What might have been...

Since making my post yesterday concerning debates, I have been doing a bit more reading, and I wanted to share a bit of what I found.

I was looking for the quote that comedian Dennis Miller made during a SNL broadcast right after the VP debate I discussed previously. Miller, who was typically (then) the kind of comedian that made a living mocking ANY politician, regardless of party affiliation, took serious exception to the manner in which Admiral Stockdale was portrayed in a live skit on the show. I recall the episode as one that made Stockdale look like a senile dotard because of his initial comments at the debate (“Who am I? Why am I here?”), which were supposed to elicit a degree of humor at his relative “Who’s that?” status among the viewing audience. Miller’s defense of Stockdale was harsh, but resonated with feeling and showed the superficial attitude most Americans viewed politics with very eloquently.

While I was looking for this quote, I found dozens of sites dedicated to honoring James Stockdale. I knew he was a POW in Vietnam, and I knew he was a Medal of Honor recipient… but the extent of his accomplishments during his career in the Navy and in academia absolutely blew me away!

The man had as distinguished an aviation career as one could hope in the Navy, earning the MoH, FOUR Silver Stars, and 21 additional combat-valor awards in 37 years of service, advancing as high as Vice Admiral before retiring from the service to serve as President of BOTH the Naval War College and the Citadel Military Academy. He had a Master’s Degree in International Relations and Marxist Theory, a PhD in Philosophy, and has written no fewer than 22 books aimed at instructing our young cadets and midshipmen on how best to serve their country and the men they lead.

He was so crippled after return from captivity in Vietnam that he was forced to remain in a hospital bed for nearly three years, needing to have his badly healed broken bones re-broken no fewer than 7 times, so that he could learn to walk all over again. He actually beat himself into a coma while in Hoa Lo prison so that the NVA couldn’t use him as a propaganda tool by putting him on TV.

The more I read, the more I am convinced that there are very few men that were probably MORE qualified to be VP than this man. As much as I know I have conflicted with his platform, another that I feel make the list of “Best Qualified for VP” (at least the ones that never made it) is Bob Dole… but he is a distant second behind this man.

I have included a link at the right for a PDF file of two of his lectures to the Naval Academy on the impact of stoicism to a young officer. I have read both of these short papers, and think EVERYONE should read them that hopes to better understand the role of the military in American society. A day will come in the not-too-distant future that I will insist that both my sister’s son and my soon-to-be step-children will all read these works.

When James B. Stockdale, VADM USN (ret.) died in 2005, this nation lost a true hero, and I (for one) will often wonder at how differently the US would see itself now had he won the opportunity to assist in leading this nation’s executive branch in 1992.