Warm Southern Breeze

"… there is no such thing as nothing."

Posts Tagged ‘Vietnam’

This Day in History, March 16 — My Lai Massacre, 1968

Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, March 16, 2023

The road out of My Lai littered with bodies.

On March 16, 1968, 55 years ago today, approximately 350-500 unarmed civilian men, women, children, and infants were slaughtered by U.S. Army soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, and Company B, 4th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division (aka the “Americal Division”), in what quickly became known as the “My Lai Massacre.”

Initially reported by the US Army as a “day-long battle” against Communists, many women, and children as young as 12, were brutally gang-raped before being murdered, and their corpses mutilated. The massacre occurred in two hamlets of the Son My village in Quảng Ngãi Province, marked on U.S. Army maps as Mỹ Lai and Mỹ Khê in South Vietnam.

A woman and her child lie dead on the ground.

The crime scene and event was later called “the most shocking episode of the Vietnam War.”

A total of 26 American soldiers were charged with various criminal offenses, but only Lieutenant William Calley, Jr., a  platoon leader in C Company, was convicted of any crimes.

In a general court martial, he was found guilty of murdering 22 villagers, and sentenced to life in prison with hard labor at Fort Leavenworth, KS, the DOD’s maximum security prison, but 3 days after his conviction, POTUS Richard M. Nixon ordered him released, and commuted the sentence to 3.5 years of house arrest at Fort Benning, GA.

Though Army officials were aware of it, they had initially covered up the massacre, and had it not been for Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in - Lost In Space: TOTALLY Discombobulated, - Politics... that "dirty" little "game" that first begins in the home., End Of The Road, WTF | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Give It Your All

Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, November 24, 2017

How much are you willing to give? Some make the ultimate sacrifice and give their very lives. Andrew Dung-Lac (1795-1839) was a priest and one of 117 saints martyred by Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in - Faith, Religion, Goodness - What is the Soul of a man? | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

National Vietnam War Veterans Day

Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Today, March 29, is now officially “National Vietnam War Veterans Day.”

And as with so many things, it took an act of Congress to make it so.

But it was a bipartisan effort, for which – I suppose – we can be thankful. Especially given since the do-nothing GOP is now in control of Congress.

On February 3, Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-PA), sponsored S.305, and along with co-sponsor Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), introduced the bill in the Senate, which was read twice, considered, read the third time, passed without amendment by Unanimous Consent, discharged by the Committee on the Judiciary, Passed/agreed to in the House by voice vote, and was signed into law by President Trump March 23, 2017. It is the 14th law Trump has signed since his inauguration.

From the date of introduction to passage, it could very well be one of the most rapidly-enacted pieces of legislation in Congressional history. Of course, THE shortest was likely 1 day, for H.J.Res.131: “Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2015, and for other purposes,” which was a government shutdown stopgap measure. Mysteriously, Congress gets rapidly active when their paychecks are imperiled.

As far as laws go, it’s a good law, because the Congressional Budget Office has declared it would cost nothing. When was the last time you ever read that?

And it’s a short law – another rarity in this day and age. In fact, there are only Read more… if you dare!

Posted in - Lost In Space: TOTALLY Discombobulated, - Politics... that "dirty" little "game" that first begins in the home. | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

All You Need Is Love

Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, June 8, 2015

I recollect, a few years ago, having gone with a dear friend to the apartment where her former husband lived.

He had died alone.

D’Angelo (not his real name) was a retired Army NCO, whom had volunteered for service. He was genuinely a “squared away” soldier, and rose to the rank of First Sergeant (E-8), which rank is politely nicknamed “Top,” because, aside from Sergeant Major which is also an E-8 position, it is the highest rank and position a NCO can obtain.

His generosity was well-known, and his humility, honesty and genuine love for his fellow man was evident throughout his life. And though he was a good man with many admirable character qualities, a congenial fellow, well liked – even loved – by many, it seemed he never could win the battle over the bottle.

What little I knew of him from others’ reports and my own limited interaction with him, he was an honorable family man. And yet, Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in - Faith, Religion, Goodness - What is the Soul of a man?, End Of The Road | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Ever the Artful Dodger, Mitt Romney ran to France during the Viet Nam War

Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The Long & Short of it: Mitt Romney dropped out of college, which meant he was going to lose his student deferment. Then, he decided he could obtain additional deferments by doing missionary work. Where else but to France would a cushy kid go? So, he did, for two years. Then, he decided he wanted to return to the United States, so he re-enrolled in college, this time at a different one – BYU. That meant he could get ANOTHER deferment… which he did.

One thing’s for certain: MITT ROMNEY KNOWS HOW TO GAME THE SYSTEM.

While at Stanford, Mitt Romney was exempt from the draft because he had a 2-S student deferment which was given to most undergraduates. He kept it only one year. Similarly to his older brother, Scott, Mitt Romney left Stanford early to serve for 30 months as a missionary abroad, as is customary for devout Mormon men.

During those two years in France, from 1966 to 1968, he obtained another draft exemption as a missionary — which was very controversial, because critics complained that it disproportionately excluded Mormon men from service.

The Selective Service eventually limited church districts to one religious deferment every six months, which sharply reduced draft exemptions in Utah. But in Michigan, where Mitt Romney grew up, the small Mormon population there made it highly unlikely that others competed for the mission that Mitt Romney volunteered for, said Barry Mayo, a counselor at the time to the district bishop. After he returned from France, Mitt Romney transferred to Brigham Young University, and obtained another student deferment.

Three years after George Romney became the the Nixon administration‘s housing secretary, a journalist interviewed children of top administration officials about their views on the war. Then 23-year-old Mitt said, “If it wasn’t a political blunder to move into Vietnam, I don’t know what is.”

All Gave Some, Some Gave All.

And ONE ran off to France to hide.

By David Pinar on Sep. 28, 2012

Mitt Romney in France

Mitt Romney resigned from college, then requested a draft deferment & exemption for missionary work in France.

The Vietnam War was one of the most troubling, challenging times for America. It was America’s most unpopular war, and it sharply divided our country. Some proudly enlisted and volunteered for duty. Some had to be drafted, but served their country and did their duty. Many protested against the war. And some even immigrated to Canada to avoid the draft. But as diverse their views and opinions were they shared one thing in common: they formed their opinions and then followed their convictions. But there was one who didn’t: Willard Mitt Romney.

That’s Mitt on the right in May 1966, at Standford University. Some students had organized a sit-in demonstration protesting the war, the draft, and university President Sterling’s support for the war. So Mitt joined a counter demonstration supporting the war in Vietnam and the draft. He thought those anti-war protestors should just shut up and prepare to be drafted and deployed. When he was running for President in 2007 he claimed in an interview with NBC that Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in - Did they REALLY say that?, - Politics... that "dirty" little "game" that first begins in the home., - Read 'em and weep: The Daily News | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

 
%d bloggers like this: