On War and Warriors

A while ago I was having an email conversation about war with someone. I shared my views on this subject with them. They suggested I put this on my blog. So... here it is.

There is a lot of wishful thinking going on in our nation today. And while that is nice, feel good fluff, it should not influence our actions. We must take the world the way it is, not necessarily how we would like it to be. In the world there are and always have been bad people who are willing to subject others to their will through the use of force. It is the same thing that went on in Heaven. Satan desired to rule over all of us and take our agency away. We fought him for our freedom in what was called a war. He was defeated, but he carries on his war or design against us here on Earth. In a real sense, war here is just an extension of that first war in Heaven. That goes for war at any level whether it is a little war you have with a person who breaks into your home or a world war. As long as there are men who are willing to subject others to their will and others who are willing to risk death to secure freedom there will be war.

War can cost more lives than it saves. If preserving life is your ultimate goal then you would probably save more lives by surrendering to the invader who is attempting to subjugate you and yours. He may not want you dead, but just wants to subject you to his will. Life cannot be the ultimate goal. If life is the ultimate goal to a people, they will soon be subjects to a more ruthless power.

War destroys lives, property, and often, human dignity and morality. All sorts of ills are magnified in war. Men can become monsters, doing all manner of evil they would never have done otherwise. It is evil, no doubt. But there are worse evils.

Recently, a semi-famous movie star said that, "War is not the answer!" The truth of that statement really depends on what the question is. Culturally, ask yourself, is the world better because the colonists overthrew the Monarchy in our Revolution? Or take the not so Civil War. Slaves were freed and the South was set upon a more egalitarian path. We lost 500,000 men in the process. Was war the answer when Hitler's Wehrmacht was Goose Stepping across Europe?

If I can use an analogy, the world is made up of Sheep, Sheepdogs, and Wolves. Most of the world are sheep. They move through life taking their ease, enjoying its pleasures with really no thought of harm coming to them. Oh, once in a while they see or hear of another sheep being carried off by a wolf, but that is always so far distant from them. Even when it does happen close to home they still figure it won't happen to them or they conjure up lots of reasons and excuses why the wolf did it. You just need to be more empathetic and try to understand the wolf. Society somehow has failed him. Or they blame the Sheepdogs.

The Sheepdog (another name for him or her is Warrior) really is bred for the fight. He doesn't go looking for it, but is ready and willing to deal death and destruction to any wolf that threatens his sheep, another Sheepdog, or himself. He sniffs out the dangers lurking in the sheep's world and tries to prepare himself and the sheep as best he can. The Sheep are ambivalent about the Sheepdog. On the one hand, he sure is handy to have around if the wolf gets too close, but he is just so darn aggressive. He shows his fangs at times in inappropriate ways and times. He is not always welcome in polite and elite sheep company.

I talked about wolves earlier when describing the war in Heaven. Lest I be misunderstood in what I say below, an analogy can be stretched only so far. There are many Women Warriors, but culturally women have relied on the male to protect her and the family as he is "normally" the physically stronger of the two genders.

So how about natural selection? In the past, the female human has been attracted to the Warrior. Why? He would be the most likely to protect the female and the family from predators. So women are attracted to men who have, what I'll call, the Warrior spirit. They feel safe with the Warrior. But women, speaking generally, don't understand what makes the Warrior tick. And their feminine nature doesn't really like some of the Warrior's, shall we call them, side effects. Fascination with guns, fighting, brutal competitive games, aggressive posturing, and besides they smell and leave the potty seat up! Yet women are attracted to the Warrior nonetheless. Unless culture forces the women to become averse to this type of man. This is happening, to some extent, in our nation. Boys and their natural actions are frowned on and the warrior ethic is literally punished out of him. He is made to be docile and feminine in his manner and even dress. What is a Metrosexual male except a diminished Warrior fretting about how he looks rather than how he can act. So, yes natural selection did favor the breeding of new Warriors, but I wonder if our culture will continue to honor them and therefore continue the breed. The South still retains a healthy Warrior mentality (along with what some would call the undesirable side effects). It is not coincidence that a disproportionate number of our Military come from the Old South.

Europe is working hard to breed the Warrior out of their culture. One of two things will happen to them: Islam will take over and devour them as a culture or they will rise up and drive them from Europe. I'm betting on the Muslims. In its more virulent form, Islam is not compatible with other cultures and will continue to strive against foreign cultures. If they become a majority or even a large minority they will force their will on others.

I don't like war. I hate it and what it does to people. However, it is better than losing my agency to another human. I have and will kill to preserve my freedom, my family, and my nation.

WHERE ARE THOSE CARSON BOYS NOW?

Two pictures but both taken in the same place. This may be harder than it looks. What country? (that's the easy part) What body of water are they near? What is the name of the old ruins? Is there anything interesting about the body of water itself?

WHO SAID:

"THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF."

Who said it, when, what was the subject, and what was the occasion.

Answer as many of the above as possible. Points for partial answers.

You know the rules: No peeking!

All very good guesses. It shows you have a good grasp of history to have gotten so close. Aaron got the most right. Most people would guess it was a speech given during or just before war. However, FDR had inherited a country in deep depression. People were down and out and the usual optimistic nation was suffering from a lack of confidence. FDR's first inaugural speech was designed to get the country up and moving again.

WHERE ARE THESE CARSON BOYS NOW?

Where are they and who is that kid on the far left? The year? Where were they going?

WHO SAID:

"Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees."

Don't Google it. Take a stab with your memory.

Extra points if you can, tell the circumstances leading up to the quote..

OK. That was a tough one. They were the last words of Stonewall Jackson, just before he died. Battle of Chancellorsville - In a wild gamble, Jackson's II Corps had flanked Hooker's Army of the Potomac in an all day march while Longstreet, with only 14,000 men, held off Hooker. Led by Rodes' Division, II Corps slammed into the Federal right flank and in a few hours routed the Army of the Potomac. This lightening strike, Jackson's trademark, so unnerved "Fighting" Joe Hooker that he refused to use the superior power of his army to stand and fight Lee. In the inevitable fog of battle Jackson and his aides became separated from the body of his Corps. And while working their way back, in the dark, Jackson was mistakenly shot by his own men. Surgeons amputated his arm, but it was not enough to save his life. He lingered several days, and died uttering the words above.

WHERE ARE THESE CARSON BOYS NOW?

PLACE? & STATE?

THE GREATEST GENERATION

My Uncle Lester, my last living uncle, is 90 and took care of my Aunt Zola, who died recently at 97. He is in the process of administering her estate. They live in Stockton California. He had her remains cremated and decided to take them back to Kansas to be buried in the family cemetery in Dennis, Kansas, a hard 3 days journey. Each day's drive is about 650 miles. Uncle Lester invited my dad (88) to go along, but he had to stay home with my mom who has the Shingles.

He stopped on the way at my folks in St, George Utah, but only one night. On the last day, near Salina, Kansas he had what he determined to be a mini-stroke. A slight numbness on the left side of his body. Anyway he arrived in Kansas, got Aunt Zola buried, and visited his sister, my Aunt Betty, for about 4 days. He happened to mention the numbness, which threw the family into a panic, including my dad. He would not see a doctor and insisted that he was going to drive back to CA the next day. I volunteered to fly out and meet him in Wichita, but it was too late in the day and he declined the offer anyway.

He did agree to call when he got to Denver or if he encountered any problems on the way. At 5:50 PM he called and was staying at a Motel 6. I asked if he would like to have dinner with us. He said he would, but didn't want to drive anymore so we drove to meet him and had a nice dinner and visit at the Denny's next door. He said the numbness persisted, but he seems to have complete control I watched him for the signs they tell you to look for and I saw none. He said the brain would soon rewire itself and he'd be fine.

He looked fine and I reported it to my dad. He was very relieved. The next day he was up at 4:30, had breakfast and made it into St. George around 6 PM.

He drove on to Stockton the next day. Had to get back to something or other. All this at 90? Those Carson Boys are tough.

In the picture, Uncle Lester is third from the left on the top row. This is all 6 of the Carson boys in their WWII uniforms. Uncle Lester and Leslie were twins. They had white hair from their teens on. Leonard is in the middle bottom row. I'll name them all, top row left to right, then bottom row: Lawrence, Lloyd, Lester, Leslie, Leonard, and Leo. Leo and Lloyd were killed in a car accident less that 3 months after they got home from the war when a drunk hit them head on. Leo was to be married in a month.

Thought you would enjoy this story about six of the Greatest Generation.