I was reading The Corner (http://corner.nationalreview.com/) the other day and Michael Ledeen mentioned a confrontation between the Australians and Iranians in the Persian Gulf. As it so happens one of the six or seven books I’m reading (I seem constitutionally incapable of reading one at a time), which I recently uncovered--read found--from a pile of notebooks, magazines, and sundry is Touched With Fire. The book itself is one of those I found while piling through a trough of books on sale at one of our local book stores. It’s written by a military historian named Eric Bergerud, and the subject matter is The Land War in the South Pacific.
Cutting my long windedness short, it so happens I was reading his account of the Australian Army, and in particular a battle at Milne Bay, a horrid place on the southern tip of Papua New Guinea, whose claim to fame seems to be, or least seems to have been, mud, jungle, 200-inches of rain a year, and last but worst, Malaria.
Bergerud peppers his work with plenty of quotes, and I thought I would share this one with you from E.J. Randall of the 2/9 Battalion at Milne Bay (note: the language gets a bit colorful):
"Our troops were committed to the battle. The road to the front was not trafficable, so everyone was knee deep in mud and the rain teemed down. We were moved to a tented area near the sea where we would spend the night before being shipped a short distance up the coast to a place where we would take the van of the attack. It was a dreadful night. The ground in the tents was covered in tarpaulins and investigation of movement under the tarps revealed a mass of snakes. I remember quite a few of us slept out in the rain. We attacked the Jap by day. Once making contact, we were expected to push at all costs. There was no rest…
"Officers came in to put us in the picture. The Japs were not taking prisoners, therefore we must avoid capture at all costs. ‘Keep the last grenade for yourself,’ they said. We moved to the front and the sight of the Japanese atrocities was unfathomable…our blokes who had been captured…[were] tied to trees…and used for bayonet practice…For many of us that went through those major battles, the hatred persists."
Now a couple of thoughts ensue: 1) War is hell, always. And hell doesn’t admit much affection for those deemed responsible for hell coming through the gates. 2) The resiliency and almost super human qualities of a warrior are born as much by determination and resiliency, as by training. A military’s resiliency and determination can either be buttressed and the bullocks manned by an equally resilient, determined, and supportive civilian population, or said population can undermine the fighting spirit needed for victory.
Undermining the determination and resiliency necessary to win does not lead inevitably to loss, but it does inflict casualties, if for no other reason than it gives stoutness of heart to the enemy, and for this we can thank Senator Reed, Speaker Pelosie, and others such as Representative Murtha.
But rather than digressing there, I would like to leave this post with a quote from Marine Donald Fall:
"I’m not bragging but I think we were the best. Period. Except for maybe the Aussies. If anyone could fight as well as the Corps it was the Aussies. If it was up to me they would have all been inducted into the Marines then and there."