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Audacity of Truth
Whiner-in-Chief:
"[W]hether the grumbling is about Republicans on Fox or bloggers in pajamas, there's a word for what the president and his aides are doing. That word is "whining." And nothing [...] does more damage to Obama's credibility or authority than the sense that a popular president is becoming the whiner-in-chief."
- John Nichols, Nation Magazine - 10/12/09
Congressional Medal of Honor recipient not the ’sort of person UW wanted to produce’
The University of Washington’s student senate has rejected a memorial for Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Gregory “Pappy” Boyington. Why? WND has the details:
The University of Washington’s student senate rejected a memorial for alumnus Gregory “Pappy” Boyington of “Black Sheep Squadron” fame amid concerns a military hero who shot down enemy planes was not the right kind of person to represent the school.
Student senator Jill Edwards, according to minutes of the student government’s meeting last week, said she “didn’t believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce.”
Ashley Miller, another senator, argued “many monuments at UW already commemorate rich white men.”
Senate member Karl Smith amended the resolution to eliminate a clause that said Boyington “was credited with destroying 26 enemy aircraft, tying the record for most aircraft destroyed by a pilot in American Uniform,” for which he was awarded the Navy Cross.
Smith, according to the minutes, said “the resolution should commend Colonel Boyington’s service, not his killing of others.”
Here’s more about the hero the student Senate at U of W didn’t think was good enough to honor with a memorial:
Colonel Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, Marine Corps Ace credited with the destruction of 28 Japanese aircraft, was awarded the Medal of Honor “for extraordinary heroism above and beyond the call of duty” while in command of a Marine Fighting Squadron in the Central Solomons Area from 12 September 1943 to 3 January 1944. He was shot down over Rabaul on the latter date, and his capture by the Japanese was followed by 20 months as a prisoner of war.
[...]
On 3 January 1944, 48 American planes, including one division (4 planes) from the Black Sheep Squadron took off from Bougainville for a fighter sweep over Rabaul. Boyington was the tactical commander of the flight and arrived over Rabaul at eight o’clock in the morning. In the ensuing action the major was seen to shoot down his 26th plane. He then became mixed in the general melee of diving swooping planes and was not seen or heard from again. Following a determined search which proved futile, the major was declared as missing in action. While a prisoner of the Japanese he was selected for temporary promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
During mid-August, 1945, after the atom bombs and the Japanese capitulation, Major Boyington was liberated from Japanese custody at Omori Prison Camp in the Tokyo area on 29 August and arrived in the United States shortly afterwards.
On 6 September the top ace who had been a prisoner of the Japanese for the past 20 months accepted his temporary lieutenant colonel’s commission in the Marine Corps.
At the time of his release it was confirmed that Colonel Boyington had accounted for two Japanese planes on that fateful 3 January before he himself was shot down. That set his total at 28 planes which was highest for Marines.
Shortly after his return to his homeland, Colonel Boyington was ordered to Washington to receive the nation’s highest honor, the Medal of Honor, from the President. The medal had been awarded by the late president, Franklin D. Roosevelt in March 1944 and held in the Capital until such time as the colonel was able to receive it. On 5 October 1945, “Nimitz Day,” he, together with a number of other Marines and Naval personnel appeared at the White House and was decorated by President Harry S. Truman.
On the day previous to that he was presented the Navy Cross by the Commandant of the Marine Corps for the ace’s heroic achievements on the day he became missing in action.
Following the receipt of his Medal of Honor and Navy Cross, Colonel Boyington made a Victory Bond Tour. Originally ordered to the Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, he was later directed to report to the Commanding General, Marine Air West Coast, Marine Corps Air Depot, Miramar, San Diego, California.
Colonel Boyington was retired from the Marine Corps on 1 August 1947 and, because he was specially commended for the performance of duty in actual combat, he was advanced to his final rank.
In addition to the Medal of Honor and Navy Cross, Colonel Boyington held the American Defense Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.
Yeah, this man is absolutely the last man any of us should want to memorialize, right?
Outrageous.
(Hat tip to High Desert Wanderer, via Rob Port)
Also commenting on this: Blackfive, PARADOSIS (who’s post should be considered a must-read), The Jump Blog, Ace
More: Bravo Romeo Delta at The Jawa Report posts this response from Lee Dunbar, who is the U of W student council president:
The blog news and the draft minutes that were posted are inaccurate. First, Ashley Miller’s statements were highlighting, as a point of information, that the majority of our statues are white males, which was an issue previously addressed last year, this is not in any way meant to go against Colonel Boyington. It was noted by the sponsor, Andrew Everett, about Boyington’s heritage later. Jill Edwards made here statements as an individual, and it should not be assumed she speaks for all students. Karl Smith wanted to honor his service as a whole (he risked his life, endured 20 months in a POW Camp) in an effort to bring more support from a number of students who do not morally agree with war. These statements are in public discourse that has been and will always be at the University of Washington to educate on the questions and issues of our society.
I would also like to remind you that as ASUW President I cosponsored this bill to create a memorial, it failed by one vote, and a good majority of those who voted against it wanted more inclusion of other alumni who were combat veterans who earned the Medal of Honor. This week a new resolution to that effect is being drafted and introduced. In the meantime the ASUW supports veterans in other ways, currently we are supporting state legislation that will hopefully pass and guarantee veterans tuition waivers. In the end, the buck stops here, I would appreciate further comments to be made to me. Please do not participate or condone the hate-filled comments and phone calls made toward individuals in our student government. It has been appalling to see what is being said to people. I too am nauseated.
Thank you for you statements.
Sincerely,
Lee Dunbar
I understand there’s another student senate meeting tonight. I have little doubt this will be discussed once again.
(For the record to anyone wanting to make this a ‘rights’ issue: yes, the student senate has the right to memorialize who they want – and I have a right to voice my disagreement)
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Some people believe that glorifying war is a mistake. This is not about Pappy, it is about what Pappy represents. Your side sees a heroic person and the other side sees the glorification of war through idol worship. Perhaps, as a society, it is time to retire the noble War-rior image. Peace
And what has UW produced since “Pappy” Boyington? Addle-brained student legislators whose knowledge of the real world is confined to Sesame Street, or the pulings of Katie Couric?
“Brains-full-of-mush”, as Rush has described students, is what they are. Self-important, full of all the knowledge that only they are privy to, they are ready to show all of us the errors of our ways.
GOD save us from the terminally stupid. And the parents that fund them. Reality
Steve, would you have been happier growing up speaking Japanese? Perhaps we should just retire the whole warrior thing period; Sharia sounds like a real hoot.
Steve, they wanted to honor a decorated veteran who served his country with distinction. To see this as “the glorification of war through idol worship” is a luxury that only a spoiled, pampered society can afford…one that has forgotten the true cost of freedom.
Pappy Boyington deserves our praise because he helped bring about the end of a regime that sought to grind the entire Pacific region under it’s imperialistic boot. If he had to kill 28 Japanese pilots to do it, well…then he did his duty.
Perhaps they are correct that Pappy Boyington is not the right person to represent the school. Because it’s unlikely that many members of the student senate could have accomplished what he did.
- Make that none of them could have, and you’d be closer to the truth David….
- Bang
I increasingly think there must be something about higher education, as practiced today, that inculates this kind of attitude. See my post An Incident at the Movies for discussion of a related event.
The reason some countries wind up covered with ugly, pointless memorials to forgettable military figures is that any time anyone proposes the erection of such a memorial, everyone else is terrified to say “no” for fear of being vilified as unpatriotic. I should know – I live in Vietnam. The country is plastered in victory memorials and martyrs’ graveyards, cookie-cutter obelisks and dumb statues from one end to the other.
I’m sure Pappy Boyington was a wonderful man who served his country with honor and distinction. But his destruction of 28 Japanese aircraft should be remembered as an unfortunate necessity, not as some kind of sporting feat to be celebrated. And if some students feel that it would be more appropriate to spend that money honoring those with peaceful accomplishments, do they really deserve to be insulted for that?
Incidentally, the notion that either Japan or Germany could ever have attempted to invade the U.S. is simply ludicrous. And in Poland, France, and China, they did not attempt to force the local population to speak German or Japanese. The “we’d be speaking German today” meme is absurd.
Sister,
I’ve been trying to work this trackback thingy since yesterday. I blogged about this yesterday over at Iowa Voice. If you could offline send me a URL to the way these things work, I’d like to link to your post from mine or vice versa.
Brooksfore, we are not so monumentally stupid as you think we are. Pearl Harbor could have been followed up by an invasion. The Japanese DID invade US territory at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and it took a long time to root them out. You know jack squat about history and are incapable of extrapolating from your inadequate knowledge.
Boyington may have been a mess as a person, but he loved the US. He fought Japanese fascism as a JS Marine and as a Flying Tiger in China. Fools like you do not realize what the act of joining and fighting with the Flying Tigers cost US Military Aviators.
Steve the delusional:
First chance you get, put the hookah down. Run cold water on the back of your head. I recommend you extract it first.
Not one soul who believes as I do, has ever even once glorified war, nor do they write or speak about it in that manner, EVER! It serves no purpose, so we don’t do it. Even us Vets. What’s this bleating of “glorification of war through idol worship” blather you refer to. In which brainwashing class was that?
Incoherent jerks do not speak for me and how I view people with character, courage, honor and dignity like Pappy Boyington, you pretentious two dimensional troll.
UW doesn’t deserve the honor of having anyone great on campus live or memorialized. Few men have done what this man has done and if he were alive to see what passes for “men” at UW or for that matter, most of the rest of these “Educational” pits, he would likely request a transfer.
The opening statement spells out the glaringly obvious reasons why UW student senate rejected the memorial. It’s a grand example of what people such as yourselves can never grasp. The closest thing to smart was “…not the right kind of person to represent the school.” Their ungrateful disdain for the men and women that made their little bubble world possible is echoed by Jill in the following paragraph. Brilliant honesty, but the disgusting scale is in the tank. The stench from the “produce” she refers to has rotted a long time ago.
Oh, one thing to add for anti-war crowd, Boyington suffered more than humiliation being a prisoner of the Japanese for 20 months. The so-called Abu Ghraib torture the Democrats celebrate was nothing compared to the BEATINGS and other tortures Boyington suffered. Read his book. You people take half-baked NYTimes reporter’s screeds published in book form as truth, then you have to take as truth what Boyington says in his book.
PCD you may want to check with Brian – I’m not sure how he does his trackbacks (each blogging program is a bit different – I’m on WordPress and he’s not)
Sister, thanks.
I’ve got an idea. With all the problems with universities trying to ban military recruiters, persecuting non-liberal students and their views, maybe it is time to make our Federal and State legislators pull funding for the Colleges and Universities until the clean out the Ward Churchills, the William Ayers, hacks like Robert Scheer, and that PETA fanatic at Princeton. If “students” want to protest instead of study, they can do it on their own dime, too. No one says that leftists have to shut up. It also is true that no one else should be forced to fund the leftists on campus, either.
brooksfoe..”in Poland, France, and China, they did not attempt to force the local population to speak German or Japanese”…if you know any Chinese people, you might ask them what the Imperial Japanese forces *did* do in China. Hint: It was a lot more unpleasant than language lessons.
“Some people believe that glorifying war is a mistake…”
Some people fight and die so that others can live in peace as construction workers, cotton farmers or student body presidents.
Not too many big mouthed student body presidents in North Korea, Steve.
For Jill Edwards, a Junior in Mathematics at the University of Washington, to say that a U.S. Marine (Especially Gregory Boyington) is not the example of the sort of person that the University of Washington wants to produce. This is nothing more than a slap in the face to everyone who has served in the United States Marine Corps; to those of you who fought in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East, Jill Edwards, student senate member at the University of Washington, thinks that you are unworthy to be graduates of the University of Washington. Liberals just don’t think that Leadership, Courage and Determination are good qualities these moon bats would rather honor a group of whiners that wouldn’t fight if their girlfriend or wife were being raped in front of them. It’s Peace at any cost!!! These stinking Liberals would be the first to scream “I HAVE RIGHTS” and just who do these moon bats think have fought and died to protect their FREEDOMS. Oh ya I forgot these moon bats would be the same kind that use to say “Better Red Than Dead” I would love to see these Liberals live under communism and tell the government ‘I Have Rights”! Even with these putrid liberals spouting their venom most Veterans would fight and die for everyone’s freedoms again!!!!! One of the problems is our Government Schools (Public Schools) do not have an emphasis on U.S. History they are more worried about self-esteem and diversity. But what should we expect when more than 90 % of the teachers are liberals and are pushing their agenda in these bastions of liberalism. We need competition in schools and school choice instead of the government monopoly we have now!
It would be interesting to study the state of liberal arts teaching at this university–specifically, what history courses does a math major need to take in order to graduate?
Of course, the history of the Pacific War *should* be covered in high school.
If you want Peace you work for Peace. Hitler(spit) did not work for Peace, he worked for war and that is what he got. If bush wants Peace he must stop killing people. Killing people only makes their relatives angry and, in time, they will extract payback. So, just say no to war. Peace
Would it help to inform Ms. Edwards that Pappy also (laughing) claimed to be a Japanese ace, destroying at least five of the junk he flew under Chennault in China before he wangled a way into the Corps…
Peace is not merely the absence of war, Steve. As I understand it, Afghanistan was a relatively peaceful country under the Taliban. But if you weren’t a Talibani, would you want to live there?
A more sensible approach might be to say, “If you want peace, work for freedom.” Peace flourishes best in places where the concept of government of, by, and for the people is a hallmark of their political system, and where dissent is not outlawed. We Americans had to achieve that peace, and keep it, through force of arms, and I for one am glad we did.
Having read the minutes after the letter from the student government prez, given the context and the place they occur in the discussion, I find it difficult to see Ashley Miller’s, “…rich white men” comment as anything but a slur.
Steve is a funny guy.
The world doesn’t work that way Steve. Peace requires *all* involved parties to stop fighting. Of course, we *could* stop fighting, but then the islamofascists would kill more of us. See, killing someone doesn’t require the consent of both parties. It doesn’t work that way.
Peace is a two way street, and war isn’t necessarily a two way street. Steve, you have a LOT of growing up and learning about the reality of human nature to do.
brooksfoe:
“Incidentally, the notion that either Japan or Germany could ever have attempted to invade the U.S. is simply ludicrous.”
Feel free to tell me how many countries the axis powers invaded. It will take you a while to count them. But obviously there was no threat to us even though every other major world power was invaded.
“Incidentally, the notion that either Japan or Germany could ever have attempted to invade the U.S. is simply ludicrous.”
Well, considering that the Japanese did establish a toe hold in the Aleutian Islands, which, you know, are part of Alaska, just might be evidence that you’re FOS.
On a positive note: 45 kids did vote for the memorial and a student or two did place the memorial on the floor to be discussed. Sooo there is hope folks, just keep at it. It is mornign in America, we just need to take the ’shrooms out of SOME of the student’s coffees.
I dare say that if the richist and most well armed country on earth made a public statement that it wanted to seek Peace, and would begin to withdraw it’s forces from places that we are unwelcomed, folks might take notice. We could further announce that we would no longer try and force the people in other countries to live in our image or get their a$$es kicked. That might be welcomed. Peace
The problem is not that they defeated the monument. That was fine and reasonable, well within their rights without any nastiness to it. They can say no because it does not meet a set of standards they’ve determined for putting up a monument and be absolutely right even if the guy was pure as the driven snow.
The problem here is the gross disrespect and ignorant contempt for the Congressional Medal of Honor. I put together my own views on this at my own site here.
But the simple straightforward brief version of this boils down to UW should be ashamed of the pathetic contempt the handful of students were allowed to display uncontested for the Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, and by implication, all those who throughout the history of the medal have received it.
It’s an insult to all of them, and an insult to anyone who sacrifices their life in service to the country, whether you agree or not with the war they participated in.
I’m not too thrilled about the way Ashley Miller effectively spit on the Marines either, but the Marines are adults and able to shrug off petty childish insults.
Gary: Spot on!
I was attempting to shed light to the Hookah drones out their lost, clutching desperately at their space maps, I mean school books, earlier. Yappin’ away like pups do about their rights, never mind who paid for them or the slanderous incoherent gibberish they gleaned from Brainwashing 101. But pups can learn as they grow up unlike the acne faced world geniuses out and I mean way out there. Never mind who’s paying for their dumming down at the local UW Camp Puss.
PCD: That’s a good start, pull the funding from these morally bankrupt caldrons of crap, specializing in duhversity.
Jim D: A far more concise illustration of what I had on my mind. Imagine being on a connecting flight full of college enhanced bots returning from spending daddy’s money at a Cabo Wabo retreat and five Islamopukes hijack the plane. Destination, another party to crash at Berkeley, but with a 747. Two hundred drones to save and five terrorists to kill. Imagine the conflict I’m going through. Do you take one for the team (that means U S A for all the enrolled stooges) ? Let’s recap. The target is a good start, except it’s the waste of a good building and it is actually possible that there are some good people in it. The plane is definitely a waste, but you can erase 205 terrorists not counting the jerks on the ground, in one fell swoop.
This analogy is obviously a sarcastic swipe at the fools who are bathing in these tubs of incoherency. Prior to a few years ago, I would have simply responded to the need at hand and done everything in my power to erase the terrorists. The more we hear from the ungrateful, thankless, clueless jerks, the more we have cause to reconsider our position.
Brooksfoe, the Japanese attempted to exterminate Korean culture, requiring Koreans to take Japanese names and forbidding the teaching of the Korean language.
But hey, that’s beside the point isn’t it, which is that you are a smug superior sanctimonious poser. Good of you to grant that Pappy Boyington was a “wonderful man.” He wasn’t, and he never sugar coated his personal failings. But he was a damn sight better person than you, and you’re free to spit on his grave. He earned you that right.
Yeah Steve, they’d take notice, decide we were weak and step up the attacks on Americans, here in America. I mean, we know how well that “we won’t hurt you back” philosophy worked when Carter made the US a laughing stock by not doing anything about the hostages in Iran, or how Bill Clinton decided that firing random cruise missiles that did nothing was an appropriate response to the Cole bombing, right?
Steve, the world is full of very very bad people, that would be very very happy if they could saw your head off with a rusty knife. We didn’t create those people, they were already there. They hate you because you’re not the same religion they are, or if you’re muslim, you’re not the right “flavor” of muslim. These people will look at us removing our forces and say, “See, look at how weak the United States is…” and continue.
Peaceniks like you would cry and scream how “peaceful” you are if someone started kicking your ass. You think it matters to them? It really doesn’t. They’ll just continue to kick your ass.
- The Shelves of the Dictators and Despots of history are lined with the heads of the synchophants that imagine that all it takes is a group hug, and all will be lightness and love. The Illiteratti are always the first people to be lined up against the wall when the Ghouls march in, but no amount of repeated lessons through history seems to teach that hard earned lesson. It seems that there are just some people that react to terror, threats, and outright murder with raw paralyzing fear, and self imposed loathing and servitude. Its the suppression of common sense with the myopia of utopian fantisizing. Maybe its hereditary, but whatever causes it, generation after generation seems to need to suffer masses of dead at their feet before they finally understand the truth. Fortunately its generally a relatively small percentage of any population that refuses to recognize the real and present danger we all have to face in the real world.
- Bang
Lee Dunbar wasn’t even at the Senate meeting! The guy is flat out lying!
Brent Ludeman
President
UW College Republicans
Brent: Republicans you say. It’s a start.
I went back to re-read the post and it reads as if he were there. So how or why is Lee lying?
Lee is not mentioned anywhere in the minutes as either participating or in attendance.
Clueless children such as Steve are too invested in their silly Utopian views to be bothered by REALITY. These lost souls claim to be against war/poverty/racism/whatever, but notice that the brunt of their condemnation isn’t directed at the murdering fanatics that bring on these ills in the first place. Instead, they spend the majority of their effort singling out those who haven’t succumbed to their bizarre view of the world. The Left in America is whiny, narcissistic, and consumed with it’s own self-importance. We need to do them as well as ourselves a favor, and riducule them openly at every opportunity.
I don’t have a problem with anyone protesting against war.
However, I have a serious problem with those who disparage and trivialize the things that veterans have done in the service of their country which is exactly what the UW student body did in this case.
I was encouraged to read the outrage of others regarding this matter (Col. Boyington) at the UW.
The little girls who spouted off, showing their disdain for “rich white men” should be ashamed of themselves for being uninformed and depicting discrimination themselves. Equally sorry are their parents who obviously have so soiled these little girls that they are too lazy to do proper research.
If this arrogance and utter stupidity typifies the future leaders of our county we are all in trouble.
Bow down to Washington. If your beautiful mascot runs away in shame, look for him in Pullman.
Shame also with doing away with UMT, maybe a little basic training would go a long way to teach respect, honor and allegiance.
The only line you nowday students have stood in is the student loan line to attend the institution that is financed by the citizens.
Jerry, Does Pullman still have a huge male studen population deficit? When I went to the U of ID in Moscow, ID, we had a corresponding female deficit. It didn’t help bringing UW-Pullman girls to ID. They were legal to drink in ID and just bunched up and got wasted, then when home.
Please rewrite your post minus all the profanity and I”ll release it for posting here. –ST
So tell me Steve, imagine that it is 1777, and you are a resident of New York, are you a Tory for King George, or a rebel with Washington? Since we know you are Mr peace-at-any-price, I think we all know the answer there. Gives me pause to wonder where you think you got the right to express an opinion? It certainly wasn’t given to us by England because we espoused ignorant platitudes and signed them, peace. No, as I recall it was from the sacrifice from Patriots. Patriots that I still value today. Cut from the same cloth as men such as Col Boyington, I realise that you can’t really comprehend that, which is sad. Neither could the Tories, and that is what I equate your kind with today, modern day Tories, peace-at-any-price. I realise that these references are over your head, but perhaps you could read a book and learn a little American history, it might help you understand the world in which we live, instead of the dreaming of the utopia that you wish we had.
Just like every man in the military today, I want peace too, on our terms, not the terms the oppressors of the world dictate. Not Tory peace.