On this nostalgic Tuesday, I will write about my experience in the U.S. military. But first, the government shutdown will end tomorrow, or Thursday at the latest. Then, air travel can get almost back to normal, but only for a while, as this agreement is only good until 30January2026 when the U.S. Congress will again go through these same motions, and maybe set another record, 42 days today, to hopefully end tomorrow, but maybe not until Thursday.
- Who won?
- Well, Democrats won the off-year election, so they can pat themselves on the back for this accomplishment. However, polls show that voters blamed Democrats for the shutdown.
- But Republicans deleted extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act credits, so they can say the Democrats caved, as five senators did.
- But this agreement promises a vote on this measure next month in the Senate. Which will, of course, be voted down again, for just before the 60-40 vote to end the shutdown, the Senate voted 47-53 to include this heart of the Democrats' argument.
- Now the House has to rush back into session, which will probably mean a vote later in the day or night tomorrow. But passing something could be messy, now that the Republican majority will only be 219-214 when they return, because Democrat Adelita Grijalva of Arizona won the special House election. But the bill should pass.
- Then President Donald Trump will sign to end the shutdown.
- But look for another showdown from 30January2026.
I should add that the American stock market benefited from this above news.The S&P 500 climbed 0.21% to end at 6,846.61 points. The Nasdaq declined 0.25% to 23,468.30 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.18% to 47,927.96 points, a record high.
- Today is Veterans (note that there is no apostrophe) Day, and, as this graphic shows, also National Sundae Day. I had a small bowl of macadamia nut ice cream last night, so that was my early celebration.
- This day was first honored on 11November1919 by President Woodrow Wilson as Armistice Day, a year after the end of World War I.
- Congress made this a Federal holiday in 1938.
In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks (called the Father of Veterans Day) had an idea for a national holiday to honor all war veterans, living and dead, to be celebrated on Armistice Day.- In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower signed into law this latest concept, when Armistice Day was replaced by Veterans Day.
When November 11 falls on a Saturday, Friday becomes the holiday, and if Sunday, then Monday.- Legally, two minutes of silence is recommended to be observed at 2:11 PM Eastern Standard Time.
- In Honolulu, there is an official ceremony at the Waikiki Natatorium offering health and wellness support. Watch a video on where Honolulu ranks nationally for veteran's quality of life. Not good, #86 of more than a 100 cities. Immediately following was another video on the World's Biggest Great White Shark....off Oahu. Nothing to do with why veterans don't do well here.
- Others might have a parade and tributes, with malls offering discounts.
- Here is a list of the 22 best Veterans Day celebrations nationwide.
So now on to my military career, although I must admit that, while I am high on the patriotic fervor state of mind, my service to the country was minimal.
- In a posting eight years ago, I said:
Personally, my life was made a lot easier by those Americans of Japanese ancestry who participated in World War II. The combined 100th Battalion and 442nd Infantry Regiment became the most decorated unit in the history of American warfare. In total, 14,000 served, earning 9,486 Purple Hearts. Twenty-one were awarded Medals of Honor. There were around 800 deaths.
How was my life made easier? Before World War II, Japanese were second class citizens in Hawaii. The service of the 100th/442nd totally changed the political, economic and sociological structure of the 50th State. We would not have gotten statehood in 1959 without their sterling record. These soldiers (almost all in the Army, for the Navy and Air Force did not accept them) used the GI Bill and returned as leaders of the State. I served under U.S. Senator Spark Matsunaga, who had a Purple Heart and still a shrapnel in his knee. I also worked closely with U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye, who lost an arm and helped provide for much I asked for the University of Hawaii.
There are two films about their efforts.
- In 1951 Van Johnson starred, with several actual veterans of the 442nd. Here is the complete Go For Broke film. Rotten Tomatoes audiences gave it a 77 score.
- In 2012, a documentary, Go for Broke: Memories of Hawaii Japanese Nisei, was released.
So now, on to me.- I graduated from college in 1962 at a time when there was a draft.
- The local draft board made decisions based on certain parameters.
- While the U.S. still only sent advisors to Vietnam during this period, there were signs that we would soon get very much involved. Actual troops were sent there from 1965.
So in anticipation of the worst, in 1963 I joined the Army Reserve program.- This involved being in reserve for 6 years, beginning with active duty for 6 months, starting with 8 weeks of basic combat training, the most demanding period of my entire life.
I was not in particularly good shape for this.- During times of intense stress, you find ways to get you through. Interesting that two songs by The Chiffons still stick in my memory: He's So Fine and One Fine Day.
By the end of this initial training, I was in great shape and volunteered for another 8 weeks of advanced infantry training.- I became an expert at playing the "Army Game."
For example, we had to qualify for the M1 rifle, 45-pistol and machine gun.- There are three types of medals: Expert (best), Sharpshooter, and Marksman (worst).
- If you are an expert in all three, you get one medal with three bars.
- If you end up in three categories, you win three medals.
- I don't know if I purposely did this, but I ended up with three medals.
The activity everyone talked about was a three-day camp in Burma Road, which was close to Schofield Barracks.- There, you lived in tents and ate K-rations, or whatever they were then called.
- No showers.
- The fear activity was running Burma Road. Forgot how many miles, but with full backpack and rifle over mostly dirt road, but some jungle.
The day before we were set to go, I happened to jump off a truck and sprained my ankle. Turned somewhat purple. I limped a lot. Called the Army Game.- I was thus excused from the Burma Road experience and remained back in the barracks as watchman. It rained for the entire 3-day camp.
After 6 months, I ended up back in Naalehu, Hawaii to continue my sugar industry job.- However, Naalehu is 64 miles from Hilo.
- The unit I was assigned to, which wore the same 442 patch used by those Hawaii warriors in World War II, was in Hilo.
- Rules have it that if you live more than 60 miles from the nearest training unit, you don't need to attend weekly drills at night. I was in something called the Controlled Group, which returns a few bullets to come.
You still are required to participate in a 2 week summer camp. My remembrance was spending those days in a room next to the canteen where there was a jukebox. I must have heard Born Free by Matt Munro more than a hundred times, for soldiers are just not free.
So in 1968 I decided to go to graduate school. One of my better decisions.- I began at LSU in January of 1969, I was still in the Army Reserve.
- The Vietnam War was going on, and there were 16,899 Americans killed in 1968.
- The Department of Defense activated the entire control group in the nation, and sent most of them to Vietnam.
- I was exempted for I was back in college.
- I could have been killed in Vietnam, and this was possibly the most unpopular war ever for the USA.
- I would have served during World War II, but do not feel terrifically guilty about avoiding Vietnam.
- Mind you, my younger brother had an Army career and twice volunteered for Vietnam, and was also away for stints in South Korea and Germany. But he was an officer and needed those assignments. He is now a long-retired colonel living in Las Vegas.
- We also lost the Vietnam War.
The conventional view remains that the United States lost the Vietnam War because our opponent, North Vietnam, conquered the side we backed, South Vietnam, which surrendered in April 1975. Although the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong sustained enormous casualties — upward of a million killed by wounds, disease and malnutrition — the communists eventually prevailed.
The nation ended the draft in 1973, so for more than half a century, this has not been a factor for males in the USA. Women have never faced this requirement.- I have long felt that we spend too much on war. The following graphic illustrates well this problem.
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