Maj. Mark A. Smith, USA, Ret.

Somewhere tonight, with the pressures of living and dying on the battlefield, a young soldier may not notice the classification on a document he...

Modern rules of street etiquette: 1. If you come to rob, the victims are allowed to shoot you. 2. If you try to physically fight with...

Today is the anniversary of my return from a jungle POW camp in Cambodia. The communists were certainly themselves to the very last moment, taking us to the airfield for release, then taking us back to the jungle before finally releasing us. I was not about to allow them to take my bag because I had ...

Gee, where were all you caring people back during the Vietnam War when you clearly took the side of the enemy against the armed forces of America? Some, like Secretary of State John Kerry and my fellow Returned Prisoner of War(RPW) Sen. John McCain were there fighting, in Mr. McCain’s case suffering. (In Mr. Kerry’s case, it was spending an imaginary Christmas in Cambodia.) Yet, the statements this week accusing the United States of torture of combatants are obscene. They have no basis under international law and conventions.

We are a country at war. But if you ask the average American his plans for Veterans Day, they have nothing to do with honoring the truly few who interrupted their lives to fight and die for our country. As we approached this day to honor those who fight today and those who have fought in all our wars, our military is being slashed to the very bone.

Dateline Yorba Linda – Last Friday night the Vietnam War Returned Prisoners Of War (RPW) gathered at the Nixon Library for the 40th anniversary of our 1973 dinner at the White House. Ross Perot was there. Once again we honored the man who, in the midst of the maelstrom of war, took his own money and fought that we would not be but a forgotten footnote in a tough war.

Why do you want to be an infantryman, Seal, Ranger, Recon Marine or Special Forces soldier? Why should they want you? First, the military is not about what you want but what will allow the country to put the best combat boot forward in ground combat and in dealing with foreign armies and guerrilla forces. We learned early that simply because an individual was an outstanding aviator did not always mean he could lead troops on the ground.

To the manicured mannequins of toy soldiering. So you did all the research and reached an honorable conclusion? (Cut the baloney. You bulled your way past the spiffy staffers while the real warriors were engaged fighting a war.) The march to destroy the very best military in the world continues...

(1) Let us say that an intruder(s) sneaked through your vault basement door to rob you, and inadvertently, you closed the door, locking him or her or them inside.

You then went on vacation, returned two weeks later and the persons locked in your vault basement had died of thirst.

In April, I will turn 63 years old, and I have listened, whenever I could, to Paul Harvey all my life.

Someone told me one time, “That is old hat.” My response my was to slap his hand from my car radio dial with, “Try it, pal, and I will break your arm.”