The Six Points Of War

(Editor's Note:) In his Veterans' Day speech to Waitsburg High School on Nov. 10, Ells Bartlow shared with students and the com­munitysix results produced by wars: casualties, heroes, presidents, songs, character and memorable quotations. Here are the words this local veteran spoke in honor of his comrades.

First of all, wars of course bring causal­ities. The Civil War caused more deaths than all the other wars involved in our history. Over 600,000 died in that war, and over 400,000 were wounded.

The "Great War," now known as World War I, claimed almost 117,000 lives. In World War II (Dec. 7, 1941-Aug. 9, 1945) nearly 417,000 of our mili­tary

perished. Counting other nations involved in that war, causalities were in the mil­lions. Between 1950 and 1953, over 54,000 Americans gave their lives in Korea, and 12 years later, in the eight long years between 1965 and 1973, more than 58,000 GI's never came home from Vietnam.

Not counting the Revo­lutionary War, the War of 1812, wars in Iraq and those in Afghanistan, United States war causalities total well over one million souls. Someone said, "War is hell." Indeed he was correct.

But war also produces he­roes, and they number in the thousands. Arlington Cem­etery

and 142 other military cemeteries across the United States and around the world confirmthis fact. I'll mention just a few: Audie Murphy, John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, Col. William J. Donavon, Gen­eral Jimmie Doolittle, Rear Admiral Felix B. Stump and many nameless ones. We have all heard about a soldier covering a grenade with his body to save the lives of his comrades. Perhaps some of you could share a story of a hero from your family who died defending your freedom and mine.

A picture in our fam­ily room of Eloise's brother, Kenny, a Navy fighter pilot who died in the South Pacific in World War II, ever reminds us of how much we owe to our military heroes.

And wars, through our military, produce presidents of the United States. Would you believe that only 12 of our 43 presidents of the Unit­ed

States did not serve some part of their lives in some branch of military service? It all began when General George Washington was se­lected to be the first president of our United States. We revere him as the father of our country. General Eisen­hower, John F. Kennedy, and George H. W. Bush are three of our most recent ones. Of course I had to mention Bush since he was a Navy fighter pilot. In fact he almost missed being president. Re­turning

to his carrier from a strike, his fighter was so shot up the tail hook catching the cable stop literally pulled his plane apart. His plane went over the side but he was rescued. Wars also produce songs. Most U.S. wars can be identi­fied with a song or songs that inspired both the soldiers and those back home. At least one song is tied closely to each branch of the military service. If you served in the Navy you will always sing with pride, "Anchors away my boys, anchors away." The United States Air Force's song begins with, "Off we go into the wild blue yonder..." And if you have a Marine heritage, you'll findjoy in singing, "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli. We fight our countries battles, in the air, on land and sea. First to fight for right and freedom, and to keep our honor clean. We are proud to claim the ti­tle of United States Marines." In 1917, with the United States' late entry into the "Great War" after German submarines sank the USS Lusitania, everyone sang, "Over There." The chorus went like this: "Over there, over there, send the word, send the word, over there, that the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming, the drums rum-tum-ming, ev­erywhere. So prepare, say a prayer, send the word, send the word to beware. We'll be over, we're coming over, and we won't come back 'til it's over, over there!" World War II produced the feisty song with the title, "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition," and also the popular words of another song, "Coming in on a wing and a prayer, coming in on a wing and a prayer, with one motor gone we'll still carry on, coming in on a wing and a prayer." And I must share a verse of my favorite, "The White Cliffs Of Dover." We tend to forget that the British spent untold hours in bomb shel­ters as the German Luftwaffe flew their bombing missions over those white cliffs to bomb London. Here is one verse of that song: "There'll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Do­ver, tomorrow just you wait and see. There'll be love and laughter and peace ever after, tomorrow when the world is free. The shepherd will tend his sheep, the valley will bloom again, and Jimmy will go to sleep in his own little room again. There'll be blue­birds

over the white cliffs of Dover, tomorrow just you wait and see."

War can also build charac­ter through discipline. Many recruits, who never were required to obey anyone, learn to obey. The military operates on discipline. You learn to obey even the most ridiculous orders. "Cadet, get down on your hands and knees and bark like a dog." A crazy order, but I did it. In battle you must obey. For example, the lieutenant with his troops in a trench says, "When I blow this whistle, we're getting out of this trench and silence that machine gun nest over by that hill." That order sounds crazy when you've just watched the last at­tempt and not one soldier even reached the hill area. I well remember at pre-flight school at the Univer­sity of Iowa when the P.A. system advised us, "The uniform for drill today will include 'P' coats. Bring your rifles, but no gloves. We repeat, no gloves will be worn by any cadet." It was winter with lots of snow on the ground, and the temperature was below zero.

One cadet from my room said with an oath, "That's stupid. They issued us fur-lined gloves. I'm in an inner rank. They'll never see me. I'm wearing my gloves." About a half hour later, Lt. Crane spotted the glove, and the entire cadet corps did double time around and around that huge parade ground before being or­dered to stand at attention. We were soaking wet with sweat. We stood at atten­tion

while Lt. Crane gave us, "Hail Columbia," with some special adjectives added. The sweat dripping from our nose and chin had turned to icicles. The next day some 70 cadets went to sick bay with ailments from colds to pneumonia. But do you know what? That never happened again. I would conclude by sharing how wars produce memorable quotes. Nathan Hale, a colonial soldier captured by the British dur­ing the Revolutionary War, was condemned to be hung in Boston. Asked if he had any last words to say he replied, "My only regret is that I only have one life to lose for my country."

General Stonewall Jack­son, in the Revolutionary battle of New Orleans, directed his troops to hold their fireuntil the British Red Coats were closer say­ing,

"Don't shoot till you can see the whites of their eyes." And Captain Jim Lawrence, lying mortally wounded on the deck of his ship, implored his crew with the words, "Don't give up the ship." In 1775, Ethan Allen led a few green mountain boys to surprise the British gar­rison at Fort Ticonderoga in New York State. Ethan, calling for the surrender of the fort, was asked by the British general, "In the name of whom?" Ethan Allen replied, "In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." Fort Ticonderoga fell to the United States that day.

And of course any Navy veteran will remember the battle between the British vessel, Serapes and the American ship The Bon­homme Richard. The battle had not gone well for the United States. The Bon­homme Richard's masts were broken and its sails were in tatters. The Serapes captain had lashed the ships together for boarding, and he shouted for the Ameri­LEGAL can captain to surrender. The reply from Captain John Paul Jones was, "We have not yet begun to fight." The United States Navy won the day and used the captured "Serapes" to tow home the crippled Bonhomme Richard.

And did you know that during the war with the Barbary Pirates, from1801 to1805, the United States was forced to pay tribute to the Barbary states of Tripo­li,

Tunis, and Algiers on the coast of North Africa?

Each year the Continen­tal Congress appropriated money for tribute to the pirates so they wouldn't at­tack

our commercial fleet. Blackmail payments of $990,000 were made to Algiers alone in the late 1700s. Finally, while con­gress was debating this issue of tribute, Benjamin Franklin spoke passion­ately against it saying, "I'm ready to vote millions for defense but not one more cent for tribute!"

In 1805 congress sent Lt Stephen Decatur, who made a successful raid on Tripoli signaling the beginning of the end of paying tribute to the Bar­bary

Pirates. On returning to the United States, while approaching our Atlantic shores, Decatur uttered one of my favorite quotes: " My country, my country, may my country always be right, but my country right or wrong."

You have been a patient and gracious audience to listen to an old, and I do mean old , Navy pilot. I loved my 27 months in the Navy Air Corp. It taught me so much.

I really believe that af­ter high school, one year served in one of our mili­tary

branches would be a wise and productive choice for our youth and the good of our great country, the United States of America. May God bless each one of you and all those you love.