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A Public Apology or How Smart I Was as a Young Buck Sgt.
by Dr. Jimmy T. LaBaume
18 Nov 02
The ongoing election "fiasco" is proof that we live under a single party system with two branches – the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. This, coupled with the passing of the Marine Corps' birthday and Veterans day, led me to reflection. I have realized just how smart I was when I was a young (20 odd year old) Buck Sgt in Vietnam.
A few nights ago, my wife and I were discussing the current "situation" in Florida. She expressed concern that it could lead to violence if not outright civil war.
My reply was that, yea, maybe after all these years, I'll get a chance to fulfill the promise that I made to myself in Vietnam over 30 years ago. She already knew what the promise was, so the conversation continued uninterrupted. But, since most of you readers don't, I'll have to interrupt the dialog to explain it.
Parenthetical Note) If my memory serves correctly after 30 plus years, I was MedEvac'd to 1 st Med Btn in Da Nang in late September of 1969. I didn't know it at the time, but I was witnessing the early stage of a stepped up offensive on the part of the NVA and VC. They stepped up their operations to coincide with the great "Moratorium March" on Washington , DC . Obviously, this was for propaganda reasons. They likely figured that the more body bags they could send home during the protest, the greater impact it would have on the American public.
Anyway, the fine Navy Doctors and Corpsmen fixed my relatively minor abrasions up in fine style and placed me in a ward. My rack was next to the window where I could look out across the chopper pad and into the open fronted OR. That next morning, long before daylight, choppers begin to line up -- six or seven deep -- hovering, waiting to land and off-load their carnage. One would take off, another would take its place, and a third would arrive to line up in the queue. This continued all day and way into the night. Meantime, across the way in the OR, the surgeons and corpsmen were having trouble standing up -- the floor was covered with a slick coat of blood.
That day, I swore to myself that I was going to kill the first "goddamned greasy headed hippy" that I saw when I got back to the world. Fortunately, I mellowed a bit before rotating and did not fulfill that promise. (End of Parenthetical Note)
She replied, "Yea, you guys were killing the wrong people." This caused another "flashback" (notice how I have picked up on that word -- maybe it'll earn me some sort of "victim" status {sick joke}).
I was still in-country when the Kent State thing went down. I recall vividly when and how I learned about it. I walked down into the Hq Bunker one day and found a group of Marines huddled around a newspaper. (Remember, in those days, communications technology was nothing like it is now and a week-old newspaper from home was a treasure.) Anyway, they were reading about the incident. When they told me what had happened, my reply was, "****ing National Guard! What a bunch of piss poor marksmen. Man, if we'd a been there, we coulda wasted all them mother ****ers."
Yes indeed dear reader. We were killing the wrong bunch of communists. Is there any doubt in anybody's mind that the extent of damage done to liberty by these Boomer elite (AKA The New Totalitarians) that occupied the university campuses during that time and have since usurped all political power has been infinitely greater than the damage done by a small group of technologically backward sandal and pajama wearers?
I sincerely apologize. Please accept my apology and solemn promise that it will never happen again.
Yours for freedom in our lifetimes.
Copyright ©2004, FlyoverPress.com
Jimmy T. LaBaume, PhD, ChFC is a full professor teaching economics and statistics in the School of Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, Sul Ross State University , Alpine, TX. He wishes to make it abundantly clear that he does not speak for Sul Ross State University and Sul Ross State University does not think for him.
Dr. LaBaume has lived in Mexico and spent extended periods of time in South and Central America as a researcher, consultant and educator.
"Gunny" LaBaume is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War and Desert Storm. His Marine Corps career spanned some 35 years intermittently from 1962 until 1997 when he refused to re-enlist with less than 2 years to go to a good retirement. In his own words, he "simply got tired of being guilty of treason."
He is also currently the publisher and managing editor of FlyoverPress.com, a daily e-source of news not seen or heard anywhere on the mainstream media. He writes a syndicated column, FROM BEHIND ENEMY LINES: A Conservative Libertarian Inside Academia, and can be reached at [email protected] .
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