Remembering the men of Iwo Jima

Austin Bay:

“…This is why, among military historians and military planners, Iwo Jima has become one of the war’s more controversial operations. The island was supposed to serve as a staging area for invading Japan; it didn’t. Some senior officers argued that seizing the island gave B-29 bombers attacking Japan’s home islands a safe landing strip. But at the price of 6,800 dead Marines?

At a dinner party in 1998, a Marine vet told me that in 1968, Iwo Jima was still a touchy subject in the Corps. His comment paraphrased: We paid such a steep price, you just didn’t raise the issue of utility. I said, as a guy still pulling duty on joint planning staffs, the decision to invade Iwo Jima troubled me. And maybe it should. But that’s hindsight. There were several vets at the dinner. We poured another round of drinks and toasted the Marines, every damn brave one of them…”

Original

On the state of the Democrat party

Worth clicking over

Thomas Lifson:

“…The Democrats are at their lowest point since the outbreak of the Civil War. Derangement by definition means acting in self-destructive ways, and mass derangement, specifically Trump Derangement Syndrome, is the animating force behind a large share of the thoughts and actions of both leaders and followers of the world’s oldest political party. Put starkly, the crazies have grabbed control and reinforce one another, spinning farther and farer away from the mainstream of American political life…”

Original

Doug Santo