Another Good Man Takes His Place in Memory

Saturday February 20th 2010 marked the passing of General Alexander Haig, who many remember only for his faux pas statement following the attempt on President Regan’s life in 1981.

My memory is from an entirely different prospective.

First time I ever laid eyes on the man was in 1966 at a place called Dian, Republic of Vietnam. Dian was Division Headquarters for the 1st Infantry Divison, The Big Red One. I was a Sp4 and at the time door gunner on the helicopter used by Major General William E. DePuy. Al Haig was a LTC on the General’s staff and frequently accompanied General DePuy into the field or visits to outlying units.

It is difficult to explain to someone who has not been there but at the higher command levels in a combat unit, in a combat situation there can be lots of stress. The majority of the stress is self imposed mostly by lower ranking staff who seek to make it to the next level. An insider can observe quite a range of behavior among these officers ranging from total competence to various levels of ass kissing to make up for inadequacies. For a period of about 7 months, although I was a lowly SP4 I had the opportunity to observe much of what went on inside the 1st Division. General DePuy, new to the Division changed many of the ways the top staff operated upon his arrival because frankly in my opinion the division was not achieving its full potential under General Seaman. Bear in mind these impressions are from the mindset of an 18 year old enlisted man who needed hero’s.

Is it time to repeal the 17th Amendment?

Over the course of the past few years I have given considerable time, research and thought to a question that has nagged at my soul as an American as to how is it possible that this great nation and its citizens (namely yours truly) arrived at a this point of near desperation.

A nation built on sound principles of goodness and fair play, a nation that offered all that would embrace her principles opportunity limited only by the amount of effort one makes, now finds itself on the prepuce of self destruction. Her vast wealth created by generations of honest work and skillful guidance of wise leadership cannot possibly be at risk; or can it?