Some things to think about
In Canton, Ohio, twenty miles south of where I'm sitting, the fire department has put in a request for bullet-proof vests. In Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton they already are standard equipment for paramedics.
Says something about our society, doesn't it?
There was a time when the arrival of firefighters or an EMS ambulance was greeted with sighs of relief and gratitude. Today in certain places the sighs have been replaced by gunshots. Contrary to what some people believe, it has nothing to do with race. White neighborhoods, black neighborhoods, Hispanic neighborhoods, it can happen anywhere.
Close to home, a major league outfielder could throw a baseball from Goodyear's world headquarters to the neighborhood where I spent my formative years. It's a white neighborhood, a place where today it would be unwise to walk alone down one of its streets. Things have changed, it's not 1939 any more. That's unfortunate.
***
Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, Britain's highest ranking officer in Afghanistan, says the war there cannot be won. To end the mess, he says, a deal may have to be struck with the Taliban. That group of insurgents, according to Carleton-Smith, will still be there after all foreign troops have left.
***
Having carried a rifle in some of the biggest infantry battles in history and survived, I don't like the things I see in film of actual combat today. There was a new film this week raising the issue of so-called "friendly fire," a misnomer if ever there was one. The striking thing to me is the level of talking and yelling. Platoon sergeants, squad leaders or an officer, if one is present, should be the only ones sounding off unless a private is calling attention to a new threat. Close combat should not include a gabfest. When it does, the chance of survival diminishes. It is to be hoped that what is shown on TV news exaggerates reality.
Says something about our society, doesn't it?
There was a time when the arrival of firefighters or an EMS ambulance was greeted with sighs of relief and gratitude. Today in certain places the sighs have been replaced by gunshots. Contrary to what some people believe, it has nothing to do with race. White neighborhoods, black neighborhoods, Hispanic neighborhoods, it can happen anywhere.
Close to home, a major league outfielder could throw a baseball from Goodyear's world headquarters to the neighborhood where I spent my formative years. It's a white neighborhood, a place where today it would be unwise to walk alone down one of its streets. Things have changed, it's not 1939 any more. That's unfortunate.
***
Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, Britain's highest ranking officer in Afghanistan, says the war there cannot be won. To end the mess, he says, a deal may have to be struck with the Taliban. That group of insurgents, according to Carleton-Smith, will still be there after all foreign troops have left.
***
Having carried a rifle in some of the biggest infantry battles in history and survived, I don't like the things I see in film of actual combat today. There was a new film this week raising the issue of so-called "friendly fire," a misnomer if ever there was one. The striking thing to me is the level of talking and yelling. Platoon sergeants, squad leaders or an officer, if one is present, should be the only ones sounding off unless a private is calling attention to a new threat. Close combat should not include a gabfest. When it does, the chance of survival diminishes. It is to be hoped that what is shown on TV news exaggerates reality.
posted by Dick Stodghill | 10/15/2008 11:14:00 AM
1 Comments:
When I was creeping around in the dark, we kept our mouths shut. Its all hand signals and night vision equipment now. No "Montie's Moonlight".
I still deplore pockets which are held closed with velcro. There is nothing stealthy about it. And the pepsi generation is, well, empty from the neck up.
But its often not like that anyway...its more about flagging down passing cars, emptying it of people, sniffing for explosives and testing for gsr.
The bad guys rarely use uniforms and you never know.
Post a Comment
<< Home