I was reading Chessie: The Railroad Kitten by Thomas W. Dixon, Jr. earlier tonight, when I found something that I thought was worth posting here, sort of a "I concur" thing.

The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway ("George Washington's Railroad") had as its mascot a small female kitten known as Chessie. In 1937, Chessie was joined by Peake, billed as "Chessie's Old Man". When America entered World War II, Peake's illustrations started including a garrison cap or some other indicator that he too was off to war with the men of America.

The 1944 C&O calendar depicted Peake reading a letter from Chessie; text as follows: "Dear Peake: We eagerly await your return from war and here at home we're doing all we can to hasten that day. It's the one thought uppermost in our minds. -- Your loving Chessie."

It may sound mushy or trite, but I agree with the C&O's mascot. I want our boys (and girls, !@#%) back home and I reckon a lot of good people are doing what they can to hasten the return of our troops.

It's fair to ask, "This isn't World War II, and nobody's employed on the production lines making B-24 Liberators in 12 hours or so or Liberty ships in a day; moreover, what're we supposed to do?" The answer to that is simple, although perhaps a little less than immediately obvious. What civilians in 2004 America can do is simply support the troops.

It sounds trite, hackneyed, or perhaps overplayed. Lord knows that a lot of left-leaning types like to begin a waffle phrase with "I support the troops, but..." Never mind that; neither those words nor those who speak them are important, but they can have an effect over time. Therefore, the patriotic citizen must practice quiet resolve to defeat those things things which would lead to problems with bringing the boys home.

So, what do we do? Since Vietnam, it has been clear that the national will is tremendously important to the success of any American martial effort. We cannot be defeated in the field, but America stands vulnerable elsewhere. Allow me to present several things that may help the citizen to repel attacks on the national will.

First: Understand that our people can't come home until the job is done. This is a simple thing to comprehend, and it is necessary. The road to the return of forces from overseas first requires that victory must be achieved.

Second: Understand that the job will require total victory. James Woolsey said in a recent speech that there would be no Islamist Gorbachev, someone who sees the light and comes to make peace in the name of radical Islam. Rather, the Islamists will continue their attacks where possible, and their number will increase. The only way to prevent this is to demonstrate utterly without equivocation that to plot violence against the United States is to a) fail miserably and b) die trying in the attempt.

Third: Understand that enforcing failure and death to our enemies is a messy thing. We will, by and large, take many Islamist lives in this conflict. Our forces are heavily armed, highly trained, and the beneficiaries of trillions of dollars in research, development, and procurement. There are times when we will make mistakes, however. Accidents will happen. Innocents will die, and our people will die. That is an unfortunate reality that can only be controlled, never eliminated.

Islamist dead are not to be mourned for anything other than the fact that a human life was needlessly wasted in pursuit of a gruesome and hideous agenda. As for our people, honor their sacrifice by staying the course and resolving to make their deaths meaningful. At some level, our dead perished so that we might not bow to the Islamist or to his allies. Yielding to the demands of those who say that America deserves the rage of the Islamist or that we shouldn't fight evil does exactly what our lost soldiers fought against.

Fourth: Do not be afraid to stand up for your freedom and your way of life. When someone says that America should not be committed to a war on terrorists, remind them that these Islamists came looking for us. Remind them that they want our way of life destroyed, the very way of life that allows you and the other individual to hold and express differing views. Courteously confront those who espouse the negative view, and make them defend their assertions. You may not win over that individual, but others might see and hear, and come away with a better understanding of your viewpoint.

Fifth: Support your soldiers. What does that mean? When you see a man or woman in our country's uniform, thank them for their service. Tell them that you're proud of their successes and that they make your safety possible. It should build morale among the troops, and that's a crucial thing.

That's all I've got; it's probably simplistic, but I wanted to make it easy. I've often asked myself what I can do for the furtherance of the war effort and the nation's legitimate war aims, and that's the best I've come up with to date. And yes, I want our people home. The perfect sound bite for this comes from Apocalypse Now, where Robert Duvall's Colonel Bill Kilgore says, "I want my people out of there now!" He's talking about wounded men, but I think it applies here as well. I care for our folks, and I want them back. I'd also rather them come home after a job well done with no more major needs to revisit the question.

Funny; all this was inspired for posting by an advertising calendar's illustration of a cat from sixty years ago.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 12:45 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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