the books that I've read or am currently reading. One such book is "Where Men Win Glory" by Jon Krakauer. It's the story of Pat Tilman, a pro-football player with the Arizona Cardinals, who in the aftermath of 9/11 enlisted in the Army Rangers.
Krakauer in this masterful book, captures the heroism, madness and sadness of deployment in Afghanistan.Pat Tilman was killed in an unbelievable incident of friendly fire, and the U.S. Army obfuscated in a "cynical cover-up." The military brass tried to use Pat Tilman and then sought to hide the details behind his tragic death.
This book, along with other recent books like "Lone Survivor" by Navy Seal, Marcus Luttrell, have a common thread that runs throughout, and that is the lack of real leadership in today's military. All too often, our men on the ground find themselves in dangerous combat situations given orders from a commanding officer, or general who sitting behind a desk in an air-conditioned command post many miles away from the action. These commanding officers make life and death decisions regarding our men in uniform. All too often, these are bad decisions with little regard for the input from then men in the field. Maybe it's arrogance, pride, or just the need to let the soldier's know who's boss, but it more often than not leads to the needless deaths of our combat soldiers.
We have too many desk-generals who will not lead by example. We have too many generals who are nothing more than politicians who care more about their military career and pension than they do for the men they are commanding. Where are the real leaders today? Most of them are there with their boots on the ground in the midst of enemy fire. These soldiers when given the chance, are making the tough decisions, but at least they do so from an "on the ground, in your face" perspective.
In the case of Pat Tilman and the Navy Seals who died in "Lone Survivor", the tragic events could've been prevented if certain commanding officers would've left the coziness of their air-conditioned command posts and led their men on the ground. Maybe Pat Tilman would still be alive today, and once again playing for the Arizona Cardinals.
I agree 1,000%,Dale.
ReplyDeleteI would say these leaders are following the "leadership" or better that I should
say, lack thereof, of their commander in
chief.
Good article,
Carmen K.
I have often wondered if there was more to the cover up than what is obvious.
ReplyDeleteReal leaders are unlikely to survive the organizational maze of the military to advance to a level of command.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to Luttrell, it was the rules of engagement that led to their demise. They were concerned that if they eliminated the shepherd who discovered them, they could be prosecuted in court. The result was the ambush that killed all but one.
Every monkey has a tail. When you see a tail, grab it, and follow it back and you will find the monkey. Pat Tillman was coming home to expose the fact that US Military are being sacrificed for the sake of Drug money and world domination. That they are dying protecting 70% of the World's Heroin Market, That we are more than protecting farmers of opium, but that we are actually working with the bad guys, on purpose, and protecting shipments to Europe, Greece, then on to the US from there. Did you ever read the letter he sent his mom? Did you know that all military personal communications home are monitored, recorded and studied? This was no friendly fire, as I was told that he had already made plans for talk shows. He had told his friends "we have all been betrayed and I'm going to do my best to end this." Is that in the book? If you want more info, there are severl good short videos on "brasschecktv.com" under WAR.
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