This is resend #3 to ensure mailing to all recipients.

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SOLDIERS FOR THE TRUTH
"DEFENDING AMERICA NEWSLETTER"

24 May 2000

"When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen."
General George Washington, New York Legislature, 1775

Soldiers For The Truth Foundation, PO Box 63840, Colorado
Springs, CO
80962-3840
HTTP://WWW.SFTT.ORG
*****************************************************************
TABLE OF CONTENTS

SITREP

Hack's Column:
Article 1 -- "Lest We Forget"

"From my Position" -- On the way!"
Article 2 - Readiness Truth - Victim of the Experts

Big Picture:
Article 3 - Memorial Day - Honoring those that have fallen
Article 4 -- Kosovo SITREP - A Rough Week for Battalion XX

"VOICE OF THE GRUNT"
Article 5 -- Lessons in Leadership
Article 6 - No Gun Ri response - No Gun Ri
Article 7 - No Gun Ri response -- Real Combat is not like the
Movies
Article 8 - It's raining Medals once again
Article 9 -- Why are the Ones in Power so forgetful

G.I Humor:
Article 10 -- Learning the Language

Medal of Honor:
Article 11 -- LEE, HUBERT L. Korea 1951
===============================================================
SITREP:

1. Main topics: 1) Memorial Day 2) Too many Military Experts
with clue 3)
Leadership 4) Kosovo

2. WE ALWAYS NEED YOUR HELP! Thanks to all of you who have
responded to our
call to financial arms. We have collected enough money to keep
us
operational for the next 4 months. Hack and I estimate that we
need about
100k to make us an organization with clout. We could EASILY
reach that goal
if every subscriber pitches in $ 30.00. Remember, AUSA alone
has about a 20
million dollar budget and still doesn't get anything done! If
you believe
that we are the organization to speak for the troops, support
us!

3. Methods of Support

Check or Money order: Send to and make payable to: Soldiers
For The Truth
Foundation, PO Box 63840, Colorado Springs, CO 80962-3840.
Credit card
donation option via Website should be available by mid-May. Our
site is at
www.sftt.org.

REMINDERS:

Your donation is tax deductible! SFTT is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit
educational
foundation, IRS # 31-1592564.

If you send us an E-MAIL address with your donation we can
immediately mail
you a RECEIPT!!!!

Some of you have sent multiple contributions. Please remind us
when you
submit your donation, so we can send you an annual statement for
tax
purposes.

4. SFTT Website. Please check out our updates, i.e.
objectives, mission
statement, book reports, etc. If you didn't get the complete
newsletter or
only the Short Version (sv), you can find it archived on the
website
http://www.sftt.org.

Until next week let' s make contact - break through -- and
exploit!

R.W. Zimmermann
President SFTT
zimm@sftt.org
===============================================================
ARTICLE 1 - Defending America
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Lest We Forget"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By David Hackworth

Another Memorial Day is upon us. Not that it's that big a deal
to most
Americans, who don't seem to understand what this holiday is all
about. But
for combat veterans and their families it's a day of reflection,
a time to
honor fallen comrades.

As the years pass, M-Day's taken on an even more special meaning
for me. Old
pals who back in their young and foolish days were brave mud
soldiers are
checking out faster than I want to count.

Almost every week now I get the word that another brother's
gone. Sometimes
it's a phone call in the middle of the night, a letter or an
obituary piece
I've been sent about a friend I fought alongside.

Each death notice brings pain. Some bring tears. All bring
reflection that
dials up the face of a brother I grew to love a long time ago. A
love born
from terrible strife where we had the searing privilege of
getting to know
each other as few men ever do.

Back then, we thought we were damned to be the chosen few. But
now, so many
years later, we know the truth: It was the defining and most
challenging
period of our lives.

Together, we saw the elephant.

On the battlefield there's no faking it. A guy is either a good
man who'd
die before letting his brothers down or a dud the outfit figures
out how to
unload. You get to join The Brotherhood only if you're trusted,
only because
you've earned the respect of the other elephant hunters.

For me, after the shock wears off from hearing the bad news,
reason sets in:
"Eventually everyone's going out feet first. My old friend just
beat me by a
few ticks."

Next, the process seems to move quickly to the good times shared
and why my
pal was so special and why his memory won't disappear until I
do.

Then I'm ringing a brother, giving him word of the death, and we
start in
with the old "Remember when ..." jazz, retelling all the fun
stuff about our
fallen mate. We never dwell on the horror or go to the dark side
of the
moon. Maybe that's how we keep it together and move on.

Another thought that always comes front and center in my head is
why did
Frank or Billy or Phil die now and not me? This was the question
we all
silently asked ourselves back on the battlefield when a comrade
didn't get
up after a fight. It didn't seem fair then, and it doesn't now.
But whoever
said this crap game called life was fair?

The loved ones of World War II and the Korean vets are hearing
"Taps" played
at funerals at the rate of almost 2,000 a day, and now the
Vietnam vets are
stepping up for their turn at the death plate. The combat-vet
dying business
has become a boom industry and will continue to roar for the
next couple of
decades until the ranks are exhausted.

And by then, M-Day might have morphed further into a meaningless
extended-weekend party no longer even momentarily interrupted by
glimpses of
flags or sound bites from politicians jawing some insincere
patriotic
gobbledygook. Only the still-serving and families and friends of
the
departed will still care about what our warriors went through,
the
sacrifices they made.

Seems like we're almost there now. Liberty and the good life are
so taken
for granted that few folks can be bothered to spend M-Day
remembering --
honoring those who died so we could be free to do our thing. No
one's had to
buy a freedom ticket for a long time, and the living's easy.
Minimum wage,
Social Security, a college degree -- all that good American
stuff -- are
there pretty much for the asking. No price of admission paid. No
respect for
those who did pay. Just gimme gimme gimme.

I'm afraid one of these days soon some fast operator will come
along and try
to change Memorial Day into something else. You know, a name
change due to a
new sponsor.

Hope you'll kill that ignoble idea quick smart and that you'll
visit a
Veterans Home this week and tell those valiant men and women you
haven't
forgotten their sacrifices.
***
The End

Http://www.hackworth.com is the address of David Hackworth's
home page. Sign
in for the free weekly Defending America column at his Web site.
Send mail
to P.O. Box 5210, Greenwich, CT 06831.
© 2000 David H. Hackworth
Distributed by King Features Syndicate Inc.
==================================================
ARTICLE 2 - "From my Position" -- On the way!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Readiness Truth - Victim of the Experts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By R. W. Zimmermann
President SFTT
05/22/00

Our intellectual elite and the military experts without
experience are on a
crusade to convince you that all is well with national defense.

In a recent piece in the Washington Times, Michael O' Hanlon, a
fellow at
the Brookings Institution, acclaimed author and adjunct
professor at
Columbia University, attempts to convince us that under Mr.
Clinton, our
fighting forces have not declined.

Au contraire, with stats directly from the Pentagon's Dreamworks
studios, he
tells us that our fighting forces are in terrific shape. The
proof:
spectacular victories in the Balkans, the successful
"never-ending" war with
Iraq, Somalia, Korea, Taiwan and other ongoing deterrent
missions.

Joseph Goebbels, propaganda spin-Meister under Adolph the
Terrible, couldn't
have done any better than that!

Lets look at some of O' Hanlon's frightening conclusions:

The US is still capable of fighting a two-front war strategy,
(most likely)
against Iraq and North Korea, while maintaining sufficient
forces for all
other nuisance missions.

Whoa!!! O'Hanlon has probably never talked to any brigade
commanders.
Brigades are the building blocks for our combat divisions. He
would have
learned that of the three brigades in each division, maybe ONE
is fully
mission capable and that two of them are normally robbed for
personnel and
equipment to enable the "Ready Brigade" for deployment. It
isn't much
different for the Navy to keep ships in critical operational
areas.

As another reason, he claims that our weapons and equipment are
much better
today. Maybe true but are the humans that are handling and
maintaining the
stuff?

Next, he states that our units are expertly trained and that our
equipment
maintenance readiness is between 70-80% for critical combat
equipment, such
as tanks, planes, choppers etc. That's only slightly down from
the 90% in
recent years and in the Reagan era.

The man seems to have "zero" clue of the corruption in our
readiness
reporting. When a unit reported 90% readiness in recent years,
the true
number was about 75%. Why? Because the efficiency report of a
successful
battalion commander depended on the 90% pass figure. No
Division commander
would have accepted less. If today, we proudly report 70-80%,
the real
readiness number is likely in the 50% range, cause for very
great readiness
concern!

O'Hanlon also claims that we are recovering well from the
recruiting crisis
and he cites our recent successes with pay raises and improved
AD CAMPAIGNS.
He claims our forces today are better educated and qualified
than ever
before.

That pegs the BS-meter at max output! Do you really believe
that spending
more money on fancy commercials will improve recruiting quality?

My experience in the last three years was that to keep up the
numbers (and
recruiting careers), we were scraping the bottom of society's
barrel. We
were trying to buffer our shortfalls with more and more minority
groups.

Pretty soon, if we can't make our forces attractive to our
middle and upper
middle class white male citizens, we will have created a force
that is so
diverse and "standards-deprived" that we won't be able to
preserve the
essential ingredients that make cohesive fighting organizations
- common
national values, language and history.

And by the way, test standards have dropped over the years so
that lower
category recruits won't show as total morons but in the
"availability"
range. In many cases, today's High School Diplomas don't mean as
much as the
ones from ten years ago, and I recall a few Lieutenants from
questionable
colleges who couldn't write a simple field order or successfully
lead a
bunch of ants to a picnic.

Then O'Hanlon talks about the distinguished performance of our
troops in
Somalia. Accepted, our troops on the ground fought well, but
they were
"sold out" by their senior political and military leaders. Once
more, the
analyst forgets the human factor. Bad leaders implement bad
processes, give
bad orders, and make bad tactical decisions.

My conclusion from the grunt level is that all is not so well
but that we
are not in a totally hopeless situation yet. To make candy from
the crap
that we are being served, we must return to the basics and
assemble
information that is as close as possible to the truth.

That ground truth is best obtained from those who would have to
do the
fighting and dying vs. the sleek analysts and fast buck
E-commerce salesmen.
The Democratic biased assessment that we are as ready as ever is
total
nonsense. But the Republican position that more money thrown at
defense
will fix it all is just as flawed.

Zimm

© R.W. Zimmermann, LandserUSA
zimm@sftt.org
============================================================
ARTICLE 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Memorial Day - Honoring Those that have Fallen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: Another Memorial Day is upon us. Many politicians will
render empty
speeches to honor our troops' sacrifices they personally never
made. Where
the political speeches fail, the simple words of those who
served can stir
the proper thoughts and emotions. The following piece is by a
former old
Guard Officer. The attached poem was written by one of his
soldiers. On the
upcoming Memorial Day, a salute and warm thanks from all of us
to the troops
of the 3rd US Infantry who make sure that duty, honor and
country live on
from the day you don the uniform, to the day you are recalled
from duty on
this planet.
************************************************************************
By Bob Milani
Bob.Milani@spinetech.com

Memorial Day conjures up so many memories of a previous life. A
military
life, a life spent as an infantry officer in command of American
soldiers.
No greater honor exists in this world than to lead the wonderful
men and
women of this blessed country. And no greater honor exists
within the
military, as in command of soldiers providing military honors to
our fallen
comrades. For more than a year I had the privilege of company
command in
the prestigious 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) at
Arlington
Cemetery.

Those of you who have visited Arlington Cemetery and the Tomb of
the Unknown
Soldier, know The Old Guard. These are the soldiers who guard
the Tomb and
pay silent tribute to the Unknown Soldier. Each of these Tomb
guard's
movements are executed silently, with precision and grace. Each
of their
movements replicate a higher purpose: That of bestowing honor
on the dead.
Each movement is choreographed to replicate our nation's highest
honor -- a
21-gun salute; each Tomb guard does so with their 21-step
cadence and their
21-second salute.

Many of us remember President Kennedy's funeral at Arlington
Cemetery: A
horse drawn caisson, John-John's salute, the three rifle
volleys, the
mellifluous notes of Taps echoing in the hills of Arlington, and
the folding
and presentation of the flag to Mrs. Kennedy.

The daily life of the average Old Guard Soldier revolves around
providing
military honors at funerals conducted in Arlington. It was not
uncommon for
my company to be assigned more than 10 funerals a day - all of
which were
executed flawlessly.

Each of these soldiers took their job seriously and trained
accordingly.
Whether as part of the casket team, the firing party or the
marching
platoon, each soldier had a role to play and a job to do.
Precision,
timing, teamwork, impeccable appearance, and discipline were the
hallmarks
of The Old Guard soldier. There were no slouches. These
soldiers were the
best the Army had to offer -- they knew it and I knew it.

When these soldiers were not conducting funerals, they were
training to
conduct funerals. No one wanted to make a mistake. The firing
party
strived to have seven men so synchronized that on the command of
"Fire!" the
volley sounded like one big "crack. " The eight-man casket
team's goal was
a good flag fold - a tight tuck with no red showing. All of
these
movements were choreographed with the military band, the caisson
horsemen,
the color guard, the marching platoon, and the bugler. Most of
these
commands were executed without verbal command and on silent cue.
To witness
a funeral at Arlington was to see attention to detail in its
minutest form.

One who participates in these events cannot help but be moved.
Many days I
fought back tears. The days that I was assigned to present the
flag to the
widow of the deceased were the most difficult for me and the
difficulty
usually started at the playing of Taps.

No matter how professional an organization is, motivating a unit
to perform
a repetitive task at a high level of execution is not always
easy. For me,
personalizing the event as much as possible had the necessary
effect of
drawing out the best in my soldiers. Anything I could learn
before the
funeral about the deceased and their family I would pass on to
the soldiers.

Soldiers do not express their emotions easily. I always felt
that I was the
only one struggling to maintain my composure, but I was not.
The following
story really defines The Old Guard and caring attitude
exemplified by its
soldiers:

We were assigned to perform a military funeral for 2nd
Lieutenant William P.
Dever. We were to provide only a headstone marker and military
honors for
this man - 47 years after his death.

Three weeks before being shipped out to England, William Dever
married a
beautiful girl. Six weeks later his plane was shot down over
the English
Channel and he was killed. His body was never recovered.

In that very short time before his deployment to England,
William Dever and
his lovely lady, smitten with young love, had conceived a son.
William
Dever's son was present the day of his father's funeral,
memorializing a
father he never new. He walked next to his mother behind the
horse drawn
caisson. Since there were no remains, the caisson carried only
an empty
casket bearing an American Flag. The funeral was very moving to
me and to
my soldiers as well - more so than I knew at the time.

The day I relinquished command of my company, a soldier
presented me the
following poem about that funeral. It moves me to the point of
tears every
time I read it and takes me back to that hallowed place.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
In Memory of 2nd Lieutenant William Dever
***********************************
"Can you see me?"

I can see you; looking so lost.
The blank stare, the empty expression.

Emotionless you sit - broken, melancholy, I feel your pain . . .
A flag shadows the lawn before a quiet marker standing in silent
representation of a fallen hero; the one you loved . . .

Three sharp cracks that leave your ears ringing.
Taps is lifted up; the melody fills the air; it's tune wretches
the heart,
pulling out memories of happiness lost long ago.
As the notes fade gently to their rest; I can hear the sobs
echoing on the
wind.

I watch you still; as the flag is folded. Mesmerized, I am
unable to look
away.
I watch the strength - the composure, creep it's way back into
your spine.

(Continued)

I watch the strength - the composure, creep it's way back into
your spine.

A salute rendered, the flag presented.
To see you receive the flag, clutching it to you;
Maybe you feel you'll regain one last moment of closeness with
the one you
lost?

I'm still watching you as the crowd slowly departs.
If you look up towards the silent formation on the hill you'll
see me too -
I'm the soldier with the tears in his eyes.

PFC Kevin W. Baker
Charlie Guard, 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard)
August 1991
==========================================================
ARTICLE 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kosovo SITREP - A Rough Week for Battalion XX
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: The attached SITREP is an unclassified email now
circulating widely in
Army channels and on Capital Hill. The SITREP covers his
battalion's
activities for the seven days from 4 May thru 10 May 2000.
Maybe the
Senators who voted for an open ended commitment to the Kosovo
"No-Winner"
should read some of these first hand accounts to figure what the
real deal
is. Thanks to our troops, the situation is still stable.BUT they
are
increasingly becoming the TARGETS for both warring parties vs.
the good-guy
peacekeepers we envisioned them to be. Our Army editor removed
all unit
references to prevent making our troops friendly fire/political
targets.
**********************************************************************
Email from Officer X in Battalion XX

The ethnic violence continues to increase. Currently, the
Battalion XX
operations area is the most active in Kosovo. As a result, we
are getting a
lot of "attention" from COMKFOR, Task Force Falcon, and civilian
officials
from Pristina.

We have had almost two weeks of continuous activity.

On 4 May, a Serbian home was bombed. The building had two female
occupants
and a child (the male family member was in Serbia). The
occupants suffered
minor injuries, but the home is not safe to live in.

The next night [May 5], an unoccupied Serbian home in Vitina was
burned.
Naturally, the tension in all of the Serb communities was high.

On 6 May, a 67 year old Serb man was murdered in Klokot while he
was
fishing. Cobra Battery found the body. When the Klokot Serbs
found out, they
began to riot. They began attacking Albanian cars passing
through the town.
They smashed vehicle windows with bricks, pulled the occupants
out of the
cars, and beat them. Soldiers responded quickly, and were able
to save the
lives of many Albanians.

As reinforcements were sent north into Klokot, a column of
wounded and
bloody Albanians (including women and children) were moving
south towards
Vitina. Ten cars were damaged and 13 Albanians were treated by
Battalion XX
medics and transported to a local clinic. After negotiating with
the Serb
leaders, the riots ended around 2300 hours. By midnight, the
Battalion
XX'ers had removed all Serb obstacles from the road (burning
cars, tires,
and wood).

On 7 May, the situation deteriorated further. In Vitina, an
Albanian man
fired an AK-47 at a Serbian family while they were sitting in
their yard.
The attack was probably in retaliation for the attack on the
Albanians in
Klokot yesterday. The gunmen emptied a 30-round magazine at the
family. All
of the family members were hit (a man, woman, and two little
girls).
Thankfully, none of the individuals were killed, although all of
them
suffered serious wounds.

Later that evening, an explosion destroyed a Serbian home in the
town of
Vrbovac. The home was unoccupied, however, the owners had
recently returned
from Serbia and were repairing the home for future occupation.
Within
minutes of the explosion a crowd of about 70 angry Serb males
gathered and
became hostile towards KFOR. Someone in the crowd attempted to
grab the
platoon leader's weapon. He shoved the man back and the
Battalion XX'ers
locked and loaded their weapons as the crowd surged forward. The
crowd
grabbed the Albanian interpreter, but the soldiers reacted
quickly to
prevent him from being injured. After tense negotiations, the
crowd
dispersed back into the town.

The next day [8 May], the Serbians decided to block the roads in
Klokot to
prevent the Albanians from going to work at a bottling plant and
health
facility. When the Albanians showed up for work, the Serbs moved
to attack
them. Soldiers from Cobra Battery moved to interdict them and
protect the
Albanians. The Serbs and the Albanians began throwing rocks at
each other,
with the Battalion XX'ers caught in the middle. The squad leader
ordered his
squad to lock and load, called for the QRF, and fired warning
shots to
regain control of the situation. The word quickly spread through
the
Albanian communities of the situation in Klokot.

Soon, the worst case scenario began to develop: Albanians from
all of the
surrounding towns began to mobilize to march on Klokot. 300
Albanians
attempted to march from Pozaranje in the west, but were stopped
by the UAE
company attached to the Battalion XX'ers. Warning shots were
fired. About
100 Albanians marched on Klokot from Zitinje in the north. They
were stopped
by Battalion XX'ers and MPs. Approximately 150 Albanians marched
on Klokot
from Radivoiche in the east. They were stopped by Delta Company
and another
group of MPs. The largest group of Albanians (600-700) attempted
to march on
Klokot from Vitina in the south. This group was stopped by
soldiers, riot
police, and MP dogs.

Our efforts were greatly assisted by the Kiowas and Apaches
flying overhead.
We always had early warning of where the Albanians were massing
and what
direction they were headed because of the good work done by the
aviators.
Because we had control of the interior lines, we were able to
shift forces
around the sector all day to counter the different crowds. It
was a long and
exhausting day. I was extremely proud of the young Battalion
XX'ers on the
ground. Most of them spent the entire day, moving from location
to location,
to confront angry crowds.

On 10 May, the violence erupted again. An unoccupied Serb home
north of
Grncar was destroyed by a bomb. Bulldog soldiers responded
within minutes
and were immediately attacked by approximately 75 angry Serbs.
The Serbs
were throwing rocks and climbing onto the vehicles. Warning
shots were
fired. One soldier on the vehicle was grabbed by Serbs, but
another soldier
swung the .50 cal around, knocking the Serbs off of the vehicle.

A helicopter appeared on the scene and created an excellent dust
cloud for
the squad to withdraw. Another squad of soldiers that were
responding to the
call for help from the previous squad, also met an angry crowd
of Serbians.

The Battalion XX'ers responded by shoving the crowd back and
butt-stroking
civilians with their weapons. Warning shots were fired (The
first three
rounds in the magazine need to be tracer ammunition. It can be
seen by the
crowd and has a greater effect). During the pause, the squad
leader directed
the M203 gunners to load non-lethal munitions and tossed a CS
grenade. The
CS instantly dispersed the crowd and enabled the squad to link
up with other
forces.

Meanwhile, another group of Serbs attacked the soldiers at the
Vrbovac
church. There were only two soldiers at the church because the
rest of the
squad moved from the church to assist other soldiers involved in
a
confrontation down the road. Other forces rushed to link up with
the two
soldiers, but for a short period of time, they defended their
position by
themselves.

Once again, a helicopter appeared on the scene and assisted the
soldiers by
kicking up a lot of dust and obscuring the vision of the
Serbians. Another
CS grenade was used in the defense of the church and dispersed
the crowd
until reinforcements arrived. In the end, three Battalion XX'ers
were
injured, however, only one was evacuated to the Battalion Aid
Station. The
soldier received a small wound to his face that required four
stitches to
close up.

In hindsight, it appears that the entire event might have been
staged by the
Serbs, including the bombing of the abandoned home. I cannot go
into the
evidence/justification in this unclassified e-mail. Suffice it
to say, the
Serbs knew we had intended to occupy the abandoned house that
night with an
OP. The squad that was supposed to occupy the position was late.
If our
assessment and TF Falcon's assessment is correct, the Serbs were
attempting
to kill American soldiers, blame the Albanians, and change the
rules of the
game.

(Continued)

If our
assessment and TF Falcon's assessment is correct, the Serbs were
attempting
to kill American soldiers, blame the Albanians, and change the
rules of the
game.

Last night, another Serbian home was burned in Klokot. A crowd
of about 30
males gathered, but did not become violent. Surprisingly, they
were all
sober. So far today, it has been quiet. The Task Force is
resting, and
preparing for another eventful night.

That is all of the news from Kosovo. It is going to be a long,
hot summer.
Rest assured that the Battalion XX'ers are up to the task. We
are learning
some tough lessons, but we are getting better at this business
everyday.
===============================================================
ARTICLE 5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lessons in Leadership
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: After serving on four subs and an outstanding track record
of over 18 ½
years, this old hand was torpedoed by his own during his last
assignment.
Maybe his Navy had changed and it was time to call it quits!
************************************************************************
Clinton C. Owen ETC(SS), USN, Retired

I have never considered myself to be a great leader, not even a
very good
one. But the Navy seemed to think otherwise. In 18½ years,I had
received a
Navy Commendation Medal, Four Navy Achievement Medals, and
enough
certificates and letters to paper my den, if I went in for that
sort of
thing. So, what happened at my last command, where I received
four Letters
of Instruction, got relieved of my duties, and nearly got
disqualified from
nuclear power? Was it me that changed, or was it the US Navy?

I reported aboard in February 1998, at the beginning of a
mini-overhaul. I
knew that I was supposed to get re-qualified on all of my
watches in six
months, a nearly impossible task without any sea time. I hit the
books,
relying on my excellent ET1 to keep the division running.

Four months later, it was time to start up and test the reactor,
my first
time on this ship and propulsion plant. During the pre-check
procedure, the
two operators rushed a bit, and one entry was missed (in 120
pages!) The
Engineering Duty Officer caught the mistake and we did the job
again. My
first Letter of Instruction (LOI) was for failing to prevent
that single
admin mistake.

By August 1998, I felt ready for my first watch qualification,
Reactor
Technician (RT). What did I get when I asked the engineer for an
interview?
LOI #2, of course, for failure to qualify within six months!
Serious
concerns about my lack of progress had been a well kept secret,
from me and
from my division officer, who had no idea the LOI was coming
either. I was
warned that I could be disqualified from nuclear power. I got
qualified RT
on the second interview.

In October 1998 I had my first Reactor Operator (RO)
qualification board. I
think that I would have passed that board at any of my previous
commands,
but the CO and the Engineer thought that I was too hesitant and
unsure of
myself. Instead of getting qualified RO, I got LOI #3.

I arranged to go out to sea on another boat of the same. Five
days underway
studying, standing training watches and observing casualty
drills
effectively doubled my operational experience on that reactor
plant! A week
later I passed my board, even though I answered the questions in
essentially
the same way as before. I was qualified Reactor Operator, eight
months after
reporting aboard, with 10 days at sea! My last hurdle would be
Engineering
Watch Supervisor (EWS).

We got underway for a 70-day patrol, with a major inspection at
the end. I
stood watch with every qualified EWS and Engineering Officer of
the Watch as
often as I could. I took each one around the engine room and got
them to ask
me every question they could think of, practical and off the
wall. Each one
said that he would be happy to have me in his section. Of
course, I failed
my first EWS board. They still didn't like my "style." At least
they skipped
the LOI this time! Two weeks later I had another go, and managed
to squeak
through, magically transformed. Fully qualified, in only 9
months! It was
November 30th.

I got assigned to the mid-watch, midnight to 6 AM, every day. I
didn't mind.
That is part of the job and someone has to do it. I usually got
my sleep on
the evening watch, five to eleven PM, because of drills and
meetings
throughout the day. We settled into a normal routine.

On December 26, once again without any kind of warning, I was
called to the
CO's stateroom for another leadership lesson. I was astonished
to discover
that I was being relieved of my duties as LPO, in favor of my
senior ET1. It
was all laid out in LOI #4. I had not been performing or
supervising enough
maintenance (routinely done on the evening watch, my only chance
to sleep).
They were concerned that I would not make a good showing for the
inspection,
at the time about two weeks off.

There is a happy ending to this sordid tale. I got reinstated as
LPO during
the next offcrew cycle (after the inspectors were safely out of
site). At my
retirement ceremony I received Navy Achievement Medal #5, and
the Captain
gave a glowing speech about my contributions to the command, the
submarine
force, and to the nation. I guess all that leadership must have
paid off.
===============================================================
ARTICLEs 6 & 7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reader Responses - No Gun Ri
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: I received many responses on the topic. Some told us that
No Gun Ri
was a press-manufactured event as expressed in the recent
Newsweek article.
But.a great number of Korean War vets said that No Gun Ri could
have
happened, even more than once. Some point to an air attack gone
bad which
stirred civilian movement in the midst of a North Korean attack.
Add the
high number of green troops and disaster is possible. Maybe
we'll never
know. The bottom line remains: War is Hell and fought by humans
who have
the ability to make it even worse. America remains the greatest
nation on
earth because most of us have no fear of the truth.
***********************************************************************
By Paul Viscovich, Jr., CDR, USN

Thanks for your remarks on the alleged massacre at No Gun Ri,
1950, which
you wrote in the 17 MAY 2000 edition of Soldiers for the Truth.
Your's are
the most intelligent remarks I have seen on this subject and
they are
applicable to all U.S. conflicts going back to the Revolutionary
War.

It is easy and cheap for armchair philosophers to sit back and
second guess
decisions made under conditions which they shrink from enduring
themselves,
but as General Sherman noted, "War is all hell."

So if in the grand Judeo-Christian scheme of things, we may have
made some
mistakes in war fighting, I would still challenge anyone to show
us a
country in any war whose victorious military has exhibited
greater restraint
and compassion under fire than has that of the United States ...
and without
the benefit of "consideration of others" training!
==============================================================
ARTICLE 7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No Gun Ri response -- Real Combat is not like the Movies
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed: A combat soldier speaks out. Self-preservation is an
essential element
in every firefight.
************************************************************************
Ralph W.
Texas
Retired Special Forces

I arrived in Korea 9 July 1950, and I damned sure shot where the
bullets
were coming from and they were not all wearing uniforms. I
really didn't
give a rats ass then nor did I give a rats ass for the total of
the five
years spent in combat zones during my 22 years in The Military.

That's why I'm still alive, 69 years old and have a seven year
old son.
Great, great column.
==============================================================
ARTICLE 8
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's raining Medals once again
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: In response to the recent announcement of 21 WWII Medals of
Honor to
Asian Americans.You could probably add Hack to the list. Food
for thought!
*********************************************************************
By Mohawk

How about Medals of Honor for the following:
"Chesty" Puller (5 Navy Crosses).

Victor "Transport" Maghakian, Navy Cross (punched out an officer
who wanted
to surrender--MOH down-graded to Navy Cross -- 2 Silver Stars,
Bronze Star,
2 0r 3 Purple Hearts. Aren't Armenians minorities?

And why not "Teddy" Roosevelt, and many, many others?
==============================================================
ARTICLE 9
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why are the ones in power so forgetful?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: A German WWII veteran and close friend of one of our
editors, comments
on the American soldier and why he deserves care and compassion.
Simple but
truthful words.
************************************************************************
By Gerhard Bluemlein

I am sorry for what has happened to your veterans. They (the
politicians)
have forsaken you, sold you down the river. They forgot that
you, all of you
American soldiers, saved them from Kaiser Wilhelm for, if he
would have won
WWI, Europe, Mid-East and Africa would have been Great Germany
(The
Fatherland of Mankind).

They forgot that you, all of you American soldiers, saved them
from Hitler
for, if he would have won WWII, together with Mussolini and
Hirohito, the
world would have been a dictatorial power and millions would
have
disappeared in concentration camps, starving to death or being
eliminated by
fast killing death machines.

They forgot that you, all of you American soldiers, saved them
from Stalin,
Ho Chi Minh, Mao, Castro, Saddam Hussein, for the world would
have been
enslaved to the whims of the conquerors.

They forgot that you, all of you American soldiers, helped them
to be in the
position they are in now, in a free Nation, indivisible and a
home for all,
regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex or
handicap.

And most of all, they forgot that you, all of you American
soldiers, saved
them from being the ones in labor- or concentration camps.
===============================================================
ARTICLE 11
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GI HUMOR - Learning the Language
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: Transitioning out of uniform or retiring soon? Help is
here. When
you're reading the Classifieds, this is what job ads "really"
mean. From
Tig Dupre's trick box.
***********************************************************************
"Competitive Salary"
We remain competitive by paying you less than our competition.

"Join our fast-paced company"
We have no time to train you.

"Casual work atmosphere"
We don't pay enough to expect that you will dress up; a couple
of the real
daring guys wear earrings.

"Some overtime required"
Some every night and some every weekend.

"Duties will vary"
Anyone in the office can boss you around.

"Must have an eye for detail"
We have no quality assurance.

"Career-minded"
Female applicants must be childless (and remain that way).

"Apply in person"
If you're old, fat or ugly you'll be told that the position has
been filled.

"Seeking candidates with a wide variety of experience"
You'll need it to replace the three people who just quit.

"Problem-solving skills a must"
You're walking into perpetual chaos.

"Requires team leadership skills"
You'll have the responsibilities of a manager, without the pay
or respect.

"Good communication skills"
Management communicates, you listen, figure out what they want
and do it.
===============================================================
ARTICLE 12 - MEDAL OF HONOR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: Korea 1951. Close in combat of the toughest kind.
Another reason to
be proud of our troops who turned certain disaster into tactical
victories.
If you would like more info on MOH recipients and their stories,
please
email James H at bulldogleader@mindspring.com.
*********************************************************************
LEE, HUBERT L.

Rank and organization: Master Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company I,
23d Infantry
Regiment, 2d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Ip-ori,
Korea, 1
February 1951. Entered service at: Leland, Miss. Born: 2
February 1915,
Arburg, Mo. G.O. No.: 21, 5 February 1952.

Citation: M/Sgt. Lee, a member of Company I, distinguished
himself by
conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call
of duty in
action against the enemy. When his platoon was forced from its
position by a
numerically superior enemy force, and his platoon leader
wounded, M/Sgt. Lee
assumed command, regrouped the remnants of his unit, and led
them in
repeated assaults to regain the position. Within 25 yards of his
objective
he received a leg wound from grenade fragments, but refused
assistance and
continued the attack. Although forced to withdraw 5 times, each
time he
regrouped his remaining men and renewed the assault. Moving
forward at the
head of his small group in the fifth attempt, he was struck by
an exploding
grenade, knocked to the ground, and seriously wounded in both
legs. Still
refusing assistance, he advanced by crawling, rising to his
knees to fire,
and urging his men to follow. While thus directing the final
assault he was
wounded a third time, by small-arms fire. Persistently
continuing to crawl
forward, he directed his men in a final and successful attack
which regained
the vital objective.

His intrepid leadership and determination led to the destruction
of 83 of
the enemy and withdrawal of the remainder, and was a vital
factor in
stopping the enemy attack. M/Sgt. Lee's indomitable courage,
consummate
valor, and outstanding leadership reflect the highest credit
upon himself
and are in keeping with the finest traditions of the infantry
and the U.S.
Army.
==============================================================
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EDITOR'S NOTE:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For Article Submissions: as a rule of thumb, please try to keep
article for
possible publication to 750 words or less. Please make every
editing effort
not to exceed these guidelines and SUBMIT IN WORD FORMAT, if
possible!

What we're into is getting the word to as many citizens as
possible about
what is causing our military machine to fly like a B17 with 3
engines on
fire (and that plane still flew!).

Watch your flanks - the bad guys are still out there!!!
R.W. Zimmermann
zimm@sftt.org
=============================================
GLOSSARY OF MILITARY ACRONYMS:
We've had numerous requests from troops in different branches of
the
military to establish this link so that we will all know how
"all you
others" talk that talk. Please see below:
http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/acronym_index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***** BOOK SALES *****
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hack's books About Face*, Hazardous Duty*, The Price of Honor*
and The
Vietnam Primer can be found at www.hackworth.com. They make a
great addition
to any library. We are offering them at special SFTT price.
====================================================
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Defending America Newsletter: Administrative Volunteers:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
R.W. Zimmermann, Chief Editor, President of SFTT, Mine Detector
and "Gunner"
David H. Hackworth, Spirit Guide, and undisputed Y2K Expert
Bill Rogers, Senior Assistant Editor and SFTT Vice President
Kate Aspy, Contributing Editor and Oracle
Barry "Woody" Groton, Chief TECH DROID and Medicine Man
Ed "Edgar" Schneider, Copy Editor, Man of Letters and gentleman:
Hansachs@bc.seflin.org
Kyle Elliott, Book List Editor and Most Over-worked
James H., MOH Editor and NCOIC
===================================================
Defending America

VOLUNTEER EDITORS/SPECIALISTS

NOTE: The following list only includes the two primary
assistant editors
for each service or special area. Please refer to our WEBSITE
for the
complete listing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ALL Letters and Articles for considered publication should be
submitted to
one of our brave, resolute and caring volunteers.
****************************************
****************************************
U.S. Army:

Tig Dupre, Civil-Military relations, weapons expert and Senior
Editor
Tigger84@ptinet.net

CPT Scott Key, Armor, Generalist, Assistant to Chief Editor
Recoil27@hotmail.com

Robert L. Duecaster, Legal
DukesPlace@aol.com

**********************************************
**********************************************
U.S. Navy:
Mark Crissman, Naval Aviation, Generalist and Senior Editor
mcrissman@nettally.com

John J. Vanore, Surface Warfare, Reserve and Intelligence issues
JOHN.J.VANORE@saic.com
Mike Cummins, Surface Warfare, Mine Countermeasures
cumminsmp@yahoo.com

**********************************************
**********************************************
U.S. Air Force:
Paul Connors, Senior Editor, AF Historian, Grunt experience,
Procurement and
AirCrew issues
paulconnors@hotmail.com

Sean Fermat, Fighters, WSO, Weapons, C&C, Generalist
Fermat15@aol.com

**********************************************
**********************************************
U.S. Marines:

Maj. Gordon Todd, USMCR, Communications & Tech., Small Arms
Training, Senior
Editor.
NGHTFLAME7@aol.com

Capt A. McRae, Marine generalist
jdale10642@aol.com

**********************************************
**********************************************
US Coast Guard
Tom Grabowski
coastie@stargate.net

**********************************************
**********************************************
Department of Defense
Mike St.Clair Acquisition and Quality Assurance
mstclair@kscable.com

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