Another thing that recently grabbed my attention was the story making the rounds that the SEALs have been told that they can no longer wear the subdued "Don't Tread On Me" patches that apparently have been
de rigueur on many SEAL combat uniforms for some time. "The Blaze" posted
an article that strongly implies that the story is not true--I certainly hope it is not.
It would be unconscionable to ban the "Don't Tread on Me" Navy Jack from use in the US Navy. Its use goes back to Revolutionary War days, and more recently the Secretary of the Navy directed that the active duty ship having the longest total period in active status display the "Don't Tread On Me" Navy Jack until decommissioned or transferred to inactive status (SECNAV Instruction 10520.4).
In addition (SECNAV Instruction 10520.6), the Secretary of the Navy directed the use of the "Don't Tread On Me" Navy Jack for the duration of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). As near as I can tell, the Obama Administration considers Muslims to be
so peace loving and delightful that terms such as GWOT are considered unpardonably
gauche and unnecessarily inflammatory when directed at such a
benign and harmless religion.
Personally I think that's a load of horse manure, but dropping GWOT may not be such a bad idea, for as Robert Spencer has noted, we are at war with radical Islam, not terrorism
per se, which is simply one of their tools, one of many.
In any event, the story regarding the SEALs and their Navy Jack patches, whether true or not, gained traction because, as most patriots are aware, true American patriots are considered to be enemies of the state (perhaps I should capitalize that)...enemies of THE STATE, and are therefore, along with other "subversive" groups such as veterans, Christians, Tea Party members, the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Brownies, and, well, let's just say anyone who
does not love Big Government, are being kept track of on various "watch lists."
So the fact that a patch bearing "Don't Tread On Me" might be banned by the Pentagon's eunuchs and eunuchettes and JAG
jagoffs is all too feasible in the pro-globalism/anti-American atmosphere that currently taints the DC "Beltway Bubble" like some poisonous, corrosive smog.
In any event, I hope that this story is indeed just an unsubstantiated rumor, and those SEALs who wish to do so can continue to wear one of the US Navy's most historic and cherished symbols.
Another issue that keeps the SEALs in the periphery of my attention is the continuing efforts by the
families of the SEALs killed in the crash of "
Extortion 17" in Afghanistan. I would be absolutely livid with fury if I was them.
I do not mean to in any way cheapen the tragic loss of those brave men, but do you have any idea how much money it takes to train a DEVGRU (Team 6) SEAL? Estimates seem to hover around
$500,000 , but when you total the expenditures for Team members with several reenlistments under their belt (and the concomitant training), then the cost rises dramatically. My point here is that those SEALS were expensive razor-sharpened professionals, so what the h--l were they doing in the same chopper as a
group of (let me be charitable) less-than-top-notch afghan troops?
Highly suspect afghan troops, I might add. (A
CBS article posted last year quotes a coalition report that observed that "The murder of U.S. troops by Afghan soldiers they train and fight with is "a growing systemic threat.'" Yeah buddy, cram those afghan soldiers in with SEALs--what could possibly go wrong?
Excuse me for stating the obvious, but those afghan troops on "Extortion 17" were
Muslims, and
radical Muslims have a
known propensity for blowing themselves and those in their vicinity to hell and gone. Add to that the many documented incidences of afghan police and military personnel turning on American and other allied troops (labeled under the rather misleading and tame euphemism "
green on blue violence"). I have to ask myself, "What brainless a--holes put afghan troops in the same chopper as the SEALs?" And don't, DO NOT, use the lame excuse "but it was SOP." Brainless stupidity is now SOP in the US military? And it
was brainless stupidity
at best. The words "traitorous" and "criminal" spring easily to my mind in this regard.
Moving on -- there is, of course, the topic of Benghazi, which is never far from my mind. The
despicable duplicity surrounding the affair pales in comparison to how former SEALs
Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods were callously abandoned to die by their government. In point of fact,
dozens of US personnel were abandoned to their fate by the US government. Many of them would no doubt
also be dead or injured if Woods and Doherty had not
disobeyed orders from the US government to stand down.
A couple of days ago, I received a missive from SOS (Special Operations Speaks), a group co-founded by former SEAL
Capt. Larry Bailey. SOS's main mission is to uncover the truth about what really happened at Benghazi on 9/11/12.
In any event, the message from SOS was headed "Subject: To my veteran friends" (I should note that SOS stated that it was not
"in a position to evaluate the reliability of the following report"). Portions of the message read:
Interestingly enough, when GWB was president you heard about the military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan almost daily.
With Obama in the White House, the mainstream media ["presstitutes"] have been strangely quiet.
More than 1,000 American soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan in the last 27 months! This is more than the combined total of the nine years before! Thirty have died in August. During the last month, over 50 additional NATO and US servicemen have been murdered, inside jobs by those who are hired to be a force for good in Afghanistan.
...There is a deep disgust, a fury, growing in the ranks of the military against the indifferent incompetence of this president. It has taken on a dangerous tone. No one knows what to do about him, but the anger runs deep as the deaths continue with no strategic end in sight to the idiocy of this war.
I wonder why the author considers the war in Afghanistan idiotic: is it because we entered into it with no exit strategy, no time-table, no sane reason to stay on there once the Taliban were defeated? Or is he referring to the fact that the
afghan opium business is thriving (
15% of their GDP)? Is it because Congress seems more concerned with how the US
taxpayer-funded windmills are
doing in Afghanistan than how our
troops are doing? Is it because the
military/industrial complex has been making money hand-over-fist while our military personnel
bleed and die? (And lest we forget, many of them return
maimed--physically
and mentally, emotionally, and spiritually). (I should note that while I may often disagree with our political "leaders" and their typically asinine policies--and I would include all too many of the military's REMF "brass" in that class--I will never have anything but the greatest respect for the rank and file military, including most junior grade officers).
The article continues on to point out that it is
not advocating any sort of armed revolution, but aims for veterans
"to launch a massive get-out-the-vote drive against [Obama]."
This is to my mind all fine and good, because the fall-out from an all-out civil war would be
truly horrific. But...
but that is not a sufficient reason to bow down meekly to a tyrannical, overweening government bureaucracy that has given "we the people" more than sufficient reasons to "alter or abolish" it as "
The Declaration of Independence" instructs us to do.
I do a passable job of keeping my finger on the pulse of "we the people," and I'm here to tell you that there is a rapidly growing sentiment that the time for talk is, or soon will be, over, and
action must take its place, come hell or high water. We live in dangerous times my friends, and
we are walking a tightrope day by day.
But I am going off message here -- earlier today a friend of mine (a Ph.D. and former Naval Intelligence officer) sent me an email in which he informed me that he had "just finished reading Marcus Luttrells latest book, '
Service: A Navy SEAL at War.'" (
Marcus Luttrell is a retired Navy SEAL, recipient of the
Navy Cross, and author of the powerfully poignant bestseller "
Lone Survivor").
My friend wrote that he had been especially moved by a photo of Luttrell's friend JT's casket with JT's (Jon Tumilson's) dog lying beside it
as if on watch. (JT was among the SEALs who died in the crash of the chopper (call sign) "Extortion 17" on 8/6/11).
As those of you who have read the short bio that accompanies my articles for "Canada Free Press" know, I served in both UDT-21 (Underwater Demolition Team) and SEAL Team 2 from 1970-1974 (at the time there were just two SEAL Teams--one on the East Coast and one on the West).
But this article is not about me; it's not even primarily about the topics that I have covered above. It is about letting the current and recent members of the SEAL Teams know how very proud I am of them. My connection with them may be hoary and tenuous with time, but you do not forget your experiences in the Teams, I don't care how long ago it was--the pride and
esprit de corps remain steadfast.
I salute
all of the US military (at least the ones who don't identify themselves as proxy UN globalists), but I hold in special esteem my brother "frogs," who have in recent years shown a truly formidable degree of bravery, commitment, integrity, loyalty, perseverance, heroism, fortitude, and patriotism. Thank you for your service and sacrifices.
Bravo Zulu one and all! Hooyah!
