"Certainly the question of right or wrong of American intervention in the conflict is one which now must take a back seat to the question of how to conduct the fighting so as to reach some satisfactory conclusion for the countries involved. This is the area in which I have voiced dissent and dissatisfaction with the Administration's present policy."

This is not a letter about Iraq, it was written July 10, 1967 by Senator Hatfield to then Captain Steve Altick (Serving as a fighter pilot in Vietnam) It shows the tragic parallel in the two conflicts, and the beginning of the loss of political will to seek victory; it is happening again. Senator Hatfield goes on to say; "Our soldiers in Vietnam are involved in serious actions and in my opinion their lives are much too precious to be wasted in a conflict that is not being properly conducted. This must be halted, of course, rapidly and honorably. I shall continue to criticize those in the Administration...."
This could be written today by Senator Hagel or others who advocate appeasement and surrender. I would remind them that we left Vietnam to be overrun by the north, thousands were killed in a war that could have been one with the right tactics and political will as early as 1965.

Wake Up America

Memorial Day 2007

General Order No 11, Washington DC, May 5, 1868 -
General John Logan designated May 30th for the "purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country"......

We honor the war dead of our great nation, we need to honor those who serve on the front lines of our war on terror. Honor them with respect for their mission and support for our President and what he is trying to accomplish on behalf of future generations. We must wake up and understand the struggle we are in.

On behalf of Veterans who have fought,
Steve Altick, Lt Col, USAF (Ret)

We must keep in mind that going on the offense in Iraq will result in higher casualties, remember Vietnam's 57,000 casualties when you advocate coming home before the mission is done. Remember Tet 1968, a victory for us, but because of casualties began the loss of will in our nation for the mission and the victory. Wake up America!