Gerald Maclennon's Blog, page 2

2020 Anno Domini

An apology to my readers for my two month absence from this, my blog. No matter how much one tries to avoid end of year holidays, one is still sucked in and impoverished.

2020, the year of perfect vision... truthfully, I never thought I would achieve it! After nearly dying 5 years ago and having a major cystoprostatectomy 4 years ago, I figured, "Okay, the Master of the Universe gave me another year or two to get my affairs in order and then I'm out of here."

Because I made mental preparation for death, I can't let it go. I think about death everyday. My shipmate, John McCain, developed brain cancer and died in 2018. Alex Trebek, longtime host of TV's Jeopardy, is currently dealing with the finality of his pancreatic cancer. In an interview, he said that now his life is no longer open-ended.

Trebek can see his own demise approaching. In all decades previously, he lived the myth of eternal life in the flesh... seeing people all around dying but never wanting to believe it could actually happen to Alex.

In years long past, the Hindu scripture, Bhagavad Gita, defined this myth as one of our greatest mysteries... not the dying part but of cherishing and protecting the idea that we won't -- that I amongst all am the golden monkey.

If I addressed all the theories of life beyond the grave, this blog would run 10 pages or more. So, I'll leave it in the realm of personal belief.

I am nearing February 16, 2020 when my body odometer reads 73 years of use and abuse. This 1947 Homo Sapiens is experiencing systemic breakdown. O-O-O O'Reilly's carries no parts for my year, make and model. Parts would have to be salvaged in the manner of Dr. Frankenstein, or handcrafted in a specialty shop but those suckers are priced in Warren Buffet's range. Not in mine.

In January 2019, we celebrated the birthday of my girl, Sandy, as she turned 70. In the year 2020, I will celebrate my birthday, Lord willing, in the Pacific Northwest with my girls: daughter Jessica and granddaughter Stella (and mi yerno, Ryan). Stella will be 10 on January 28th. Jessica will be 50 on May 24. Sis will become 70 on July 21. Had she lived, Mum and my biological father, Harry Dean, and my Step-Dad Cady would have all turned 95. (Jeff is eagerly awaiting next year 2021.)

For this old Vietnam Vet Hippie, I obey the Wheel of Life, the Great Mandala. And... for those born in the New Millennium, a brave new world awaits. And the beat goes on, the beat goes on.

All Hallow's Eve 2019

All Saint's Day, All Hallow's Day, All Soul's Day, Dia de Los Muertos, whatever name it goes by... it is a day to honor those loved ones who have come and gone... and it's largely forgotten here in the States. What is remembered and even honored is the evening before All Saint's Day... the eve before all Hallow's Day when devilish youngsters do naughty things because "tomorrow they will have to behave themselves." Here it's called Hallowe'en. And for many children it's their favorite holiday of the year... and it's about... well, you know what it's all about. From a religious standpoint, it's almost as if the devil has commandeered and corrupted what was once a holy day.

Greta Thunberg, Environmentalist

One of my 2nd cousins is an Environmental Officer in the Swedish Army. I asked him, "What is your take on Greta Thunberg?" / His reply was, "A great human in a small body."

Indeed I do have to admire 16-year-old Greta's ability to overcome her Asperger's Syndrome (a form of autism) and speak out on issues that should matter to everyone but are just not in the limelight due to corporations that care about nothing else but their bottom line.

When my ad agency lost it's most lucrative client, I was laid-off at age 55. In applying for other creative positions, I repeatedly ran into age discrimination. Eventually out of desperation I signed on to work for Walmart and did so for 20 months. That was the worst job of my life (and I'd had about 40 up to that time).

Firsthand did I experience the heartlessness of their business philosophy. It's all about money and maintaining that bottom line: Profit is first and foremost... and human beings are just labor commodities to use and abuse and toss in the trash when they begin to stumble from overexertion.

And woe be to any employee who submits a workman's injury claim because Walmart enlists an army of shyster lawyers primed to fight to the death any injury claim no matter how small and if that doesn't work, to publicly shame the employee into dropping the claim because management will say, "This employee and his claim will reduce the amount given to all employees as a Christmas bonus." I know that's true because it happened to me.

Walmart's example has been repeatedly applauded by Forbes's Fortune 500 businesses and in the past two decades has become the model on which virtually all corporations operate.

And do they care about the earth and its environment? O' hell, no! Especially if it takes anything away from that insidious bottom line. Ergo, the Earth needs more Greta Thunberg's because the fat cats in charge don't give a flying f**k. They'll go down with the ship as long as the ship shows a good profit up to that point.

The Hà Nội Reconciliation Banquet of Vietnam war pilots

Depending on which source you reference, about 2/3rd of Vietnam's American Veterans are still living in 2019... self included (though the grim reaper is standing behind my right shoulder). And even though 50 years have passed, the images of the war, and the losses suffered, are still vivid in my mind. And... communism is still the enemy.

It's just peachy that some American participants can now kiss and make up, as those at the Hà Nội reconciliation banquet did. Bless their hearts. Seriously. Don't get me wrong... I don't hate the North Vietnamese... I never did. I hate war and the political and philosophical differences that drive humans into such bloody conflicts.

At this juncture, I would suggest pilot hero Col. Nguyễn Văn Bảy was only alive until 2019 because LBJ & McNamara made all North Vietnamese MiG airfields and barracks off limits to USN & USAF bombers. The White House was afraid Russia might enter the war directly if we killed Russian pilots and trainers and aircraft. That particular fear (of China, too) cost the lives of many American aviators... and caused the torture of our POWs*, some unto death.**

In "Dragon's Jaw" by Stephan Coonts & Barrett Tillman, in the final chapter (page 266) the authors state: "Fifty eight thousand Americans lost their lives in Southeast Asia during that war. Their deaths in a cause the nation ultimately abandoned still rankles. Veterans came home to a nation that blamed them for the whole mess."

The word 'rankles', in this context, means 'continues to be painful.' In today's geopolitical scenario, rules and attitudes have changed. I know. But, I'm 72 and - as you can probably tell - for me that war, and everything I've learned about it through memoirs and histories (such as Bloody Sixteen by CDR Peter Fey USN-ret) continues to perplex and rankle me.

*Yes, I am aware that Nixon gave the "go ahead" for bombing MiG airfields during Operation Linebacker.

**causing the torture of our POWs, including pilot from my aircraft carrier, LCDR John S. McCain III for five and a half years

Dragon's Jaw: An Epic Story of Courage and Tenacity in Vietnam
Bloody Sixteen: The USS Oriskany and Air Wing 16 during the Vietnam War

A second look at Stephen Coonts' "Flight of the Intruder"

The book, "Bloody Sixteen" written by CDR Peter Fey, USN-retired, inspired me to buy and read "Flight of the Intruder," written by his friend and fellow Navy Pilot, Stephen Coonts. The purchase was something I should have done 33 years ago when Coonts first published it. I don't recall why I did not. Perhaps it was because the movie, "Flight of the Intruder," was so bad, I figured the book would be, also. Negative! The book is a great study on the emotions and attitudes of the pilots. I didn't realize they were as pissed off as I was regarding the s**t targets of North Vietnam... risking their lives, for example, by taking out a grove of trees where military trucks might be hiding... but usually weren't.

I looked at the Wikipedia page regarding this great book and the not-so-great film -- both entitled "Flight of the Intruder." I had to chuckle when I read about Stephen Coonts' effort to get published, because I've 'been there, done that' as well. Back in the 80's, he sent manuscripts and letters of inquiry to 36 publishers... 30 refused to look at it, 4 rejected it, and today, he's still waiting to hear back from 2 of them. Ha, as if he really cares. Ultimately the book was published by United States Naval Institute Press, Annapolis. And as follow-up, Coonts received a valuable endorsement of his book by bestselling author, Tom Clancy, and then, unexpectedly, favorable comments by then sitting president, Ronald Reagan, which sent sales skyrocketing. Clancy endorsed Coonts. Coonts endorsed Fey.

I've often said... I wonder where the pilots went when in port at Subic & Cubi Point. Author Fey touched on it briefly... of course, the Cubi Officers Club. They were equal to us enlisted grunts... Hell, more so in drunken antics. Author Coonts goes into that in detail. Funny thing is... even though I lived at Naval Air Station Cubi Point, Philippines, for a year, I had no idea (still don't) where the Cubi Point Officers Club was located -- probably up on a distant hilltop surrounded by jungle... far out of earshot.

In the book, "Flight of the Intruder," Coonts expressed the guilt he feels/felt for killing people who are not the real enemy, such as poor rice farmers. He talks about how easy, how sanitary it is, to release his bombs and fly away, noticing only a puff of smoke in the distance... and how he intentionally blocked thoughts of little girls' bodies being ripped apart by the force of the bomb explosions. It does my heart good to know the pilots had these very human emotions. Once, during our 1967 deployment, our photo recon squadron mis-targeted a building. The photo interpreters said it was for ammunition storage. On our recommendation, the attack birds took it out. BDA revealed it could very well have been a schoolhouse full of kids. Not sure. That still bugs me... brings tears to my eyes. And I was not the pilot but I was one cog in the gears of the killing machine. Maybe if it really was a just war (by political science definition) I would have felt okay about the killing and destruction. But probably not.

[SPOILER ALERT]

I can understand why Jake Grafton (read: Coonts) wanted to disobey orders by flying directly into downtown Hanoi, dropping his bombs on Communist Party Headquarters instead of dropping them on peasants who were just as horrified by the senselessness of the Vietnam Air War as Jake was... as I was. You see, because president LBJ and his henchmen were micromanaging the war from the White House VIP dining room, the majority of strategic targets were declared off-limits. The general attitude among those fighting the damn war was, "Let's either fight to win or get the hell out of here."

1975, after losing 58,000 Americans, Presidents Nixon and then Ford finally threw in the towel. What an embarrassment

Flight of the Intruder.

Bloody Sixteen: The USS Oriskany and Air Wing 16 during the Vietnam War

Troubled Water: Race, Mutiny & Bravery on the USS Kitty Hawk

Author Greg Freeman's account begins with, "...in 1972, the USS Kitty Hawk was going through the same social upheaval that was troubling the rest of America. The stresses were especially difficult for some of the young Black sailors, many of whom were recruited under a new Navy initiative called Project 100,000."

Men recruited through this initiative were called New Standards Men or simply NSM's. One retired Navy Commander and pilot during the Vietnam Air War said to me, "If there's anything RSM (Robert S McNamara) should rot in hell for, that's on top of my list."

Designed to increase the ranks and open up more positions, Project 100,000 eased requirements for test scores, intelligence, and criminal histories. Many coming onboard were inner city youths whose attitude and worldviews were formed by their experience on the streets of Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

Having enlisted October 1964 with release from active duty February 1968, I guess you could say I was "Old School Navy" because what happened in the five years between '68 and '72 absolutely blows me away. I suppose it makes sense that all the hippie and black power movements in civilian life were also infiltrating sailors of the Navy.

The pervasive illegal drug use should not surprise me. I think I was a very naïve 20-year-old Lutheran boy from Nebraska with absolutely no big city, inner city smarts. Still on my ship, USS Oriskany, CVA-34, 1967, I wasn't aware of anyone smoking pot onboard either. More of my naiveite?

In Stephen Coont's Flight of the Intruder, I was surprised to know Officers/Pilots kept liquor in their state rooms for occasional sedation after especially harrowing missions over North Vietnam. We enlisted boys did not... as far as I know. For us, being caught with booze would have meant a Captain's Mast.

With Project 100,000 came relaxed discipline and liberalization of policy. Freeman tells of the sloppiness, beards, long hair, non-regulation clothing, berthing areas off-limits to officers, no inspections, racial segregation of berthing areas and then high-ranking officers relaxing the enlistment standards. Dumbing down the Navy. Just like civilian grade schools... dumbing down. I've heard about Admiral Zumwalt's Navy and changes he instituted after becoming Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) in 1970... some for the better, some for the worse.

In my Standby Reserve, G.I. Bill years between '68 and '72, I was busy being educated, taking a wife, making a baby. Thus, I wasn't paying attention to all the racial strife within bases of all the Armed Forces. Yeah, I heard about inequitable percentage of the Army's Black Infantry on the front lines of combat down in-country in South Vietnam but not racial strife at Ft. Bragg, Camp Lejeune and other homeland installations.

After I finished reading Troubled Water, I found myself thinking, surely the Navy got its act together after the Vietnam War ended. It couldn't have remained screwed up forever. I asked Commander Peter Fey, USN-retired who got his commission in the early 1990's. He told me, "I'll admit that the military I knew was 100% different... thanks largely to the fact that its now voluntary. That got rid of most of the issues... and now its truly a professional service. Duty first, and frankly woe betide someone that isn't a good shipmate."

Troubled Water: Race, Mutiny, and Bravery on the USS Kitty Hawk

Bloody Sixteen: The USS Oriskany and Air Wing 16 during the Vietnam War

Flight of the Intruder

Woodstock: Cultural Contrasts of the Summer of 1969

The cultural contrasts of the summer of '69 blew my mind, to use an idiom of the time. The Vietnam War was still raging, still escalating, young men still being drafted into the army - many against their will and conscience. At the same time NASA succeeded in fulfilling the late slain president's imperative to put a man on the moon. It was cause for celebration in some quarters but seemed ill-suited for the spirit of the time.

The champions of young idealists, RFK & MLK had been murdered the previous year. LBJ had tried in vain to create The Great Society as racial & political unrest dominated the headlines. He resigned and Dick "Watergate" Nixon was elected president and commander-in-chief.

And in the midst of all that, we got "3 Days of Peace, Love & Music" in upstate New York at Woodstock. I think Country Joe & the Fish summed up the whole mess in one satirical song, "I-Feel-Like-I'm-A-Fixin-to-Die Rag".

As a Vietnam Veteran in 1969, I think the X-rated biting sarcasm of the song perfectly captured the mood of young Americans that pivotal summer. I'm not allowed to put a YouTube link here in this blog but I'll repeat the lyrics as text only... be advised it is copyrighted by Joe McDonald:

Well, come on all of you, big strong men
Uncle Sam needs your help again
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun

(Chorus) And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is Vietnam
And it's five, six, seven
Open up the pearly gates
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die

Well, come on generals, let's move fast
Your big chance has come at last
Now you can go out and get those reds
'Cause the only good commie is the one that's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come

(Chorus)

Come on Wall Street, don't be slow
Why man, this is war au-go-go
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of trade
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb
They drop it on the Viet Cong

(Chorus)

Come on mothers throughout the land
Pack your boys off to Vietnam
Come on fathers, and don't hesitate
Send your sons off before it's too late
Be the first ones in your block
To have your boy come home in a box

(Chorus)

Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas by Mari Sandoz

Young, inquisitive Mari Sandoz made it her business to keep council with elders of the Oglalas. She knew she had been born into the overlap of transitional times and it was her good fortune to earn the trust and friendship of the wise among the Lakota people. She also knew when these dear friends died, they would take with them their history, especially of the period Wasichu's (whites) call the 19th century after Christ. She gathered their oral stories and set them to pen and paper. They were especially proud to tell Sandoz of the warrior they called Enchanted Horse and whom Wasichu's erroneously called Crazy Horse. They knew Enchanted Horse was a special gift to their people from the grandfather spirit, Wakan Tonka.

For you, the reader, knowing such things guarantees the unparalleled authenticity of Sandoz' book, Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglala. She was raised from childhood in the Sandhills of northwest Nebraska. Her father's homestead lay close to Pine Ridge Reservation. In nearby towns, Indians were a common sight as they participated in holiday festivals and of course made purchases in stores selling fire water. Transitional times indeed, the glory of their old days was swiftly becoming a faded memory. Sandoz vowed it wouldn't be forgotten. It would be preserved in her writings as time marched on and the white man's world increased throughout the American West.

This non-conformist among the Oglala called Crazy Horse refused any headdress, any war paint, any amulets, beads or charms. He had long, flowing hair of a reddish cast... was a loving husband and doting father to his little girl. He believed Mother Earth belonged to all and that the most important visions lie in the outstretched arms of Father Sky. When Wasichu's threatened to take away his freedom and the mobility of his tribe, he resisted. As white men massacred the sacred buffalo into near extinction, Crazy Horse and his people weakened to the point of starvation. It was only then in brutal winter cold that he would admit defeat and surrender to the soldier chief at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. The story of Crazy Horse (Enchanted Horse) is, in many ways, the story of all indigenous people on the North American continent.

I highly recommend this book.
Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas

President Trump's Independence Day Address 2019

In 2011, during the Obama administration, the United States spent more on its military than the next 13 nations combined. That's why the current president can proudly boast, on the 4th of July of 2019 that, "Our nation is stronger today than it ever was before."

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, Admiral Yamamoto is quoted as saying, "I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." They sure as hell did!

The United States maintained that resolve from 1941 to 1945, and thereafter. We, as a country, even chose the US Army's Supreme Allied Commander of WWII Europe to be the American President during this nation's most prosperous decade (1950s).

This year, before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, Mr. Trump inserted himself into the Independence Day celebrations. His multitude of critics protested that such an act was virtually unprecedented. Talk about being history-challenged... the Donald is not the first U.S. president to give a major speech on the Fourth of July. Harry S. Truman once delivered an Independence Day address in front of the Washington monument. Presidents Woodrow Wilson, John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all gave Fourth of July addresses from Independence Hall in Philadelphia. And, in 1986, Ronald Reagan delivered a Fourth of July address from the deck of aircraft carrier, USS John F. Kennedy, strategically placed in front of the Statue of Liberty.

It would do you well as critics to listen to the president's entire speeches. The one he delivered Thursday at the Nation's Independence Day Celebration was very well written by the prez and his team. It wasn't about party politics, nor illegal border crossing, nor abortion... it was first and foremost about the US Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines) of which he happens to be the Constitutionally-mandated Commander-in-Chief. Mr. Trump highlighted each branch of service, his praise punctuated by flyovers from aircraft of that particular branch. It was well and right that he should do so.

It sure makes me, a Navy veteran of the Vietnam War, proud to be an American. (Makes me feel sad for the rest -- sorry, Carly) In my oath of enlistment, I swore to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. As far as I'm concerned that oath I made in 1964 has never expired... it will expire when I expire.

Section IV, Article IV of that Constitution states: The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and ... domestic Violence.

Speaking of borders and invasions, when Abraham Lincoln said “a house divided against itself cannot stand,” he wasn’t talking about the kind of political divisions we see today. Americans may differ sharply on issues but there is no single issue in 2019 that geographically and economically divides the country in the same way that slavery did in the 1850s. Back then, the U.S. was so divided that many feared it would break out in civil war.

Lincoln’s now-famous “house divided” line, which are the words of Jesus from New Testament Gospels, were actually part of a speech Lincoln delivered at the 1858 Illinois Republican State Convention after winning nomination to run for U.S. Senate against Stephen A. Douglas -- a race, by the way, that Lincoln lost... (Just checking the facts, ma'am).

The fear of impending civil war became reality when Lincoln was elected president in 1860. It was kind of like when Trump was elected: the whole country went bananas. Soon after Lincoln took the oath of president of the USA, Southern states began seceding from the Union, forming their own nation called the Confederate States of America. They made Jefferson Davis, former US Senator and US Secretary of War, their president.

At that time Democrats were the party of the slave-holding South and Republicans were the party of the Free North that opposed slavery’s expansion. Yup, Democrats were lambasting Republicans back then, too (and vice versa)... not just with heated words (and na na nanky-poos) but with rifles, pistols, bayonets, cannons and swords. Brother against brother, cousin against cousin, it was a horrendous slaughter; a terrible waste of human beings. I hope and pray we never come to that again.

Misleading Headline

HEADLINE: Almost Half of U.S. Families Can't Afford Basics like Rent and Food.

That's a misleading headline... and so is the article that goes with it.

Maybe the headline should read: "The American Dream of 1980 has become twice as difficult to retain." Economically, as a culture at our peak, about 40 years ago, US citizens enjoyed the best of everything (materially-speaking) but as time has gone by the US economy has leveled with all global economies. Today this means poor countries are living better and rich countries (as the USA) maybe not quite as well.

But consider that even our 'not quite as well' is still pretty darn good. Attached to the article is a photo of woman pushing a cart down the aisle of a market with a vast inventory. No shortages. In supermarket produce departments, we have a cornucopia of the world's best fruits and vegetables. The meat department offers a wide variety of dead animals. About 70% of Americans eat meat with all 3 meals every day and as a result, over 25 billion animals have been killed for food in the USA this year alone. 25,000,000,000+. Does that qualify as a holocaust?

We Americanos drive to the store in individually-owned cars, trucks, SVU's with filled petrol tanks. When Mom or Dad doesn't feel like cooking, US cities have an ever-growing selection of restaurants. At the drive-thru fast food joints we don't even have to leave our comfy, climate-controlled vehicles. If we were a struggling economy the number of eating establishments would be dwindling, not increasing.

In the USA, nearly 40% of our food is thrown away. If we were really an altruistic society, everyone would be fed with plenty leftover to store in our refrigerators and freezers... not in the city dumps.

This is what this particular Baby Boomer observes with his aging eyes.