Fortunate Son From Our Neighborhood

It’s a military expert’s season. Isn’t it amazing?

\ Everybody has a take on the military parade (AKA Trump’s Bday parade). What do I know?

\ I joined the military when I was 15. I spent six years training and learning to be an officer and a gentleman. For a soldier to be dressed like that and walk like that, it’s not a protest or a lack of professionalism. It’s a mutiny, plain and simple.

\ I “celebrated” my 18th birthday in a military prison. It was surreal. The MP (military police) members of the prison guard sang me “happy birthday to you” and gave me something that resembled a cookie. What was my crime? Love. I wanted to spend more time with my girlfriend. The army thought that I had enough leaves. I dared to disagree. I jumped over the fence to pursue my romance. I got caught.

\ It’s not a small thing for a cadet to be imprisoned with the regular army. It’s bad for morale. I minded my own business. My prison buddies in uniform wanted to know why I was doing the time. They laughed. It was my turn for the moment of truth. You know, the usual suspects in uniforms.

\ There was one guy who stood out. He refused to salute the president during the military parade. Let’s just say that he had a different treatment. He restarted his military service game. The time spent in prison wouldn’t count. He would have to serve his time and then get back into active duty as if he had never gone to the military prison. We all knew he would be transferred to some godforsaken place.

\ The US Army at the parade has spoken. The silence of their march, except for the squealing of tanks, was deafening. Instead of the military band playing the march songs, we heard the “Fortunate Son.” If that isn’t symbolic, I don’t know what is.

Would I do the same? I don’t know. I don’t blame them, though. They were supposed to dress up for the show and march their guts out for the King’s amusement. I don’t think so.

\

Trump received five deferments during the height of the Vietnam War. Four were for education. The fifth was the medical waiver, after his graduation.

\ It’s a little bit too late for them to dodge a (potential) trip to Iran. Think about Netanyahu what you want, but his calls to arms have always been something completely different compared to Trump.

\ Here’s something I picked up during my time at the military academy. He was wounded more than once, most notably during the rescue operation of a hijacked plane in 1972. Damn, even I wasn’t born then, and I’m older than all of my readers on HackerNoon. He lost his brother, who was killed in action while serving as the commander of the legendary rescue mission Entebbe.

\ You see, I’m not an expert because I’ve never been to Israel, but I know at least two PMs (Prime Ministers) who were war heroes. On the other side of the multiverse, you have Trump, who openly “mocked Sen. John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, for being regarded as a military hero. “I like people who weren’t captured." Does this mean that Trump likes himself because he was never captured? He never went to Vietnam, so how could he possibly be captured?!

\ For what it is worth, Trump is a celebrated Twitter/X wars veteran.

“Mr President, God spared you in Butler, PA to be the most consequential President in a century—maybe ever. The decisions on your shoulders I would not want to be made by anyone else. You have many voices speaking to you Sir, but there is only ONE voice that matters. HIS voice. I am your appointed servant in this land and am available for you but I do not try to get in your presence often because I trust your instincts.

\ No President in my lifetime has been in a position like yours. Not since Truman in 1945. I don’t reach out to persuade you. Only to encourage you. I believe you will hear from heaven and that voice is far more important than mine or ANYONE else’s. You sent me to Israel to be your eyes, ears and voice and to make sure our flag flies above our embassy. My job is to be the last one to leave.

\ I will not abandon this post. Our flag will NOT come down! You did not seek this moment. This moment sought YOU! It is my honor to serve you!”

\ Oh, Huckabee, you’re one hell of a busy silver-tongued bee. You talk to gods, both up in heaven and here on earth, and you have a way with words.

\ When you talk to God, that’s good and healthy. When God talks to you, that screams “get a psychiatrist ASAP.”

\ “President Truman had four options:

Option 1: Conventional Bombing of the Japanese Home Islands.

Option 2: Ground Invasion of the Japanese Home Islands.

Option 3: Demonstration of the Atomic Bomb on an Unpopulated Area.

Option 4: Use of the Atomic Bomb on a Populated Area.”

\ What about Trump’s options?

\

While I wrote this story, the interview with Tucker and Ted Cruz was playing in the background. It wasn’t much of a mental challenge. At one point, Cruz didn’t know how many people were in Iran. I remember without Googling that one Israeli official said that Iran is ten times bigger when it comes to the population and more than seventy times in territory. I just picked it up because it was interesting.

\ "Only the dead are safe; only the dead have seen the end of war." No, Plato didn’t say or write this. Yes, “Black Hawk Down” is a great movie.

\ “The quote actually originates from the philosopher George Santayana.” (Soliloquies in England and Later Soliloquies, 1922)

\ What else did we get wrong about the wars?