Category Archives: military news

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Honor our vets … and the nation they served

My favorite veteran, my Dad, left this Earth 44 years ago. He never had the chance to grow old, as he was just 59 when he perished in a freak boating accident in British Columbia.

Pete Kanelis, though, was every bit a hero in my eyes and, yes, in the eyes of the nation he served with honor and distinction in one of its darkest times: World War II.  Dad’s heroism didn’t stand out among the 16 million men and women who suited up for that war. But he fought hard against the tyrants who sought to subjugate us all.

He was the farthest thing possible from being a “sucker” and a “loser,” if you get my drift.

Dad did not teach me many valuable life lessons during his time on Earth. Two things stand out. He valued family above all else. He also was an unabashed, unapologetic patriot who loved this nation and was prepared to fight to the death to preserve it.

He exhibited that pride on Dec. 7, 1941, the “date which will live … in infamy,” as FDR said the next day in the speech to Congress in which he asked for a declaration of war against Japan. The day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Dad was listening to news reports at home in Portland with his parents and his six siblings.

He walked out of the house and went downtown to the armed forces recruiting office where he saw that the U.S. Navy was open for business. He enlisted that afternoon. 

Dad knew the fight for our national life was about to begin and he wanted to be a part of it. He got his wish … and then some!

He never boasted about what he did that day. In fact, my bride and I didn’t learn about it until 2019, when one of his brothers, Uncle Tino, told us what transpired that day. “I was 9 years old,” Tino said, “and I remember it vividly.” Dad was a 20-year-old college sophomore on that fateful day.

He taught me, without fanfare or bravado, that when your country needs your service, you step up and serve in any way you can. I would do so later … but this tale is about my favorite veteran and the heroism he displayed the moment he knew his country needed him.

Pete Kanelis embodied the best among us and on this Veterans Day, I salute all who served the greatest nation on Earth.

military news

Shop for a saddle, dude

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A former colleague of mine had a number of quips he was fond of pulling out when the opportunity presented itself.

One of them was: If someone calls you an ass, hey, no worries. If two or more call you an ass, then you need to start shopping for a saddle.

So it should be for Donald Trump to start saddling up, as several distinguished military men have called him a “fascist.” They have referred to him as a man who wants to serve not as president of the USA, but as a dictator!

Retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, retired Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis, retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, retired Admiral James Stavridis, retired Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster all speak in unison.

Donald Trump is unfit to serve as commander in chief.

That is their message. Many of them have worked directly for Trump during his 2017-2021 term as POTUS. Gens. Kelly, Mattis, Milley and McMaster all have seen him up close and personally. They have seen him demonstrate his unfathomable distaste for men and women who serve in uniform. John Kelly, a Gold Star dad, actually heard Trump refer to those who die for their country as “losers.”

They did not like what they saw. And these men of honor have spoken out on millions of Americans’ behalf.

They have performed one more stellar act of public service.

military news

Dad would be enraged!

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Pete Kanelis is my favorite veteran … but you know that already about him.

He was my dad. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy within hours after hearing that our forces had been attacked at Pearl Harbor and, by God, he wanted to get into the fight of his life immediately.

I now am going to put words in Dad’s mouth.

He would be enraged at what we are learning about what Donald Trump has said about Adolf Hitler, about veterans, about prisoners of war, about those who were wounded — and killed — in action.

The revelations about the Republican presidential nominee’s hideous assertions come from flag officers who served in Trump’s administration. Marine Gen. John Kelly has said Trump wanted generals like those who served Adolf Hitler. Army Gen. Mark Milley has called Trump “fascist to the core.”

Trump’s response has been to denigrate these two patriots, men who have fought with valor. Gen. Kelly is a Gold Star father whose son died in combat in Afghanistan … and who heard Trump refer to KIAs as “losers.”

This latest battering of Trump is getting worldwide coverage as we enter the final two weeks of this campaign. It damn sure should get it.

Dad was not a particularly scholarly man. He wasn’t a deep thinker. However, he was the purest patriot I’ve ever seen. That he traveled to downtown Portland, Ore., on the day our forces were attacked to get into a fight to defend our nation, tells me everything I need to know about the love he had for this great nation.

And this veteran, who faced down Hitler’s forces in combat would be enraged beyond all measure at what a tinhorn GOP politician said about history’s most despicable tyrant.

I would share Dad’s rage.  To think that Donald Trump would want to take command of the world’s greatest military simply makes my blood boil. I only can imagine what my favorite veteran would be thinking today.

military news

A day of supreme infamy

Today marks an event the world seldom seems to mention, let alone commemorate in any meaningful way.

Therefore, I now will give it a brief mention.

On Sept. 1, 1939, Adolf Hitler ordered the Nazi German army into Poland to start the bloodiest conflict in world history. World War II began on that day as Hitler sought to strengthen his Third Reich, the empire he envisioned would last 1,000 years.

It lasted 12, ending just a few days after Hitler blew his brains out in his Berlin bunker.

I wanted to take note of this day because we keep hearing about threats of another “world war” breaking out if Russia continues its unjustified attack on Ukraine and with tensions continuing to boil in the Middle East.

May the world always be vigilant about what can happen when we let tyrants slither under our line of sight.

military news

This ‘sucker’ fires back

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As I look back over the past four days of the Democratic National Convention and its myriad examples of Donald Trump’s unfitness for public office, I am drawn to the one area that hits me right where I live.

It is Trump’s disrespect for those of us who have donned our nation’s military uniform. I am one of those “suckers” and “losers” who answered the call to duty when it arrived at my parents’ mailbox one hot summer day in July 1968. Uncle Sam summoned me to duty … and so I went to do as I was ordered to do.

Trump didn’t do that very thing. He avoided service through those infamous bone spurs.

The DNC highlighted — or “lowlighted,” if you prefer — Trump’s utter disdain for those of us who did serve. Former GOP U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois stood before the convention and decried Trump’s disrespect for him. So did U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, a candidate for the Senate in Arizona — who brought along a number of veterans to embrace his condemnation of Trump. So did Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former Navy pilot and former astronaut.

Then we had former Defense Secretary, former CIA director, former congressman Leon Panetta echo all of that as well.

Trump never should have donned the commander in chief’s mantle in the first place and he damn sure should never assume that role ever again.

The men and women who serve in our military deserve to have complete trust in their commander in chief. Vice President Kamala Harris, nominated last night to confront Mr. Bone Spurs in this year’s campaign for the White House, pledged to maintain and support the world’s most “lethal” fighting force if she is elected president.

She also has pledged to protect all the “pre-paid” benefits our veterans have earned through their service to the nation we love beyond all measure.

I believe in Kamala Harris’s commitment to those who continue to serve with honor, distinction and valor.

military news

Veterans do battle

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I don’t like the tone the 2024 presidential campaign has taken quite suddenly, with the vice-presidential nominees questioning the other man’s service in the military.

Veterans everywhere — and there are millions of us out here — will be paying attention.

Republican VP nominee J.D. Vance served for three years as a US Marine, leaving the Corps as a corporal. I salute Vance and thank him for his service.

However …

Vance has fired the first shot in the fight against fellow vet and Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz, who retired from the US Army National Guard as a command sergeant major. Vance has accused Walz of misrepresenting his service by saying he fired his service rifle in combat. I honor Walz’s service as well.

Let’s be careful, Corporal Vance. Accusing a veteran of what they call “theft of valor” is about as serious as it gets. Walz denies ever saying what Vance has alleged. Vance also says Walz chickened out of deployment by retiring prior to his National Guard deploying to Afghanistan. Walz said his unit received its deployment orders months after he retired.

I do not want to see this campaign wallow in the stolen valor gutter.

How about sticking to pertinent issues, such as which one of these fellows is better qualified to become POTUS should the need arise? On that matter, my mind is made up,

International news, military news

Russia about to gain a WH friend?

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Donald Trump’s selection of J.D. Vance as his 2024 Republican Party presidential running mate should send chills up the spine of every “real Republican” out there.

Why is that? Because Vance, a freshman U.S. senator from Ohio, has emerged as Russia’s most vocal ally in the ridiculous debate over whether we should continue to assist Ukraine in its valiant fight against the Russian invaders.

Vance has made it clear: If he has any say in the matter, the United States won’t spend another dollar to assist Ukraine as it fights for its life against the immoral, illegal and unprovoked invasion by the Russian armed forces.

There has been plenty of talk about this election being a fight for democracy. That fight is playing itself out on the battlefields of Ukraine, which is fighting to preserve its democratic government against. the authoritarians in Moscow who want to take Ukraine back as a “Russian state.”

President Biden has been steadfast in his support of Ukraine, vowing to keep the United States engaged by sending money for military hardware essential for Ukraine to defeat the Russian aggressors.

Now, though, Trump and his “friendship” with Vladimir Putin stands in the way. Moreover, Trump now has a vocal running mate who is standing openly and foursquare with Putin’s designs on spreading his dictatorial regime beyond Russia’s borders.

Republican political orthodoxy used to stand against Russian aggression. We engaged in a decades-long cold war with the Soviet Union to keep them from advancing beyond their territorial limit. Two presidents named Bush, and others named Nixon, Eisenhower and Reagan stood strong against the tyrants.

We must not let the Russians win this fight!

military news, national news, political news

What would Ike think?

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Today and other days this week have my mind flashing back to the first president I remember during my tine on this Earth.

I was born in 1949, during the second term of Harry Truman’s administration. My initial memory of the president begins with Dwight Eisenhower.

I want to preface my brief remarks by reminding readers of these facts. Eisenhower led the World War II Allied forces to victory in Europe in 1945. The victory march began 80 years ago today when Ike ordered the D-Day invasion of northern France to begin. He achieved General of the Army status. He ran for the presidency in 1952 and won in a landslide; he would repeat the landslide victory four years later.

Ike was a Republican and today I am wondering: What in the name of all that is holy would President Eisenhower think of what has become of the party he once led to the pinnacle of power?

Ike wasn’t a career politician when he decided to run for president. He had spent his professional life in the military, arguably the least political job one can hold in service to the public. His concerns didn’t rely on political considerations.

Eisenhower led by example and was adamantly faithful to the oath he took to protect and defend the Constitution. He took the oath while wearing his uniform and then as president of the United States.

I cannot help but wonder what Ike would think of the great political party he once led in this era of fealty to one man. Gen. Eisenhower died in 1969, just eight years after leaving the presidency in the hands of the “next generation” led by President John F. Kennedy.

He warned us in his farewell speech of the dangers of the “military-industrial complex.” He knew those dangers better than almost any other living American in that moment.

This man was a leader. He wore his military uniform with pride and was far from the “sucker” and “loser” that one of his presidential successors has proclaimed others who choose that career to be.

That successor, himself a sucker and loser and now a convicted felon, would be unfit to carry Eisenhower’s briefcase. Yet here is, leading Ike’s once-great political party.

What has happened to the Grand Old Party?

military news

‘OK … we’ll go’

What you see on the headline attached to this blog post might be the most understated and underrated military command in the history of warfare.

It came from the lips of Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme Allied Commander of the forces that launched the greatest sea invasion in history. It’s been called D-Day. And for those who have wondered what the “D” stood for … it stands for nothing at all, other than to identify the day the invasion took place.

Ike and his staff had been hamstrung by inclement weather that walloped the English Channel for days prior to the launch. They had planned to go on June 5 but delayed the invasion for 24 hours.

Then came some somewhat encouraging weather reports overnight. Gen. Eisenhower took in the reports and then gave the order: “OK … we’ll go.”

Roughly 5,000 ships took part. They carried tens of thousands of Allied troops, from the United States, Great Britain, Canada, France and a host of other nations.

Operation Overlord succeeded in securing the beachhead at Normandy, on the French coast. Was it a certainty? Hardly., Indeed, Eisenhower prepared for the worst, drafting an announcement that told the world that despite our best efforts, the landing had failed. And in making that never-delivered announcement, Ike took full responsibility for the failure.

The war in Europe would drag on for nearly one more year before Adolf Hitler’s nightmarish dream of the Third Reich came crashing down.

The men who stormed ashore that day are in the mid- to late 90s; many of them are centenarians. Most of them have passed on, leaving the world with few remaining heroes to thank for their valor, their courage and their undying loyalty to freedom.

They formed what has been called The Greatest Generation. I am a product of that generation, as my dad served honorably as a sailor, fighting the Nazis in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations.

I am proud of his service, and I am grateful beyond measure for the men who saved our civilization from the tyrants.

military news

Do you really support this moron?

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Memo to my MAGA friends, acquaintances and those I see with bumper stickers on their pickups ….

Do you really and truly want to support an individual who has labeled those of us who have worn our country’s military uniform “suckers” and “losers”?

The former POTUS launched an unhinged, incompetent rant against judges, legal foes, jurors and the very judicial system as his way of paying tribute to those who died in service to the country. Memorial Day is a special day for the former Moron in Chief.

He denigrated the late Sen. John McCain’s service during the Vietnam War because he “got caught” and spent all those years as a POW. He has smeared the character of a Gold Star Family whose son died an Army hero in the Iraq War. He once told his former fixer/lawyer Michael Cohen that those who went to war in Vietnam were “stupid.”

Here he is. He is competing for the presidency yet again. How does the MAGA movement, comprising individuals I will presume support those who fight for our country, react to their hero’s rants? They give him an unfettered pass.

I have to ask: Does he speak for you, or does he speak only for himself?

I know the answer. He speaks for the cult followers. The good news as I interpret it is that the cult base isn’t growing. It well could be shrinking. Distressing, though, is that their volume remains full-throated.

I will go to my grave wondering how in the world the MAGA movement can possibly support an individual who is incapable of paying appropriate tribute to those who serve our great country.

I mean, to “make America great” requires a faithful commitment to public service.