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Wartime lies - the 1940's Version

Capt. Colin P. Kelly - Hero**?

Oh my heavens, what have we discovered about the evil duplicious administration and his neocon fascist warrior cult now? The heinious crime of the military, painting rosy scenarios about losses in combat all to justify their illegal wars. Will they never learn?

But we've seen it all before, havent we? Oh, the shame of it all.

Just look at this from that evil racist war in the 1940's:

"...An imminent air attack sent the three bombers off to their respective targets before refueling and bomb loading were completed. Captain Kelly had only three 600-pound bombs aboard and orders to attack airfields on Formosa (Taiwan), some 500 miles north of Clark. The mission would earn Colin Kelly a place in American history and legend.

In the confusion of the early days of the Pacific war, Kelly was credited with sinking a Japanese battleship and with award of the Medal of Honor. Overnight he became a national hero. It later was determined that Kelly and his crew did not sink a battleship, nor was he awarded the Medal of Honor, although some still believe both...

end snip.

General Macarthur and his cronies needed heroes to justify their ill considered run up against the Japanese so as to make their illegal war stick in the minds of the American people, so they trumped up some regular acts into things that werent true.

You know what, I'll bet that Lt. Commander Johnson really didnt get his silver star either, or the Senator Tom Harkin wasnt really in Vietnam at all!

You just can't trust those military types...

** - A Hero? Well, all kidding aside, my answer is yes, indeed he was. The fact that his actions were a bit convaluted by the press and the high command for their own purposes at the time, do not detract from the act, his sacrifice and their meaning to the rest of us. But here in the "post watergate age", we tend to look on every example of distortion from the government as an act of brazen deception, but most of the time, its some just some amount on incompetancy in the organization itself. Its nothing personal, its just what happens in organizations like the government.

Would Private Lynch perfer that her commanders release a report showing her incompetence under fire(yes, people can argue that allowing sand to jam a rifle while in combat is a measure of incompentence) as another in a long line of reasons why women probably shouldnt be in combat? It's not likely that she would. Was such a conversation had by people around the mess hall at some point during or after her rescue? You can bet on it. That doesnt make it right, and it shouldn't detract from her story or the stories of other women in combat or the sacrifice of others on her team that didnt make it through that incident, but its not right for Private Lynch to try to help the enemies of the military make hay out of something she aught to let lay as it is. She did good and her rescue is one worth telling again. Didn't get the facts right? Sweetheart, have you seen what passes for facts in war movies these days? Since way back in the time of Hector and Achillies, facts dont enter into what gets written down about other peoples war stories.

This is why old men in the VFW who have actually been in combat have precious little to say about it. How the hell do you explain to someone who hasnt been there what its like? How do you expect them to understand what you saw?

I find it interesting to watch the party dedicated to putting more government interference into every part of your life, is always the first to tell you at the 'top of their lungs' how its the government that has lied to you and has "done you wrong". So go ahead Congressman Waxman, you acts are meant to discredit the miltary in the eyes of the average citizen, but all he's really doing is making more conservatives out of every day folks who are getting yet another lesson on how not to trust the authorities.

Posted @ April 25, 2007 01:01 PM | Current Affairs

Posted by: Vittle at April 29, 2007 09:46 PM