GEOPOLITICAL MEMOIR

God Doesn’t Want a War With China

Part Four: Not even for one billion dollars

A late evening thunderstorm lights up the sky above the Cadet Chapel at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado, August 2, 2019 (Trevor Cokley, Public Domain). The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

This is the fourth installment of a twelve-part series recounting my 30-year USAFA reunion. USAFA did not respond to a request for comment. To read part one, click here.

To read this piece for free, click here.

World War II: The Pacific Theatre

“It is difficult to convey to anyone who has not experienced it the ghastly horror of having your sense of smell saturated constantly with the putrid odor of rotting human flesh… Added to the awful stench of the dead of both sides was the repulsive odor of human excrement everywhere… Added to this was the odor of thousands of rotting, discarded Japanese and American rations… those nasty insects were so large, so glutted, and so lazy that some could scarcely fly… In addition to rotting corpses and organic waste, the litter of smashed and worn-out equipment of every type became more abundant as the battle dragged on… It was a scene of destruction and desolation that no fiction could invent.”
― E.B. Sledge, With the Old Breed, At Peleliu and Okinawa

Present Day: USAFA, Fairchild Hall, Back to the Supe briefing, October 2023