European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 07, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday. December 7, 1994 commentary the stars and stripes Page 15 protest won f Harry g. Summers _ say what you will about president Clinton s Whitehouse staff they Are not nearly As ignorant about the military As those of his democratic predecessor. When a White House aide saw president Carter schedule for a political swing through Texas reported the Washington Post on june 23, 1978, he called a presidential image maker at Home to ask what Are you trying to do make the president look like a Militarist and a warmonger " whoa said the image maker. The trip to fort Hood is a traditional military review every president Doe sit Okay said the still Skepi Cal aide but then what about fort Worth " even George Stephanopouo los who might stumble Over the difference Between a Apache and an Abrams the first an attack helicopter the second Amain Battha tank. Knows the difference Between a military installation and Texas fourth largest City. " the sticking Point with the Luton administration is not so much his staff As it is the president himself. As the recent Brouhaha with sen. Jesse Helms r-n.c., has once More brought out into the open Clinton is still haunted by his actions during the Vietnam War. Ordering american troops into Somalia Haiti an possibly Bosnia does not Square with the sentiments he expressed in his infamous dec. 3, 1969, letter to col. Eugene Holmes director of the Roth program at the University of Arkansas. No government. Should have the Power to make its citizens fight and kill and die in a War they May oppose he said a a War which even possibly May be wrong a War which in any Case does not involve immediately the peace and Freedom of the  ironically when it comes to Haiti and Bosnia the new Republican leadership in the House and Senate would agree almost completely with those  Clinton did not Stop there. I am writing too to. Help you understand More clearly How so Many Fin people have come to find themselves still Loving their country but loathing the  instead of blaming his Mentor Arkansas  Fulbright who in 1964 had shepherded the Tonkin Gulf. Resolution authorizing military action i Vietnam through the Senate and later vote against its repeal in March 1966 Long after . Military action there had begun Linton blamed the soldiers who had been ordered in to Battle by five successive commanders in chief from Truman through Nixon and who had been armed and provisioned there by a Long series of duly elected congresses. While he then implicitly called for soldiers to disobey Clinton in peace stick1& the orders of their civilian superiors and refuse to serve in Vietnam he now rightfully expects soldiers today to obey his orders without question no matter what their personal feelings about the legality of . Intervention in Somalia Haiti and Bosnia. It was recently revealed that As a student at har Vard vice president Al Gore had also virulently at tacked the army among other things condemning it Asa fascist organization. But he was Able to dismiss those words easily As Youthful ignorance for afterwards he enlisted in the army and served from 1969 to 1971 including a tour in Vietnam. Stationed with a Public affairs unit in a rear area he came Back unscathed. But that was not unusual then even for those i front line units. After the Battle of hamburger Hill in May 1969 seven or months before Clinton s ,ground combat action in Vietnam was Cut Back drastically to avoid casualties which the american people found increasingly unacceptable. By december 1969, when Clinton s letter was writ ten the military s main Mission in Vietnam was to Dis engage and the troop withdrawal was Well under  he returned to Arkansas in december 1969 to Complete his a Etc commitment it would have taken him two years to win a commission. By the time he would have completed his Basic army training it would have been mid-1972, and his chances of being sent to Vietnam would have been almost nil for the last . Ground combat unit was withdrawn in August 1972. Arid even if he had been drafted in 1970, his chances of being sent to Vietnam would have been slim. In the unlikely event he had been sent As Gore found he probably would not have been in any great danger. Al most All casualties in Vietnam As in past wars were suffered by the relatively Small number of infantrymen on the line few of whom had attended Georgetown or Oxford \. " ,".,. All i seem to have done was to protect myself from physical harm Clinton wrote but his chances of physical harm in Vietnam were slight for by that Tim casualty rates had fallen dramatically. From 9,414 americans killed in action in 1969, the losses fell to 4,221 in 1970,1,481 in 1971 and 30qin 1972. Clinton had saved himself from physical harm. Buthe is still paying the political Price for his actions. In Stead of his loathing the military he is now the objector its contempt. C to Angeles time the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff the president and the vice presi Dent have been among those defending the Quality and commitment of the Mili tary against criticism by sen. Jesse Helms r-n.g., and Oliver North that cutbacks and declining morale May have weakened our defense forces. But a staff sergeant in the Virginia  guard has provided details of an appalling situation that if True for All the military suggests that our defense Capa  be shockingly  a serious threat to Pur National interests could result in higher than N.C.Essary casualties and possible failure of future missions. Lack of funds he says has affected his unit s ability to maintain a High state of combat readiness. For example it now takes about year for soldiers to receive their uni forms and Many report for drills in civil Ian clothing. At the unit s last annual training in june several noncommissioned officers pitched in to buy or donated uniforms to those who could not afford to Purchase them privately. Re placement parts for m60 machine guns ave been difficult to obtain _ there is a shortage of m16 magazines in the unit. Writes the sergeant who wants to be identified Only by his N.C. name Schmo soldiers have been steal ing them. T cannot even Supply seven is magazines per Man As required for train ing he noted. Batteries for Field radios Are in Short Supply Many cos use per Sonal funds to Purchase the  there is an army wide shortage of Hel met bands which Are required to be worn around the protective mask car Rier. And snap son most of the carriers in the Virginia guard unit Are reportedly defective As Well so masks fallout during train ing Supply ser Cal Thomas Grants order needed items install numbers be cause asking for Large quantities Means the unit won t receive any. What about morale extremely Low according to Schmo. Units Are being disbanded Schmo s brigade will be gone in the next year. Experienced soldiers will be forced to retire or seek other specialities. Remarkably Schmo writes of a Burn ing and widespread hatred for presi Dent Clinton. Most of the soldiers do riot have Confidence or Faith in our leadership outside the company level he. Tells of. Soldiers who use the presidents and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton s picture for tar get practice and quotes soldiers As saying things unfit to print in a newspaper meals when available Are of the poor est Quality even by army standards. While the training schedule remains the same the time spent together on week ends has been reduced to Cut the number of meals served. There s no Money for training schools which Are necessary for promotions or to fulfil enlistment contracts that Promise College tuition and bonuses. What effect has All of this had on performance plenty " according to chm. Last june his unit was rotated to the joint readiness training Center in fort Polk la. His brigade failed its Mission so his unit s leaders were told they had wasted their Active time and they should not to comeback. Although they had prepared two year for that training Mission eight months before it took place the brigade s objectives were changed greatly undermining morale. The indictment goes on for several More pages no ivs for medics heat exhaustion from Lack of water and general support for units in the Field poor leadership. And Schmo charged paperwork documenting these conditions is being Cov up at battalion Headquarters to hid problems in order to pass inspections. A fellow no contributes this to scamp s letter in Case anyone thinks overzealous defense cutbacks will not adversely affect combat readiness _ it is not a question whether some thing will happen but when. The next conflict will be a Slaughter for the Active duty soldiers. The first Battle of the next War has already been lost before it has even begun due to poor  guardsmen will be thrown into the fray to be slaughtered too and after us there will a no one else to go. May god have mercy on  the president s decision thurs Day to increase military spending by $25 billion is Welcome but not enough to re dress the drastic cuts of the past two years. The new Republican majority in con Gress should immediately investigate the state of America s military or risk an other enormous expenditure to rebuild  that happened after president car Ter s downsizing in the late 70s and required the massive spending of the Rea Gan  let s not place in jeopardy the lives four sons and daughters in the armed services without providing them the Bestin equipment training and  Angeles Timea "