If you haven't heard about Lt. Col. Allen B. West, then read this.

�"Lt. Col. West's impeccable service record in tough jobs combined with his prior unblemished character support this decision. Many of his soldiers testified to his positive, proactive leadership style. The soldiers felt like a team and would go out of their way to support him and many stated they would work for him again.

Did he break the rules? Yes, clearly he bent them somewhat. Was he out of line? Well now that is a whole nother story. In his place, I would probably have kneecapped the bastard. We are talking about a war zone, where death is cheap and easy to find. It's also the ironclad duty of an officer to care for the lives of his men. Suppose he had followed the rules exactly, played it safe, minded his career over the safety of his men? Suppose he played Pentagon politics and just punched his card and waited for the Generals stars?

Some of his men would be dead now.

He did what he did, clearly in the face of a known threat. He got results, and the craven little bastard he gave a Depends moment to is still breathing. I call that a good day. We are in a grey area here, where truth and justice sometimes conflict with law and regulation. Legal is not necessarily moral, and laws are sometimes better read as guidelines rather than scripture.

In my fathers time, the beat cop was sometimes,........creative, in law enforcement. Say a man was known to beat his wife, and say,........oh, he was quietly asked to stop, to seek help. Suppose then he ignored the friendly advice and kept up the beatings. Now,...........the beatings stop suddenly. Said abusive hubby has a broken arm, busted lips, and a limp from that terrible fall he took down three flights of stairs. He spent days in the hospital, and it will be a long time till he's pretty again.

He must have been drunk, they stumble alot, get clumsey and such don't cha know.

Strangely though, he now has learned to not beat on his wife anymore. Call it a revelation, an enlightenment. The fact is, it was a come to Jesus moment, brought courtesy of..........persons unknown. That was a form of justice in it's own right, and you will never convince me it was wrong, or immoral. Against the rules.....Just look away if you are squeamish.

It got the job done. West got the job done, and by God I'll hold the coat of any man in his command who wants to "instruct" anyone who says different. A man has to know when doing the right thing, trumps doing the "correct" thing. I believe West knows.

Enjoy your Honored retirement Colonel. I'd love to buy you a drink and just say thank you. We'd be graced if all officers took as much effort in the safety of our fighting men, if they all cared more for their men's lives, then their careers.

Lt. Col. West is a true warrior, and I believe, an Honorable man.

I am on my father's slow dial-up connection, so posting will be limited and my comments (perhaps mercifully) brief.

I would like to second the excellent posts by Puggs and AK. We have much to be thankful for, and many reasons to pause in quiet reflection on this day. I consider many of you my friends, even though I have never met you. To me, calling someone "friend" is a significant event - it is not a title I bestow lightly, or take for granted. If you are my friend, I will do anything in my power to help you in a time of need. If you are my friend, I would do whatever I could to protect you, and would expect no less from you.

I would like to thank AK and Puggs for being a part of RNS - I suspect it would have become just another abandoned site in the blogosphere if not for them. They add a different perspective, expertise, and life experiences than mine, and I think RNS is a better place because of it.

This is a small blog. We have a core of dedicated readers/commenters, with the occassional visitor and lurker thrown in for good measure. We appreciate you all, and wish you the best of the season.

This has already gone on longer than I expected. I guess the final thing I have to be thankful for are those things that make America unique - and the men and women who protect our way of life by potentially sacrificing theirs.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Neal

I want you to know this my friend, you and all the others have earned a place in the hearts of good and decent people. I would give you all this medal for real if I could. There are many ways to serve, this one shines AK,.......it just shines.

God Bless you all.

UPDATE;--from the news article AK linked to.

Within weeks, he'll be in Iraq.

For the next 18 months or so - 545 days, according to their orders - the 3,500 men and women of Washington's 81st will be active-duty soldiers.
They will undergo training at Fort Lewis, Yakima Training Center in Eastern Washington and probably in Southern California before heading for the Middle East.
Saturday, as men like Stroup packed duffel bags with clothes and gear, some 4,000 supporters stood on freeway bridges spanning Interstate 5 from Fort Lewis to McChord Air Force Base.
There were also about 20 antiwar protesters, according to law enforcement officials.

A sea of flags and smile to send them off, now that's an image I would have loved to have seen in my day. But it was five years after Vietnam and idiots like Frogguts held the microphones, no counter opinions were tolerated. The snarkiness of his post attests to the bile he carries for those of us who don't share his distorted, defeatist attitude. There are far, far better men involved,

Thomas, 47, has served 20 years in uniform. He could have retired and not gone to Iraq. But he decided not to.

"I told her I loved her," he said, "and that I'll be back."

I found this while doing some research on a different subject. It's the pin I wore on my beret while serving so long ago.

Amazing how little things aquire a special life of their own. It's just a simple piece of metal and enamel and yet I think of things half forgotten when I see it. The protest AK plans to attend in rebuttal, I've been thinking about that too. I believe AK has selected the right aproach, the thing that will mean the most to the soldiers shipping out is a simple request, Remember me, they know what they are going to face, what's waiting for them.

When a man goes through his combat training, the most jarring thing that gets to you is the little trick of lacing up one of your dog tags in your boot laces. You may lose them, may get your head blown off, may never be identified. That is a fact of combat. One that they do not sugar coat for you. You will have no childish illusions when you ship out about being immortal. Death comes for all eventually.

Which is why this is so important, I can't say it enough, or stress it more strongly. They are young men who above all else need to know that someone cares about them and what they are doing. Ask at least one of them their name, it doesn't matter who just pick someone and ask. John Doe, I will think of you, I pray for your safe return, I will always remember what you are giving for us. I will remember you.

A soldiers greatest fear is to be forgotten, buried in an unmarked grave. That's why the tag in the boot, why some have their social security number tattooed on themselves. The fear is a little less with DNA technology, but the fear remains. They know they risk death, they also need to feel our support.

That's why I'm glad AK and the others are going, taking the high road, yet prepared for trouble. The last sight of America they carry with them should be of concerned faces, caring ones,.....................not those learing monkeys from NION.

The words of Mr. Bush on today, our day.

Every veteran has lived by a strict code of discipline. Every veteran understands the meaning of personal accountability and loyalty and shared sacrifice. From the moment you repeated the oath to the day of your honorable discharge, your time belonged to America; your country came before all else. And whether you served abroad or at home, you have shared in the responsibility of maintaining the finest fighting force in the world.--George Bush

When you leave the service, you never quite ever put those years behind you. They help you define the rest of your days, remembered lessons, remembered Honor, remembered sacrifices. We swear an oath to protect and serve the Constitution of the United States,.................you are never released from that oath. Your service continues, only the form changes.

I have to work today, I'm tired, the kids were sick all night, and there is no rest until late tonight. A handful of prescriptions, always the damn pills, suck it up, and just do it.

Millions of veterans will join me, this is our day, but life goes on and the daily chores of husband and father continue. I will be thinking of the brethren today, of the sisters. Veterans are a kind of family, the only family for some. We remember and care for our own. We all swore the same oath, we all gave years of our lives, we all are marked now. Twentyfive million of us are so marked. Nearly every single one of us bears the mark with pride, pride and sorrow for those that weren't so lucky as to survive to be veterans. Only when those lost are mourned, by their families, by fellow veterans, by the nation, do we acknowledge the debt. It's one that can't be repaid, only Honored. Honored as it is on days like today.

Like some, I wear a veterans pin. It's a tiny thing, cheap brass and acrylic, and it has little value to anyone else. It was given to me by a friend, a man who now serves in Iraq, I hope to see him again someday but fate is rarely that kind. I hope he serves there without incident and returns to his family, his grandchildren. We are the same age, he's been in a long time. I offered to go in his duffel bag, and he laughed, then he told me not to worry, he'd be fine.

I still worry, and still feel shame that I can't go. Not because I love war, not because I love death, few actually could hate it more than I do. But that's where the need is, the need for someone to make a difference, to matter. The need for someone to look out and fuss and worry over our people. I mourn every loss, and cheer every homecoming. How could any of us do less and still look into the mirror in the morning............

Another day, another special day and life goes on. It's worth it though don't you think? I think it was and is, very much worth it.

God be with our men and women, today, and every other.

The students in Iran have been leading in a different kind of fight. One against real oppression, real tyrany, real terror. This flash movie shows their struggle, if it doesn't load the first time, try again, it took me three tries to get through. But you'll find it worth it.

If they win, we all win.

The good Doctor Dna from the esteemed Voodoo lounge left a very informative and helpful link to a post over at his place. Worthy of far wider attention. So, giving the Doctor his due, I present his answer to a misguided troll.

THE YIN AS WELL AS THE YANG
You've probably noticed that Instapundit has been leading the blogosphere in covering all the negative spinning of the situation in Iraq by the big media. I've compiled a list of the stories that I've collected, including first-hand reports and stories on media coverage.

Also check out Front Line Voices and Centcom, which releases the positive reports, that don't sell newspapers, as well.

Thank you dr. dna, this has been getting under my skin for awhile, and I greatly appreciate your taking the time to compile this information for all to see.

My wife's cousin Nick paid her and her mother a visit today, he's on a thirty day leave from the 5th Special Forces Group having just returned to the US. I believe he's enlisted staff, not a Special Forces member himself. Even Green Beanies need their pay processed and records kept. He does valuable work and serves with his unit in hotspots around the world. He'll return to Fort Campbell Kentucky in November, then to places unkown. Of interest,

The 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) derives its lineage from the unit of World War II fame -- The First Special Service Forces. "The Devils Brigade" -- a combined Canadian-American Force, constituted 5 July 1942 in the Army of the United States as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment,1st Battalion, Third Regiment,1st Special Service Force.

I talked with him a bit, but we just barely know eachother, his time was with family. He did tell me he had just reenlisted for four years, that after having served in Iraq. He seems a good man. I truely wish him and his wife all the best.

US Air Force Counter-Snipers working with the 82nd Airborne.

The Air Force has been quietly training a different breed of sniper, using the aquired knowledge of the Army and Marines, they hope to impress the brass enough to continue the program on an official basis.

Enter Air Force countersnipers, the cat to an enemy sniper�s mouse, to a mission that led late Marine Gunnery Sgt. Carlos Hathcock II, the military�s best known sniper � a man with a confirmed kill from a distance greater than 22 football fields � to say, �The most deadly thing on the battlefield is one well-aimed shot.�

More than two-dozen Guard and active duty security forces airmen have graduated from the Air Force Countersniper School at Camp Joseph T. Robinson in Arkansas. (As of December 2001). The 15-day course, taught at the National Guard Marksmanship Center, gives security forces a boot camp on countersniper tactics and procedures. It also introduces them to the life of one of their key adversaries � the military sniper.

The Air Force has always used the best of the Army's and Marines's lessons to turn out uniquely skilled operaters, surprised? I'm not, not when I've seen some of the historical precursers to this. The average Air Force recruit has traditionally scored higher on entry exams, highly motivated and smarter than average.

I believe the birth of a new kind of spec ops is in the making. The blue suits are joining the Army spec ops, the Marines, and the SEALS in wet work. I'm only sorry that I can't.........

But once upon a time, I was graced. I would so like to have had a chance to attend that school.

The Australians have our respect, our admiration, our friendship. Of all the former colonies, they are possibly the most like us. We share many traits and qualities, not least of which is the burning need for justice, by any means necessary.

Our first rule, thou shalt not fuck with us.

The bombings were the world's deadliest terrorist strike since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and have been blamed on the al-Qaida-linked regional militant group Jemaah Islamiyah.

We are in this together, it's for blood, and it's personal. With the Aussies on our side I almost feel sorry for the dirtbags of the world,....almost.

I'm sorry Phil, so sorry about your loss. I've been there too much, and I know what you feel now. But this isn't my time, it's yours. We all find our own way on dealing with grief, yours is as valid as any. I agree the named stages of grief are at best, useless. Because as individuals the absolute last thing we need, or want to hear is that it's all OK, that it will pass, and we can somehow navigate our way will a handy filling station map on what we should feel.

It's not OK, it's fucked....we all know that, you most of all. The hostility you feel is your own, and if you are anything like me, then you don't need or want someone telling you not to hurt. Anger is a survivors emotion my friend. It will make you strong when you need it. So don't worry about giving your feelings free reign right now, you have the right to feel as you do. Just remember that you have friends, and we understand.

That grief is light which can take counsel. -- Seneca

The hurt never quite goes away Phil, but it becomes a part of you, it colors who you are, and what you remember. But that never makes it any easier.

Just know my thoughts, and a prayer, are with you now.