I hereby give the right of ANY Post Commander, Legion Member or other interested person to read the letter posted below at their next meeting. "Be The One"
An Open Letter to both the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Title: Who shirked their duty? Who was derelict in their duty? Certainly not the most-highly revered Veterans groups in America. As the fifth son of a career Navy Fighter Pilot, a great-grandson of a Union soldier killed by a Confederate sniper in 1864, an Enlisted Navy combat Veteran myself, Life Member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Life Member of the American Legion, and most-proudly, Life Honorary Member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association (PHSA), I believe I bring a perspective few have reflected upon. Ostensibly, the above-noted Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) have stood on the ramparts of America for decades, helping to remind Congress and America of the sacrifices our Veterans have made for their Freedom and way of life… ideally, as well, reminding them that tyranny is ever-present in this world and NO nation desiring Freedom is guaranteed that outcome. The American Legion's motto is "Veterans Strengthening America." The motto of the Veterans of Foreign Wars is “No one does more for Veterans.” Both are nebulous ideas and, arguably, fall short of present reality. The Pearl Harbor Survivors’ motto is/was “Remember Pearl Harbor and Keep America Alert”. Their subsequent 70+ years of carrying that motto to countless schools and public events are examples of focused purpose and stalwart devotion to that motto, while never having to ask Congress for anything other than 501c status. My affiliation with the PHSA began a few years after joining both the Legion and VFW. At the time of that work with the Survivors, starting in the year 2000, I also volunteered as the Managing Editor of the then-largest Veterans monthly newspaper in San Diego County, the “Veterans Journal”. (please note that that job title did NOT make me an expert proof-reader or grammar checker) Each issue shed light on cutting edge threats to America, all open-source documents that I knew most older Vets were not learning about given the then-relatively new Internet and its trove of information. From the threats of transnational narco-terrorist networks invading South America, to cyber warfare, to the rise of China, I attempted to provide the Veterans extensive think-tank essays they would most-likely never learn of through the traditional news options at the time. Then came our printing of the October 2001 issue… Instead of providing the Veterans one more threat assessment, I put in a full-page photo of the twin towers on fire, with the caption “I rest my case” The following years were spent attending Veteran events around the country, including six trips to Pearl Harbor as well as to more memorial services than I can count, all the while wondering where the VSO voices were. Yet it sure seemed like none of the big VSOs were willing to step back and do real world threat assessments. As well, my time spent in countless meetings with the Legion and VFW has left me shaking my head in disbelief today… not just because of the tedious and mind-numbing adherence to Robert’s Rules of Order, or the entrenched layers of bureaucracy and institutionalized apathy making younger Vets seek more agile groups, but how America is now dangling on the precipice of “failed nation” status while the very same media elites who helped put us here, poo-poo whispers of civil war. Although these Big 2 VSOs, as well as the myriad other VSOs such as Vietnam Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans, et. al., have laudatory mission statements and myriad projects accomplished, the mottos for my three groups should be an easy reference point for this essay. Likewise, the Legion and VFW have extensive mission statements, with no singular purpose. Yet, how did we awaken to the near-complete destruction of every institution in America… if these groups were indeed our “look outs” and “on duty”, ever vigilant to tyranny’s creeping stench. Destroyed cities, destroyed borders, destroyed judicial system, destroyed military cohesion, destroyed “free press”, destroyed public education, destroyed public safety, destroyed trust in our fellow man, all occurring under this umbrella of these rampart defense groups. Has the VFW and Legion ever directly taken on the Teachers Unions, the Hollywood child-grooming industry, the radical Marxists in all levels of government and corporate America? If indeed it is true that the legions of Legion and VFW muckety-mucks, who clamor to the halls of Congress to lobby for a laundry list of projects, have indeed been our nation’s shield of all-things American Founding and Constitutional Republicanism, why has America awoken to this dystopian nightmare of the Marxist “woke” takeover of EVERY aspect of the Federal Gov’t? These “Big 2” VSOs have hosted myriad memorial services, parades, monuments, planted countless flags upon grave markers across the nation, adjudicated essay contests and scholarship grants, and of course, brought in untold millions through the sale of tiny paper flowers… yet our enemies are gathering in packs, and former allies and weaker nations are betting their futures on the wolves over the sheep dog. If the VSOs are so influential, so effective and so preferred as exemplars of duty to America’s ideals, how did the rats infest the very ramparts they were guarding? For nearly 30 years, I’ve received monthly VFW and Legion magazines, replete with wonderful stories of heroism, stories of community service, youth essay contests and famously, ads for cheesy polyester men’s slacks. For years, I’ve read in these magazines about the decades of effort these VSOs have spent trying to atone for their treason towards the Vietnam Vets, and then the subsequent apathy from younger Vets as to their question of “why don’t we have any new members?” Now-famous author, Phillip K. Howard, wrote in “The Death of Common Sense” (1994) of this phenomenon within all bureaucracies. Paraphrasing…. “the goal of the institution becomes irrelevant, while adherence to process becomes the touchstone of productivity”. Compartmentalized indifference becomes the outcome. Remember, no one person within a bureaucracy is responsible for the outcome. Behind the curve, or just the agility of an aircraft carrier, either way, outcomes are always time late. And in ideological warfare, traditional static armies such as these VSOs become mere cannon fodder. With one text, one email, one phone call, can these VSOs muster within hours, thousands in the streets of every major US city, all wearing the same tee-shirt, all screaming the same mantra, all ready to go to jail for their beliefs? Why haven’t the VFW and Legion written extensively, in the years leading up to the Marxist capture of nearly every institution in America, that this outcome would happen? Given the fact that most Legion and VFW Posts have created motorcycle chapters to help garner the younger Vets’ interest, why haven’t these VSOs held motorcycle rallies warning Americans about China’s openly written warfare doctrine known as “Omni-Directional Warfare” aka, “Unrestricted Warfare” all pointed at America and her allies?... a topic I wrote of in the above-noted series in the “Veterans Journal” nearly 25 years ago. This type of warfare encompasses every conceivable weapon, be it economic warfare, psychological warfare, political warfare, legal warfare, educational warfare and the list is truly subject to the limits of imagination. Why haven’t these VSOs written extensively about the global push to destroy classical Western Civilization, most symbolically via the downfall of America? I notice in today’s VFW website, their obeisance to the rainbow flag, regardless of the overt grooming and bodily mutilation from pedophiles in our public elementary schools all festooned with that divisive ensign. Why haven’t these VSOs spent years explaining the very Marxism that most living Vets fought against, in some form or fashion, throughout the Cold War, Korea and Vietnam? Books and movies have tried to explain what our POWs had to endure during their stay at places like the Hanoi Hilton. What ideology drove those sadistic guards to such depths of torture and depravity? Marxism. And why? It’s what Marxists do. There’s a famous military saying, “your enemy gets a vote”. Example: Just because America pulled out of Vietnam, doesn’t mean Marxism laid down its arms. Just because we tuck-tailed and ran from the Middle East, doesn’t mean that intergenerational religious warfare zealots became pacified, much less lovers of Freedom. As for those mottos: The American Legion's motto is "Veterans Strengthening America." What strength does America wield while she’s on her knees? The motto of the Veterans of Foreign Wars is “No one does more for Veterans.” I am going to go out on-a-limb and paint with a massively broad brush, that most Veterans would rather have a strong and secure America, safe for their children and grandchildren, free from ideological indoctrination and the worries if the VA is paying for sex change operations and illegal immigrant healthcare, than if Applebee’s is offering a free slice of cake. And of course, we’re back to the Survivors’ motto: “Remember Pearl Harbor and Keep America Alert”… And I must ask once again… Alert to what? As the reader can plainly see, I don’t point a finger at any one member of these groups… as no one person in a bureaucracy is responsible. But either way, the outcome is what we’ve awoken to. With the greatest respect, Dana Franklin Harbaugh Navy callsign: “Hardball” 100% service-connected disabled Veteran
I hereby give the right of ANY Post Commander, Legion Member or other interested person to read the letter posted below at their next meeting. "Be The One"
An Open Letter to both the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Title: Who shirked their duty?
Who was derelict in their duty? Certainly not the most-highly revered Veterans groups in America.
As the fifth son of a career Navy Fighter Pilot, a great-grandson of a Union soldier killed by a Confederate sniper in 1864, an Enlisted Navy combat Veteran myself, Life Member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Life Member of the American Legion, and most-proudly, Life Honorary Member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association (PHSA), I believe I bring a perspective few have reflected upon.
Ostensibly, the above-noted Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) have stood on the ramparts of America for decades, helping to remind Congress and America of the sacrifices our Veterans have made for their Freedom and way of life… ideally, as well, reminding them that tyranny is ever-present in this world and NO nation desiring Freedom is guaranteed that outcome.
The American Legion's motto is "Veterans Strengthening America." The motto of the Veterans of Foreign Wars is “No one does more for Veterans.” Both are nebulous ideas and, arguably, fall short of present reality.
The Pearl Harbor Survivors’ motto is/was “Remember Pearl Harbor and Keep America Alert”. Their subsequent 70+ years of carrying that motto to countless schools and public events are examples of focused purpose and stalwart devotion to that motto, while never having to ask Congress for anything other than 501c status.
My affiliation with the PHSA began a few years after joining both the Legion and VFW. At the time of that work with the Survivors, starting in the year 2000, I also volunteered as the Managing Editor of the then-largest Veterans monthly newspaper in San Diego County, the “Veterans Journal”. (please note that that job title did NOT make me an expert proof-reader or grammar checker)
Each issue shed light on cutting edge threats to America, all open-source documents that I knew most older Vets were not learning about given the then-relatively new Internet and its trove of information. From the threats of transnational narco-terrorist networks invading South America, to cyber warfare, to the rise of China, I attempted to provide the Veterans extensive think-tank essays they would most-likely never learn of through the traditional news options at the time.
Then came our printing of the October 2001 issue… Instead of providing the Veterans one more threat assessment, I put in a full-page photo of the twin towers on fire, with the caption “I rest my case”
The following years were spent attending Veteran events around the country, including six trips to Pearl Harbor as well as to more memorial services than I can count, all the while wondering where the VSO voices were. Yet it sure seemed like none of the big VSOs were willing to step back and do real world threat assessments.
As well, my time spent in countless meetings with the Legion and VFW has left me shaking my head in disbelief today… not just because of the tedious and mind-numbing adherence to Robert’s Rules of Order, or the entrenched layers of bureaucracy and institutionalized apathy making younger Vets seek more agile groups, but how America is now dangling on the precipice of “failed nation” status while the very same media elites who helped put us here, poo-poo whispers of civil war.
Although these Big 2 VSOs, as well as the myriad other VSOs such as Vietnam Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans, et. al., have laudatory mission statements and myriad projects accomplished, the mottos for my three groups should be an easy reference point for this essay.
Likewise, the Legion and VFW have extensive mission statements, with no singular purpose.
Yet, how did we awaken to the near-complete destruction of every institution in America… if these groups were indeed our “look outs” and “on duty”, ever vigilant to tyranny’s creeping stench.
Destroyed cities, destroyed borders, destroyed judicial system, destroyed military cohesion, destroyed “free press”, destroyed public education, destroyed public safety, destroyed trust in our fellow man, all occurring under this umbrella of these rampart defense groups.
Has the VFW and Legion ever directly taken on the Teachers Unions, the Hollywood child-grooming industry, the radical Marxists in all levels of government and corporate America?
If indeed it is true that the legions of Legion and VFW muckety-mucks, who clamor to the halls of Congress to lobby for a laundry list of projects, have indeed been our nation’s shield of all-things American Founding and Constitutional Republicanism, why has America awoken to this dystopian nightmare of the Marxist “woke” takeover of EVERY aspect of the Federal Gov’t?
These “Big 2” VSOs have hosted myriad memorial services, parades, monuments, planted countless flags upon grave markers across the nation, adjudicated essay contests and scholarship grants, and of course, brought in untold millions through the sale of tiny paper flowers… yet our enemies are gathering in packs, and former allies and weaker nations are betting their futures on the wolves over the sheep dog.
If the VSOs are so influential, so effective and so preferred as exemplars of duty to America’s ideals, how did the rats infest the very ramparts they were guarding?
For nearly 30 years, I’ve received monthly VFW and Legion magazines, replete with wonderful stories of heroism, stories of community service, youth essay contests and famously, ads for cheesy polyester men’s slacks.
For years, I’ve read in these magazines about the decades of effort these VSOs have spent trying to atone for their treason towards the Vietnam Vets, and then the subsequent apathy from younger Vets as to their question of “why don’t we have any new members?”
Now-famous author, Phillip K. Howard, wrote in “The Death of Common Sense” (1994) of this phenomenon within all bureaucracies. Paraphrasing…. “the goal of the institution becomes irrelevant, while adherence to process becomes the touchstone of productivity”. Compartmentalized indifference becomes the outcome.
Remember, no one person within a bureaucracy is responsible for the outcome. Behind the curve, or just the agility of an aircraft carrier, either way, outcomes are always time late.
And in ideological warfare, traditional static armies such as these VSOs become mere cannon fodder. With one text, one email, one phone call, can these VSOs muster within hours, thousands in the streets of every major US city, all wearing the same tee-shirt, all screaming the same mantra, all ready to go to jail for their beliefs?
Why haven’t the VFW and Legion written extensively, in the years leading up to the Marxist capture of nearly every institution in America, that this outcome would happen?
Given the fact that most Legion and VFW Posts have created motorcycle chapters to help garner the younger Vets’ interest, why haven’t these VSOs held motorcycle rallies warning Americans about China’s openly written warfare doctrine known as “Omni-Directional Warfare” aka, “Unrestricted Warfare” all pointed at America and her allies?... a topic I wrote of in the above-noted series in the “Veterans Journal” nearly 25 years ago. This type of warfare encompasses every conceivable weapon, be it economic warfare, psychological warfare, political warfare, legal warfare, educational warfare and the list is truly subject to the limits of imagination.
Why haven’t these VSOs written extensively about the global push to destroy classical Western Civilization, most symbolically via the downfall of America?
I notice in today’s VFW website, their obeisance to the rainbow flag, regardless of the overt grooming and bodily mutilation from pedophiles in our public elementary schools all festooned with that divisive ensign.
Why haven’t these VSOs spent years explaining the very Marxism that most living Vets fought against, in some form or fashion, throughout the Cold War, Korea and Vietnam? Books and movies have tried to explain what our POWs had to endure during their stay at places like the Hanoi Hilton. What ideology drove those sadistic guards to such depths of torture and depravity? Marxism. And why? It’s what Marxists do.
There’s a famous military saying, “your enemy gets a vote”. Example: Just because America pulled out of Vietnam, doesn’t mean Marxism laid down its arms. Just because we tuck-tailed and ran from the Middle East, doesn’t mean that intergenerational religious warfare zealots became pacified, much less lovers of Freedom.
As for those mottos:
The American Legion's motto is "Veterans Strengthening America." What strength does America wield while she’s on her knees?
The motto of the Veterans of Foreign Wars is “No one does more for Veterans.” I am going to go out on-a-limb and paint with a massively broad brush, that most Veterans would rather have a strong and secure America, safe for their children and grandchildren, free from ideological indoctrination and the worries if the VA is paying for sex change operations and illegal immigrant healthcare, than if Applebee’s is offering a free slice of cake.
And of course, we’re back to the Survivors’ motto: “Remember Pearl Harbor and Keep America Alert”… And I must ask once again… Alert to what?
As the reader can plainly see, I don’t point a finger at any one member of these groups… as no one person in a bureaucracy is responsible.
But either way, the outcome is what we’ve awoken to.
With the greatest respect,
Dana Franklin Harbaugh
Navy callsign: “Hardball”
100% service-connected disabled Veteran
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