Now...THAT'S a man with courage and integrity. A REAL man who doesn't need testosterone shots.
Thank you, Gen. Hertling, for your ongoing service to our country. You may no longer be assigned to the Pentagon, but you are doing an incredible service explaining the realities of war.
When I first heard the news reports about conditions on these ships, I was rigid with anger. This is not a result of lack of funding, but a lack of duty of care. Whether he recognizes it or not, the Secretary of Defense owes these sailors not only an explanation of the mission for which they are sacrificing so much, but also basic hygiene and nutrition. They are being asked to spend months from home and family in service to this ridiculous war; they should be able to expect soap to shower and toothbrushes and toothpaste to clean their teeth.
Has anyone in this administration considered what will happen if sickness breaks out on one of these ships? Without hygiene or proper nutrition, immune systems are at a low ebb and are rife for any bug that comes along. Pete Hegseth has great concern about low testosterone levels in our troops but doesn’t give a damn about the physical and emotional well-being of these men and women (probably less so for the women).
Everyone, please contact your Congressional Representative to demand that this country begin to take better care of our sailors and soldiers from whom we ask much. This is a bi-partisan issue and should be addressed and remedied at once. We are better than this.
With a grandson on active duty, I have a completely different understanding, and reaction, to these issues than I had before having family members serving.
Thank you for writing this. I can't imagine what these families are feeling. When I hear about stuff like this I always hope that you will put me on a path of understanding. My prayers are with all of those who have family serving in the Middle East right now. I only hope our leaders can find a way to bring them all home soon.
Thanks Mark, another wonderful reminder of what actual humanity and normality looked like before the chaos.
So now, the Trump machine that only cares about it's political existence, dares to perform the Putin-istic authoritarian method of dismissing pushback on an unnecessary and illegal war as traitorous or unpatriotic behavior. The despicability of a fraudulent draft-dodging felon that has no concerns whatsoever for the brave patriots who actually serve the entire country instead of his single entitled aspirations, has easily been the most treasonous and disrespectful behavior I've seen in my life. I can only hope and work that the day that justice and humanity returns to power is sooner than later.
" my wife was there to meet me. We hadn’t seen each other since the deployment began. After a hug, she gave me the best advice I ever received when talking to families."
General, your wife has a million times more smarts, judgment, empathy, and commonsense than the incompetent leadership of the Pentagon. Trump, the SecDrunk, and the clowns they have at the top running the debacle in Iran have no plans, no strategy, no organization whatsoever.
They use the sailors and army members like little plastic toy soldiers with no consideration of their wellbeing, safety, or ability to do the mission. Because the dopes in charge have no clue what the mission is.
So Trump puts the ships on station without a thought of what they should do or how long they should do it. It's a failure of leadership and it's a betrayal of our men and women in uniform.
It would be difficult for any commander in the current climate to follow the good advice General Hertling got from his wife: "[L]isten to them and answer their questions until they don’t have any more questions to ask, and answer them honestly with what you know and don’t know." Neither the CinC nor the SecDef has any aptitude for the truth, or for purposeful deliberation toward a focused end. Honesty and purpose are the basic qualities owed to all those who serve in uniform; the current leadership holds genuine contempt for both, and thus for those who serve. I watched a son who is a Naval aviator deploy to the conflict recently. I can live with not knowing when he'll be back, but I cannot suffer not knowing why he's there.
That's the thing. It is not only generals and admirals who should be listening to families and answering their questions, it is every member of Congress who should be doing this along with every secretary, deputy secretary, under-secretary as well as the president and his vp doing this. They owe it to us to explain the what and why, the how and how long. That is what representative government is about.
You should send this to Trump. He is clueless to these human experiences. It seems his lack of empathy and thought keep bringing us more devastating situations.
Now...THAT'S a man with courage and integrity. A REAL man who doesn't need testosterone shots.
Thank you, Gen. Hertling, for your ongoing service to our country. You may no longer be assigned to the Pentagon, but you are doing an incredible service explaining the realities of war.
When I first heard the news reports about conditions on these ships, I was rigid with anger. This is not a result of lack of funding, but a lack of duty of care. Whether he recognizes it or not, the Secretary of Defense owes these sailors not only an explanation of the mission for which they are sacrificing so much, but also basic hygiene and nutrition. They are being asked to spend months from home and family in service to this ridiculous war; they should be able to expect soap to shower and toothbrushes and toothpaste to clean their teeth.
Has anyone in this administration considered what will happen if sickness breaks out on one of these ships? Without hygiene or proper nutrition, immune systems are at a low ebb and are rife for any bug that comes along. Pete Hegseth has great concern about low testosterone levels in our troops but doesn’t give a damn about the physical and emotional well-being of these men and women (probably less so for the women).
Everyone, please contact your Congressional Representative to demand that this country begin to take better care of our sailors and soldiers from whom we ask much. This is a bi-partisan issue and should be addressed and remedied at once. We are better than this.
With a grandson on active duty, I have a completely different understanding, and reaction, to these issues than I had before having family members serving.
Thank you for writing this. I can't imagine what these families are feeling. When I hear about stuff like this I always hope that you will put me on a path of understanding. My prayers are with all of those who have family serving in the Middle East right now. I only hope our leaders can find a way to bring them all home soon.
Orange Caligula and Whiskey Pete are wrecking America, one institution at a time.
Thanks Mark, another wonderful reminder of what actual humanity and normality looked like before the chaos.
So now, the Trump machine that only cares about it's political existence, dares to perform the Putin-istic authoritarian method of dismissing pushback on an unnecessary and illegal war as traitorous or unpatriotic behavior. The despicability of a fraudulent draft-dodging felon that has no concerns whatsoever for the brave patriots who actually serve the entire country instead of his single entitled aspirations, has easily been the most treasonous and disrespectful behavior I've seen in my life. I can only hope and work that the day that justice and humanity returns to power is sooner than later.
" my wife was there to meet me. We hadn’t seen each other since the deployment began. After a hug, she gave me the best advice I ever received when talking to families."
General, your wife has a million times more smarts, judgment, empathy, and commonsense than the incompetent leadership of the Pentagon. Trump, the SecDrunk, and the clowns they have at the top running the debacle in Iran have no plans, no strategy, no organization whatsoever.
They use the sailors and army members like little plastic toy soldiers with no consideration of their wellbeing, safety, or ability to do the mission. Because the dopes in charge have no clue what the mission is.
So Trump puts the ships on station without a thought of what they should do or how long they should do it. It's a failure of leadership and it's a betrayal of our men and women in uniform.
It would be difficult for any commander in the current climate to follow the good advice General Hertling got from his wife: "[L]isten to them and answer their questions until they don’t have any more questions to ask, and answer them honestly with what you know and don’t know." Neither the CinC nor the SecDef has any aptitude for the truth, or for purposeful deliberation toward a focused end. Honesty and purpose are the basic qualities owed to all those who serve in uniform; the current leadership holds genuine contempt for both, and thus for those who serve. I watched a son who is a Naval aviator deploy to the conflict recently. I can live with not knowing when he'll be back, but I cannot suffer not knowing why he's there.
That's the thing. It is not only generals and admirals who should be listening to families and answering their questions, it is every member of Congress who should be doing this along with every secretary, deputy secretary, under-secretary as well as the president and his vp doing this. They owe it to us to explain the what and why, the how and how long. That is what representative government is about.
You should send this to Trump. He is clueless to these human experiences. It seems his lack of empathy and thought keep bringing us more devastating situations.
He could send it to a pig too, but it would have equal effect.
Thank you General, for so many reasons.
I didn't expect to find myself weeping on this Saturday morning!
God bless these heroic families.
I didn't expect it either, Matt. And allow me to echo your sentiments to Gen. Hertling and to the heroic families.