About Vercingetorix ...

I was born in an extremely religious and conservative town in South Mississippi.

However, I was never very religious and, in my younger years - I was never a conservative. The first time I had an opportunity to vote was in 1980. I remember that my opinion of Ronald Reagan was that he was an evil demon bent on blowing up the world in a nuclear holocaust. I didn't much like Jimmy Carter either because he brought back the draft registration in what I thought (and still think) was a limp effort to intimdate the Soviets when they invaded Afghanistan. So I voted for the third party candidate - ultra-liberal John Anderson!

I went to college for two years after I graduated high school - but I wasn't very motivated there. So I walked into a Navy recruiter's office one day and joined the Navy! It wasn't really out of patriotism that I did that - it was more an effort to get out of the town I had grown up in and see the world. And I thought that a change in my life would better focus me and help me to find myself. I was right about that.

In the Navy, I became a Cold War submariner. Those were some pretty "heady" days - chasing the Russians and all. Back then, we thought the world was too complicated and dangerous - and we were all happy when the Soviet Union folded their hand. We just knew that the world was going to be a better place when that happened.

But the vaccuum left by the collapse of the Soviets - led to the rise of chaos in much of the world. Previously - though we didn't appreciate it at the time - the world was actually pretty simple. It was the U.S. versus the Russians and everyone took sides. After the Soviet fall though - it became "every man for himself" - or rather - "every man against the U.S.".

In spite of the fact that the U.S. had done most of the Cold War heavy lifting for the rest of the free world. In spite of the fact that it was U.S. entry into World Wars I and II that ultimately decided those wars in favor of our allies - a sense of what I can only call "resentment" set in among many of our allies at the conclusion of the Cold War. There were exceptions of course - the British and the Ozzies! And for their support - I'll stand toe to toe with any "limey" or "ozzie" in a foxhole to defend every inch of those two countries! But for the French - our allies in the Revolutionary War - forget it! And that comes from a guy who is one-half French. I dare say, that if France were invaded by an Islamic hoarde today - there would be little support here in the U.S. to go to their rescue. I mean, God bless 'em and all - but they're on their own!

I stayed liberal right up to the presidential election in 1992 - and yes, I VOTED FOR BILL CLINTON.

That's when things changed for me.

Up to that point, during most of my lifetime, the Republicans had been in charge. I wasn't very happy about that. I was the idealistic sort at the time so the Democrats were much more my cup of tea. However, after Clinton gained office - I got to see exactly how the government functions when the Dem's are in charge - and I didn't like it. Actually, it disgusted me. I also started to reconsider my previous opinions on Ronald Reagan. In spite of my fears when he initially ran for office (and also loud Democratic assertions at the time) - the man never initiated a global nuclear war, he never even came close. But he DID end the Soviet Union and the Cold War. I also remember how great he made all of us feel about ourselves. I deeply regret now that I was never a Regan supporter during the years he was in office. He was a great man - one of the greatest.

So my transition to a conservative pretty much became complete over the course of Clinton's first term in office. In future elections, I voted Republican - and have ever since.

I proudly voted for Bush when he ran against Algore in 2000 and was happy that I did when I saw what a sore loser Algore was and to what ends he was willing to go - backed by the Democrats - to steal that election.

And ...

I remember Democratic lawyers in the Florida panhandle who worked their butts off to get military absentee ballots excluded from the recounts. They worked, without shame, to disfranchise military voters in an effort to get Algore elected. They were largely successful. As a guy in the military - I didn't much like that and I will never forgive them for it. I would vote for Daffy Duck before voting for anyone who is a member of the Democratic party. I would encourage everyone else to do likewise. In a tense moment - you get to see the character in people - and also in a political party. That moment during the recounts was just such a moment for the Democrats - and they FAILED!

I was still in the Navy when 9-11 happened. I was working out in the gym early one morning on Pearl Harbor Naval station when a shipmate of mine interrupted my bench presses to call my attention to the TV screen over in the aerobics section. There it was - the twin towers - still standing but belching smoke. I remember the reporter saying that two planes had collided into the towers and that the Pentagon had been hit the same way. I immediately looked at my shipmate and told him "This is no accident - we're being attacked - we better get to the ship right now!"

And on the way out the door - the civilian manning the desk at the gym yelled at us -- "I just got a call, any of you guys stationed on the ships - get there now!" When I got outside the gym - I could see Sailors running like bats out of hell to their different ships - which was a sight that probably hadn't been seen since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor! Occasionally, I'd spot a Sailor walking - someone who obviously hadn't heard the news yet but was wondering what all the fuss was about. Then I'd see other Sailors run up to them, say a few words, and the previously walking Sailor would bolt out in a full sprint with the others. While running to my ship, I got a call on my cell phone from my Mom - and she told me the towers had just fallen.

We were locked down on the ship for over a week - sometimes underway, sometimes in port - but always at the ready to shoot down any hijacked airliner that approached Hawaii with our missiles. Fortunately, we didn't have to do that.

A month or so later - I was in the North Arabian Sea with my ship while our battle group launched air strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan. A year or so later, I was in the Persian Gulf with the same ship while we operated against Sadaam - and later Al Quaida in the Iraq war.
I'm nearing the end of my Navy career now - and I'm no longer on a ship but my heart is still with those guys out there fighting the war! I remember that for most of my life, I thought the younger generation was misdirected and lazy - spoiled and incapable of doing the kinds of things our grandfathers did in Europe and the Pacific during World War II.

I was wrong.

I have had the opportunity to lead both men and women from this latest generation and I can tell you - they are the NEXT GREATEST GENERATION! They're a force to be respected and feared by our enemies.

For anyone reading this - I'll leave you with this little "sea story" ...

A shipmate of mine was in the mountains of Afghanistan during some of the most intense fighting during that war. He wasn't doing any fighting - he was just up there to "buck up" the Navy corpsmen stationed with the Marines who were doing the fighting. As mortars and AK automatic gunfire errupted around him - my friend ran from foxhole to foxhole looking for a Navy Corpsman to say some good words to. I don't think he ever found one though. However, he did end up getting pinned down and spending a lot of time in one particular foxhole filled with some young Marines - all of 'em less than 21 years old and a few still teenagers...

It was COLD, the high altitude made breathing extremely difficult, it was a laborous process to even move up there ... and those Marines were tired and hungry. My friend looked at them and said "Man, this is some tough shit! If you guys could be any other place other than here right now - where would you be?"

One of the Marines looked at him like he was absolutely crazy. Then he said - "There's nowhere else I want to be other than here, Sir".

All of the other young Marines nodded in the affirmative - but one added ...

"Well, if I could be one other place I would like to be up there on that mountain ledge where these kind gentlemen are firing mortars at us from. But I reckon I'll be up there soon enough!"

Fifteen minutes later - those young Marines were on top of that ledge - having killed all the Taliban that were previosly holding it. The mortar fire had stopped. My friend was still in the foxhole below but he looked up to see one of the young Marines, standing on that ledge - lighting up a cigarette. The Marine looked back at my buddy and shot him a grin and a big "thumbs up".

Sooo, are we gonna win this war? Well, with guys like these young Marines - there's no way we can lose folks!