A series of pertinent – and impertinent – observations about military justice

CIVILITY.   In this age of political confrontation, we enjoy examples of nobility — or just plain human decency — on the part of political leaders.   In his book HIS FINAL BATTLE, Joseph Lelyveld writes of the last months in the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Movingly, Roosevelt visiting wounded soldiers at a military hospital and lifted morale of recent amputees by bravely allowing these men to see his wasted-away legs.

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A GOOD REASON TO GO AWOL?   Years ago, we knew a mischievous defense counsel who tried to get court-martial panels to believe that his client’s dad had died raising the flag during World War II at Iwo Jima.    It seldom worked.

How about this one – the alleged story of Herman James, a North Carolina mountain man who was drafted into the Army at the start of World War II.   On his first day in basic training, the Army issued Private James a comb. That afternoon, an Army barber sheared off all of James’ hair.  On his second day, the Army issued James a toothbrush.  That afternoon, an Army dentist yanked seven of his teeth.  On the third day, the Army issued him work out gear, including a jockstrap. The Army has been looking for Mr. Herman James for the past 75 years.

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 ARE WE ALL BROTHERS AND SISTERS? The United Methodist Church has produced an interesting litany to be used for an international Sunday service.  Selected portions:

Lord, we know you said “go into all nations,” but this is different.  You didn’t say you were going to send all the nations to us, did you?  It’s easy to send out  mission dollars so that our clergyman can go over there. But Lord, people from those other nations are now coming here into our towns.   They are changing our schools. There are changing our grocery stores. Their changing our neighborhoods.  And now some of them want to join our church!

There are different from us. They look different, they speak different, they think about different things

Lord help us take off our self-centered glasses;  help us see other people from your perspective whether we are yellow or black, brown or white.

Lord, people say that the world is shrinking. The nations are not just “over there.”  I look and I see them, your creation, here on my doorstep – in my classes, in my group.

We will open the doors of your church to accept one another  Humanity should be our race – love should be our religion.

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 A NICE THANK YOU.   Thanks to RD, for her very kind message: “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you do for our Heroes and their families – thank you for your continued kindness, caring, and support. May God bless us with justice for [my loved one].”

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  Pentagon to cover sex-reassignment surgery for transgender active-duty troops
(Military Times) Transgender troops on active duty may qualify for sex-reassignment surgery if their physicians deem it necessary, according to Pentagon officials.

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 Ohio veterans get Borinqueneers’ Congressional Gold Medal
(Associated Press) Several Army veterans in Ohio who were part of the former U. S. Army regiment known as the Borinqueneers have been honored with replicas of the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the regiment.

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Fort Carson seeks answers after brigade’s legal records found in a field
(Army Times) Army officials at Fort Carson are attempting to figure out how seven years’ worth of one brigade combat team’s legal records, including soldiers’ personal information, ended up in a field in a town south of the Colorado post.