Time to Remember and Reflect

62 years ago, the battle for Bastogne raged. The German counter-offensive was launched on the 16th of December, in the following 3 days, the Americans took nearly 10,000 casualties. By the morning of 19 December, the 101st Airborne had been thrown in to block the advance. They were lightly-clothed, lightly-armed and under-fed. They were light infantry underdogs up against heavy armor and artillery in the cold of winter and completely without armor or air support.

Through freezing days and colder nights that lasted sixteen hours from dusk to dawn, they huddled together for warmth as they passed the long minutes between the brutal assaults. Those paratroopers that survived the experience generally regard it as the defining hardship of the war. It is the subject of their nightmares. 10,000 casualties in 3 days. 19,000 in roughly 10 days.

It swells my heart with pride. It is not the easy things that define us. It is the hardest things we do that define us. I embrace this piece of American History. It is part of the reputation and respect that paratroopers command. It is part of the intimidating fabric of the American Warrior. Any enemy leader that ignores the intangible combat superiority of the American Warrior does so at his own risk. Americans are almost impossible to beat at the tactical level. Generally, they inflict more casualties than they take even when on offense. In defense, they generally shred the opposition.

I have walked with such giants. Maybe I'm not one of them, but I have walked with them. I helped train many of them, and I've helped bury a few. There are no longer a lot of them. Hopefully, there are enough.

Hell, we have women in uniform that are goddesses of violence. The way these gals integrate in this non-linear battlefield and rip into the opposition is unprecedented in history. You hear that you misogynistic bigots? Our women can whip your men! All we need to do is unite as a nation and the enemy will cower in fear and beg for quarter.

I yearn for the nation that could offer up 2 Million such men for it's defense and could enthusiastically suffer 400,000 casualties in order to win. A nation that did not doubt itself and supported the national strategy even when it had setbacks. So ferocious a nation that the world gaped in awe at its power and resolve for 30 years afterward.