09 September 2015

Why We Fight, Pt. II











  1. A good piece and I like the photos. Kate Atkinson's recent A God in Ruins has a female pilot who ferried a huge range of aircraft

  2. A footnote. The snapshot of Michael Parnell is actually taken when he was in a Special Forces unit (although you can make out the Ranger tab, barely in focus) - I can't post his Ranger graduation pic in the comments, but I'll put it on Facebook.

  3. Good post, David - the armed forces have always been, as you said, a social laboratory, whether it knows it or not. There have always, for example, been women dressed as men who served in armies with distinction: Hua Mulan (ancient China), Joan of Arc, Jane Dieulafoy, Cathay Wilson, Wanda Gertz, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wartime_cross-dressers

    A special congratulations to all who make it through Ranger school!

  4. Good for your friend Michael! And good article, David. I had no clue about the numbers involved.

  5. Good article, David. I hear people say the military is not a social program, and I wonder where they've been for seventy years. Lots of controversy surrounding the graduation of the two women from Ranger School, and the worst part about that is that it overshadows the bravery and courage of women who serve in war zones, regardless of what schools they graduated from, how strong they are, etc. I've seen women go "outside the wire" and risk death when lots of men were doing all they could to get out of it. That is the untold story--stories, I should say, because it happened daily in Iraq and Afghanistan--that America needs to hear. - Michael


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