I was very careful to send Mr. Roosevelt every few days a statement of our casualties. I tried to keep before him all the time the casualty results because you get hardened to these things and you have to be very careful to keep them always in the forefront of your mind. — George C. Marshall

My Take – Every decision I make, both monumental and miniscule, has consequences.  Sometimes, the harshest consequences aren’t paid by me.  Instead, my decisions and actions will affect someone else.  I must keep that in mind, especially when it comes to my firearms.  One moment, one decision, one pull of a trigger can have a horrific impact on others, both those who deserve it and those who don’t.  I must always remember that I, and I alone, am responsible for everything I do, and that what I do can cause others pain.

When it comes to leaders at high levels, it is even more important that they be aware of the consequences of their decisions.  Reminders about casualties, either through lists placed on a desk or reports in the news, keep their heads in the game.  Presidents can treat war like a game of Risk or a video game, and sometimes even the people back home can do the same thing.  Witness the ratings for CNN during Operation Desert Storm for that.  When the images of planes, tanks, and rockets are sanitized from the death and suffering that accompany their use, on both sides, war becomes entertainment.

I think that’s why I never objected to pictures of our dead returning to Dover being on the news, assuming that their families permit it.  We need reminders that every time we send our young men and women out to do something, some of them are not going to come back whole and some of them are not going to come back alive.  When we forget that, we forget that our soldiers are human and they become faceless automatons sent out to do our bidding.  When we forget that real people fight wars, we go to war without thought to the consequences and without resorting to other solutions first.  By being mindful of the cost of our decisions and desires, we minimize the suffering of those who are the instrument of our decisions.  We must still be prepared to send them to defend our country, but we must always remember them and by so doing, we will hold their efforts and blood as precious, which to me is how it should be.

“Duty, Honor, Country” — those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn. — Douglas MacArthur

My Take – We all have to have our anchors.  Maybe it’s your religion, or your family, or your values.  Whatever it is, you must have something that helps you on your feet when all else is dragging you down.  When the world is crumbling around you, no matter the circumstances, remembering that your duty still needs to be done, that your honor must be safeguarded, and that your country and all that entails are counting on you can motivate you in ways that no other thought can.  Find your anchor and use it to find a way to succeed.

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived. — George Patton

My Take – It is no accident that attacks on our country by foreigners in the last 200 years are rare enough that we can name them off the top of our head.  It is no coincidence that even in the darkest hour of our political fortunes that we are able to openly and loudly criticize and agitate against our opponents.  The security of our shores and of our freedoms didn’t just emerge from the mists of antiquity.

All of these things are made possible because young men and women are willing to give up an easy life in order to work hard, sometimes under unimaginable conditions, and possibly come home in a box or not at all.

We mark this day to remember the day that the most horrific war that men had ever seen, up to that time, ended.  But wars never really end, and there will always be a need for a man to go on patrol or a woman to stand on the parapet.  We are fortunate that even in this age of comfort and privilege, there are still people willing to stand outside the light of the fire, watching and protecting.

To those who serve and those who have served, thank you.

When a thing is done, it’s done. Don’t look back. Look forward to your next objective. — George Marshall

My Take – It’s been long enough.  If we haven’t figured out what went wrong by now, we deserve the next whipping we take.  It’s time to start thinking about the future.  In the next few months, the government has to find a way to pass a budget, and we have to work through our representatives to try to staunch the bleeding on that front.  In the near term, we have to find a way to blunt the blow from Obamacare and survive the economic shock of hundreds of companies laying off thousands of employees.

Next we need to look toward the mid-term elections.  Who is going to run, who is going to get supported, and who is going to get jettisoned?  What will we find important?  Will we be smart enough to keep the dolts who are running from opening their pieholes about mommy parts and the gays?  We have to work toward keeping enough of a voice in the Senate that we can head off any Supreme Court nominees that would destroy the progress of the past decade and any treaties that Obama signs that will infringe on our liberty.

And finally, we need to find a way to minimize the damage of the next four years, and find a way to recapture not only the White House, but also the Senate.  We need to start recruiting and grooming people to run not only against the Democrats, but also against those Republicans who believe that the government is a lifelong gravy train.  We have to look for people who want to serve, not to be served, who look at the American people as more than a cash cow, and who know that government is a necessary evil, not a panacea for every problem we might encounter.

We have to let go of this defeat.  We should learn from it, use it as a bad example, but not dwell upon it and poison ourselves with the bile that has been spewed in the past few days.

A great people may be killed, but they cannot be intimidated. — Napoleon Bonaparte

My Take – Someone once told me that a war is not over until the losing side admits that it has lost.  If we do not allow temporary setbacks to keep us from trying once again, then we are not truly defeated.  Opponents can shriek at the top of their lungs, huff and puff about the dire consequences to us of continued resistance, and even make thinly veiled threats against our freedom, livelihoods, and lives, but until they find a way to destroy us, they have not won.  It is only when we no longer have the means and will to resist and thrive that we are defeated, and if we have the will to fight, we will find the means.

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. — Geogre Patton

My Take – The way I say it – Don’t tell me how to suck eggs, just show me the eggs and tell me they need sucking.

Leadership is developing people to the point that once a problem is recognized, they know how to take responsibility for it and fix it on their own.  Management is identifying the problem, telling your people how to solve it, then watching them to make sure they follow directions.  People crave leadership; they resent management.

We must forgive our enemies. I can truly say that not a day has passed since the war began that I have not prayed for them. — Robert E. Lee

My Take – It is a very strange thing that we do when we fight our wars.  In more distant times, a conquered people would be annihilated or driven off of their land.  But some time in the 20th century, things changed.  When we defeated Germany and Japan, we didn’t herd their people into slave pens or strip their lands to bare earth.  We spent our treasure to fend off famine in both countries and almost started World War III on multiple occasions to keep West Germany free.

Look further back in our history to our own Civil War.  The immediate aftermath of the war was almost as bitter and destructive as the war itself, but you will never find more patriotic Americans than you will find south of the Mason-Dixon line.  Former Confederates were able to look beyond the war and see the brotherhood of Americans that they were a part of.

In this tradition, we need to sew up the wounds that this most bitter campaign has opened.  No matter who wins, the Republic will survive, so long as we don’t let it die.  Our traditions, our history, and our values all point us to the right way to end this, and it’s not with blood in the streets or harsh words in the press.  Only through remembering that we are all part of the same family of humanity, the same tribe of Americans, can we get past this.

The die is cast.– Julius Caesar

My Take – This is it folks.  In 12 hours, the polls will have started to close, and in 24 the post-election festivities will have begun. We can either choose for four more years of Obama, or choose to go in another direction.*  Either way, it’s important that as many people participate in this decision as possible.  If you’re qualified to vote, get out there and do it, regardless of who you support.  Nothing is going to get better until we force the politicians to quit listening to a minority of the citizens and start doing what the majority of us want them to do.

So, please, go out and vote.  We’re all depending on it.

*The amount of change in direction varies depending on who you talk to.

Among the Americans serving on Iwo island, uncommon valor was a common virtue. — Chester Nimitz

My Take – It strikes me every time I go to Fort Knox to help with training:  Where do we find such people?  From the most high-speed, low drag special operator to the guy who’s learning to drive a truck in a convoy, they’re all trying to learn how to do a mission that most people can’t even describe.  Guys who ride a helicopter roller coaster into a raid are, to me, no more brave than the young lady who drives a route that’s been bombed repeatedly or the guy who stands up in front of an Afghan army unit to train them the day after another instructor was murdered by a student.

Maybe they only joined up for the money, or the college fund, or to just get away, but they all display more guts than a lot of the people they grew up with.  Almost all of them get embarrassed when they’re called out for being brave, but that doesn’t diminish the fact they have earned the title.