Kneeling

People have been bombarding me with my opinion on NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. My response, expectedly, left both sides of the debate unhappy.

My first issue is that I am being hunted down to be asked at all. I don't know about everyone, but I didn't join the military to be some special class of citizen that needs to be babied constantly. My opinion on this is no more important than any American's opinion. I would beware anyone telling you that this or that is demeaning to veterans. Not that it doesn't happen. One that comes to mind is the woman who pictured herself yelling at Arlington Cemetary. That is disrespecting the military. That woman also paid dearly for that error in judgment. Case closed in my opinion. I wish her no ill will.

But when it is a point of patriotism, that affects me no more than it does any other citizen. "But I had friends who came home under that flag!" says the angry Facebook veterans. "I have sacrificed more!". So have I. But I am not taking their sacrifice to make everything about me. I lost friends, those men were lost to their wives, their children, their parents, and much more. We lost them as a country, not just me or just veterans.

Also, the reasons we were supposed to be out there was to protect those very rights that these NFL players were expressing. If you are going to fight to defend those rights, then use your status as a veteran to suppress them when you get home, I don't know what exactly you were fighting for. Don't think the US is the first country in the world to use our veterans as a means to suppress the rights of their people. This was a critical element that our founding fathers were against.

Now to piss off the other side. I am not a fan of the kneeling. Not because my feelings are hurt, or because I think forced patriotism is a sign of a healthy country. But because I believe in the goal the NFL players are striving toward, and I think this is taking them further and further from it.

To be clear, I do think that our country has serious problems with race relations, and those problems are more serious than just a cab not picking someone up or people crossing the street to walk. It's issues that suppress a large segment of our population, causes them grief and suffering, and can easily lead to their death. Even from a selfish viewpoint, millions upon millions of Americans before trampled upon effects all of us, even if we aren't the ones with boots on our backs.

"So you think cops hate black people and are just looking for excuses to murder them?!?"

No. I think police officers are incredible people with very difficult jobs that many of us could not handle. I think your average officer wakes up every morning wanting to go out, do their job which is keeping us safe, and go home to their family at the end of their shift. I also think they are critical elements of our society.

But, as one of my First Sergeants used to say, there are dirtbags in every group. He called it the rule of 10%s. 10% of the military is dirtbags who need to be found and thrown out, 10% are the heroes that will save the day, and 80% are the average joes that need to be lead. I'm a Marine, and I guarantee if you ask me or any other Marine, we can tell you stories of dirtbags who should have never been in uniform and never put behind a rifle. Marines who were idiots. Marines who were racists. Marines who needed to be thrown out. That realization doesn't mean I hate Marines. Not at all. That's just being honest. I got to be one of the detainee guards who escorted The Pendleton 8 out of Iraq. I sure as hell don't feel bad about that.

That is where I am sitting with police officers. The vast majority of them are awesome people. But there is scum that needs to be thrown out, and it terrifies me when they not only aren't but when wagons get circled for officers who don't deserve the backup. It's because the police are such important and essential parts of our government and our life that we have to hold them to the highest standards. Not low standards because the job is difficult.

Which brings me back to why I am not a fan of the kneeling. When I discuss the issue of US police with people, including people who are completely against my position, the best way I bring them around to understand is changing the issue from a civil rights issue, to a government overreach issue. These are American citizens being killed by government officials, and we need to do something to curb that.

But in brief, I think that kneeling of NFL players isn't the best method to further their goals. But I think it would be wrong of me as a fellow American to ignore my neighbor's plights because they didn't bring it up to me in a manner I felt comfortable with. I also think it's ridiculous that the kneeling is being portrayed as insulting to veterans. I have asked many, many people, and I can't find a single instance in American history where kneeling before something is insulting. Many, many examples of the opposite though. Beyond that, nothing about the flag or National Anthem should mean any more to me as a veteran than any American civilian. I think our founding fathers would be disgusted by the government using veterans as a shield to suppress civilians' speech.

The D2D Guide To General James Mattis

Retired Marine Corps General James Mattis has been selected by President Elect Trump for Secretary of Defense. That's a lot of official titles right there. General Mattis still has some hurdles to overcome, including getting a waiver from Congress to bypass the National Security Act of 1947. This shouldn't prove too difficult, as Congress granted waivers for that within years of the Act passing.

For me, this has been the first and only cabinet pick by Trump that is remotely acceptable. I'm not special in that sense, that seems to be the running thought of most Americans. But there has been some pushback, mostly because of quotes attributed to General Mattis. Even someone I am a big fan of, Robert Reich made a worried statement on facebook about the pick.

Off the bat, I understand why there is pushback on the pick. First, and likely the biggest reason for the pushback is how horrible virtually every other pick of Trump's has been. In my personal opinion, a democracy lasts only as long as you can keep money from getting infused into politics. The more money that gets put in, the less avenues average citizens have to vent pressure. All governments need pressure valves where regular Joes can let off steam, make noticeable changes, and feel like part of the system and not a subject under it. Someone who doesn't feel like part of a society will either knowingly, or unknowingly work to destroy it. It's human nature. With the long list of billionaires and millionaires that are taking over our executive branch, I am worried along with the rest of you that money will become even a larger part of politics than it was before, and it is hugely incorporated into politics already.

I know, I know. How could we know Hillary would have been any better? I honestly doubt it would have been better. I was right there with the rest of you complaining about her ties to wall street. But that thought doesn't mean I can't complain about what is actually happening now rather than compare it to what would have theoretically happened. Hillary is gone. Unless the DNC is dumber than even I think, she won't be a contender for president again. We need to deal with what is really happening.

But on to the point of this post. General Mattis has some crazy quotes floating out there. We are already a warmongering country. One of the few bipartisan agreements is we need to stop being the world police. How can we be comfortable with a Secretary of Defense that has quotes about loving fighting and killing?

I served under Mattis when I was with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines and he commanded I MEF. Of course, I was but a filthy Lance Corporal/Corporal, so it's not like him and I were drinking buddies. I managed to get a handshake in with him once. Sadly, he was already out of challenge coins since he was being swamped by Marines. I'm still a little salty about that. But I personally benefitted from working under Mattis. So I am not exactly an unbiased source, but I will do my best.

So why do military and especially Marines love him so much? There is a number of reasons. First, he was an intellectual in a branch that is not exactly known for intellectualism. General Mattis was well known for being an educated and intelligent man. He had a library of over 6000 books that he took with him from post to post from ancient Roman philosophies to modern military tactics. Reading and Marines go together like oil and water, so this is particularly amazing.

But what about those violent and antagonistic quotes?!? Talking about loving to kill people isn't exactly a hallmark of intellectualism. One of his quotes is:

“You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. Actually it’s quite fun to fight them, you know. It’s a hell of a hoot. It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right up there with you. I like brawling.”

Not exactly politically correct. But there is a couple things you have to remember. First, one of the horrors of our deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan is seeing the horrible treatment of women and girls in those two countries. We've seen women getting the hell beat out of them in public. We've seen little girls rigged with bombs because they were already a burden on their family not being a boy. I've had to clean the remains of a 6 year old girl (guessing her age) off the side of my truck after her parents and Imam rigged her to blow up. She ran away from us, likely because she knew she was sent to kill us. They still detonated her as she ran.

So a General talking about these horrors isn't being callous. He is just speaking from experience that many Americans thankfully don't have. I personally never wanted to kill anyone. When I went to Iraq, it was to try and prevent killing, unless absolutely necessary. My fellow detainee guard and I actually got threatened with NJPs for not killing people, and instead physically restraining them at the risk of our own lives. I have no love of killing people. But I absolutely understand where General Mattis is coming from with that statement. It's not pretty. It's not PC. But it speaks to his men who have these experiences.

There are other quotes by Mattis that aren't getting much air time. But they are supremely important to understanding who this man is:

“You are part of the world’s most feared and trusted force. Engage your brain before you engage your weapon.”

Challenging Marines to think before they fight is a big part of General Mattis. He led the charge on nurturing Marine's minds as much as their bodies. You won't find many leaders in the military who harp on intelligence in their ranks. Mattis was one of the few, and we loved him for it.

“Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.”

This is another quote to show how violent and antagonistic Mattis is. But that is only to people who weren't deployed. As Marines, we have been trained for literally centuries to never be complacent. Complacency kills is painted all around bases in Iraq. We don't know who is out to get us, especially in wars like these where the enemy isn't in uniform, working in ranks. So for us Marines, the "have a plan" part is just business. But the be polite and professional part is new, and different. Under Mattis, we were instructed to not be assholes to Iraqis. Treat these people with respect and politeness isn't how wars are normally fought, but it was the best advice we could have been given. Iraqis had been demoralized and beaten down for decades. Having the strength we did, while still being polite and respectful was a totally new idea. In Iraq and a lot of the world, people who had strength got to do whatever they wanted, and they took advantage of that. A force as strong as the USMC, and still being respectful was a new experience for them, and honestly how all wars should be fought. As Winston Churchill said "When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite". Stopping a fight before it happens is more important than winning after you caused it.

“I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I’ll kill you all.”

Another antagonistic quote. But again, and as usual, context is key. This was part of a talk with Iraqi military leaders. As I said above, Iraq had been run with system of "whoever has the strength, makes the rules". Mattis' quote is reminding them strongly that HE had the strength now. A big issue in Iraq is that Iraqis had been trained into being submissive, subversive, or being horrifically murdered. It had been an incredibly dangerous time in Iraq for decades. Saddam's regime had killed an estimated 10% of the Iraqi population. And Iraqis laughed at us for such a low estimate. For comparison's sake, the civil war was the US's highest casualty war, and we lost less than 2% of our population during it. You either hid and lied in Saddam's regime, or you died. Mattis (and all of us) had to deal with rightfully suspicious Iraqis, many who had spent the majority (or entirety) of their lives being beaten down. Mattis had to show strength, and had to be honest here. If those Iraqi commanders had turned on him, he would have had to kill them. It's the nature of doing business. He put it to them straight, not because he wanted to kill them, but because he didn't want to.

“You cannot allow any of your people to avoid the brutal facts. If they start living in a dream world, it’s going to be bad.”

This quote is important to me, because we are living in a country where information is getting more and more available, but facts are becoming less and less important to us. Our politicians don't even bother with being factual anymore. They know the people who support them won't care if they lied, and the people who don't won't care if they told the truth. Preach to the choir is how we do business now.

Mattis I believe would reject that as SecDef. He is very much a man who values the truth over what he wants to hear. And to be honest, he is the only one in the incoming administration that seems to value that. Being honest and being effective are big parts of who Mattis is. We've needed that for a long time, and it'll be especially valuable now.

Another big part of why you are seeing waves of military and exmilitary supporting him is because he supported us. Mattis put his troops first throughout his career. He even once pulled duty for a Marine so that young guy could spend Christmas with his family. His explanation by General Krulak: “So I said to him, ‘Jim, what are you standing the duty for?’ “And he said, ‘Sir, I looked at the duty roster for today and there was a young major who had it who is married and had a family; and so I’m a bachelor, I thought why should the major miss out on the fun of having Christmas with his family, and so I took the duty for him.’ ". Find me the time Trump or Hillary took over a job for one of their workers on a holiday. I'll wait.

That is why servicemen and servicewomen support him and would follow him into hell. He was a man who didn't demand respect, he earned it. We loved him because he was one of us, not above us. He worked his way up from infantry ranks all the way to General. He knew what life was like as one of us. We learned the hard way what it was like having a General who did not know what it was like as a front line troop when we got General Amos as Commandant. He was the antithesis of Mattis. A man who threw his troops under the bus to protect himself. In other words, a man who emulated US politicians. Few Marines would follow Amos to a Dairy Queen, even if he was buying.

One thing about General Mattis that should make my liberal readers more comfortable is that I don't think Trump understands exactly what he is getting with him. Trump was confident he could force the military to obey even blatantly unlawful orders. He wouldn't even be able to control his own SecDef if he tried it. Mattis would absolutely stand up against that garbage, and what is Trump going to do? Fire the one and only pick that the US is happy about? Can a man who commands far more respect that he ever could? I seriously doubt it. On veterans sites I am already seeing vets asking how many people have to go before Mattis would become president (the answer btw is Mattis would be 6th in line). You think Trump has the grapes to can Mattis for refusing to administer orders that break our laws and treaties? I highly doubt it.

What Marines Dream About

If you were worried about the ignorant things Trump said he'd do with the military, than I highly suggest you think about supporting General Mattis. Don't just trust me. Look into the man's life and talk to people who have served under him. Try as I might, I haven't found a single person who has served under him who don't wholeheartedly support him as SecDef. That should speak volumes about who he is.

In summary, if you want a strong military that is intimidating to forces that want to hurt us, Mattis is a great pick. If you want a military that acts justly and professionally, Mattis is a great pick. If you want someone who will stand up for American values when stupid orders come from above, Mattis is a great pick. He's not perfect. He's not an angel. But he is who can do the job, and likely do it the best. I know his quotes might bother some people, but as General Patton said:

“When I want my men to remember something important, to really make it stick, I give it to them double dirty. It may not sound nice to some bunch of little old ladies at an afternoon tea party, but it helps my soldiers to remember. You can't run an army without profanity; and it has to be eloquent profanity. An army without profanity couldn't fight its way out of a piss-soaked paper bag. … As for the types of comments I make, sometimes I just, By God, get carried away with my own eloquence.”

I leave you with a letter sent by Mattis to his Marines. Read this, and see if you can understand why he is so beloved.

P.S. That comic above was taken from www.TerminalLance.com. Max is an great artist, motivating person, and a filthy Marine veteran like yours truly. Please take the time to visit his site and appreciate his work.

Stolen Valor

You ever meet someone randomly and it turned out they went to the same high school as you around the same time? You never knew them, but you guys compare notes and remember certain teachers or certain popular kids and you get that glowing feeling together of recognition and remembrance. That is kinda what it is like when two veterans meet each other. First you compare notes about boot camp. "We once had a Drill Instructor water board a kid until he could finally recite the 4 weapon conditions". "Oh yeah? Once a Drill Instructor got so mad that he called the kid's mom, went on a date with her, then had us all watch the video of their time together in bed while we drilled on the quarterdeck". Then you move on to deployments and at the end you've pretty much given each other the cliffsnotes version of your entire military career.

"Misery loves company" is an old quote, and an accurate one. While we fight, argue, and bicker a lot, there is still a bond that practically all of us share and it extends through generations. My grandfathers and I will sit around and talk about the differences and similarities between the military in their time and mine. If I meet one of the old timers with the baseball caps showing their military career, I'll address them by their rank they haven't had since before I was alive and we shoot the shit for a bit. Jonathon Ester made a good point that even if we can't relate to anything else, we all can relate to a number of things in the military, such as being treated lower than dirt for a good part of it, and the utter ridiculousness that extends from all branches.

This bond is a good part of the reason why this stolen valor trend is such a big deal. If you haven't heard of it, it's when someone who has never been in the military goes out and buys the uniform or medals and such, or merely makes up big stories about his/her illustrious military careers. Sometimes it is an actual veteran who did practically nothing exciting while in, then comes out and makes up a bunch of stories of heroism and extreme accomplishment. That is usually the first sign of a fraud. Their story is too big to be true. One I caught personally made up a story about become an USMC officer at 17 years old (you have to be at least 20 to become an officer), and was the commander of a force recon sniper team. He also had many sniper kills and was highly decorated. I smelled bullshit right away, but ended up publicly calling him out after he started talking down to an actual veteran for not being as superhero as he was. My googling abilities weren't that strong, but someone else was able to find out the picture of him in uniform that he used that I knew wasn't a USMC uniform, was a picture of a soldier who died in the Vietnam war, and whose remains had just been identified and sent to his family for burial. After getting some death threats I never heard from him again.

But it is an annoyance, because you do feel wronged after an episode like that. Like here I was, extending a hand of brotherhood to someone, and it turned out there were lying to me the entire time. It cuts deeper than normal. Not to mention it sullies the name of the people who you knew who really did what this guy was claiming credit for. Some you knew personally and some that maybe aren't around anymore.

Another issue is the victims of these people. Veterans are in for a bit of a rough time when they get out. Gotta find your feet again. You've probably lost a significant number of contacts during your enlistment, and networking is a big part of getting gainfully employed. Your military job might not have a corresponding career in the real world. "Oh you worked on wire guided missile systems? Well we have the perfect position for you at Joe's Waffle Shanty!". And a lot of the people you are competing against didn't burn ~4 good years of their life humping gear around foreign deserts. That's why when someone mentions your service, or thanks you for what you did, it raises your shoulders a bit. Puts a little more kick in your step and you fight on for another day. When you hear about some guy using smoke and mirrors to fool these wonderful people who give a shit about these things, it pisses you off. Because not everyone does give a shit. Those that do are few and proud, and I don't want their kindness abused by some dickhead.

I'm not saying these guys should be lynched. I'm not willing to debate on the Constitutionality of making something like that illegal. But I would like people to understand why it bothers veterans so much. It's not that we feel raised on a pedestal that you mere civies can't attain. Hell, I remember specific talks with other Marines about how awesome it would be to be treated like an actual human being again. It's a rough brotherhood with it's dysfunctions and tomfoolery. But for a lot of guys that's all they have. Some guys lean on that brotherhood to make it through the day. So we are protective of it. And I don't think we are wrong for doing so.

Murdercycles

I have a unhealthy love for motorcycles, which is pretty well documented. We can probably blame it on my dad, who bought me my first motorcycle when I was just a kid. A beat up 125cc Yamaha that was easily my most treasured possession until it was replaced by the next dirt bike. Dirt biking was probably my first real hobby, and while I never became a professional on them, I would venture to say just being able to keep up with my dad, uncle, and the rest of that ragtag group meant I was pretty decent on them. That dirt bike brought my dad and I closer than practically any other form of communication we had tried. After that I got my first road-bike, a 883cc Harley Sportster Custom that I rode so often that I sold my only car and survived on that bike alone. Every day I was happy to not be locked in a car. Bad day at the armory? Didn't matter because I had a 30 minute ride home on my bike. Hard to get home still angry about work when you are riding through Southern California. Perfect weather almost every day, the Pacific stretching off into the distance, and beautiful women crossing at nearly every stop light. Can't even complain about hitting a red light in that situation.

I dumped probably around $10k into that bike, converting her to a 1200cc motor with a hot cam, racing clutch, top of the line carburetor, beautiful performance exhaust, and just about every other suggestion my bike shop had (Ghetto Choppers if anyone in the area is looking for a great shop) to make her go faster. Did that make me treat her delicately? Not even a little bit. Every stop light was a test to see how fast I could get to (maybe a little over) the speed limit. Every turn was a test to see how hard and fast I could take it, at the expense of bending my fancy new exhaust and tearing up my footpegs. When I was instructed to bring machine gun parts out to a desert training event, there was 50cal bolts strapped to the back of that little Sportster and we were slipping and sliding through the sand. I slept next to her for the rest of that event as we both got covered in dirt and sand.

Now I have Sofia which is well above my price range. A $20k+ bike for a broke college student is an exceptionally bad decision, but I don't care if I am reduced to selling plasma and my own tears, I'll make it work.

On to the point of this topic When I was younger, I tried to get everyone on a motorcycle. I wanted everyone to experience what I was feeling. But now that I am older, and have lost some friends along the way, I do my best to avoid doing that. That is because no matter what precautions you are taking, and how good of a rider you are, it is an extremely dangerous sport. Back when I was in the USMC, motorcycles were easily killing more Marines than the wars were. They ended up restricting us in various ways which pissed a lot of people off (me included), but what choice did they really have? They were losing men and women they needed, in the prime of their lives, to motorcycles.

Part of that can be attributed to Marine mentality. We are bulletproof and unbreakable, and we believe that until we get broken. But even Marines who absolutely knew the risks were going down. We had a Staff Sergeant that it hurts me to not remember his name, but he was an exceptionally skilled rider. He was an instructor in our safety course, spent almost every day teaching Marines about the risks of riding. He had numerous motorcycle safety certifications, and years and years of riding under his belt. During a Mess Night for our battalion, we were all having fun and drinking and smoking cigars and wondering when he was going to show, and we finally got the report in that he was on his way, and got broadsided by someone running a red light and died at the scene.

It isn't limited to Marines of course. Dan Horner was one of the nicest, most giving men I have ever known. He practically raised us misfit idiots working with him at the shop we were at. Cooled down the hot heads, smacked around the jackasses (I was in this group), and taught us what it was to be a man. His funeral was the only leave I ever requested from the USMC, after he was hit on his motorcycle late at night. I remember us sitting outside with his Harley. Him telling me that a man needs at least one refuge in his life, and his bike was his. There isn't a day I get on a motorcycle and don't think back to him.

So now I don't try and convince people into riding. I don't want to bear that responsibility, and I think it is a decision that should be thought of carefully. Not with someone else who isn't going to be affected by your risks. There is benefits to riding. A lot of free parking you wouldn't get otherwise. Gas mileage is almost unmatched by other vehicles. I am practically the only one who gets assigned parking where I live because no car can fit in the spot I use. But these little consultation prizes do not make up for the risk you are taking. I don't have the hard numbers to back it up, but I am pretty sure I could smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day, eat nothing but fast food, and take up amateur sword swallowing/break-dancing, and my motorcycle will still have the best odds of killing me first.

Of course, considering I still ride I am not campaigning against motorcycles. But the decision needs to be made with an honest assessment of the facts. If you have a family or other people who rely on you, they should be part of that decision too. And really, you probably won't like it. Of all the people I know who started riding, probably at least 2/3rds of them quit at some point because they weren't getting out of it the risk they were putting in. There is a lot of crappy parts about riding that gets glossed over. Getting caught out in the rain, or worse weather. Getting to huff exhaust. Riding behind a work truck and getting showered with sand going 70mph. Tasting the windshield washing fluid from the car in front of you that just activated it. Your gear being too heavy and showing up to your destination covered in sweat. Your gear being too light and not being able to feel your hands or feet due to the cold. Being tired from leg day and almost dropping your bike at a stoplight because it leaned just a degree too far.

It may be worth it to you. Sometimes, taking that turn hard, feeling the bike just drop into it like a banking airplane, and coming out of it at the perfect angle/speed makes all that other stuff alright. But more often than not, you have stuff more important in your life to be risking it all on that fleeting sensation. I don't fault you for passing it by at all.