The mission statement of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/west-point" target="_blank" rel="noopener">West Point</a> will no longer include the words “duty, honor, country,” as the over 220-year-old military academy choses to adopt a new mission statement based on “Army Values.”
The military academy <a href="https://www.westpoint.edu/news/press-releases/west-point-mission-statement-update-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the proposed change on Monday, saying that the edits to the decades-old mission statement have already been approved by the Secretary of the Army and the Army Chief of Staff. West Point will still retain “duty, honor, country,” as the academy’s motto, saying that the changes to the mission statement came after a year and a half long assessment.
West Point&#8217;s new mission statement will be: “To build, educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character committed to the Army Values and ready for a lifetime of service to the Army and Nation.”
The academy explained the change by saying that it was part of routine examination of the mission of the institution.
“Our responsibility to produce leaders to fight and win our nation&#8217;s wars requires us to assess ourselves regularly,” West Point said. “Thus, over the past year and a half, working with leaders from across West Point and external stakeholders, we reviewed our vision, mission, and strategy to serve this purpose. We believe our mission binds the Academy to the Army — the Army in which our cadets will serve.”
The mission statement has been changed nine times before and the lines “duty, honor, country,” were added in 1998.
“It defines who we are as an institution and as graduates of West Point,” the statement said. “These three hallowed words are the hallmark of the cadet experience and bind the Long Gray Line together across our great history.”
The news that West Point was changing its mission statement was criticized by some conservatives who said it was another example of the military’s mission drift.
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&#8220;The elimination of &#8216;Duty, Honor, Country&#8217; from West Point’s mission statement is a direct reflection of undesirable shifts in our service academies,&#8221; Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarshaBlackburn/status/1768659580551115069" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;The values that have led generations should not be erased to appeal to the cultural moment.&#8221;
&#8220;Wow! #WestPoint announcing they’ve gone full globalist,&#8221; commentator Rachel Campos Duff <a href="https://twitter.com/RCamposDuffy/status/1768088990131847678" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X. &#8220;Purposely tanking recruitment of young Americans patriots to make room for the illegal mercenaries.&#8221;
&#8220;West Point has dropped ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ from its mission statement and replaced it with the more generic ‘Army Values,'&#8221; conservative think tank Center for Renewing America said. &#8220;Is allegiance to country no longer a requirement for U.S. military service?&#8221;

DOD Secretary Lloyd Austin Presides Over West Point Commencement Ceremony

West Point Removes ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ From Mission Statement, Replaces With ‘Army Values’

Military

U.S.

U.S. Army

West Point

Wokeness

The latest recruiting numbers from the United States Army have shown a precipitous drop-off in white recruits over the last several years – and among other factors, some insiders are blaming &#8220;partisan attacks against the military for its efforts to recruit and support a diverse force.&#8221;
According to a <a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/01/10/army-sees-sharp-decline-white-recruits.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> published Wednesday by Military.com, white recruits were down 6% from 2022 to 2023 alone — and had dropped off by double digits since 2018, when just over half (56.4%) of all Army recruits were classified as &#8220;white.&#8221; In 2023, 44% of all Army recruits were classified as &#8220;white.&#8221;
In real numbers, there were 44,042 white recruits in 2018 — and that fell to just 25,070 in 2023. Recruiting numbers have decreased overall during that same period, resulting in the Army <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-pronouns-less-recruits-u-s-military-facing-unprecedented-recruiting-crisis-under-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failing to meet</a> its recruiting goal of 55,000 in 2023 — but non-white demographics have seen increases by percentage over those same years.
Between 2018 and 2023, black recruits are up 4% (from 20% to 24%), and Hispanic recruits have risen 7% (from 17% to 24%). The overall numbers have not risen dramatically, but because white recruits have decreased in such numbers, other demographics now make up a larger percentage of the overall recruiting pool.
The Army has been working to encourage recruiting efforts and told Military.com that they could not nail down one specific cause — instead, they &#8220;pointed to a confluence of issues for Army recruiting, including partisan scrutiny of the service, a growing obesity epidemic and an underfunded public education system.&#8221;
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One other factor, they told the outlet, was the increase in &#8220;partisan&#8221; criticism of the military overall as it worked to embrace and implement <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/read-less-about-white-rage-more-about-not-losing-wars-hillbilly-elegy-author-rips-top-u-s-general" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)</a> into both recruitment and retention across all branches of service.
The suggestion was that conservative media outlets and legislators, by attacking the military&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/female-military-recruit-forced-to-shower-with-two-trans-identifying-men-considered-resigning-senator-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adoption of &#8220;woke&#8221; policies</a>, had telegraphed to a &#8220;mostly white audience&#8221; that the Army was less attractive a career option than it had been in years past.
&#8220;There&#8217;s a level of prestige in parts of conservative America with service that has degraded. Now, you can say you don&#8217;t want to join, for whatever reason, or bad-mouth the service without any cultural guilt associated for the first time in those areas,&#8221; one Army official told the outlet.

Army Chief Of Staff Gen. Casey Swears In New Army Recruits

Army Stats Show Precipitous Drop-Off In White Recruits — And Some Blame Conservative Media

Diversity

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Mark Milley

Woke Culture

In October 2020, Major General Ed Thomas — who at the time was the commander of the Air Force Recruiting Service — wrote an <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/86-of-air-force-pilots-are-white-men-heres-why-this-needs-to-change-155046366.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">op-ed</a> for Yahoo News. It was entitled, &#8220;86% of Air Force pilots are white men. Here&#8217;s why this needs to change.&#8221; 
In about 800 words, Major General Thomas outlined his plan to recruit pilots without regard for their competence or fitness or loyalty to the United States. Instead, Thomas explained, the most important thing for the Air Force to focus on was the skin color of its recruits. He said that hiring more black and brown recruits was vital in order to keep pace with Russia and China. They&#8217;re busy developing hypersonic missiles that can fly at 20 times the speed of sound, the general wrote — but we&#8217;ve got our secret sauce that will keep us competitive. And that secret sauce, as he described it, is diversity. According to Ed Thomas, &#8220;Our goal is to get in front of every demographic group in America and show them someone who wears a flight suit every day they can look up to and say, &#8216;That could be me.'&#8221;
Three years after he wrote that op-ed and launched the Air Force&#8217;s anti-white recruitment plan, Major General Ed Thomas retired. He inflicted his DEI recruitment strategy on the Air Force, and then he left. So he doesn&#8217;t have any reason to care about the consequences. But especially as World War III seems more plausible by the day, the rest of us have an important question to ask, which is: how did this DEI strategy turn out, exactly?
Thomas&#8217; replacement — a general named Christopher Amrhein <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3610846/chiefs-discuss-military-recruiting-challenges-at-committee-hearing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> this month before the Senate Armed Services Committee. He informed Congress that for the first time in 24 years, the Air Force has failed to meet its recruitment goal. Once again, for the first time in more than two decades, the Air Force didn&#8217;t hit its recruiting objective. It was off by around 10%. And they&#8217;re not alone. Amrhein went on to testify that the Army and Navy — which also put a new emphasis on recruiting minority candidates — also fell far short of their projections in the most recent fiscal year, which ended in September. He testified that, &#8220;We&#8217;ve seen a steady decline in the military even being an option for our youth as they contemplate the future.&#8221;
If you crunch the numbers, you&#8217;ll find that&#8217;s an understatement. In total, the military <a href="https://abc3340.com/news/nation-world/recruiting-crisis-hits-hard-military-shrinks-to-smallest-size-since-pre-ww2-department-of-defense-congress-gen-z-gallup-poll-american-pride-covid19-pandemic-vaccine-army-retention" target="_blank" rel="noopener">missed</a> its recruitment goal by more than 40,000 individuals. The Army now has about 450,000 active-duty soldiers — its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pentagon-warns-of-militarys-dropping-numbers-heading-into-2024-as-u-s-fields-smallest-fighting-force-since-before-wwii" target="_blank" rel="noopener">smallest size since 1940</a>, before the U.S. entered World War II. In all, the U.S. military <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_military_and_paramilitary_personnel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">currently</a> has around 1.4 million active service members. By comparison, China&#8217;s military has more than 2 million.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1281-the-matt-walsh-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
As alarming as all of those statistics are, the news gets even worse when you consider the quality of the few people who are signing up to serve this country. The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12855869/army-tiktok-mutiny-gen-z-recruits.html">reported</a> this week on what it calls a &#8220;TikTok Mutiny&#8221; among recruits, who are increasingly posting videos online to complain about the conditions they&#8217;re shocked to encounter in the military. These are soldiers who are in uniform, often recording themselves inside U.S. military bases, whining that the pay is bad and the food isn&#8217;t up to their standards. Here are just a couple of these videos:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="005 Military TikToks" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EB_ODw3qJiw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
You&#8217;ll notice that nowhere in those TikToks do any of these soldiers talk about their pride in their country, or their family&#8217;s history of service, or their desire to ensure a safe and prosperous world for their grandchildren. They don&#8217;t talk about any of that because none of it applies to them. A recent <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/507980/extreme-pride-american-remains-near-record-low.aspx">poll</a> by Gallup found that only one in ten young liberals were &#8220;extremely proud&#8221; in their country. And since most young people are liberal, this is what you get.
On the bright side, it&#8217;s a diverse group of soldiers in these clips. There&#8217;s no denying that. So there&#8217;s at least one objective that our Pentagon has successfully completed. Unfortunately, all of these diverse recruits are saying pretty much the same thing. They&#8217;re not making enough money. They&#8217;re not getting enough respect. They can&#8217;t see their family as often as they&#8217;d like. And so on.
Of course, all of these complaints have always applied to life in the military. The food has never been five-star quality and the pay has always been abysmal. The difference is that now we&#8217;re filling the ranks with the sorts of people who would not only whine about it, but whine publicly in uniform for clicks. These are the kind of recruits we&#8217;re told will help us defeat China and their hypersonic missiles. This is what equity looks like in the armed forces, and no one&#8217;s allowed to point out what a disaster it&#8217;s been.
The issue, however, isn&#8217;t just diverse recruitment efforts and TikToks. There are much deeper problems with the military&#8217;s leadership, and a handful of recent incidents give us clues as to what they are.
Last December, the Washington Times reported that the Defense Department <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/dec/14/army-soldiers-under-investigation-wearing-bondage-/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched</a> an investigation into two Army soldiers who, &#8220;took sexually explicit photos in uniform while wearing dog masks and bondage gear.&#8221; Some of these photos were apparently taken on an airfield, as well as inside a locker room with nameplates for Joint Base Pearl Harbor. Nothing ever came of that investigation, as far as I can tell. The military just buried it.
That same month, a high-ranking commander in New Jersey named Chris Schilling, who was stationed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11518463/Fury-Army-Lieutenant-Colonel-calls-cops-New-Jersey-mom-online-complaints-school.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> a mother on Facebook because she complained about gay propaganda that her seven-year-old daughter was learning at school. Here&#8217;s what the mother, Angela Reading, wrote on Facebook: &#8220;Why are elementary schools promoting/allowing elementary KIDS to research topics of sexuality &#8230; How can my young children be accepting of people &#8216;who are sexually attracted to multiple genders&#8217;? They don&#8217;t know what sex is!&#8221;
Her post continued along those lines. At no point did she threaten anyone. But in response, Chris Schilling wrote this: &#8220;The Joint Base leadership takes this situation very seriously and from the beginning have had the security forces working with multiple state and local law enforcement agencies to monitor the situation to ensure the continued safety of the entire community.&#8221;
In this case, the military never explained why Chris Schilling was posting publicly on behalf of a military base, and intimidating a mother who was expressing her views on social media. They certainly didn&#8217;t publicly fire Chris Schilling, which would have been the obviously appropriate response. Again, they buried the story.
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Each of these incidents, as egregious as they are, point to the transformation of the U.S. military from a fighting force, into a political tool. Their goal now is the same as the goal of every federal agency under the Biden administration, which is to promote a perverse cult and root out any nonbelievers. That&#8217;s why three years ago, the Pentagon commenced a political purge that was thinly veiled as a COVID mandate. In just the past few years, more than 8,000 military service members <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2023/02/28/troops-discharged-after-refusing-covid-vaccine-can-now-rejoin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were discharged</a> for refusing to take the COVID shot. Only around 40 of those service members ever returned; they&#8217;re mostly gone for good.
This is all over a shot that didn&#8217;t work as advertised, and it was never important for young and healthy people — the kind of people you want joining the military. But the military kicked out 8,000 service members anyway, because the point wasn&#8217;t really to keep service members from dying of COVID. It was to punish people with the wrong political views. Now, the only people who want to sign up are lazy and entitled.
It&#8217;s easy to make this into a commentary on Gen Z. To some extent it is a commentary on them. But it&#8217;s more a commentary on our institutions that have created people like this, and a military like this. The biggest problem for the military right now — and it is a very major problem — is that they are not only light in numbers but in the quality of the recruits they&#8217;re bringing in.
It used to be that the military would actively recruit young men and call them to come and sacrifice themselves in defense of their country. They were looking for men who could kill the enemy, and they didn&#8217;t hide from that fact. “Full Metal Jacket” is a fictional film but by all accounts its depiction of Marine Corps boot camp 50 years ago isn&#8217;t too far from accurate. In one iconic scene, the drill sergeant tells the recruits that they need to become killers, and gives Charles Whitman and Lee Harvey Oswald as examples of effective Marine Corps assassins. That’s not the kind of speech we would want drill sergeants giving in reality — mass murderers aren’t the best role models — but the point is that the military didn’t use to hide from the fact that it was calling men to violence. Violence for a good cause, in service to their country.
You see here three things that are now missing from the way the military recruits and trains people. They used to look for (1) men, who were (2) motivated by higher ideals like patriotism, and were (3) eager and willing to kill bad guys.
The military&#8217;s current recruitment strategy specifically avoids all of that. Now they put out recruitment ads that look like Disney movies or the kinds of videos you might see in a corporate HR seminar. Here, for example, is one recent recruitment ad from the Army. It specifically targets women who are motivated not by patriotism but by narcissism. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="EMMA | THE CALLING | GOARMY" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MIYGFSONKbk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
So this is a strong and independent woman, raised by two lesbians to become a Left-wing social justice activist, who grows up, gets hired by the Army and then starts bossing men around. She doesn&#8217;t want to serve her country. She wants to use her job in the Army to impress her sorority sisters. This is the kind of person the military has been targeting. 
Contrast that with military recruitment ads back in 1940, the last time our Army was so depleted. Watch how the military used to recruit:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Us Army Recruiting (1940)" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bFQOcYoogm0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
They&#8217;re focused on skills and competence. They&#8217;re talking about how recruits can contribute to the military. They don&#8217;t show them cartoons about impressing their sorority sisters.
Now all that&#8217;s changed. And it&#8217;s not just the Army that&#8217;s been trying to remove all hints of masculinity from its ranks. As Matt Gaetz pointed out this year, Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana recently hosted a &#8220;drag queen story hour.&#8221; So did Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and Joint Base Langley in Virginia. This year, amid all the scrutiny, the Pentagon reluctantly announced that the Navy has suspended its formal drag queen events. Behold maybe the single most depressing and unintentionally hilarious news conference ever delivered by the Department of Defense:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Navy now says it’s pilot drag queen influencer campaign has concluded. <a href="https://t.co/2cYa10WXT0">pic.twitter.com/2cYa10WXT0</a>
&mdash; @amuse (@amuse) <a href="https://twitter.com/amuse/status/1654781157098004481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
So the drag queen initiative has been suspended, says the Pentagon lady. But the military never apologized for it. They never reacted with horror that this was going on. Instead, they&#8217;ve done what they&#8217;ve been doing the past few years. They buried it, admitted no fault, and kept on doing it. 
Lowering standards and filling the military with cultists who hate this country is not the solution to low recruitment. Everyone knows that. The solution to low recruitment is to apologize for firing soldiers because they won&#8217;t take an experimental shot. It&#8217;s to reinstate all of those soldiers with back pay, immediately, and then fire any officer who had any involvement in that decision, including Lloyd Austin.
And then the Pentagon needs to repudiate the testimony of former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mark Milley, who repeatedly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/republicans-joint-chiefs-chairman-critical-race-theory-congress/2021/06/23/84654c34-d451-11eb-9f29-e9e6c9e843c6_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lectured</a> soldiers about &#8220;white rage.&#8221; Instead of <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/01/14/the-military-knows-it-has-a-problem-with-domestic-extremists-white-supremacists/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pretending</a> that &#8220;white supremacy&#8221; is the biggest threat we face, and making cartoon recruitment videos for narcissistic girl bosses, the Pentagon should do what it used to do, which is reward merit and character. Most of all, if you want to solve your recruitment problem, you need to speak to men specifically, and call them to service using language that evokes higher ideals like patriotism and courage and loyalty. And then you need to turn the military — turn it back, rather — into a place tailor-made for men like that.
Under the current administration, of course, the military will do precisely none of that. That&#8217;s because, from the very highest levels, the Biden administration doesn&#8217;t believe this country or its values are worth defending. The end result is the &#8220;crisis&#8221; that the military currently faces. And it is indeed a crisis. But it&#8217;s a crisis of their own making.

Miami Beach, Florida, Hyundai Air & Sea Show, Military Village recruiters promoting Army Aviation

The Military Is Collapsing Under The Weight Of Its Own Wokeness

Matt Walsh

Readers Pass

TikTok

U.S. Military

The U.S. Department of Defense is warning Congress of continued military recruitment struggles as the country will enter the new year with its smallest fighting force since before World War II. 
Ashish Vazirani, the Pentagon’s acting undersecretary for personnel and readiness, told the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that the Army, Navy, and Air Force missed their 2023 recruitment goals by a combined 41,000 personnel, The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12869575/pentagon-biden-army-navy-marines-space-force-military-recruit-gen-z.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The annual defense authorization bill passed by Congress earlier this week stated that active-duty troops will drop to 1,284,500 in fiscal 2024, which is down by 64,000 troops over the past three years, giving the U.S. military its smallest force since 1940, <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2023/12/14/amid-recruiting-woes-active-duty-end-strength-to-drop-again-in-2024/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Military Times. 
&#8220;That number understates the challenge before us as the services lowered end-strength goals in recent years, in part because of the difficult recruiting environment,” Vazirani said, adding that military recruitment is facing “one of its greatest challenges” since the last declared draft ended in 1973. 
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, expressed his concern over the decreasing military numbers.
“We need a larger force, in every branch. But the reality of recruiting is driving the numbers, not what we actually need,” Wicker told The Military Times. 
Some branches of the armed forces have gone to more extreme lengths recently to boost their recruitment levels. Earlier this year, the Navy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/navy-hires-active-duty-drag-queen-to-combat-sinking-recruitment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made</a> Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, an active-duty sailor and drag queen, one of five Navy Digital Ambassadors in a pilot recruitment program. The Air Force <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/air-force-to-decrease-body-weight-standards-for-entry-as-americans-increasingly-too-fat-to-enlist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made a move</a> in April to recruit more Americans into its ranks by decreasing weight standards. 
The strategies didn’t appear to work, as both the Navy and the Air Force are expected to be down thousands of airmen and sailors from its 2021 numbers. The Army is facing the largest recruitment problem out of the military branches as it’s down over 40,000 troops over the past three years. The Marine Corps, which along with the Space Force met its most recent recruitment goal, is still expected to be down by nearly 9,000 active-duty service members compared to fiscal year 2021. 
The Pentagon is seeking to change the direction of the military&#8217;s poor recruiting numbers by developing a message that &#8220;resonates&#8221; with young Americans, according to Vazirani.
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&#8220;While the picture of the current recruiting environment is acutely difficult, the Defense Department and the military services are working together to resolve issues, improve processes, and expand awareness of the many opportunities military service offers,&#8221; said Vazirani. &#8220;We must reach today&#8217;s youth where they are with a message that resonates with them and motivates them to act.&#8221;

Army Recruitment

Pentagon Warns Of Military’s Dropping Numbers Heading Into 2024 As U.S. Fields Smallest Fighting Force Since Before WWII

Pentagon Warns Of Military's Dropping Numbers Heading Into 2024 As U.S. Fields Smallest Fighting Force Since Before WWII

Marines

Pentagon

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Navy

United States Space Force

On the eve of the annual Army-Navy football game, Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) — who served in the U.S. military for 23 years, including as a company commander in Kuwait and Iraq — fired off a <a href="https://www.ernst.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_to_president_biden.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to President Biden because of reports that military families hoping to attend the game could not book reservations at local hotels as they were being used to house illegal immigrants, and some reservations had been canceled for that reason.
In early October, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/army-navy-hotel-rooms-migrants-massachusetts-foxboro/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that three hotels owned by Giri Hotel Management, according to travel agent Mark Mansbach, were working with the state of Massachusetts to house illegal immigrants. “His clients&#8217; previously booked hotel rooms were canceled to continue the lease with the state. Mansbach said at least 70 of his reservations were impacted,” CBS News reported.
“Your border policies are failing, and it is abundantly clear change is needed,” Ernst wrote Biden. “Your failed policies are directly harming military families. &#8230; As you may know, this is an event for which ‘tens of thousands of veterans will pour into the greater Boston area’ hoping to celebrate America’s Game.”
“It’s clear: these cancellations are due to your administration’s decision to ship illegal immigrants across the country to sanctuary cities at taxpayers’ expense,” she continued.
“The Army-Navy Game is not a trivial thing,” she declared. “It fosters esprit de corps between American military families, potential future servicemembers, and the Armed Forces. This is an imperative when the military is faced with the worst recruiting crisis in decades, in part driven by your politicization of it.”
“Of the five Defense Department service branches, only two met their active-duty enlisted recruiting goals for fiscal [year] 2023 &#8212; the Marine Corps and the Space Force, by far the smallest services with the lightest recruiting burden,” she noted. “What’s more, military families attending the game often use it to interest their children in a career in the Armed Services.”
“Not only is this game a recruitment mechanism, those of us who have served know it is truly an opportunity to showcase America’s finest—the incredible young servicemembers who have stepped forward to serve their country—the Corps of Cadets and Brigade of Midshipmen,” she continued. “The Army-Navy Game gives attendees—many of whom are veterans themselves—the opportunity to honor the next generation of our fighting men and women, as well as our nation.”
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“It is flatly unacceptable for our veterans and military families to be displaced because of your administration’s failure to secure our southern border. Military families who have scrimped and saved to be able to afford a trip to the Army-Navy game should not have to compete with illegal immigrants for hotel room space,” she concluded.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: DEC 10 Army vs Navy

Military Families Reportedly Shut Out Of Hotels For Army-Navy Game Because They’re Housing Illegals. Joni Ernst Blisters Biden.

Football

Joe Biden

Joni Ernst

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-army" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Army</a> sent letters earlier this month to nearly 2,000 former service members fired under the Biden administration’s COVID <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/vaccine-mandate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vaccine mandate</a> telling them how to correct their military records and pointing them to recruiters if they wished to return to the military. 
The letter <a href="https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-covid-vaccine-mandate-reversal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was</a> sent out before Veteran’s Day and told the fired soldiers that they could change the characterization of their dismissal from the military because of the expiration of the COVID vaccine mandate. The letter also pointed the former soldiers to recruiters if they hoped to rejoin the military. 
“As a result of the rescission of all current COVID-19 vaccination requirements, former Soldiers who were involuntarily separated for refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination may request a correction of their military records from either or both the Army Discharge Review Board (ADRB) or the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR),” a <a href="https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-covid-vaccine-mandate-reversal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> from Brig. Gen. Hope Rampy, Army Director of Personnel Management said. 
Rampy said that &#8220;individuals can request a correction to military personnel records, including regarding the characterization of discharge.&#8221; 
Over 8,400 service members <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/13/pentagon-back-pay-troops-covid-vaccine-mandate-00077902" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were</a> kicked out of the military due to the vaccine mandate while thousands more had their requests for religious exemptions rejected. According to Task and Purpose, 8,945 soldiers, 10,800 airmen and guardians, 4,172 sailors, and 3,717 Marines were denied religious exemptions. 
The Army, which has struggled to meet recruiting goals in recent years, also suggested that the former service members could return to the military.
&#8220;Individuals who desire to apply to return to service should contact their local Army, US Army Reserve (USAR) or Army National Guard (ARNG) recruiter for more information,&#8221; Rampy said. 
A spokesperson said that the letters were required to be sent out after Congress pushed the Pentagon to revoke the mandate. 
“As part of the overall COVID mandate rescission process mandated by Congress, the Army this month mailed the letters to approximately 1,900 individuals who had previously been separated. The letter provides information to former service members on how to request a correction of their military records,” a spokesperson <a href="https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/military-letters-sent-ex-servicemembers-fired-over-covid-vax-mandate#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Just the News. 
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
In response to the letter, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said that the Army should provide the fired service members with back pay and an apology.
“Maybe an apology and back pay would be appropriate as well … Or even an admission that it was a really stupid and misguided policy. Will [the DOD] finally be transparent with their data on vaccine injuries in DMED?” Johnson <a href="https://twitter.com/SenRonJohnson/status/1726987565323125109" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> to X. 
The Army <a href="https://apnews.com/article/army-recruiting-overhaul-college-job-hunting-cc2d8200467f3920e333197e42eee2ea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was</a> short 15,000 recruits in 2022 and is on track to be short of recruits again this year.

A Healthcare Worker Prepares a Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine.

U.S. Army Sends Letter To Soldiers Fired Under Biden’s COVID Vaccine Mandate

Covid vaccine

Health

Ron Johnson

Vaccine Mandate

Over the years, the United States has produced many remarkable generals and admirals, but only a few have stood out as world-class strategists and leaders of troops. As Veterans Day approaches on November 11, let’s remember and celebrate them. Here is my list of America’s finest 11 commanders.
<h2>George Washington 1732 &#8211; 1799, (Revolutionary War)</h2>
At Washington’s funeral in 1799, “Lighthorse Harry” Lee famously said of his beloved commander that he was “first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen.” As our new nation’s “indispensable man” one simply cannot imagine the American victory over the British, and thus gaining her independence, without the towering figure of George Washington as leader of the Continental Army and the face of the rebellion.
<div id="attachment_651877" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651877" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-651877" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-158653274-474x576.jpg" alt="Digitally restored vector painting of General George Washington. George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army against the British Empire and the first President of the United States. John Parrot/Stocktrek Images. Getty Images." width="474" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-158653274-474x576.jpg 474w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-158653274-247x300.jpg 247w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-158653274-768x934.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-158653274-1263x1536.jpg 1263w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-158653274-1684x2048.jpg 1684w" sizes="(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px" />John Parrot/Stocktrek Images. Getty Images.</div>
Unlike Lee, MacArthur or Jackson, Washington’s skills were not those of a tactician. There are no masterpieces of the military arts comparable to Chancellorsville or Inchon in Washington’s repertoire. Indeed, few great generals have actually lost more pitched battles than did His Excellency. In 1776, he was out-maneuvered and almost trapped during the Battle of Long Island. Then, after an American mini-Dunkirk to ferry men across the East River while the British slept, he was repeatedly pushed up and then off of Manhattan Island.
He allowed the losses of Forts Washington and Lee, and watched helplessly as 2,800 of his men were taken prisoner. He then retreated across New Jersey with his disintegrating rag-tag army wherein he hatched a desperate Hail Mary plan to save the flagging rebellion. In trying to protect the capital of Philadelphia from the invading British the following year, he suffered back-to-back defeats at Brandywine Creek (September 1777) and then Germantown (October 1777), allowing the King’s soldiers to march into America’s largest city. In fact, he really only decisively won two outright battles: Trenton in 1776 and then Yorktown in 1781. Monmouth in 1778, was technically a draw, even as the Continentals got the upper hand in the fight.
So, if not for tactical brilliance, what made Washington so indispensable?
One would have to look into the character of the man. He was not just the right man at the right time; he was the only man at the right time. And he was absolutely committed to his cause, even though as one of the wealthiest colonists he stood to lose his fortune, even his life, should the revolution fail.
<div id="attachment_651891" style="width: 785px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651891" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-651891" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/3-GettyImages-1277000207-copy-775x576.jpg" alt="Old engraved illustration of General George Washington crossing the Delaware River during the American Revolutionary War in 1776." width="775" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/3-GettyImages-1277000207-copy-775x576.jpg 775w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/3-GettyImages-1277000207-copy-300x223.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/3-GettyImages-1277000207-copy-768x571.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/3-GettyImages-1277000207-copy-1536x1142.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/3-GettyImages-1277000207-copy-2048x1523.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 775px) 100vw, 775px" />Old engraved illustration of General George Washington crossing the Delaware River during the American Revolutionary War in 1776. Getty Images.</div>
The war lasted an exhausting eight years. And in that time, through seemingly one crisis upon another, Washington through sheer force of will and displays of leadership managed to keep his often ill-clothed, sick, and starved army functioning, and thus keep the cause alive. And though at times he privately despaired about his situation, he never showed this side to his men. In fact, when planning his most desperate attack on the Hessian garrison at Trenton in December 1776, he privately worried that should the attack fail “the game is pretty well up.” The password was “Victory or Death.” It was victory. And through successes in New Jersey at the end of 1776 into the first week of 1777, Washington showed an uncanny ability to revitalize his army, his officers, and the country when it was needed most. His victory at Trenton could be the most important in U.S. history. Indeed, it has been said that never in history has such a small group of men in such a short window of time engaged in fighting that has so changed the course of the world. And that victory would simply not have been possible, or even conceivable, without Washington.
<div id="attachment_651893" style="width: 809px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651893" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-651893" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1133100220-799x576.jpg" alt="" width="799" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1133100220-799x576.jpg 799w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1133100220-300x216.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1133100220-768x554.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1133100220-1536x1108.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1133100220-2048x1477.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px" />George Washington on horseback looking back at troops crossing the Delaware River on the evening previous to the Battle of Trenton, December 25th, 1776.</div>
Washington’s growth from an inexperienced former colonel of colonial militia to a formidable leader of a disciplined and formidable army is evident. By 1780, he was conducting a continental war. His skill at picking the right men under him, often from unlikely stock, be they a Massachusetts bookseller in Henry Knox or Rhode Island Quaker mill owner in Nathanael Greene, showed a valuable willingness to shed military convention and bias towards professional soldiers in cobbling together such a unique fighting force. His choice of Greene to lead the Southern District of the Continental Army was perhaps one of his most important and inspired of the war given the results that led to Yorktown.
<div id="attachment_651885" style="width: 693px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651885" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-651885" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/2-getty-washington-683x576.jpg" alt="" width="683" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/2-getty-washington-683x576.jpg 683w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/2-getty-washington-300x253.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/2-getty-washington-768x647.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/2-getty-washington-1536x1295.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/2-getty-washington-2048x1726.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" />Painting of Siege of Yorktown by Louis-Charles-Auguste Couder</div>
Washington was also flexible enough to listen to counsel. By 1781 he’d become fixated with retaking New York, but when the chance to bag Cornwallis’ entire army at Yorktown in conjunction with the soon-to-arrive French Fleet arose, he wisely took his French counterpart Rochambeau’s advice and abandoned his plans to retake city and march his entire army south. The rest, as they say, is history.
<div id="attachment_651899" style="width: 815px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651899" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-651899 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1273470668-805x576.jpg" alt="Old engraved illustration of Surrender of Charles Cornwallis to George Washington at Yorktown.mikroman6. Getty Images." width="805" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1273470668-805x576.jpg 805w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1273470668-300x215.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1273470668-768x550.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1273470668-1536x1099.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1273470668-2048x1466.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 805px) 100vw, 805px" />Old engraved illustration of Surrender of Charles Cornwallis to George Washington at Yorktown. mikroman6. Getty Images.</div>
Washington is known as the “father of the country” but he is also the father of the U.S. Military that arose out of the nascent Continental Army. Commanding men from all over the nation and bridging sectional/cultural divides as well as anyone from the Virginia planter elite could, that he simply managed to keep his unique army together for so long, through so much hell and turmoil and struggles and seemingly hopeless situations, is a feat beyond all but the greatest of men. His troops, in the end, fought for him as well as the cause. And he, in turn, fought not for himself, but for his country, one he’d hoped would be better for those men in the ranks than the one they’d left behind.
As is a common theme of this series, Washington led from the front, often dangerously so.
At the battle of Princeton in January 1777, Washington rallied his men by conspicuously riding his white charger down the lines between his own and the British. When the redcoats, just 30 yards away, leveled their muskets and fired a volley, one of the general’s aides confessed he averted his eyes to not see Washington fall. But his 6’2” commander, who would often confess that he was actually exhilarated by the whizzing of deadly bullets around him, remained astride his horse as he would for the entire long, bloody, and seemingly endless war, until the final triumph at Yorktown ensured American independence. Because he never gave up. And because of this one man more than any other storied figure of the American Revolution, a most improbable victory was won, and a new country was born.
Of all the remarkable feats of arms I have listed here, however, none of them are as impressive and as important as what Washington did after the guns fell silent. On 23 December, 1783, to the shock of rulers the world over, this man who had been given almost unlimited power during the war, and who with a loyal army of veteran troops behind him could have installed himself as King of America, resigned his commission and turned command of the Continental Army back over to the civilians in Congress.
<div id="attachment_651903" style="width: 791px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651903" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-651903 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1302883679-781x576.jpg" alt="Vintage illustration depicts General George Washington leaving Whitehall Ferry on December 4, 1783, to the cheers and waves of his officers. Earlier that day, Washington left his fellow generals, Knox, Steuben, Greene, and then-Colonel Hamilton, at New York's famed Francis Tavern where he informed them that he will be resigning his commission and returning to civilian life. However, in 1789, Washington was coaxed out of retirement and elected as the first president of the United States, a position he held until 1797. Keith Lance. Getty Images." width="781" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1302883679-781x576.jpg 781w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1302883679-300x221.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1302883679-768x566.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1302883679-1536x1133.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1302883679-2048x1511.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 781px) 100vw, 781px" />General George Washington leaving Whitehall Ferry on December 4, 1783, to the cheers and waves of his officers. Earlier that day, Washington left his fellow generals, Knox, Steuben, Greene, and then-Colonel Hamilton, at New York&#8217;s famed Francis Tavern where he informed them that he will be resigning his commission and returning to civilian life. Keith Lance. Getty Images.</div>
Washington, therefore, established the most important military tradition of all and a bedrock concept of the Republic adhered to by his successors ever since, that is the firm control of the civilian authorities over the military. Supposedly, King George III was incredulous when hearing from a portrait artist that Washington would resign his commission after the war, offering: “If he really does it he’ll be the greatest man in the world.”
He really did it. And he really was.
<div id="attachment_651907" style="width: 469px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651907" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-651907 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/4-GettyImages-1286214786-copy-459x576.jpg" alt="Portrait of George Washington, first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797" width="459" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/4-GettyImages-1286214786-copy-459x576.jpg 459w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/4-GettyImages-1286214786-copy-239x300.jpg 239w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/4-GettyImages-1286214786-copy-768x964.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/4-GettyImages-1286214786-copy-1224x1536.jpg 1224w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/4-GettyImages-1286214786-copy-1632x2048.jpg 1632w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/4-GettyImages-1286214786-copy-scaled.jpg 2040w" sizes="(max-width: 459px) 100vw, 459px" />Portrait of George Washington, first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. mikroman6. Getty Images.</div>
* * *
America’s Top 11 Generals
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-11-curtis-e-lemay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #11 Curtis E. LeMay</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-10-matthew-ridgway" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #10 Matthew Ridgway</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-9-nathanael-greene" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #9 Nathanael Greene</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-8-george-patton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #8 George Patton</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-7-robert-e-lee">RELATED: #7 Robert E. Lee</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-6-admiral-chester-nimitz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #6 Admiral Chester Nimitz</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-5-thomas-stonewall-jackson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #5 Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-4-william-t-sherman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #4 William T. Sherman</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-3-ulysses-s-grant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #3 Ulysses S. Grant</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-2-douglas-macarthur" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #2 Douglas MacArthur</a>
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities trader, columnist, and author of two acclaimed novels. His newest book, the fact-based <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Pits-Rough-Tumble-Exchange/dp/B0CKPNCMQW/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=1331509151681009&amp;hvadid=83219665089301&amp;hvbmt=bp&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvlocphy=97755&amp;hvnetw=o&amp;hvqmt=p&amp;hvtargid=kwd-83219680392082%3Aloc-190&amp;hydadcr=18892_13467888&amp;keywords=brad+schaeffer&amp;qid=1698162015&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LIFE IN THE PITS: My Time as a Trader on the Rough-and-Tumble Exchange Floors</a> will be published in December and is currently available for pre-order. You can also find more of Brad’s articles on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Substack</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Digitally restored vector painting of General George Washington. George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army against the British Empire and the first President of the United States.

America’s Top 11 Generals: #1 George Washington

America's Top 11 Generals: #1 George Washington

American General

George Washington

Presidency

Revolutionary War

Americans are keenly aware of Hollywood greats who not only entertained us but served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Jimmy Stewart. Paul Newman. Charles Bronson. Humphrey Bogart. Charlton Heston.
Some became American institutions. Others portrayed tough-guy heroes for decades.
The following stars aren’t necessarily known for their on-screen bravado. Others routinely make us laugh for a living.
They served, too, and on Veterans Day it’s worth noting their contributions.
<h2>Rob Riggle</h2>
The veteran SNL funnyman has become a constant comedy presence on shows like “Modern Family,” and movies like “Step Brothers” and “The Hangover.” He’s constantly working, but before diving into that breakneck pace he served 23 years, in total, with the U.S. Marines.
Riggle’s service included nine active-duty years in Liberia, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Albania. The retired <a href="https://people.com/tv/rob-riggle-military-service-hollywood-bet-on-myself/#:~:text=Riggle%20served%2023%20years%20total,to%20serve%20in%20some%20capacity.%22" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lieutenant Colonel told People magazine</a> how invaluable his time in the military was to his personal improvement.
&#8220;They pushed me beyond my perceived limits… so whatever I thought I was capable of, the Marines said, &#8216;Actually, you can do a whole lot more when pushed.’ And they were right.” 
<div id="attachment_651375" style="width: 849px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651375" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-651375" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1775381859-839x576.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 04: (L to R) Word War II and Korean War veterans Pat Finn, Melvin Hurwitz, Johnny Johnson and Mel Jenner join actor and host Rob Riggle (C) at the 2023 American Valor: A Salute to Our Heroes event at Omni Shoreham Hotel on November 04, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images)" width="839" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1775381859-839x576.jpg 839w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1775381859-300x206.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1775381859-768x527.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1775381859.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 839px) 100vw, 839px" />WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; NOVEMBER 04: (L to R) Word War II and Korean War veterans Pat Finn, Melvin Hurwitz, Johnny Johnson and Mel Jenner join actor and host Rob Riggle (C) at the 2023 American Valor: A Salute to Our Heroes event at Omni Shoreham Hotel on November 04, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images)</div>
<h2>Adam Driver</h2>
Han Solo’s on-screen son is one of Hollywood’s most respected actors, including his work in the upcoming Michael Mann drama “Ferrari.”
Driver’s intensity is a calling card, which helps explain why he signed up to defend his country shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. 
He said during a 2015 TED Talk that his military time was “one of the things I’m most proud of having done in my life.”
He served nearly three years before a mountain bike injury forced him to accept a medical discharge. The future star tried to work through the injury, but his body wouldn’t have it. That prevented him from serving overseas in Iraq, <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2813966/adam-driver-draws-parallels-between-acting-military-careers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he told NPR’s “Fresh Air.”</a>
&#8220;I wanted to go so much. I mean, you were training to do this job for two years with these people. The idea of not going, someone else going in your place or not being there, is not really an easy thing to sit with.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_651379" style="width: 787px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651379" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-651379" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-180216884-777x576.jpg" alt="TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 10: Actor Adam Driver of 'Tracks' poses at the Guess Portrait Studio during 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images)" width="777" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-180216884-777x576.jpg 777w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-180216884-300x222.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-180216884-768x569.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-180216884.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 777px) 100vw, 777px" />TORONTO, ON &#8211; SEPTEMBER 10: Actor Adam Driver of &#8216;Tracks&#8217; poses at the Guess Portrait Studio during 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images)</div>
<h2>Drew Carey</h2>
The “Price Is Right” wisecracker routinely supports the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces. He’s deployed his wit to make soldiers smile during multiple USO outings. 
He knew exactly how they felt.
Carey signed up with the U.S. Marines in 1980 where he served his country for six years as a field radio operator with the 25th Marine Regiment in Ohio. He eventually attained the rank of sergeant, exploring his gift for gab along the way.
He began penning jokes for military stand-up performances, paving the way for his post-Marine life.
Joining the military had a <a href="https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/cleveland/drew-carey-cleveland-ohio-marine-corps-history-lone-sailor-statue-great-lakes-science-center/95-941db02d-2a8a-4c78-adb6-e7930a4806df" target="_blank" rel="noopener">profound effect</a> on the future funnyman.
“I went from not being able to afford to eat or clothe myself to getting three meals a day. I had an instant family. I had something to be proud of every day.”
<div id="attachment_651387" style="width: 880px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651387" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-651387" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1190047851-870x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 25: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Actor Drew Carey visits SiriusXM Studios on November 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)" width="870" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1190047851-870x576.jpg 870w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1190047851-300x199.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1190047851-768x509.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1190047851.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px" />NEW YORK, NEW YORK &#8211; NOVEMBER 25: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Actor Drew Carey visits SiriusXM Studios on November 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)</div>
<h2>Ice-T</h2>
The veteran rapper was once best known for his incendiary songs targeting crooked cops. Today, he’s a long-standing member of “Law &amp; Order: Special Victims Unit,” the literal face of hard-working police officers.
As a young man, he <a href="https://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/career-advice/military-transition/famous-veteran-ice-t.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joined the Army</a> to get his life in order.
Then-Tracy Marrow had a wife and daughter, so the move gave him structure along with financial security. He briefly misbehaved during his four-year stint in the 25th Infantry Division, but was able to bounce back and complete his service.
He also used that time to plot his future. Marrow picked up music equipment he’d later use in the early stages of his rap career during his military service.
<div id="attachment_651389" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651389" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-651389" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1773441395-864x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 03: Ice-T attends the 38th Annual Rock &amp; Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Barclays Center on November 03, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame )" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1773441395-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1773441395-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1773441395-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1773441395.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />NEW YORK, NEW YORK &#8211; NOVEMBER 03: Ice-T attends the 38th Annual Rock &amp; Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Barclays Center on November 03, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame )</div>
<h2>Pat Sajak</h2>
The future game show host shouted, “Good Morning, Vietnam,” into a mic long before Robin Williams made the phrase famous. Sajak didn’t come up with the catchphrase – Williams’ real-life inspiration for the 1987 film of the same name came courtesy of DJ Adrian Cronauer.
Sajak kept that irreverent spirit alive during his days in the U.S. Military.
The future “Wheel of Fortune” star initially trained as a finance clerk but later found his calling as a DJ for the American Forces Vietnam Network. 
Sajak lamented that his service didn’t include life on the battlefield. He called his service “soft,” and felt some shame attached to it. He took solace in the reaction to his broadcasts from fellow soldiers who cheered him for <a href="https://www.uso.org/stories/283-wheel-of-fortune-host-pat-sajak-recounts-his-days-as-an-army-dj">making them feel closer to home</a> with every show.
<div id="attachment_651397" style="width: 801px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651397" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-651397" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-859977418-1-791x576.jpg" alt="ORLANDO, FL - OCTOBER 10: 'Wheel of Fortune' host Pat Sajak attends a taping of the Wheel of Fortune's 35th Anniversary Season at Epcot Center at Walt Disney World on October 10, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)" width="791" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-859977418-1-791x576.jpg 791w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-859977418-1-300x219.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-859977418-1-768x559.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-859977418-1-1536x1119.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-859977418-1-2048x1492.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 791px) 100vw, 791px" />ORLANDO, FL &#8211; OCTOBER 10: &#8216;Wheel of Fortune&#8217; host Pat Sajak attends a taping of the Wheel of Fortune&#8217;s 35th Anniversary Season at Epcot Center at Walt Disney World on October 10, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)</div>
<h2>Mel Brooks</h2>
One of the funniest men alive <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2882521/actor-comedian-mel-brooks-served-in-army-in-world-war-ii/#:~:text=In%201944%2C%20he%20was%20drafted,training%20at%20Fort%20Sill%2C%20Oklahoma.">lived through the Battle of the Bulge</a>.
Brooks was drafted into the Army in 1944 and brushed up on combat engineering at Virginia Military Institute. By November he was in France and later Belgium as part of the 78th Infantry Division.
He helped clear the battlefield of land mines to allow Allied soldiers to push forward in the Battle of the Bulge. He even saw combat during his service.
The future legend could find something funny about anything, even the horrors of war. He would go on to savage the Third Reich in his 1967 comedy classic, “The Producers,” featuring the loopy tune “Springtime for Hitler.”
<div id="attachment_651399" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651399" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-651399" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-666006012-866x576.jpg" alt="LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 07: Director Mel Brooks speaks onstage at the screening of 'High Anxiety' during the 2017 TCM Classic Film Festival on April 7, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. 26657_004 (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for TCM)" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-666006012-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-666006012-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-666006012-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-666006012.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" />LOS ANGELES, CA &#8211; APRIL 07: Director Mel Brooks speaks onstage at the screening of &#8216;High Anxiety&#8217; during the 2017 TCM Classic Film Festival on April 7, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. 26657_004 (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for TCM)</div>
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@HollywoodInToto</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

2019 American Valor: A Salute To Our Heroes Veterans Day Special

‘They Pushed Me Beyond My Perceived Limits’: Hollywood Stars Who Served

'They Pushed Me Beyond My Perceived Limits': Hollywood Stars Who Served

actors

Entertainment

Hollywood

Vietnam

World War II

An Army reservist warned a training supervisor that the man who shot more than two dozen people late last month in Lewiston, Maine, was having serious mental health issues and that he could snap and go on a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mass-shooting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shooting spree</a>.
Law enforcement officials in Maine <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-find-suspect-accused-of-maine-mass-shooting-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> the 40-year-old shooter dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound a couple days after he murdered 18 people and injured more than a dozen after he opened fire at two locations.
ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/fellow-reservist-feared-maine-gunman-guns-snap/story?id=104593548&amp;cid=social_twitter_abcn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> late this week that the shooter, who The Daily Wire is not naming due to company policy about not giving notoriety to mass killers, scared a fellow Army reservist so much that the reservist warned Army reserve training supervisor Kelvin L. Mote back in September that the passcode to the unit gate needed to be changed and that he needed to be armed if the shooter showed up.
&#8220;Please. I believe he&#8217;s messed up in the head,&#8221; the reservist texted Mote, adding that the shooter might &#8220;threaten the unit&#8221; and &#8220;other places.&#8221;
&#8220;I love [him] to death but i do not know how to help him and he refuses to get help or continue help,&#8221; the texts said. &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid he&#8217;s going to [expletive] up his life from hearing things he thinks he heard.&#8221;
&#8220;And yes he still has all of his weapons,&#8221; the texts added. &#8220;I believe he&#8217;s going to snap and do a mass shooting.&#8221;
Mote later contacted local law enforcement to conduct a welfare check on the shooter and Mote noted that the shooter had been &#8220;hearing voices&#8221; and that his mental health had &#8220;only gotten worse.&#8221;
The shooter had mental health issues that included &#8220;hearing voices and threats to shoot up the National Guard Base in Saco, ME,” a law enforcement bulletin said. “[The shooter] was also reported to have been committed to mental health facility for two weeks during summer 2023 and subsequently released.”
After his involuntary psychiatric commitment in July, the Army &#8220;decided he shouldn&#8217;t have a weapon, handle ammunition or &#8216;participate in live fire activity,'&#8221; according to a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/maine-shooting-robert-card-police-check-army/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from CBS News.
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The fact that the suspect was committed to a mental health facility for a period of weeks indicates that it was an involuntary commitment, which means that he would have been banned from owning or possessing firearms.
The ATF <a href="https://www.atf.gov/file/58791/download">states</a>: “Any person who has been ‘adjudicated as a mental defective’ or ‘committed to a mental institution’ is prohibited under Federal law from shipping, transporting, receiving, or possessing any firearm or ammunition.”

Maine shooting: Police searches for suspect Robert Card

Army Reservist Warned Maine Shooter Was ‘Going To Snap And Do A Mass Shooting’ Weeks Before Massacre

Army Reservist Warned Maine Shooter Was 'Going To Snap And Do A Mass Shooting' Weeks Before Massacre

Crime

Maine

Mass Shooting

Over the years, the United States has produced many remarkable generals and admirals, but only a few have stood out as world-class strategists and leaders of troops. As Veterans Day approaches on November 11, let’s remember and celebrate them. Here is my list of America’s finest 11 commanders.
<h2>Curtis E. LeMay, 1906 &#8211; 1990 (World War II)</h2>
Cold, calculating, and brutally efficient, few American commanders have so understood not just the power of a weapon at his disposal, but the proper way to deploy it to the most effect as did Air Force Major General Curtis LeMay. The weapon was the strategic bomber. 
As commander of the USAAF 305th Bombardment Group in Europe, then-Col. LeMay was once faced with a problem of crews prematurely aborting their missions. He figured it had to do with will more than anything else. So he issued an order: “I will be in the lead plane on every mission. Any plane that takes off will go over the target, or the crew will be court-martialed.” According to Robert McNamara: “The abort rate dropped overnight. Now that’s the kind of commander he was.”
<div id="attachment_645503" style="width: 441px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-645503" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-645503" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615290192-431x576.jpg" alt="" width="431" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615290192-431x576.jpg 431w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615290192-225x300.jpg 225w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615290192.jpg 767w" sizes="(max-width: 431px) 100vw, 431px" />Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images</div>
In the summer of 1944, the veteran and driven LeMay was sent to the Pacific Theater where he eventually was placed in overall command of strategic air operations against Japan. Upon arrival, the airman faced a dilemma. He was presented with America’s most advanced weapon to date: the massive B-29 Superfortress bomber. It was a quantum leap in airborne technology, and far more advanced than its B-17, B-24, and Lancaster stablemates. In fact, the U.S. had spent more money developing the B-29 than even the atomic bomb. And by late 1944 it was looking to be a colossal waste of money.
Although the pressurized high-altitude Superfortresses could fly above most Japanese fighters, the newly discovered jet stream at those heights made accurate precision bombing impossible. When flying into the jet stream, the bomber streams’ real airspeed was dangerously slow making them easy targets; when flying with it, the formations were hurled across the sky at too high an airspeed to properly set up targets. And the high winds sent bombs scattering. The B-29 program was in serious trouble.
<div id="attachment_645543" style="width: 756px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-645543" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-645543" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615316416-746x576.jpg" alt="Major General Curtis Lemay, head of the bomber command against Japan, stands in front of a group of B-29 bombers at a base in the Mariana Islands. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)" width="746" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615316416-746x576.jpg 746w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615316416-300x232.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615316416-768x593.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-615316416.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 746px) 100vw, 746px" />Major General Curtis Lemay, head of the bomber command against Japan, stands in front of a group of B-29 bombers at a base in the Mariana Islands. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)</div>
The adaptive LeMay decided to take a chance. He ordered his bombers stripped of all armament save a tail gunner so they could carry more payload, filled them with thousands of pounds of incendiaries rather than high explosive bombs, and ordered that the bombers go in at a mere 5,000 feet, and in the dead of night to avoid fighters and accurate anti-aircraft fire. Pilots thought him insane, and believed he had signed their death warrants, but the confident LeMay understood that with Japan’s cities constructed mostly of wood and paper, the effects of firebombs would be catastrophic.
<div id="attachment_645493" style="width: 737px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-645493" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-645493 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-515422580-727x576.jpg" alt="(Original Caption) With cigar in mouth, Major General Curtis E. LeMay, the commander of 21st Bomber Command, listens as B-29 Navigator Lt. Nelson McDowell (R), of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, describes run of target after a Superfort raid on Nagoya, Japan. At left is Captain Waldo Timm, of Portland, Oregon, and second from right is Brigadier General Thomas Power, who commands B-29s on Guam." width="727" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-515422580-727x576.jpg 727w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-515422580-300x238.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-515422580-768x608.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-515422580.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 727px) 100vw, 727px" />(Original Caption) With cigar in mouth, Major General Curtis E. LeMay, the commander of 21st Bomber Command, listens as B-29 Navigator Lt. Nelson McDowell (R), of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, describes run of target after a Superfort raid on Nagoya, Japan. At left is Captain Waldo Timm, of Portland, Oregon, and second from right is Brigadier General Thomas Power, who commands B-29s on Guam. Getty Images.</div>
On the night of March 9, 1945, he put his theory to the test, sending over 300 B-29s from the Marianas to firebomb Tokyo with over 250,000 incendiary bombs filled with napalm, a fiery gel that sticks, spreads, and burns out all it touches. The result was an utter holocaust. Fourteen square miles of the Japanese capital city were burned out and over 100,000 civilians were killed — making it the most lethal single act of war in history — while hundreds of thousands more were made homeless. These devastating results came at the cost of just 14 B-29s downed and 96 crew lost.
LeMay had his template. From March to August 1945, his B-29s would firebomb Japanese city after city to the point that had the war lasted much longer there would have soon been no more worthy targets remaining. Estimates range from 200,000 to over 500,000 Japanese died in LeMay’s relentless onslaughts, along with some 5 million made homeless. At least 40% of over 60 Japanese cities were burned out; her war-making ability ceased to exist.
Now, with the addition of fleets of heavy bombers from the USAAF and RAF in the just concluded war on Germany, and with the much closer aerodrome on Okinawa, LeMay believed he could compel Japan to surrender by aerial bombardment alone. This, however, was rendered moot by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that effectively ended the war.
<div id="attachment_645517" style="width: 753px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-645517" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-645517" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-3239764-743x576.jpg" alt="circa 1962: American president John F Kennedy (1917 - 1963), wearing dark sunglasses, sits next to US Air Force Chief of Staff Curtis LeMay (1906 - 1990, L). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)" width="743" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-3239764-743x576.jpg 743w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-3239764-300x233.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-3239764-768x596.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-3239764.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 743px) 100vw, 743px" />Circa 1962: American president John F Kennedy (1917 &#8211; 1963), wearing dark sunglasses, sits next to US Air Force Chief of Staff Curtis LeMay (1906 &#8211; 1990, L). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)</div>
After the war, LeMay would go on to serve in several high-ranking positions, including head of Strategic Air Command and USAF Chief Of Staff. His hostility to the Johnson administration’s policies in Vietnam, and his personal animosity towards McNamara, led to his retirement from the military in 1965. As with so many great military leaders, however, the instincts that served LeMay so well in war abandoned him in politics.
In 1968, LeMay would end up as Alabama governor and presidential candidate George Wallace’s running mate on the American Independent Party ticket. Among the party platforms was continued racial segregation. Whether or not LeMay shared Wallace’s racist sentiments is up for debate, but in the end it didn’t matter. Soon considered to be politically “tone-deaf” by Wallace’s staff, LeMay turned out to be a liability. In particular, his suggestion that the U.S. could <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2019/Sep/26/2002187168/-1/-1/1/LEMAY%20ON%20VIETNAM.PDF">use nuclear weapons</a> on North Vietnam to “bomb them back into the stone age” came across as far too bellicose for a population growing increasingly anxious and disillusioned about the war.
<div id="attachment_645521" style="width: 830px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-645521" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-645521 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-517830056-820x576.jpg" alt="(Original Caption) General Curtis E. LeMay, retired U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff is seen here speaking to the press after American Independent Party presidential candidate George C. Wallace named him as his running mate." width="820" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-517830056-820x576.jpg 820w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-517830056-300x211.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-517830056-768x539.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/GettyImages-517830056.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" />(Original Caption) General Curtis E. LeMay, retired U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff is seen here speaking to the press after American Independent Party presidential candidate George C. Wallace named him as his running mate. Getty Images.</div>
The grim image of death from above that “Bombs Away LeMay” projected became the stuff of legend. He was the model for USAF Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Peter Sellers’ 1964 Cold War satire “Doctor Strangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb.”
Art can imitate life. And whatever one thinks of LeMay — either as a victorious visionary of aerial warfare, or cold-blooded killer — not many American commanders have had so direct a hand in defeating an enemy as did this cigar-chomping bomber jockey. The omnipresent cigar was not a prop but rather a way to manage the Bell’s Palsy that partially paralyzed his mouth, giving him his trademark scowl.
LeMay is the personification of firebombing, the morality of which continues to be debated to this day. LeMay himself candidly admitted: “I suppose had we lost the war, I’d have been prosecuted as a war criminal.” But it was Japan that lost and in no small measure due to the rain of hellfire from the air at the hands of this modern god of an angry sky.
* * *
<h4>America’s Top 11 Generals</h4>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-10-matthew-ridgway" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #10 Matthew Ridgway</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-9-nathanael-greene" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #9 Nathanael Greene</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-8-george-patton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #8 George Patton</a>
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities trader, columnist, and author of two acclaimed novels. His newest book, the fact-based <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Pits-Rough-Tumble-Exchange/dp/B0CKPNCMQW/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=1331509151681009&amp;hvadid=83219665089301&amp;hvbmt=bp&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvlocphy=97755&amp;hvnetw=o&amp;hvqmt=p&amp;hvtargid=kwd-83219680392082%3Aloc-190&amp;hydadcr=18892_13467888&amp;keywords=brad+schaeffer&amp;qid=1698162015&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LIFE IN THE PITS: My Time as a Trader on the Rough-and-Tumble Exchange Floors</a> will be published in December and is currently available for pre-order. You can also find more of Brad&#8217;s articles on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/">Substack</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire

Major General Curtis LeMay

America’s Top 11 Generals: #11 Curtis E. LeMay

Japan

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-military" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Army</a> released a statement on Thursday night pushing back on some of the claims that were made in a police bulletin by Maine State Police this week about the suspect who is wanted for allegedly shooting dozens of people in Lewiston.
The reported shooter is wanted by police for allegedly murdering 18 people and wounding over a dozen more in shootings Wednesday night at Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley, previously known as Sparetime Recreation, and Schemengees Bar &amp; Grille Restaurant.
The Associated Press reported that the police bulletin said that the alleged shooter was “a trained firearms instructor believed to be in the Army Reserve stationed out of Saco, ME.”
The Army said in a statement that the alleged shooter was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment, and that he was not trained as a firearms instructor by the U.S. military.
&#8220;SFC [name removed] is assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment in Saco, Maine,&#8221; the statement said. &#8220;While his unit supported West Point summer training in July of 2023, there are no records to indicate he instructed or participated in any training. The Army did not train SC [him] as a firearms instructor, nor did he serve in that capacity for the Army. Due to the Privacy Act and the ongoing investigation, we cannot provide further details.&#8221;
&#8220;We take matters such as this very seriously, and our primary concern is ensuring that all legal and appropriate actions are taken in accordance with our commitment to upholding the highest standards of conduct among our Soldiers and civilian personnel,&#8221; the statement continued. &#8220;We will continue to collaborate and support local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.&#8221;
The bulletin further stated that the alleged shooter &#8220;recently reported mental health issues to include hearing voices and threats to shoot up the National Guard Base in Saco, ME.&#8221;
&#8220;[He] was also reported to have been committed to mental health facility for two weeks during summer 2023 and subsequently released,&#8221; it added.
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The fact that the alleged shooter was committed to a mental health facility for a period of weeks indicates that it was an involuntary commitment, which means that he would have been banned from owning or possessing firearms.
The ATF states: “Any person who has been ‘adjudicated as a mental defective’ or ‘committed to a mental institution’ is prohibited under Federal law from shipping, transporting, receiving, or possessing any firearm or ammunition.”
The Daily Wire has a policy of not naming mass shooters to deprive them of undeserved notoriety.

Mass Shooting In Lewiston, Maine

U.S. Army Releases Statement About Suspect Wanted In Maine Mass Shooting

The U.S. Army has charged the soldier who ran across the North Korean border back in July with crimes including desertion and soliciting child pornography. 
Travis King, 23, who was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/north-korea-to-expel-american-soldier-who-was-detained-after-running-across-border" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expelled by North Korea</a> in September after two months in the communist regime’s custody, now faces eight charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-army-charges-private-travis-king-with-desertion-over-dash-into-north-korea-2023-10-20/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. King was returned to U.S. custody on September 27 after sprinting across the heavily guarded demilitarized zone (DMZ) line in July while on a civilian tour.
King is accused of soliciting a Snapchat user in July to &#8220;knowingly and willingly produce child pornography.&#8221; He is also accused of possession of child pornography. The soldier&#8217;s mother Claudine Gates asked for her son to &#8220;be afforded the presumption of innocence.&#8221;
&#8220;The man I raised, the man I dropped off at boot camp, the man who spent the holidays with me before deploying did not drink,&#8221; Gates said. &#8220;A mother knows her son, and I believe something happened to mine while he was deployed. The Army promised to investigate what happened at Camp Humphreys, and I await the results.&#8221;
After the U.S. negotiated King’s release, the Swedish government picked him up in North Korea before handing him over to the U.S. ambassador in China, according to Reuters. He was then flown to a military hospital in Texas where he received medical and mental health evaluations. 
King, who had reportedly been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/american-soldier-in-north-korean-custody-was-facing-disciplinary-action-over-assault" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disciplined for assault</a> in South Korea and was set to be removed from the U.S. military, allegedly told the North Koreans that he fled into the country because he “harbored ill feelings against inhuman mistreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army” and “was disillusioned at the unequal American society.” The alleged remarks made by King after entering the Hermit Kingdom could not be verified by the Pentagon. 
Prior to crossing into North Korea, King was involved in at least two separate episodes where South Korean police were brought in to intervene, including incidents in September and October 2022. 
In September, King had a case settled after he was accused of punching a man in the face at a South Korean club. The following month, he was accused of acting aggressively toward police officers responding to a call about a fight, court documents obtained by Reuters show. 
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The 23-year-old soldier’s family has hired a legal team that includes Franklin Rosenblatt, who defended Bowe Bergdahl during court-martial proceedings. Bergdahl deserted his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held by the Taliban for five years before being exchanged for five high-ranking Taliban members held at Guantanamo Bay in a prisoner swap. 
&#8220;I am grateful for the extraordinary legal team representing my son, and I look forward to my son having his day in court,&#8221; Gates said. 
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.

Travis King

American Soldier Who Ran Into North Korea Faces Charges Of Desertion, Soliciting Child Porn

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