Howard Delaney

Howard Delaney died a couple of months ago. It was a quiet passing, off the radar of public notice. My friendship with Howard was such that it took me a couple of weeks to learn about it.

Howard would have liked that immensely; he was old-school agency with Bill Donovan and operated in the Aegean during the greek Civil War. Howard had migrated to CIA with other talent from the army after WWII.

He was, in his vernacular an "Aviation Buff" who collected warbird prints and could cite particular facts about the artist, aircaft and story behind every one of his pieces. He fussed over flight sims on his computer and clipped interesting articles which he could never again find in his condominium.

He left everything to charities in St Paul and nothing to the angry niece who showed up after his death to claim his possessions. I don't know everything but from what I knew of Howard, she'd had many years to earn exactly what she stomped away with.

I've been thinking about closure and the measure of someone who lives in quiet dignity, but social isolation. I never got to say good-bye and his phone number is still in my cellular listing. One of these days the message, like Howard himself will be replaced by an emptiness.

shot group

"The U.S. military said May 18 it had disciplined the sniper and removed him from Iraq after he was found to have used Islam's holy book for target practice. The copy of the Quran was found May 11 by Iraqis on a firing range in Radwaniyah, west of Baghdad, with 14 bullet holes in it and grafitti written on its pages.

On May 17, the top American commander in Baghdad, Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, and other officers held a formal ceremony apologizing to tribal chiefs in Radwaniyah.

Al-Hashemi's Iraqi Islamic Party issued a tough statement May 19 saying that apology alone was not enough and the U.S. military should impose the "severest punishment" on the Soldier to ensure others do not repeat his act."

I just wonder what size the book was, the range he was firing from and if it was in the coat pocket of an Al Queda Terrorist...14 shots in a quran is pretty fair shooting.

Mmm-Hmmm

Yeah, baby!

Man Code, What War Movie Should I See?

If you want to see what the war in Vietnam meant in 1965, without the filter of the weepy little Hollywood historians like Penn, Cruise, Sheen(s), Clooney et al; This is a terrific opportunity. The screenplay is the faithful adaptation of the book co-authored by Moore and Joe Galloway, who was a UPI correspondent on the ground at Ia Drang with 1/7 CAV. Imagine, a war film by warriors who spent time there with a rifle in their hand…

I especially appreciated the role of CSM Basil Plumley, played by Sam Elliott.

War Movies.
Psalm 42:6. Why art thou so full of heaviness, O my soul : and why art thou so disquieted within me?
War stories are usually cynical. Soldiers are cynical too. Film-making is about art, movie-making about revenue. Nehring offers up some reviews on little-known films that he really enjoyed. Unless you are Mel Gibson, you don’t underwrite your own big budget movies. What do you want when you pay to see a ‘War Movie’?

I was disgusted by ‘Born on the 4th of July’. Life’s a bitch and her pre-nup has a lot of fine print. The message in that film is the socialization of boys to become soldiers/Marines and the effects on the men they become. Ron Kovic has his demons like a lot of us. Psychology and Psychiatry may never catch up to the needs of combat veterans; why should Hollywood understand them any better? The combat soldier is not an alien from beyond the Still-A-Planet, Pluto, just someone with experiences that are outside your frame of reference if you wear soft Italian leather, smoke Gauloises in a Rodeo Drive coffeehouse and have your little set of followers to reassure you and pet your hair when you wake, sweating in the dark, afraid of other men.

To answer my own question, you probably expect some heroism, realistic battle sequences and even a little traditional idealism. You have had to tolerate political ideologies woven into the story that make the protagonist a troubled ‘Anti-Hero’. Soldiers are portrayed by liberal film-makers as sub-human psychotics or junkies who beg for sympathy in old tattered fatigues. O.K., so I'm both but see this film anyway.

I saw the rushes for ‘We were soldiers once’ and took a deep breath, prepared to loathe yet another old windbag who wanted to make a buck and had to gussie-up his accomplishments from a 40 year old war. I’ve never been happier to be wrong.

When you see this film, and you must see it, keep in mind that the LTC ‘Hal’ Moore portrayed by Mel Gibson is, if anything, an understatement of man himself. LTC Moore was the real deal. The soldiers you serve with are generally good at deciding if you are one of the good guys, or a BOHAS. Troops of the 1st of the 7th Cavalry in 1965 had Moore figured for a good guy.
This is excerpted from the prologue of ‘We Were Soldiers Once…and Young'.

The Ia Drang Campaign was to the Vietnam War what the terrible Spanish Civil War of the 1930's was to World War II---a dress rehearsal. The place where new tactics, techniques and weapons were tested, perfected and validated. In the Ia Drang, both sides claimed victory and both sides drew lessons, some of them dangerously deceptive, which echoed and resonated throughout the decade of bloody fighting and bitter sacrifice that was to come.
This is about what we did, what we saw, what we suffered in a 34-day campaign in the remote Ia Drang Valley of the Central Highlands of South Vietnam in November, 1965, when we were young and confident and patriotic and our countrymen knew little and cared less about our sacrifices.
Hal Moore retired from the Army as a 3 Star General in 1977 with over 32 years active service. Commissioned a 2nd Lt of Infantry in 1945, he served and commanded at all levels from Platoon through Division. Highlights of his career include:
∑ Service in the Korean War as a Company Commander and Regimental S3 (7th Div)
∑ Service in Vietnam as a Battalion and Brigade Commander (1st Cav)
∑ Commanding General of the 7th Inf Div in Korea
∑ Commander of Ft Ord, CA
∑ Service as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, Department of the Army

After his retirement from active duty in 1977, Hal became the Executive Vice President of the Crested Butte Ski Area in Crested Butte, CO. During the '80s and early '90s, he researched and wrote a book, 'We Were Soldiers Once...and Young' with his co-author, Joe Galloway then of US News and World Report. The book covers the first major battle of the Vietnam War, the Ia Drang Battle (LZ X-ray), in which both men participated. Hal was the Battalion Commander on the ground and Joe was a UPI correspondent. The book is recognized as a classic on the Vietnam War and spent over 17 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Most Generals have a laundry list of awards and decorations a mile long. The awards most important to Moore are:
∑ Appointment to the Honorary Grade of Rifle Platoon Sergeant by the Sergeants-Major of the 3rd Brigade, 1st CAV in Vietnam
∑ 2 awards of the Combat Infantryman's Badge
∑ Distinguished Service Cross
∑ Master Parachutist Badge


"In thy faint slumbers I by thee have watch'd
And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars ... "
--Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I

I Am Iron Man.

I got home at 0100, which is what happens when you go to the double-feature at the drive-in.
It is a Marvel movie and I was not disappointed. This is the first time that's happened since Hugh Jackman was cast as Wolverine. (Sorry Scott, but I think Marvel has weak stories and popcorn characters, making it impossible to make them look any better in a movie...) Not that DC has made any of their characters translate to the big screen either:(

Iron Man fights Bullies, terrorists, Arabs and Jeff Bridges; how can I not admire him?

I rained like a cow, pissing on a flat rock. I never conceived of sitting outside in 40 degree rain and high wind to watch a movie; still, I kept thinking that this is something I might well have done if I were already in the field and happened to roadmarch past a drive-in where I could change my socks, rest my feet and lay back on my ruck while drinking coffee. I am compelled to applaud the grit of Andy and Ed as they built their shelter in the cold and rainy night, then proceed to cook hotdogs and sit outside next to my warm truck while Ohana and I reclined peacefully and listened to the movie on the truck radio. The hotdog, as interpreted by Paul, with 'The Works' was incomparable; there was something spicy on it and I got to sit in a warm truck and share it with my dog.

The second movie was 'Drillbit Taylor' with Owen Wilson, a ne'er do well, homeless, army deserter who probably would jump the fence to sit outside and watch a movie in the rain because he had no other option. Taylor is on a quest to beg or steal enough money to fly to the Canadian wilderness and be a Canadian ne'er do well, homeless, army deserter who probably would jump the fence to sit outside and watch a movie in the rain. He takes on 3 high school freshmen who are bullied by a spoiled, emancipated senior who reminds me of a cross between that kid who hung around with Ferris, and Ed Norton. It all turns out, of course.

Ed and Andy knew all of the writers, directors and actors; actually, I think they know about all there is about movies,if not expedient shelter construction.