The night infiltration course. See the earthen berm in the background? See that line of little bumps right below? Those are the soldiers, staying as low as possible under the MG fire. What I saw looked way sharper than this; it was hard to line up my camera lens with the night-vision device.
Last Tuesday night, Bryan Caskey and I were observers at Fort Jackson when some recruits went through the night infiltration course.
It was fascinating, and we both appreciated the opportunity. Basically, here’s what happened: We were bused out to the course right after dark. The course consisted of 100 yards or so of soft sand. At one end is a trench and a tall earthen berm. At the other are two towers, with machine guns mounted atop them. At the appointed time, soldiers slithered up out of the trench and made their way on their bellies and elbows through the sand toward the towers. The machine guns fired over their heads, with tracers so we could track the rounds. We civilians (several dozen of us) stood 15 or 20 yards behind the towers with foam plugs in our ears and — here’s the cool part — watched through night vision goggles.
Earlier, before we boarded the buses, we received a briefing from Maj. Gen. “Pete” Johnson. He gave a great, highly informative talk that even civilians could understand. But after he was finished, Bryan turned to me and sought my reaction to one tiny, relatively insignificant part of the speech. He asked me whether it seemed weird to me to hear a serving United States Army general officer, in uniform, make a passing reference to “President Trump.”
Yes, I said, it did. The general, of course, has no more say in the matter than I do. But it is disturbing to reflect that we have this wonderful, professional army, with fine officers and brave recruits ready to sacrifice for their country, and the supreme commander who gets to tell them all what to do is You Know Who. There’s no way that gets to feeling normal. One hopes.
But over the weekend I experienced a bigger shock. It was one thing to see Henry McMaster, and other Republicans who should know better, stand next to Trump back during the campaign.
But to see the Easter Bunny himself, a revered mythical figure, standing next to the Trumps at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll — that just takes the weirdness to a whole other level.
That just makes it all a little too real…
That’s the Bunny on the right — the one with the shocked expression.
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Won’t lie. It was weird to hear him say President Trump.
Another funny part was during the lecture. There was a power-point slide up on the screen giving the details about all the events that Fort Jackson was having to celebrate its centennial. One was “June 17: CSA guest speaker at graduation…”
Brad looked at me and whispered “CSA?” with a quizzical look on his face. I could immediately tell he was thinking that it stood for the Confederate States of America, and that perhaps an old Confederate general might be speaking to the graduating soldiers.
I thought about it for a moment, and then let him know that that the acronym (the military loves its acronyms) probably stood for Chief of Staff of the Army.
After following the link, I could see why he might have choked a little on that one, under cover of professionalism of course.
Maybe this will give you hope Brad. A story on the internet this morning is about a man in Oregon who “dies peacefully” after being told Trump has been impeached. Imagine the absolute hatred, vitriol, anger, and consuming dissatisfaction of this one individual in Oregon was so bad, he could only release life when he was told the POTUS had been impeached. This is a line from the obit in the Oregon paper.
“And the last thing she said to him was “Donald Trump has been impeached.” Upon hearing that he took his final, gentle breath, his earthly work concluded.” If you become ill, will this be the one comment that allows you to let go and breathe your final breath?
Is this what we have become as a nation so identified with anger, vitriol, accusations, divisions, and every imaginable thing that can further divide us until we become so fractured there is no hope of this nation ever coming together again? This is not just one side, it is both sides. The divide is not kept alive by Trump supporters or detractors, it is kept alive by each one of us who will not release our anger and seek what can bring us together even if it is something minor. At least it is a beginning and from small acorns, mighty oaks grow. We seem to have forgotten that simple fact of life and we hold onto our anger, never listening to the other side and at least trying to reach a peaceful accord.
I am approaching the last days or years of my life and I have witnessed the change in this country from one man’s perspective, mine. This country has made mistakes but please if you will, point out one country that doesn’t have its own share of mistakes, blunders, and bad decisions in its history. At one time, this country was the light of the world even with our blemishes but we were still the country other countries admired and respected because we were united.
From my perspective, the more we prospered, the worst side of us manifest itself in our political endeavors and the quest for power not only revealed our blemishes, it actually highlighted them and they were used as clubs against those who disagreed with our particular political ideology. When we embraced wealth and power over caring for our neighbors, we lost who we were. When one side belittled the other and wouldn’t sit down and discuss or talk about our differences, it only reinforced our beliefs and that they were not to be questioned.
Anyone with the ability to read and comprehend beyond grammar school level knows my position on Trump and Clinton. Neither one was or is worthy to occupy the Oval Office. So, don’t interpret what I am saying as an endorsement of Donald Trump.
Donald Trump is the POTUS. No going back, no changing the outcome, complaining about Trump not winning the popular vote won’t change anything and neither will complaining about the Electoral College change anything either. They are simple facts of life we have to face at this moment in time. And to put it in another context, as a Christian, I believe God allowed Trump to be elected. Some here are not believers but I am and I believe there is a purpose behind Trump’s election. Maybe one is that the underbelly of this nation has been exposed and it is ugly on all sides in one way or another and how we handle it will be the ultimate fate of this nation.
Some old sayings are still as true today as when they were first spoken. “United we stand, divided we fall”. We are no longer united and in the end, as long as that is the case, we will fall. How far and how fast is the unknown for now.
Bart, I don’t see what “hatred, vitriol, anger” have to do with it. I don’t see how anyone who loves this country could rest easy knowing the hands it has fallen into.
I certainly would want to know that we’d returned to the sanity this nation enjoyed for 240 years — before what happened in November — before I left my children and grandchildren behind in this world…
Does hatred, anger, and vitriol solve anything at this point? Is that the answer to Donald Trump? I understand where you are coming from but to hear that Trump was impeached before letting go is the answer? Hate, anger, and vitriol only harms the vessel carrying it. Donald Trump is not harmed by it at all, if anything I think he may enjoy it. He probably feeds on it and the more is dumped on him, the more he gives back.
I don’t care for Trump and neither do I care for Clinton but to carry that much poison in one’s soul is simply not worth it. I was not an Obama fan at all. But, I never carried the hatred, anger, and vitriol around with me the way so many did and in the end, guess what? Obama is enjoying life with Michelle, writing a book that will bring in $60 million and he will be able to command at least twice, maybe three times more for one 30 minute speech than Clinton ever could. And who is left with the ulcers, lack of quality life, and nothing to show for it? Certainly not Obama and most definitely not Trump.
Trump is an aberration but one brought on by a lack of honesty, character, character assassination by both parties, responsibility to the citizens of this country and an assumption by Hillary Clinton she was somehow entitled to be the next POTUS. At this point, all anyone can hope for is that Trump doesn’t get us into a shooting war, the economy doesn’t collapse, and he does something that will be sufficient cause to be impeached. Otherwise it is like shooting blanks at someone who could care less about the noise because it simply doesn’t harm him at all.
FWIW, I love this country as much as you do but I also understand the reality of the situation and until Trump is removed by defeat in 2020, impeached, or something worse, he will remain POTUS for the next 3 years 9 months. When he makes a mistake or the wrong decision, I will do what I can to hold him accountable. If he does something right or makes the right decision, I will give him credit. In the meantime, I will do everything I can to make sure I don’t add to the hatred, vitriol, and anger that permeates this country from all sides.