"We have a Rendezvous with Destiny..." and apparently also a Rendezvous with disappointment. Gen'l Petreaus

Major General (MG) Petreaus in Iraq
as 101st Airborne Division
Commander

     This one's tough.  I have two Bronze Stars.  One from Desert Storm and the other Iraq. When people would come to my office and see my "I love me" wall, I would always point out the one Bronze Star that I thought was the best.  Why?  Because it was signed by MG David Petreaus while he was serving as the Division Commander for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)  (made famous by the Band of Brothers HBO Series) in Fort Campbell and eventually for a year as Commander in Iraq.  I was on the Division Staff.

But first, THE STORY OF THE 101st AIRBORNE DIVISION and Origin of "The Rendezvous with Destiny," motto.

"YOU have a rendezvous with destiny!" with this, Maj. Gen. William C. Lee, the original commander, concluded his activation speech to the 101st Airborne Division. Screaming Eagles have found meaning and expression in these words. They kept that rendezvous with destiny through WWII to present day conflicts around the world.

We had incredible respect - and sometimes a little fear - of General Petreaus.  Physical Training was always a high priority - especially among the Infantry.  Oh, we were used to it for sure, but not by his standards.  Division staff officers had to "earn" the right to run with him in the mornings.  So the Chief of Staff would run the rest of us staff guys and work us out while the General ran with a chosen few who could keep up (not many).  What was his standard?  Minimum 7 minute mile.  Okay, I've done that a few times for a couple of miles...his standard?  10 miles!!!  Yeah, there was no way I was going to beat that time.  But we all kept trying because he was instilling in us all the notion that we can always do better if we'd just push a little harder.  He was that kind of leader.  You wanted to be like him - or at least come close.  A West Point Grad and a PhD from Princeton didn't hurt either.  So our education was also important.  It wasn't his mandate, it was simply the desire he instilled in us to - yes again - do a little better if we'd push a little harder. 

Major Rank - the Oak Leaf

     I would watch him analyze battle plans and Operations Orders for hours.  He did have one quirk I remember; he was obsessed with correct English language use and spelling (as I am).  So while the "Iron Majors," (Division staff members who put together the plans), were staring at PowerPoint slides for 16 hours a day, it all started to blur and the poor guys would spell the word "the" wrong and not catch it.  So some proof readers were assigned.
     When we finally got to Iraq, we were on the Gulf watching ships being unloaded with our supplies and the General saw some Soldiers sitting around so he went over and challenged them to some physical training - a push-up competition.  Needless to say although the Soldiers were young men in their 20s; the General beat them with no problem at all.  No General had ever done that before and they were quite taken aback.  Yet again - do a little better if we'd push a little harder. 

     He was with the Assault Command Post in March 2003 when we experienced that incredibly miserable 4 day sandstorm.  It was like being on MARS.  The sun was red, wind blew constantly, constant dust covering you.  There was so much dust we were cleaning our computer of with paint brushes - not sure who thought to bring paint brushes!  But we needed them.  It rained the 4th day - for 5 minutes - and of course rain in a dust storm means that mud is falling from the sky.  Absolutely miserable.  He could have been at Division Main, but he was up there with the 60 or so of us...sleeping on a cot just like us in tents blowing all over the place, eating only MREs (that's all we had the entire time), and sitting through briefings.  I remember him the day before the sandstorm began. The Commanding General from V Corps came over (General William Wallace).  The two of them were sitting outside on some folding chairs looking at maps.  I immediately thought of the Generals from the American Civil War pouring over maps by campfire.  And with all the technology available to us today, it was still a paper map that was essential to the next battle.

This will be over analyzed by the media and the pundits so I'm not going to belabor this.  But now that alot of the smoke has blown over on this thing, most of us who knew him and of the many 101st guys I've talked to since this came out, it's just too hard to believe.  It wasn't his nature.  It wasn't in "OUR" Nature.  I'm not a political analyst and certainly not the Judge, but as he continues on, those of us who knew him well will pray for him and his Family that they weather this storm.  They will...do a little better if we'd push a little harder.

There's a fantastic article by Rebecca Sinclair, married to Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair, who is facing the same type of charges.  She offers some insight on why this type of thing may happen. 

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/when-the-strains-of-war-lead-to-infidelity/2012/11/15/1d6c020e-2f49-11e2-9f50-0308e1e75445_story.html

 

I made the papers

http://www.theredstonerocket.com/content/%E2%80%98we-are-right-trenches-our-soldiers%E2%80%99

Goin' big time at the South Carolina State Fair

Gingerbread Recipe from the 1880s.
No processed sugar.

He shoots - he scores...why bake bread from recipes that are as old as the hills?  Because every second place ribbon means I clean up on a dandy $5.00 - $6.00 payday per ribbon.  But the competition had their own ideas for my demise.  These ladies have been baking breads and cakes for 70+ years.   Me - a couple - but my stuff is good and I know it.

The Competition plotting my overthrow

I took second place in 6 categories in the South Carolina State Fair Baking Competition, non-yeast recipes...how specific is that for a category?   A recipe for old time Crackers Jacks from my Grandfather in the early 1920's and a gingerbread recipe by none other than Laura Ingalls of Little House on the Prairie Fame...she published her recipes as well as her personal diary.  Also made those famous Christmas time lollipops my great uncle and aunt George and Jennie Billings made when the weather got real cold so you could set them outside in the snow...

Popcorn recipe from Grandpa Swartz

The Billings Family Christmas Lollipops

It is tough to be humble

Getting Stiffed in Italy - Discovering History

Mentorella - Can you believe this view?

     I was fortunate to live - thanks to the Army - in Italy for three years. I love that place. Mind you, living there full time is a pain. For those who take the tour buses around the country it's difficult to get a feel for what it's like to "Live" in Italy. For one thing, your electricity is rationed (read - how BIG government gets involved in running your life is never good). So if you want to run the dryer you can't use the stove or watch TV because it would trip the circuit breaker. Or when you want to get a simple cup of coffee you have to spend 1/2 an hour deciphering a convoluted menu of 100 different ways to make one. Cafe "dopio" for me please. But I digress - darn squirrels. There's a committee meeting going on in my head and a large squirrel from my backyard is the chairman.

     Anyway - I have a pretty famous Uncle. His name is Athanasius Kircher. Born in the 1600s in Fulda, Germany (really great - great uncle), he was a Jesuit Priest and was very popular in his time. There's a bit of a resurgence of interest now around the world regarding Uncle Athanasius. There's even an Athanasius Kircher Society (Google it). He did alot of strange things in his day and was even regarded as an equal to Galileo - who Uncle Athanasius probably -albeit secretly for life's sake - agreed with. Well, there was this old Church that had fallen by the way and he decided he was going to restore it. Mentorella - east of Rome in the Abruzzo region.
http://www.italia.it/en/discover-italy/abruzzo.html

     ADHD alert - "How I shamed my mother at 7:45 P.M. CST" - Squirrel!!! Some of the most beautiful country you will ever see this side of heaven. I mean beautiful. Check out the picture I put in here. Can you believe it? And Saint Benedict was said to have lived in that CAVE that I am sitting in for TWO YEARS - Mentorella is pictured in the picture of Benedict to the left. This stuff is awesome! Do you ever wonder? Where did he sleep in this cave? What did he eat - spaghetti for sure and probably gnocchi - and good bread with some olive oil. Bathroom? Probably the nearby woods. And here I sit in this very much of a holy place. I mean of all people Saint Benedict?

Benedict (c.480–543) is a Christian saint, honored by the Roman Catholic Church as the patron saint of Europe and students.

In Saint Benedict's Cave
Is this Awesome or what?

He founded twelve communities for monks at Subiaco, Italy (about 40 miles to the east of Rome) before moving to Monte Cassino in the Benedict mountains of southern Italy. There is no evidence that he intended to found a Roman Catholic religious order.  The Order of St Benedict is of later origin and, moreover, not an "order" as commonly understood but merely a confederation of autonomous
congregations.
    

Benedict's main achievement is his "Rule of Saint Benedict", containing precepts for his monks. It is heavily influenced by the writings of John Cassian, and shows strong affinity with the Rule of the Master. But it also has a unique spirit of balance, moderation and reasonableness (ἐπιείκεια, epieikeia - yes I know Greek), and this persuaded most religious communities founded throughout the Middle Ages to adopt it. As a result, his Rule became one of the most influential religious rules in Western Christendom. For this reason, Benedict is often called the founder of western monasticism - guys that go out and live by themselves and do alot of praying, candle-making and gardening. It’s still possible to see the cavern, the rules to allow entrance are strict but the atmosphere inside is simply strange - what do you do in here all the time? What do you think about? Baffling but probably something I need to look in to. Another interesting fact about the cavern is that before you go in there, there is glass shrine which contains bones from the oldest friars.




The bones of Friars past, And here I am with the bones, and in the cave.
   

Marker where Athanasius' Heart is buried 

     The squirrels have departed the building! Back to getting stiffed. So I agree to do the wedding and the guy tells me he's going to pay my way down there. That's fine. I can't take money for the ceremony of course because he's military. But he met this Italian stewardess - sorry - "flight attendant," and they decide to get married. Now I'm not sure what you know of Italians but they don't like you marrying outside the Italian family let alone without a Priest. But he wasn't Catholic so she agreed to have an Army Chaplain do the ceremony - me! When I got there I stayed in a hotel close by in a very beautiful area and got to drive to Mentorella - the Church Uncle Athanasius restored many years after Benedict lived there.

Marker where Athanasius' Heart is buried behind the altar

Squirrels back!! I shamed my mother again at 8:25 P.M. CST. I got some cool pictures of the Church and also of the site where Uncle Athanasius decided to have his heart buried - yes - his heart is buried right behind me in this picture. Body is in Rome.


 Athanasius' Heart is buried behind the altar behind me

Back to getting stiffed. When I arrive in town the family is pretty cold to me - not rude but not happy about this "Marriage." and of course of me not being a Catholic Priest. Later that day I get a call that the town Priest wants to see me. What did he want? Can't be good but it comes out that he is worried that the marriage won't be valid if done by me. Wrong I say (he's old country Italian so really couldn't understand why they wouldn't want a priest doing the ceremony. I assure him it's legal in the courts and approved in God's eyes. The only thing he asked was to stand next to me during the ceremony - sure. Why not? He seemed to be satisfied. I tell you what though, I had some of the most fantastic Italian food - those people know how to make pasta! Better than Bourdain's family in Sardinia.

The wedding was outside and it was fairytale. Flowers all over, linens, town square, a couple hundred people - all related. Crazy beautiful. We start the ceremony and all went well. Although I noticed that when I was pronouncing the blessing and declaring them man and wife, I could hear the Priest also pronouncing a blessing and then crossing himself. I guess he was covering all bases with the Methodist.

Later - after a great party - I was given a farewell by the Lieutenant Colonel and told he'd get back with me about the trip when he got back to Vicenza. Did he ever get back with me in Vicenza? NO! The creep stiffed me! But you know what? I had a great time. I got to connect with my heritage, see great places, eat lovely food, pray, laugh, and bask in the warmth of living simply. It was worth it.

Staring at the Joker (or Supreme Court justice)

     When there's little happening in your life except the constant reminder of misery that surrounds just about everything you do, you procure a small statue that was in the house of some neighbors who decided they didn't want to pay their rent and high-tailed it out of town.  It was a free-for-all but nothing really to be had...rancid smells, dirty carpets, dog feces all over, unread college books, Wal-mart Chinese communist imported pressed board computer tables from Alabama pine, and green bread.  But there was a prize for me.  It's one of those things like the Taco Bell bobbing head dog from the commercial that those morons finally stopped running...a small statuette of our man the "Joker."  The likeness taken from the great actor who overdosed during the making of the Batman movie and they computerized him to finish the movie - I guess it is all about money after all...
     But check him out.  He was so good in the "Knight's Tale"...later the "Patriot," one of my all time favorite movies with that ill-conceived Scottish wannabe and much maligned Mel Gibson.  But if you look closely, what IS he looking at?   He apparently has other things on his mind...not me.  Something amiss up above maybe?  Or could it be the decision of ONE Supreme Court Justice that's making him wonder?

     ADHD is rearing its ugly head again - Squirrel!!!  Sometimes it seems as if life is a constant thread of  "It seemed like a good thing to do at the time," that's strung together - that would be me.  You joined the Army (the "hollow" one), in 1973 just 4 days after high school graduation and where the headquarters company was filled with guys coming back from Vietnam still hooked on the "good stuff" - so what do they do?  Put the druggies in the headquarters barracks of a MILITARY POLICE company where they continue their merry ways with the drug use and even though busted by the military still get promoted because they did their time and because they have time in grade and time in service so they get their stripes back in 2 months!  Yeah!  Truth is stranger than fiction.  Then later the First Sergeant and Company Commander go through the barracks for a "health and welfare" inspection - "read" "I want to 'legally' check out what's in those foot lockers," and see all the pot and "bong" things and everything else used for the ingestion of illegal drugs.  What does the commander say when he sees the roach clip with some pot still hanging on for dear life on my roommates foot locker?  "Let it go, he's a good Soldier."  Later that Friday, lots of beer on ice in garbage cans provided courtesy of the Company Command and First Sergeant thanking us for all the good work we did through the week.  The drug guys got their medicine later that night. Irony is bleeding here. Thankfully those days - and that Army - is long gone.

Cow BBQ in Kosovo 2001 - or  what you will feel
like waiting in line at the DMV for medical care 

     Bye Squirrel - Back to reality kids...I suppose in the end we will all have the look of the Joker - pale, pasty face, dark circles around the eyes, the pensive stare - as we await what little medical care we will never receive thanks to one Supreme Court Justice who bailed on the Constitution for who knows what reason.  Those last days on earth will not be pretty once we have people similar to those who work at the DMV and don't know us nor love us making decisions on what we will and won't get medically - heck with the doctors - let a bureaucrat make the decision for you.  Yeah Joker - it is a joke.