thedrifter
02-19-04, 09:18 AM
Issue Date: February 23, 2004
Letters
‘You guys are so cool’
Editor’s note: After learning about the war on terrorism, members of the Boys and Girls Club of Bethlehem, Pa., wrote letters of thanks to the men and women of the armed forces. John Nelson, program director of the club’s Northeast Unit, asked Marine Corps Times to share some of the letters with its readers.
Dear Marines,
I hope till this day you find yourself of good health. I hope your plans have been coming out how you have planned.
Anyways, my name is Taisha. I’m 13 years old and I go to Northeast Middle School. I’m in the Lehigh Valley Young Marines. I will like to thank you for [serving] our country. I need to go!
Semper Fi!
Pfc. Taisha
Dear Marines,
I just want to ask you how are you guys doing with Iraq. I hope it’s all OK. I really want to thank you. I was scared when I heard about the war. My uncle is in the Army.
I’m glad we have such a good president. If you talk to him, tell him that I’m happy he’s our president.
I can’t do what you guys are doing cause it really is hard. I wish I was in the Army so I could save people too. I bet that job is hard. I hope your plans are working. I hope you guys find bin Laden cause he’s a bad person.
My name is Doritxie. If you can’t pronounce it [it] is Doritos.
I’m also glad that you found Saddam Hussein. Please protect us. Thank you again.
Doritxie
Dear Marines,
I wanted to thank you for saving us and not making us get a King and Queen. I really love the freedom. I wanted to know how are you doing against the other countries. I hope that you peoples are going to see your familys and friends.
Lillian
What is going on over there? Well, we have been doing good so far. Nothing has gone wrong yet. Something might go wrong.
The president is very happy that we have you. We would like to thank you for your bravery.
We are so happy that you caught Saddam. I hope you find him. By him, I mean bin Laden.
You guys are so cool, you’se get to use guns. That’s awesome.
P.S.: Try to stay alive.
Melody
Use Reserve cautiously
I saw a poll on Marine Corps Times’ Web site that indicated that 77 percent of Marine reservists polled stated their recent deployment to Iraq was “worth it.”
From my experience, this is an accurate statement, but with I Marine Expeditionary Force sending 20,000 more Marines back to Iraq, what will the state of the Marine Reserve be in four or five years?
I didn’t join the Marines to be a police officer in Iraq. That is the Army’s job. Soldiers are the occupation force, and we are the expeditionary force.
While there is no set number of reservists who will be deploying with I MEF, they will be there. Locking 20,000 Marines into Iraq places strains on the entire Marine Corps that will be filled by Reserve forces. But it will reduce retention rates among the 40,000-member Marine Corps Reserve, the smallest part of the military.
Use reservists cautiously or there won’t be anyone there when you need to augment a battalion heading off to combat somewhere when we really are needed.
Lance Cpl. Sean Tuckey
New York
Send in the Marines
Once again, our country has called upon our Corps to lay it on the line and, from my point of view, our country is in good hands.
What you are doing has been done by Marines since 1775 and, though the weapons and uniforms have changed, the individual Marine still has that gung-ho spirit that we believe makes us the best.
It is a lonely and dangerous job, and only you, your family and other Marines, past and present, know what you will be called upon to do. Nevertheless, it appears the majority of our countrymen are with you in this effort, and that’s a real plus. We all know what a simple pat on the back and a “well done” can accomplish.
Just remember that we are with you in spirit and pray for your safe return.
Capt. Richard T. Bellis (ret.)
Mission Viejo, Calif.
The value of athletics
I am writing in regard to comments by Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt, superintendent of the Naval Academy, concerning coaches at the service academies [“High-priced coaches,” Letters, Feb. 9].
I agree that athletics play a major role in developing leaders. However, if an “expect-to-win” attitude is a priority and getting future officers to “not get used to losing” is the goal, I believe we have missed the point.
Certainly, we don’t want our future leaders to expect to lose all the time. However, to intimate that a sports program which does not win all the time fails to develop leaders is incorrect. There are superb leaders who participated in losing sports programs or who attended schools whose sports programs had losing records. The lessons they learned included persevering during adversity and never quitting. These traits are absolutely necessary in combat.
If the admiral’s contention is correct and hiring one of the best coaches is a priority, we should extend that same philosophy to the ROTC. Are we willing to subsidize athletic programs at private and state institutions so the future leaders in ROTC programs learn the same lessons as students at the academies? Or is this solely a priority for the academies and everyone else must make do?
Using the admiral’s logic, if faced with the choice of buying more Interceptor body armor or paying the coach, we would pay the coach because it’s that important for the development of future leaders. Frankly, I don’t think we can justify that.
If the academies consider a winning record necessary to develop leaders, they should compete in NCAA Division II or III, thus avoiding the necessity of paying a high salary to a coach and still meeting the goals Adm. Rempt laid out.
While our nation is at war, we should spend our money more prudently than on the salary of a football coach.
Army Lt. Col. Robert Rielly
Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
Assuming what Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt says is true, I suggest he is directing his varsity programs to the wrong participants. Using his argument, our politicians are the ones who need this learning experience on developing the “expect-to-win” in war attitude.
In the micromanaged war in Vietnam, the military won its part. Even with restrictions placed on it during the “police action” in Korea, the military could have won that conflict if politics and politicians had not interfered.
With good intramural sports programs, the military does not need $600,000 coaches for varsity sports at the academies to obtain that expect-to-win attitude.
One must assume that good intramural sports programs are in place. According to the admiral, 32 percent of Naval Academy midshipmen are varsity athletes. Does that mean the rest of the midshipmen are not getting the same expect-to-win attitude adjustment as the varsity players?
What varsity sports are the nonacademy officer corps and the enlisted leaders of the services going to participate in to obtain that expect-to-win attitude?
The service academies have their priorities in reverse.
Earl Edward Terry Jr.
Las Vegas
Cartoon was offensive
In the Dec. 22 issue, the cartoon reprinted as “Different views: How others see the military” was reported as having first appeared in The Denver Post.
The cartoon, labeled “President Bush considers sending men to the moon,” ought to infuriate every active-duty and retired service member in the nation.
The message obviously ridicules our president’s decision to remove the dictator in Iraq and is a put-down against military members who are fighting — and dying — in that theater.
This cartoon additionally implies that there is no legitimate reason for the military to be engaged in using its weaponry today.
Since when is responding to terrorism as inappropriate as soldiers being sent to the moon?
Navy AMCS Orrie P. Flynt (ret.)
Oklahoma City
Retired — and ready
continued.......
Letters
‘You guys are so cool’
Editor’s note: After learning about the war on terrorism, members of the Boys and Girls Club of Bethlehem, Pa., wrote letters of thanks to the men and women of the armed forces. John Nelson, program director of the club’s Northeast Unit, asked Marine Corps Times to share some of the letters with its readers.
Dear Marines,
I hope till this day you find yourself of good health. I hope your plans have been coming out how you have planned.
Anyways, my name is Taisha. I’m 13 years old and I go to Northeast Middle School. I’m in the Lehigh Valley Young Marines. I will like to thank you for [serving] our country. I need to go!
Semper Fi!
Pfc. Taisha
Dear Marines,
I just want to ask you how are you guys doing with Iraq. I hope it’s all OK. I really want to thank you. I was scared when I heard about the war. My uncle is in the Army.
I’m glad we have such a good president. If you talk to him, tell him that I’m happy he’s our president.
I can’t do what you guys are doing cause it really is hard. I wish I was in the Army so I could save people too. I bet that job is hard. I hope your plans are working. I hope you guys find bin Laden cause he’s a bad person.
My name is Doritxie. If you can’t pronounce it [it] is Doritos.
I’m also glad that you found Saddam Hussein. Please protect us. Thank you again.
Doritxie
Dear Marines,
I wanted to thank you for saving us and not making us get a King and Queen. I really love the freedom. I wanted to know how are you doing against the other countries. I hope that you peoples are going to see your familys and friends.
Lillian
What is going on over there? Well, we have been doing good so far. Nothing has gone wrong yet. Something might go wrong.
The president is very happy that we have you. We would like to thank you for your bravery.
We are so happy that you caught Saddam. I hope you find him. By him, I mean bin Laden.
You guys are so cool, you’se get to use guns. That’s awesome.
P.S.: Try to stay alive.
Melody
Use Reserve cautiously
I saw a poll on Marine Corps Times’ Web site that indicated that 77 percent of Marine reservists polled stated their recent deployment to Iraq was “worth it.”
From my experience, this is an accurate statement, but with I Marine Expeditionary Force sending 20,000 more Marines back to Iraq, what will the state of the Marine Reserve be in four or five years?
I didn’t join the Marines to be a police officer in Iraq. That is the Army’s job. Soldiers are the occupation force, and we are the expeditionary force.
While there is no set number of reservists who will be deploying with I MEF, they will be there. Locking 20,000 Marines into Iraq places strains on the entire Marine Corps that will be filled by Reserve forces. But it will reduce retention rates among the 40,000-member Marine Corps Reserve, the smallest part of the military.
Use reservists cautiously or there won’t be anyone there when you need to augment a battalion heading off to combat somewhere when we really are needed.
Lance Cpl. Sean Tuckey
New York
Send in the Marines
Once again, our country has called upon our Corps to lay it on the line and, from my point of view, our country is in good hands.
What you are doing has been done by Marines since 1775 and, though the weapons and uniforms have changed, the individual Marine still has that gung-ho spirit that we believe makes us the best.
It is a lonely and dangerous job, and only you, your family and other Marines, past and present, know what you will be called upon to do. Nevertheless, it appears the majority of our countrymen are with you in this effort, and that’s a real plus. We all know what a simple pat on the back and a “well done” can accomplish.
Just remember that we are with you in spirit and pray for your safe return.
Capt. Richard T. Bellis (ret.)
Mission Viejo, Calif.
The value of athletics
I am writing in regard to comments by Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt, superintendent of the Naval Academy, concerning coaches at the service academies [“High-priced coaches,” Letters, Feb. 9].
I agree that athletics play a major role in developing leaders. However, if an “expect-to-win” attitude is a priority and getting future officers to “not get used to losing” is the goal, I believe we have missed the point.
Certainly, we don’t want our future leaders to expect to lose all the time. However, to intimate that a sports program which does not win all the time fails to develop leaders is incorrect. There are superb leaders who participated in losing sports programs or who attended schools whose sports programs had losing records. The lessons they learned included persevering during adversity and never quitting. These traits are absolutely necessary in combat.
If the admiral’s contention is correct and hiring one of the best coaches is a priority, we should extend that same philosophy to the ROTC. Are we willing to subsidize athletic programs at private and state institutions so the future leaders in ROTC programs learn the same lessons as students at the academies? Or is this solely a priority for the academies and everyone else must make do?
Using the admiral’s logic, if faced with the choice of buying more Interceptor body armor or paying the coach, we would pay the coach because it’s that important for the development of future leaders. Frankly, I don’t think we can justify that.
If the academies consider a winning record necessary to develop leaders, they should compete in NCAA Division II or III, thus avoiding the necessity of paying a high salary to a coach and still meeting the goals Adm. Rempt laid out.
While our nation is at war, we should spend our money more prudently than on the salary of a football coach.
Army Lt. Col. Robert Rielly
Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
Assuming what Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt says is true, I suggest he is directing his varsity programs to the wrong participants. Using his argument, our politicians are the ones who need this learning experience on developing the “expect-to-win” in war attitude.
In the micromanaged war in Vietnam, the military won its part. Even with restrictions placed on it during the “police action” in Korea, the military could have won that conflict if politics and politicians had not interfered.
With good intramural sports programs, the military does not need $600,000 coaches for varsity sports at the academies to obtain that expect-to-win attitude.
One must assume that good intramural sports programs are in place. According to the admiral, 32 percent of Naval Academy midshipmen are varsity athletes. Does that mean the rest of the midshipmen are not getting the same expect-to-win attitude adjustment as the varsity players?
What varsity sports are the nonacademy officer corps and the enlisted leaders of the services going to participate in to obtain that expect-to-win attitude?
The service academies have their priorities in reverse.
Earl Edward Terry Jr.
Las Vegas
Cartoon was offensive
In the Dec. 22 issue, the cartoon reprinted as “Different views: How others see the military” was reported as having first appeared in The Denver Post.
The cartoon, labeled “President Bush considers sending men to the moon,” ought to infuriate every active-duty and retired service member in the nation.
The message obviously ridicules our president’s decision to remove the dictator in Iraq and is a put-down against military members who are fighting — and dying — in that theater.
This cartoon additionally implies that there is no legitimate reason for the military to be engaged in using its weaponry today.
Since when is responding to terrorism as inappropriate as soldiers being sent to the moon?
Navy AMCS Orrie P. Flynt (ret.)
Oklahoma City
Retired — and ready
continued.......