If we are to honor all those who’ve died in our names, we must remember each individual soul. On this Memorial Day, I pay tribute to Private First Class Joseph Knott.
Thank you for sharing this story. For someone who has no military experience it's good to hear this perspective and understand the reality of military life and combat, and losing your brother or sister in combat.
Thank you HR for your insight and perspective. I think every day of your phrase "self loathing" and hope to help make it a passing phase in our country,
As a Vietnam veteran, I know firsthand the horrors of war. Scarcely a day goes by that I don't think about those men and women who died, not only in Vietnam, but in all the wars our country has fought to keep us free and safe. My U.S. Flag flies proudly in my yard every day, and it will until I die and can join our country’s heroes in heaven. God bless America and long may she stand!
Whenever I visit my best friends in Wisconsin, we visit their local small city cemetery and I marvel at the many graves of men such as this. Thank you USA from a Canadian.
In “A Soldier of the Great War” the author Mark Helprin wrote “He knew that this was because the war was still in him, and that it would be in him for a long time to come, for soldiers who have been blooded are soldiers forever. They never fit in. Even when they finally settle down, the settling is tenuous, for when they close their eyes they see their comrades who have fallen. That they cannot forget, that they do not forget, that they never allow themselves to heal completely, is their way of expressing their love for friends who have perished. And they will not change, because they have become what they have become to keep the fallen alive.” May God continue to bless all who have fallen and all who carry their memory in their heart.
I know two military members killed in the Pentagon on 9/11 and took some time yesterday to remember both of them, as well as visiting the 9/11 memorial in NYC a few weeks ago.
I really hope we can reach a place where the powers that be start thinking long and hard before sending people off to wars in far away places that serve little or no interest to the U.S. Perhaps a draft with NO exemptions or deferments so that the kids of Congresspeople and Defense Contractors could be drafted?
This old medic turned Chaplain says thank you, General, for your deep devotion to the people we both served. May God bless their memory until He returns to put an end to all wars. Amen!
General McMaster: Please allow me first to note how I revere our men and women in uniform - and among them most revere the lowest ranks. But on this Memorial Day, I'll have to stop there. These lowest ranking men and women - and their families - have born the consequence of the stupidity of their superiors - both those in uniform and their civilian leaders.
I did not always see it this way. I recall Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait and our successful efforts to repel it. It showed the best in us. We used naval combat power to deliver expeditionary combat power to put an end to aggression. And then we came home. I reflexively supported this idea of who America is on the world stage.
In 2001, after 9/11, when we responded to the terrorist attacks, I though we would see a reprise. Kill or capture Osama Bin Laden, cripple Al Qaeda, and then come home. I was, at that time, teaching boys barely out of diapers how to hit a baseball. My mind began to change some 15 years later. These same boys I had taught the game of baseball were starting to enlist - to fight the same war.
It was clear that something was very wrong. If there was a victory to be won, we would have won it by then. Since we clearly had not, nor were we, winning in any sense that would allow us to come home, I had to question my own beliefs and support. On Memorial Day of 2023, here are my answers to those questions:
1) The history of war is the history of money; and the history of money is the history of war. Because we borrow with abandon, and prop up the ability to do so by printing the world's trade reserve currency, no one on the civilian side of these questions has ever suffered any consequences for being wrong. They literally paper over their failures with new money and leave you to eulogize the consequences.
2) We have always had a realistic school and an interventionist school in U.S. foreign policy. When money is unrestrained, the interventionists gain the upper hand. When money is restrained, that restraint enforces foreign policy realism.
3) Terrorism today is merely the Barbary Pirates of old plus digital propaganda. We handled this once before. We used naval combat power to deliver expeditionary combat power to put an end to the threat. And then we came home.
My wife is from Malaysia. She took the oath of U.S. citizenship before me and our two boys in 2010. One of those two boys now works in D.C. When we last visited, my wife was adamant about visiting Arlington. She spoke of how - as an immigrant - it was essential to pay her respects to those who have fought for our way of life. I was honest with her: I wondered aloud how many people are buried there who were taken from us too soon by ill-considered decisions.
There is no better way to honor their memory than to demand we return to our traditions of realism. There are things worth fighting for, and times when we will have to fight for them. But it seems we no longer know the difference because the people who decide those things never suffer when they are wrong.
Again, they leave it to people like you to eulogize the consequences of their failures. But people like me are starting to get really tired of eulogies bereft of the lessons which are needed to help us avoid the mistakes of the past.
The armies must be remembered as comprised of individuals, of Americans. And we have truly let them down; in terms of those who returned to homelessness, poverty, and despair generating suicide, but also to sending kids, they are kids, into combat inadequately equipped. Do we not remember moms holding bake sales to buy the better body armor? The two weapons most lethal to our troops in Iraq were IEDs and RPGs. In 1944, towards the end of WWII, we produced almost 100,000 airplanes.General Motors produces an an APC with a hull design to deflect blasts from IEDs and keep their passengers safe. They produced very few of these, largely for visiting VIPs. The Israelis developed a battle field tested system to protect armored vehicles from RPGs; the Pentagon didn’t buy them. Congressional hearings were held and the military agreed to purchase these protective devices for the Marines, but the Army would contract with Raytheon to develop an analogous system in 4 years. We need to honor the dead; we need to remember with great gratitude, the sacrifices of those who survived, but we need to be aware of the motivations of those who send our military, our children into battle. Here’s a strategy: we need to articulate in advance, how will we know when we’ve won. If you can’t define it, don’t t kill anyone’s kids
Every time I see a photo of a young man or woman who lost their life to war, it breaks my heart. In particular, the wars of recent years that I sometimes wonder why we are even there. I am old enough to remember the Vietnam War and how our military was treated when they came home. It was no fault of their own that they were sent there. They were treated terribly and many suffering from PTSD. Unfortunately, IMHO, we still need a very strong military because it seems the human race just cannot get over its preoccupation and obsession with land and power. And as such, we continue to have war and we continue to lose too many young people who sacrifice their lives to keep us safe but also to do the BIDDING OF TYRANNICAL GOVERNMENTS.
Yes, I know free speech is an important value, but that doesn't mean that every comment is worthy of respect. This article really struck me emotionally, as did many of the comments and stories shared here. Then I read some a-hole who actually says that McMaster and the fallen soldier are murderers. Shame on you, keyboard warrior, for your cynicism and snark. Can't we have just one day to honor those who gave their lives?
My uncle, Peter Paul, died in May 1945 at the Battle of Okinawa. He was a raw recruit with barely any training, but I cherish the letter of praise his commanding officer sent to my grandmother. Her only son died in battle patriotically serving the country in which she, as survivor of the Armenian Genocide, found refuge. I would only hope that today we look at policies which embolden groups like AQ and IS to continue more of the same genocidal action across the ME and Africa.
Thank you for sharing this story. For someone who has no military experience it's good to hear this perspective and understand the reality of military life and combat, and losing your brother or sister in combat.
Thank you HR for your insight and perspective. I think every day of your phrase "self loathing" and hope to help make it a passing phase in our country,
As a Vietnam veteran, I know firsthand the horrors of war. Scarcely a day goes by that I don't think about those men and women who died, not only in Vietnam, but in all the wars our country has fought to keep us free and safe. My U.S. Flag flies proudly in my yard every day, and it will until I die and can join our country’s heroes in heaven. God bless America and long may she stand!
Whenever I visit my best friends in Wisconsin, we visit their local small city cemetery and I marvel at the many graves of men such as this. Thank you USA from a Canadian.
I remember this day very clearly, a difficult start to a pretty tough year for the regiment. Great article, Rifles 6.
In “A Soldier of the Great War” the author Mark Helprin wrote “He knew that this was because the war was still in him, and that it would be in him for a long time to come, for soldiers who have been blooded are soldiers forever. They never fit in. Even when they finally settle down, the settling is tenuous, for when they close their eyes they see their comrades who have fallen. That they cannot forget, that they do not forget, that they never allow themselves to heal completely, is their way of expressing their love for friends who have perished. And they will not change, because they have become what they have become to keep the fallen alive.” May God continue to bless all who have fallen and all who carry their memory in their heart.
I know two military members killed in the Pentagon on 9/11 and took some time yesterday to remember both of them, as well as visiting the 9/11 memorial in NYC a few weeks ago.
I really hope we can reach a place where the powers that be start thinking long and hard before sending people off to wars in far away places that serve little or no interest to the U.S. Perhaps a draft with NO exemptions or deferments so that the kids of Congresspeople and Defense Contractors could be drafted?
Thanks for a perfect remembrance on this Memorial Day
This old medic turned Chaplain says thank you, General, for your deep devotion to the people we both served. May God bless their memory until He returns to put an end to all wars. Amen!
General McMaster: Please allow me first to note how I revere our men and women in uniform - and among them most revere the lowest ranks. But on this Memorial Day, I'll have to stop there. These lowest ranking men and women - and their families - have born the consequence of the stupidity of their superiors - both those in uniform and their civilian leaders.
I did not always see it this way. I recall Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait and our successful efforts to repel it. It showed the best in us. We used naval combat power to deliver expeditionary combat power to put an end to aggression. And then we came home. I reflexively supported this idea of who America is on the world stage.
In 2001, after 9/11, when we responded to the terrorist attacks, I though we would see a reprise. Kill or capture Osama Bin Laden, cripple Al Qaeda, and then come home. I was, at that time, teaching boys barely out of diapers how to hit a baseball. My mind began to change some 15 years later. These same boys I had taught the game of baseball were starting to enlist - to fight the same war.
It was clear that something was very wrong. If there was a victory to be won, we would have won it by then. Since we clearly had not, nor were we, winning in any sense that would allow us to come home, I had to question my own beliefs and support. On Memorial Day of 2023, here are my answers to those questions:
1) The history of war is the history of money; and the history of money is the history of war. Because we borrow with abandon, and prop up the ability to do so by printing the world's trade reserve currency, no one on the civilian side of these questions has ever suffered any consequences for being wrong. They literally paper over their failures with new money and leave you to eulogize the consequences.
2) We have always had a realistic school and an interventionist school in U.S. foreign policy. When money is unrestrained, the interventionists gain the upper hand. When money is restrained, that restraint enforces foreign policy realism.
3) Terrorism today is merely the Barbary Pirates of old plus digital propaganda. We handled this once before. We used naval combat power to deliver expeditionary combat power to put an end to the threat. And then we came home.
My wife is from Malaysia. She took the oath of U.S. citizenship before me and our two boys in 2010. One of those two boys now works in D.C. When we last visited, my wife was adamant about visiting Arlington. She spoke of how - as an immigrant - it was essential to pay her respects to those who have fought for our way of life. I was honest with her: I wondered aloud how many people are buried there who were taken from us too soon by ill-considered decisions.
There is no better way to honor their memory than to demand we return to our traditions of realism. There are things worth fighting for, and times when we will have to fight for them. But it seems we no longer know the difference because the people who decide those things never suffer when they are wrong.
Again, they leave it to people like you to eulogize the consequences of their failures. But people like me are starting to get really tired of eulogies bereft of the lessons which are needed to help us avoid the mistakes of the past.
“War is a racket”
Col. Smedley Butler USMC
Yes, indeed: https://www.thomaspaines.blog/p/the-rise-of-corporatist-techno-fascism
The armies must be remembered as comprised of individuals, of Americans. And we have truly let them down; in terms of those who returned to homelessness, poverty, and despair generating suicide, but also to sending kids, they are kids, into combat inadequately equipped. Do we not remember moms holding bake sales to buy the better body armor? The two weapons most lethal to our troops in Iraq were IEDs and RPGs. In 1944, towards the end of WWII, we produced almost 100,000 airplanes.General Motors produces an an APC with a hull design to deflect blasts from IEDs and keep their passengers safe. They produced very few of these, largely for visiting VIPs. The Israelis developed a battle field tested system to protect armored vehicles from RPGs; the Pentagon didn’t buy them. Congressional hearings were held and the military agreed to purchase these protective devices for the Marines, but the Army would contract with Raytheon to develop an analogous system in 4 years. We need to honor the dead; we need to remember with great gratitude, the sacrifices of those who survived, but we need to be aware of the motivations of those who send our military, our children into battle. Here’s a strategy: we need to articulate in advance, how will we know when we’ve won. If you can’t define it, don’t t kill anyone’s kids
Every time I see a photo of a young man or woman who lost their life to war, it breaks my heart. In particular, the wars of recent years that I sometimes wonder why we are even there. I am old enough to remember the Vietnam War and how our military was treated when they came home. It was no fault of their own that they were sent there. They were treated terribly and many suffering from PTSD. Unfortunately, IMHO, we still need a very strong military because it seems the human race just cannot get over its preoccupation and obsession with land and power. And as such, we continue to have war and we continue to lose too many young people who sacrifice their lives to keep us safe but also to do the BIDDING OF TYRANNICAL GOVERNMENTS.
Thanks for including the comment from the Mayor of Tal Afar. I think there are many Iraqis who would agree with his comments.
Little to say other than thank you! Beautifully profound!!
Yes, I know free speech is an important value, but that doesn't mean that every comment is worthy of respect. This article really struck me emotionally, as did many of the comments and stories shared here. Then I read some a-hole who actually says that McMaster and the fallen soldier are murderers. Shame on you, keyboard warrior, for your cynicism and snark. Can't we have just one day to honor those who gave their lives?
My uncle, Peter Paul, died in May 1945 at the Battle of Okinawa. He was a raw recruit with barely any training, but I cherish the letter of praise his commanding officer sent to my grandmother. Her only son died in battle patriotically serving the country in which she, as survivor of the Armenian Genocide, found refuge. I would only hope that today we look at policies which embolden groups like AQ and IS to continue more of the same genocidal action across the ME and Africa.