May 13, 2005

On "The Wisdom of Solomon:" They Fought, They Died, And They Ceased To Be

These Marines fought and died while motormouths at Columbia University spit on the lives that these men sacrificed. To me, these people are anathema. Some academics in America's universities are running their mouths about freedom this and freedom that, but are not willing to lift their little finger in behalf of their own way of life, they just complain. They are against much, and for little. This, while other men, instead, walk the walk, they stand for much and complain little, they fight, they die, and we live on. God bless our Marines and their families, and God bless these men!

"In 96 hours of fighting and ambushes in far western Iraq, the squad had ceased to be. Every member of the squad -- one of three that make up the 1st Platoon of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment -- had been killed or wounded, Marines here said. All told, the 1st Platoon -- which Hurley commands -- had sustained 60 percent casualties, demolishing it as a fighting force."  - Villainous Company via BlackFive

In a foreign country far from their home, a company of United States Marine Reservists from Ohio,
citizen soldiers all, paid the ultimate price for the freedoms
that academics in the U.S., and especially Columbia University's professors, take for granted.  They were very likely,
like most Marines, plain-spoken men. They were men of deeds, not words. The went to war for their country, their loved ones, and our way of life; they fought, they died, they ceased to exist.

HABAN, Iraq, May 11 -

[...]
The explosion enveloped the armored vehicle in
flames, sending orange balls of fire bubbling above the trees along the
Euphrates River near the Syrian border.

Marines in surrounding vehicles threw open
their hatches and took off running across the plowed fields, toward the
already blackening metal of the destroyed vehicle. Shouting, they
pulled to safety those they could, as the flames ignited the bullets,
mortar rounds, flares and grenades inside, rocketing them into the sky
and across pastures.

Gunnery Sgt. Chuck
Hurley emerged from the smoke and turmoil around the vehicle, circling
toward the spot where helicopters would later land to pick up
casualties. As he passed one group of Marines, he uttered one sentence:
"That was the same squad."

Meanwhile, what was going on at Columbia University?

On Friday, the university senate voted by a 53-10 margin, with five abstentions, against a resolution to re-establish an ROTC program on campus. Prominent in this roll call of dishonor was President Lee Bollinger, who voted against, and Provost Alan Brinkley, who gave an impassioned speech comparing the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy to a campus organization that allowed "African-Americans to join . . . only if they pass for white." Oddly, Mr. Brinkley abstained from voting, suggesting he lacked even the courage of these convictions.

BlackFive writes that "the university's decision was
remarkable for two reasons. The first is that, though it has obviously
escaped their notice, we are at war. Moreover, Columbia's student body
had previously voted 2-to-1 to bring back ROTC.  The second is a
federal law called the Solomon Amendment, which prohibits schools from discriminating against military recruiters.  If they refuse, they must forfeit federal funding." But breaking the law doesn't seem to concern America's left that infests her academic institutions. The academic left's traitorous acts in a time of war is kindly addressed by BlackFive in saying that, "America's elite universities
have cloaked their hostility to our armed forces in the language of
civil rights.  They portray this as a principled stand against the
military's legal policy of discharging homosexuals ("don't ask, don't
tell").  It's an interesting stance, since these colleges booted ROTC
off campus long before "don't ask, don't tell" became official policy." I, on the other hand, would consider it appropriate to simply say that they are self-centered, egotistical, bubble-minded, cowards that will use almost any excuse to not stand-up for the very country that provides them the bubbles that they live in.

But inasmuch as BlackFive is far more politically correct(and appropriately so) then I can be on this issue right now, I recommend that you go read his perspective ....

Semper Fi, (1960-1965)

Hat tip - Villainous Company via BlackFive

Cross posted at Hyscience