General Norman Schwarzkopf

[water_bug_62208]

We lost General Norman Schwarzkopf.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012 ... zkopf.html

Couldn't believe it when I heard this on the news tonight. General Schwarzkopf was the right man at the right time when Operation Desert Storm came along... he was a true hero when this country needed one... although he'd probably say that it was the men and women who served under him that were the true heroes.

Thank you for your service, General Schwarzkopf! Best wishes to you as you set begin your new campaign. And, best wishes to your family and friends.

[dlodoski]

...Thank you for your service, General Schwarzkopf! Best wishes to you as you set begin your new campaign. And, best wishes to your family and friends.

Ditto here.

That was a different time though. I think the US military was ripe to partially erase the memory of Vietnam. I wonder how he would have fit into the current conflicts...

[schlamm]

-

[BSink42]

...Thank you for your service, General Schwarzkopf! Best wishes to you as you set begin your new campaign. And, best wishes to your family and friends.

Ditto here.

Thirding the sentiment.

[jack c]

I agree that he would have a difficult time with Mr. Obama, Mrs. Clinton (who hates the military), and now Mr. Kerry, who I believe is a patriot, but a dim-witted one. Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf listened to his advisors and Gearge H.W. Bush left him alone until the order of cessation (probably premature, but that can be debated endlessly). Despite his personal weakness, Petraeus was also a good general, and to his credit, Obama pretty much let him alone to do his job. No more - his career is finished for doing nothing that Eisenhower and Patton did during WWII. We are in a dilemma. We cannot afford to police the world, yet at the same time, our national interest dictates that we cannot afford NOT to police the world - a tough dilemma.

[Mynock]

Veni Vidi Vici. RIP General.

[PM2K]

Still remember laughing out loud at his "luckiest man in Iraq" comment, back in the first Gulf War... My understanding of General Schwarzkopf is one of those lead by example officers. One story I heard of his service in Vietnam is using his own body to shield his men from a landmine at an LZ - told them to step on him in order to get to the helicopter and evacuate... something a lot of officers today could learn from.

[Duncan Edwards]

Still remember laughing out loud at his "luckiest man in Iraq" comment, back in the first Gulf War... One story I heard of his service in Vietnam is using his own body to shield his men from a landmine at an LZ - told them to step on him in order to get to the helicopter and evacuate...

I've got an autographed copy of his autobiography "It Doesn't Take a Hero". He did indeed land his helicopter in a minefield while a Major in Viet Nam and held down a screaming teenage American GI until he could drag him out of there. For this he was awarded one of his three Silver Stars during his two tours in Viet Nam. During the "Mother of All Briefings" a reporter, ignorant of the General's past, asked him how "intense" were the Iraqi minefields. General Schwarzkopf nearly stared a hole through the guy and knowingly growled "ONE mine is intense." He knew what he was talking about. He also opened the first Burger King on a US Army base and led troops during the surprise invasion of Grenada to rescue American medical students held there. His father was head of the New Jersey state police and investigated the Lindbergh kidnapping before becoming a General himself during WWII. He was sent by President Roosevelt to train the Iranians under the Shah. This allowed young Norman to go with his father and begin an early learning of Middle Eastern and Islamic Culture. The biggest lesson he learned that he carried into Desert Storm was that there would be no misleading of the American people by anyone under his command. After learning that the coalition had not actually taken Safwan airfield in Iraq despite having reported so he was furious. To him it rang of false body counts and the propaganda of putting front lines where they weren't. Even though fighting had ceased he directed the local commander to take Safwan and not to kill anybody while doing it. Safwan was taken the the Iraqi surrender was signed there.

Here's a Youtube clip of his "luckiest man in Iraq" comment - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vteVel7h9b8

Interestingly his cousin, Marianna Hill (Schwarzkopf) was an actress who is linked to this group by her role in the movie Blood Beach. I discovered this a few years ago through my fascination with all the character actors that populate the movies out there. Maybe performance ran in the family since the general was an amateur magician and was really great with the media.

Great man. I expect we will always need those like him.