His Only Souvenir

A Japanese "Dog Tag" from World War II, permission from owner to photograph. Photo by J. Berta.

Greetings All:

This past weekened, I was at our neighborhood grocery store with my Dad and youngest daughter.  We were there to celebrate her birthday and kicked off the day with doughnuts.  As we sat in the cafeteria, at the table next to me sat a gentleman wearing a "World War II Veteran" baseball cap.

There are not many of these Veterans left.  Everyday, we lose more and more of them.  Here is a sobering statistic is from The National WWII Museum:

"Approximately every three minutes a memory of World War II – its sights and sounds, its terrors and triumphs – disappears. Yielding to the inalterable (sic) process of aging, the men and women who fought and won the great conflict are now mostly in their 90s. They are dying quickly – at the rate of approximately 492 a day, according to US Veterans Administration figures."


When I got up to grab my coffee, I shook his hand and thanked him for his service.  We struck up a brief conversation and I asked him, "What Theater?"  He said Pacific.  Come to find out, he was with the 1ST Cavalry Division and their occupation of Tokyo. 

Although the European Theater (including North Africa) had ample examples of terror and hardship, the Pacific Theater was a different kind of war.  This quote from The Hoover Institution sums it up well:  "For the British and Americans alike, the Pacific was hands down the war’s most hated theater in which to fight,..."

As we were wrapping up our conversation, he said, "Let me show you the only thing I brought back from the war." (Or words to that effect.)  He then pulled out his key chain from his pocket.

Attached to his key chain was a Japanese identification tag, commonly referred to as a dog tag.

I asked this Veteran if I may take a picture of the dog tag to show my friends.  He agreed, yet was puzzled that I had a camera with me.  (Like my 77 year-old Dad, he is not a smart phone owner, I suppose.)  That dog tag, this Veteran and member of "The Greatest Generation" was kind enough to share with us this memory of a time seven decades ago.

While this Gentleman has to be in his late 80s or older, his eyes had a gleam and a firm handshake.  This is a man for whom his memories of World War II are forever linked to his daily life.  I also noticed that on his key chain was what I presume to be his dog tag.  

I think that his gesture of sharing with me something so personal was a wonderful gift to me.  He continued to share by allowing me to offer the photo above to all of you.  

Take a moment, if you will, to study it.  It is a simple piece of metal, marked with a language foreign to me.  This Veteran did not go into details as to how it came into his possession and I did not ask.  I suppose in some ways it is as much a part of him now as it was the person to whom it was issued to.  I am honored he shared it with me.  

I wonder what it is like to have memories from so long ago still so vivid, to be with you everyday.  I wonder what it is like to see everyday an item so simple, ordinary even, yet so full of meaning.  

Meaning, memories, and I suspect, the burden of history.  

Be well my friends,
Jeno

Sources:

http://www.nationalww2museum.org/honor/wwii-veterans-statistics.html 

http://www.hoover.org/research/brutal-pacific-theater 

My First Broken (Political) Heart

Joe Biden's 1988, er '87 campaign button, fair use/public domain claimed, full cite below.

Greetings All:

If you're living in America and unless you're in a cave (without wi-fi), you are aware that the 2016 presidential campaign is in full gear.  This week, Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin exited the race for the Republican nomination.  This was, even by political standards, a rapid fall from grace.  He had been a front-runner just a few months ago.  Yet he could not raise the interest (or money) to stay in the race.

I did not support him and I highly, highly doubt I would have voted for him in the general election.  Still, I respect his decision to leave the race and do so in an honorable, even magnanimous manner.

I have a friend from college who was a strong supporter of him in Iowa.  I connected with him on Facebook and expressed my condolences (might not be the right word, but the best one I can come up with) for the end of his candidate's campaign.

For some reason, I thought about the first time I had my political heart broken when a candidate I was supporting exited a race.  That would be the then Senator from Delaware, Joe Biden.

Then, this morning, I see in the paper that it was on this very date in 1987 that Biden did, in fact, exit the race.  Ladies and gentlemen, a blog post idea was born.

I was between my freshman and sophomore years in college when the Biden campaign took off in Iowa.  I will freely admit it:  I was swept up in the excitement, the energy.  Many people saw Biden as JFK 2.0.  He had a compelling story of a wife and daughter killed by a drunk driver and how he found a way to stay in the U.S. Senate and still put his kids first.  He had a message the resonated and he could appeal to all stripes of the Democratic party.  And if you think his smile is something now, you should have seen it back then.

That was the formal, serious, aspect of the campaign.  Then there was all the fun.  In an era before smart phones, posts and instant feedback, campaigns were different.  It was more personal.  You had the opportunity to see the candidate up close and personal.  You got to hang out with the staffers and fellow supporters.  Simply put, it was a grand time.

Then, it was over.  Biden withdrew over charges of plagiarism.  I have a link below to his 1988 campaign and you can read about it if you would like.  In a nutshell, Biden, in a moment of oratorical flair (and he has had many) failed to cite to a source.  I am not sure whether to laugh or cry at what is the going rate for a political scandal these days.  I feel safe saying this would not make the cut, not even close.

When I think back on it, I do recall the hurt, the loss.  I also can laugh in a way at how how much this was, in the words of my friend Dave, "A first-world problem."  Sad, sure, for me, and his supporters.  Yet at the end of the day, it all worked out and Senator Biden went on to have a remarkable and honorable career in public service, including being a heartbeat away from the Presidency.  I have no doubt he'd trade it all, ALL of it to have his son Beau back.  (Beau Biden, his eldest son, died of brain cancer earlier this year.)

So here's to those supporters of Gov. Walker, especially the college kids.  You saw in him what I saw in Joe Biden.  You were inspired, motivated to change the world, or this country, or just win the Iowa Caucuses.  Now, that shall not be.  You will wonder, agonize even, over,what could have been.  My advice:  let it go.  (and please, do NOT cue the Frozen song, thank you.)  Let go of the pain and recall the good times, the rallies, the speeches, the moments when you said to yourself:  "I'm part of something bigger than myself."

And one more thing.  Hold onto the buttons, the posters, all that stuff.  Pull it out someday and recall with both warmth and pride your role in that endeavor.  I used to have the poster that is shown below, yet I fear it has been lost to time and multiple moves.   

The Biden '88 campaign poster.  I had one of these in my fraternity room.  Fair use/public domain claimed, please see the full cite in the credits at the end of this blog post.

Such is life.  I suppose for those of us who have been involved in campaigns, losses are like broken hearts.  It stings, yet you get over it.  Hopefully, you can remember the good times and the bad memories fade.  At the end of the day, elections are important.  Yet the reason for elections, the preservation of our beloved Republic goes on, for perpetuity.  And that is something, God willing, that we shall never suffer the loss of, or feel the grieving thereof, in our hearts.
 
Be well my friends,
Jeno

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/09/21/scott-walker-quits-2016-presidential-race/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden_presidential_campaign,_1988

"You're Going To Need A Bigger Boat."

Quint, as portrayed by actor Robert Shaw, going shark hunting in the movie Jaws.  Taken from my TV, fair use claimed, credit to Spike TV, Universal, Peter Benchley, et al, again, fair use.

 
Greetings All:

I'm in a good mood.  My beloved Iowa Hawkeyes reclaimed the Cy-Hawk Trophy from Iowa State yesterday.  I taped, er I mean, "TiVoed" the game and watched it late.  It was nice to see a win.  It was especially nice to have something as trivial as a college football game to focus on after what yesterday's focus was on...9/11.

When Iowa loses, I usually shut off the TV.  When Iowa wins, I'll gladly watch whatever late game is on, SEC, Mountain West, whatever.  As I was flipping thru the channels last night, I came across Jaws.

Jaws is the film that tells the tale of a shark.  A shark that well, eats people.  Living in Iowa, being a time zone, or more away from an ocean, sharks are an abject threat.  Kind of like dragons.  You don't want to mess with either one, yet the odds of running into one are pretty slim.

The movie came out 40 years ago and still is living on (and not showing it's age one bit) on cable TV.  Well, that's not exactly accurate.  There are some things about the movie that date it.  For example, the town mayor wearing a wide lapel blue striped jacket (and don't forget the anchor one, too) while SMOKING in a hospital.  

Yet the story, at its base level, is timeless.  A crisis arrives and the protagonist(s) have to deal with it.  The main character, Martin Brody, is the chief of police of a small, summer resort town.  It's on an island actually. Oh, and he cannot swim.  Perhaps not the best place to work.  Then again, as Brody quips, "It's not an island if you look at the water from the beach."  (Or words to that effect.)

There is the iconic scene of when Brody, et al come "face to fin" with their nemesis.  I could describe it.  Then again, there's nothing like seeing it.  And since you've all been especially good and dedicated readers (as well as YouTube's liberal sharing policy, yup, claiming fair use on this as well), here you go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I91DJZKRxs

What makes a great movie, in my opinion, is a couple of things.  First, it must tell a story.  I've heard that good stories usually have this theme:  A stranger comes to town.  Well, we've got a stranger here.

Second, it has to tell a good story.  It is a suspenseful movie.  It's not a horror film, a slasher flick or any of the sort.  Thanks to the music of John Williams (da-Da, Da DA DA!!) we don't need to see the shark.  We can...feel him.  Where is he?  When will he strike next?  Can he be killed?

Third, it cannot be all doom and gloom.  Even Hamlet has some light moments, and so does Jaws.  It is a terrific cast and was masterfully done by Steven Spielberg...at 26.  

Then, there is the underlying theme of man's epic struggle against a mighty adversary.  Quint smashes the radio (and seals his own doom) to prevent the Coast Guard for coming to the rescue.  This is Quint's fight, to win or lose.  As I watch the film, I think of Hemmingway's Old Man and the Sea.  I wonder if Spielberg thought about that as he was making this film.

I doubt it.  From what I know from the making of the film (see the credits below) many things went wrong during the making of it.  I think Spielberg was trying to not run out of money and summer as he made this masterpiece.

Oh, and the third thing a movie needs to be great is a climatic ending.  We've got that here as well.  In a movie chalk full of great lines, perhaps the best one is this:  "Smile you son of a..."  That line is from the photo below:

Chief Martin Brody, played by Roy Schneider, in the final scene.  (Squeeze, don't pull Marty.)  Photo also taken from my TV, fair use claimed, credit to Spike TV, Universal, Peter Benchley, et al, 

  
In a world full of bad news and troubling times, movies offer an escape.  Well, perhaps escape is too strong a word.  How about this:  A respite, an opportunity to indulge in a mix of comfort and excitement.  In this case, we get to "experience" the fight on the sea and stay dry.  We get the ending we want, perhaps need.  I think that is OK.  It's fine to "take a knee" once in a while and enjoy a late night movie, especially this one.

Perhaps it is good this was on at summer's twilight.  After all, I might think twice about going back into the water.
 
Be well friends,
Jeno

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaws_%28film%29 

http://www.news-herald.com/arts-and-entertainment/20150618/commentary-appreciating-jaws-as-it-takes-40th-anniversary-swim-back-to-theaters 

A Tuesday Morning

One of the unfortunately well-known images from 9-11, full cite below, public domain claimed.

Greetings All:

Fourteen years ago this morning, our world changed.  I might write some more on it later.  For now, here are some thoughts expressed in a poem.  If you're reading this blog, please, in your own way, take a moment to remember those who died that terrible day.  A terrible day against a backdrop of a gorgeous weather day.

A Tuesday Morning by Jeno Berta

It was a Tuesday morning, sunny and bright.

On the edge of summer’s farewell, warm, yet not brutal hot.

Blue skies, blue as water from a still lake.

Then came the planes. 

First one, then three more.

They crashed. 

Into buildings.

Into the ground.

Into our souls.

They broke metal.

And glass.

And our hearts.

On that Tuesday, that wonderful weather day,

Our “normal” ended.

Yet from that horror, heroes emerged.

Simple acts, yet acts that mattered.

Water shared to quench parched mouths.

Running shoes given away by a shop-keeper.

Given to commuters turned refugees for a day.

Shoes that did more than aid sore feet.

They gave strengthen to the effort of all of us,

To get up, to walk on, to go home.

Yet not all made it home that day.

Some perished in the towers,

Plunging to the ground,

A final act of defiance against the flames.

Others at the Pentagon.

Some in suits, some in uniform, sibling citizens all.

And then there were those who fought back.

Whose rallying cry of, “Let’s Roll” became our own.

On that Tuesday, fourteen years ago, we recall.

We recall our shock,

Our anger,

Our grief,

Our fear.

Yes, our fear.

Yet let’s also recall how we came together,

In our houses of worship,

Schools and sports fields.

In our neighborhoods,

And our homes.

Recall how an act meant to tear us apart,

Pulled us together.

We learned much from that day,

With lessons still to study.

But for now, for today, for this day,

Let our thoughts be to the souls of the fallen.

Of spouses still alone,

Of children now grown,

Of parents for whom time stopped in their hearts,

Time never to move forward again.

I hope the sun shines today, this morning.

As it did that Tuesday morning.

For I believe that one can still recall a loss,

Revere the fallen,

Resolve to honor them in a life lived a bit better,

And still be grateful for the beauty of the day.

A day that like the 728 Tuesdays since that day,

That was the last “normal” Tuesday morning…

I shall ever know.

Be well my friends,
Jeno

Sources:

Photo credit:  http://search.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?s_it=imageDetails&q=public+domain+images+9%2F11&s_chn=prt_main5&v_t=comsearch&b=image%3Fs_it%3Dtopsearchbox.search%26s_chn%3Dprt_main5%26v_t%3Dcomsearch%26q%3Dpublic%2Bdomain%2Bimages%2B9%252F11%26oreq%3D2090306d987e4990b5b3439b15cfac93&img=http%3A%2F%2Fi.livescience.com%2Fimages%2Fi%2F000%2F019%2F865%2Fi02%2Fwtc-9-11-small.jpg%3F1315770555&host=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livescience.com%2F16001-nostradamus-predict-9-11-world-trade-center.html&width=108&height=85&thumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fencrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AANd9GcQ_YmYoytAxKuHJe-y2uSxIBcf7-GkxMegE_VCeRIjKZAg-LFkSJnaW0vI&imgWidth=300&imgHeight=235&imgSize=71170&imgTitle=public+domain+images+9%2F11 

Neil & Sunlight at 6:30

Sun against my friend's windshield, sometime summer 2014.  Photo by J. Berta.

Greetings All:

Fair warning, this blog post may not make a whole lot of sense.  (This may trigger the comment from some/most of you:  "Um, Jeno, how's that different from all your other blog posts.")

Ha ha ha.  Then again, you may be right.  In any event, here's the post:

Last week, I think it was Tuesday, about 6:30, I was driving home.  As I was waiting to make a right turn, (heading east) I was checking the traffic to the west.  It was there that I caught a face-full of sunlight.  Even with my sunglasses, it was way bright, even annoying, causing me to turn away.  The photo that opens this blog reminds me of what I saw on Thursday and no, I did not take that when I was driving.

With it being as close to "rush hour" traffic as we have in the Quad Cities, I had to wait for the light to change.  It did, and I did another quick check of the traffic to ensure it had actually stopped.  

I was ready for the sunlight and this time, instead of being annoying, it was pretty, even a bit majestic.  It was at that moment that Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" came over the new Sirius XM's Channel 18.  

I'm guessing most of you reading this blog are familiar with this wonderful, feel-good, soda (real soda, not that diet stuff) sweet song.  However, just to be complete, here are the lyrics.

"Sweet Caroline"

"Where it began,
I can't begin to knowin'
But then I know it's growing strong

Was in the spring
And spring became the summer
Who'd have believed you'd come along.

Hands, touchin' hands
Reachin' out, touchin' me, touchin' you

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I've been inclined
To believe they never would
But now I...

...look at the night
And it don't seem so lonely
We fill it up with only two.

And when I hurt,
Hurtin' runs off my shoulders
How can I hurt when holding you?

Warm, touchin' warm
Reachin' out, touchin' me, touchin' you

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I've been inclined,
To believe they never would
Oh, no, no

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
Sweet Caroline,
I believe they never could
Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
Sweet Caroline.."

This song has moved, occupied actually, a place on the shelf of popular culture.  At sporting events, this song can be heard (when the home team is winning).  The crowd cooperates by singing along, or at least belting out this line:

"Sweet Caroline, da DA DA!"

I've got a few links in the sources to the history of the song.  I was not aware, for example, that it was thought to have been written about Caroline Kennedy.  Nope.  The inspiration was Diamond's then wife.  Her name was not Caroline.  However, he needed three syllables to make the song work.  Thus, Car-o-line became the name.

There also are covers of this song that are all over the internet.  One of my favorites is the band below:  (If you want to find out who it is, you'll have to click on the link...:)).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOaDPrWkvmU

 I will give you a hint as the the band's identity.  The lead singer has had a great solo career.  He played at my law school's university end of the school year party.  I recall he played this song.  I have no doubt I sang along, loudly and assuredly off-key.  I was so happy and relieved to have survived the first year of law school.  It was about the perfect song to hear at that time.

As I heard this song again on Tuesday, I did not remember the party some two decades ago or any specific event related to the song.  I just smiled and drove home...and listened to Neil belt out this tune.

It was circumstance that I was where I was and heard what I heard.  I did not consciously chose it.  I cannot take credit for it.  In the big scheme of things, it was a random, minor occurrence, one of dozens we experience every day.  

So what made this one meaningful?  What made it worth remembering, worth writing about?  I'm not sure, actually.  I cannot put my finger on it.  I suppose the cynic in me would say, "Well, you needed a blog post topic, this is as good as anything."

That's true.  However, I like to think that I use this post to write about things that matter to me.  I also like to seize opportunities to write about things that are positive, as opposed to the "gloom and doom" in the world.  (Case in point, I just watched "Meet The Press" this morning.  The show was one bad news story after the other.  In fact, I paused writing this post to watch a story on the decade anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the abject suffering visited on the people of New Orleans.  As I mentioned, doom and gloom.)

So this event, as random and trivial as it was, made me feel good.  It brought a smile to my face.  I did not create the circumstances of Tuesday at 6:30.  I did choose to let it make me feel good.

This is a choice we all have.  I mentioned in a previous post about my attempts to be more on time (and doing pretty well, I might add, although Dawn might disagree.)  In keeping with that I am going to make the effort to see the random beauty around me.  Who knows, I might start writing about such things not being so "random" after all.
  
Be well my friends,
Jeno

Sources:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/neildiamond/sweetcaroline.html 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2808898/I-needed-three-syllable-Singer-Neil-Diamond-reveals-Sweet-Caroline-love-song-wife-Marcia-not-rhyme.html 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Caroline 

A Patch Pinned & History Made

The "tab" of the U.S. Army Rangers, Wikipedia/U.S. Army, public domain

Greetings All:

This past week, with the act of pinning a patch on two Soldiers' shoulders, history was made.  Captain (CPT) Kristen Griest and First Lieutenant (1LT) Shaye Haver graduated from the U.S. Army Ranger School, the first female Soldier to earn this distinction.  It is an amazing achievement and I heartily congratulate both of them.

Ranger school is not for the faint of heart.  Equally disqualifying are those with a fondness for more than three hours of sleep and filling meals.  Instead, Ranger candidates are fed a steady diet of physical and mental taxation, strive and suffering.  Oh, and by the way, while this is all going on, they are first learning then expected to lead others in small unit military tactics.  I doubt I'd last a week, more likely a day in this "finishing school" for soldiering.  

In the sources, I've got links to the NYT's article about these two Soldiers and also information about Ranger school.  As I am attempting (stress attempting) to keep my blog posts shorter, I will skip a long review of the Army Rangers.  I do want to mention that Rangers have long been at the tip of the Army's spear of combat-arms specialists.  As I recall, it was during some of the most bloody fighting on D-Day, Brigadier General Norm Cota shoutedd the now famous phrase, "...Rangers lead the way!"  

And they did.  And they have.  For decades, Rangers are some of the finest Soldiers the world has ever, or will ever see.  You may recall that former NFL star Pat Tillman walked away from millions of dollars to enlist in the U.S. Army.  What did he choose for his assignment?  The U.S. Army Rangers.

It was only recently that women were allowed to first try out and then attend this and other combat-specific schools.  As my friend Matt pointed out, some in the talk-radio world howled their displeasure at this decision.  They decryed it as, "political correctness again run amuk!"  These...commentators also gleefully predicted these ladies failure and just could not wait to say, "I told you so!"

Guess what?  They made it.  They are Rangers.  The world did not end.  There is not stallion feces littering our streets from the galloping of "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," at this occurrence.  

It took almost 65 years from when the first Ranger class graduated for women to earn the right to wear the black and gold tab of the Rangers.  Yet 1LT Haver and CPT Griest did it. 

The first graduating class of Army Rangers, Nov 1950, Wikipedia/U.S. Army, public domain.

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter offered these comments about the graduation of CPT Haver and 1LT  Griest: “Like every Ranger serving today, they'll help lead the finest fighting force the world has ever known,...”  I'm going to come back to that statement. 
  
Rangers are clearly a unique breed of Soldiers.  As I understand it, one must be a graduate of the following:  Basic military training; the three-week Army parachute school (completing 5 jumps); and other accession and testing before even entering Ranger training.  

Whether or not one actually serves in one of the Ranger Battalions (The 75th Ranger Regiment), all Rangers are held to an incredibly high standard.  That standard might be best summed up in the "Ranger Creed," citation noted below, goarmy.com:

RANGER CREED

R ecognizing that I volunteered as a ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de corps of my ranger regiment.

A cknowledging the fact that a ranger is a more elite soldier, who arrives at the cutting edge of battle by land, sea, or air, I accept the fact that as a ranger, my country expects me to move further, faster, and fight harder than any other soldier.

N ever shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong, and morally straight, and I will shoulder more than my share of the task, whatever it may be, one hundred percent and then some.

G allantly will I show the world that I am a specially selected and well trained soldier. My courtesy to superior officers, neatness of dress, and care of equipment shall set the example for others to follow.

E nergetically will I meet the enemies of my country. I shall defeat them on the field of battle for I am better trained and will fight with all my might. Surrender is not a ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy and under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country.

R eadily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the ranger objective and complete the mission, though I be the lone survivor.

RANGERS LEAD THE WAY!

This is the same creed all Rangers recite at many times in their lives.  In fact, retired General Stanley McChrystal used part of the creed as the title (a great read, BTW) for his memoirs, My Share of the Task.  I have a link to his book in the sources.  If you would like to learn more about what life is like in the Army Rangers, please check out Gen McChrystal's book.

As I alluded to above, there was some/a lot of grumbling if not outrage that such an elite training program as Ranger School would be open to women.  The satire website The Duffle Blog (the military version of The Onion) has been having a field day with numerous posts, poking fun at some of this blowback. 

Some of The Duffle Blog's post are not that funny and others simply gutter humor.  However, I have links to a couple below that are hihilarious examples of good satire.  My favorite is, "Special Forces, 75th Rangers Build 'No Girls Allowed' Club House."

In fact, it is humorous enough to warrant a link within this blog post:

http://www.duffelblog.com/2015/08/no-girls-allowed-club-house/#ixzz3jhRlrOqU

The joke, of course, is the "lamenting" of yet another male bastion of exclusivity has crumbled.  I don't want to be hypocrite.  There have been times, numerous times, I have enjoyed being "with the guys."  Yet our national security is too important to deny anyone qualified to serve the chance just due to some gender status.

Now with that being said, you'll get no argument from me that one should be, must be, qualified and trained for their job.  Case in point:  CPT Griest is an Apache attack helicopter pilot.  Due to my eyesight (and pathetic math skills) I would not be qualified to do this job.  I also think that the Army will place her back into this assignment.  I am certain that should the men she trained with ever need close-air support (CAS) they will be profoundly grateful she is flying above them, raining fire on enemy positions, than on the ground with them.

As to whether or not women will actually be authorized to serve in the "combat arms" branches, the jury is still out on that one.  It is folly to ignore that there are demanding, almost sadistic physical requirements for these aspects of military service.  It may be the case that women simply do not have the physical attributes to perform these specific jobs.  Just as I think it is wrong to deny training to someone because of their gender, it is equally wrong to not consider the facts in assigning the right person to the right job.

This, by the way, has nothing to do with courage or the ability to display bravery on the battlefield.  Women have and will continue to be just as lethal as their male counterparts.  I came across this story about female fighters taking on ISIS:

All-women warrior brigade formed to fight ISIS

"A popular Yazidi folk singer has formed an all-female fighting brigade in Iraq called the “Sun Girls” to battle back against ISIS militants. Xate Shingali, 30, is the woman reportedly behind the new fighting battalion. She’s recruited 123 women, one as young as 17 years old, who will take the battlefield to exact revenge on the terror group. 'They rape us. We kill them,' the singer told The Daily Mail."

Ms. Shingali's troops, "The Sun Girls," from Twitter, full citation and applicable attribution below in the sources, fair use and/or public domain claimed.

I know it's not very "Christian" of me, but I wish these ladies wild success in their chosen endeavor.  (And to ISIS- boys, best know these ladies have not signed onto any of the Geneva Conventions.)

So back to the newest Army Rangers.  I want to return to Sec. Carter's comments, in particular this one:  "...help lead..."  

In the final analysis, this is not about a piece of cloth, a proclamation of the crashing of the "Kevlar ceiling," the degeneration of transitional gender roles, a victory for feminism or anything else.  It is, instead, about having two new young officers who have additional leadership experience to pass on to their subordinates.  It is about these two young women and more important, company grade officers, who will now be more effective leaders.  

It will empower them to, with a nod to The Ranger Creed, "...shoulder more than their share of the task."  To me, that is what being an American and wearing its uniform is all about.  

Be well my friends,
Jeno

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Rangers#/media/File:Ranger_Tab.svg 

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/08/21/us/politics/ap-us-army-rangers-women.html?smid=fb-share

http://www.military.com/special-operations/army-ranger-missions-and-history.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Cota

http://pattillmanfoundation.org/our-story/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:First_Ranger_Class_Graduation_Ceremony.jpg

http://www.defense.gov/News-Article-View/Article/614329/carter-congratulates-army-ranger-school-graduates 

http://www.defense.gov/News-Article-View/Article/613997/women-complete-swamp-phase-earn-army-ranger-tab

http://www.goarmy.com/ranger/heritage/ranger-creed.html

http://www.amazon.com/My-Share-Task-A-Memoir/dp/159184682X

http://www.duffelblog.com/2015/08/no-girls-allowed-club-house/ 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/24/the-girls-training-to-fight-isis.html

http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2015/08/18/all-women-warrior-brigade-formed-to-fight-isis/ 

https://twitter.com/PzFeed/status/633639756761403393/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

 

A Common Malady

A snapshot of my Google calendar, one of the many tools I use to be on time.  I may need more.  Photo by J. Berta

Greetings All:

"Can't. Stand. Late."  Dawn Strauss-Berta, Facebook, August 9, 2015, citing to Brent Beshore's article on Forbes.com, "5 Minutes Early Is On Time; On Time Is Late; Late Is Unacceptable."

My wife, Dawn, despises being late.  She is pretty tolerant of most of my imperfections (and that is a long list), yet this is one that she really, truly, does not like about me.

And full-disclosure, being on time is a challenge for me.  I do think I have gotten better at it, however I'm far from perfect on this front.

What inspired this blog post was a...spirited discussion Dawn and I had last night about the virtues of being on time.  I launched the first salvo by saying, "I had a meeting last week and someone was a few minutes late.  It was no big deal to me."

Dawn then proceeded to remind me of her position and that being late for any reason is unacceptable.  Did I mention my lovely bride is from New Jersey?  Well, she is.  And she let me know in no uncertain terms (in a tone and tenor that would make Chris Christie proud) how wrong I was.

We then shifted our discussion to the article that is mentioned in Dawn's Facebook post and I have a link to it in the sources section.  If you have...issues with being on time.

Here's a quote from the article that sums up (at least for me) Beshore's position on this subject:

"All joking aside, being late is unacceptable. While that sounds harsh, it’s the truth and something that should be said more often. I don’t care if you’re attending a dinner party, a conference call, or a coffee meeting – your punctuality says a lot about you."

Before I delve in more deeply into this subject, An apology to this author is in order.  I'm actually on a "streak" of apologies (2 for 2 blog posts, please see yesterday's post)  Regarding the author, I initially and incorrectly dismissed him as some self-righteous freelance journalist lecturing me.  I was wrong.  He's a whole lot more than that.  Here's his bio:

"I’m an entrepreneur, the Founder/CEO of adventur.es (#28 on 2011 Inc. 500), an angel investor, a winemaker (Beshore Family Vineyards), a poverty relief advocate, and the husband to a Ph.D."

Pretty impressive.  So when someone this successful offers his point of view about being on time, one should at least pay him the courtesy of listening.  I suppose if I want to zip up my jacket and go stand in the cold light of truth, I don't like his message for one simple reason:  

He's right.

There, I said it. he's right.  And so is Dawn.  And so is my Dad who is with rare, rare exceptions at least 10 minutes early to everything.

I suppose I tolerate people being late because on some subconscious level, it validates my position.  Put another way, I'm saying to myself, "It's OK if I'm late on occasion as I tolerate it in others.  I'm not a hypocrite."  

Fair enough.  I'm not a hypocrite.  But I'm still late, even a little.

It appears I am not the only one.  It seems as if being late is acceptable conduct.  I have some citations in the sources below that help support the point that being late is a common malady.  People are late for work, meetings, even flights.  (Ever seen someone running thru the airport like O.J. Simpson in a 70s Hertz commercial?  I have.)  

While I do not embrace all of reasons Beshore decries lateness, he does have one point:  With rare exceptions being late, like many other maladies is curable.  We just may not like the medicine.

I recall years ago reading David Allen's book, Getting Things Done.  In this book, Allen presents a way to organize your life.  Central to his premise is that we all make agreements with ourselves and others to do things.  As I recall, part of Allen's message is that we all need to get better and honoring the commitments we make.  I have a link to him in the credits below and encourage you to check him out if you'd like to learn more about him.  

I mention him as I'm going back to his book.  I'm also going to make the commitment right here, right now (thank you Van Halen) to be 100% on time for everything I commit to doing.  

I'll report back in a week with how I did.  In the meantime, please feel free to share with me any tips or tricks you have to be on time.  I know there are a ton of tools out there, from Google Calendar to other apps, alarms, ect.  I suppose the biggest one is to simply leave earlier.  The second may be to intentionally schedule less "stuff" and follow Allen's approach about the calendar being a sacred place for events and ONLY events.  These two things may be the cure to the malady that ails me.  

We shall see.
 
Be well my friends...and check your watch/smartphone!
Jeno

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/brentbeshore/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2014/12/03/how-often-are-americans-late-for-work-infographic/

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2920989 

http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/help-chronically-late

http://gettingthingsdone.com/