Book Thoughts: The Ghost Mountain Boys

It is apparent that James Campbell did a great job of researching information in the writing of his book, The Ghost Mountain Boys. This writing adventure covers the story of the taking of New Guinea during World War II and in particular follows the 32nd Battalion from the Wisconsin  and West Michigan area. It had an interest to me since I have lived in West Michigan for 20 some years. What these soldiers endured was horrific and Campbell uses diaries and interviews as resource materials. There were some very brave soldiers that spent most of their time in New Guinea sick and/or injured, yet continued to fight. Malaria, Jungle Rot, ingenue fever, dysentery, fleas, poor equipment (or no equipment), heat, rain, and starvation were some of the trials they faced. If you were a fan of General Douglas MacArthur prior to reading The Ghost Mountain Boys, you might have to adjust your impressions. MacArthur pretended to the rest of the world that he was right there leading the troops into battle, when in actuality he was miles away in a protected compound and had no real idea about the battles that were fought. He did not know, or care, that, in the jungle environment, there would be days that the troops only made a couple hundred yards of headway and that planning an attack could be impacted by the inability of the soldiers to make it to the battle area. He seemed to be convinced that the reason New Guinea was taking to long to overtake was that the troops were poor and uncommitted, when in actuality they were sick and starving with little or no outside support.
I came away from this book with a new appreciation of the sacrifices our troops made for us. There is so much that we don't know, I'm sure that the casualties go way beyond the end of the war in the impact on the soldier's lives and also on the lives of their families. No one who fought in New Guinea remained unchanged by the experience. I also came away with  negative feelings toward MacArthur. This guy seemed to like the spotlight so much that he did not consider anyone else. At least, when MacArthur left New Guinea to take back the Philippines, his commanders used the lessons learned on New Guinea and because of that, many soldier's lives were saved. It is so sad that a good share of those who fought in New Guinea also died there and things could have been so different.

Occupy

Here in Washington, DC, like in several cities in America, and even overseas,we see a group of people trying to force the ruling entities to listen to their voice. Frustration with how things are going in our country is not a new thing. The impression that politicians, who promised to fix the problems, are themselves part of the problem, is growing. The everyday news that portrays our government leaders as a glorified group of middle schoolers adds to this impression. Why do the politicians from one party spend more time trying to shoot down ideas from the other party, just to "make the president and his party" look bad? These people are supposed to be looking after the country's interests, not playing stupid games. They seem to think that the American people don't really know what is going on. Reality check. The people outside with their Occupy signs are not just poor, ignorant people. There are doctors, nurses, engineers and a plethora of other professionals mixed in with the homeless, under-employed, and the young. This is more than the sit-ins that occurred in the Sixties, where the protesters were portrayed as hippies, and naive college students. The politicians give the impression that if they ignore the Occupy people, that they will get tired of protesting and will go away or winter will come and it will be too cold for them to want to hang around. Even if they do go home for the winter, don't forget politicians, next year is election year.

1. Let's look a bit at exactly why these people are protesting, shall we? The American government has bailed out the car companies and the banks. Fine. There is a bit of a rub when the typical American can barely feed their family and many are losing their homes and jobs, only to see on the news that the very banks that were bailed out have given their top executives bonuses in the millions of dollars. I'm sure that a share of the wealthier population see the protest as one that would take their wealth away to evenly distribute among the masses i.e. communism. I recall that one of the Presidential contenders, Herman Cain, basically has said that the protesters should get off their butts and work hard like he did to get his money. Granted, there are some people that expect to live off the backs of others, but I propose that a good share of those protesting are not asking for a hand-out, but a chance at making a better life. I had a good job, until they eliminated my position to cut costs. Let me tell you, it was not easy to find another job and I have a graduate degree. It does seem awfully unfair that the wealthy get wealthier and the poor get poorer. Okay, wealthy person, if you want the protesters to go away, give them a job and a chance to do well. Don't just hoard your wealth or flaunt it, use it to make the world a better place. Oh, and I think that Congress should share some of the pain. Right now, they seem to be immune to the rise and fall of our economy. Vote in a caveat that, if the budget is not passed, they can be looking at not getting a paycheck with the rest of us. Tie their paychecks to the way the government is going. It has become extremely obvious that Congress is in the pockets of those who hold the most money and influence. "Money talks"--let's let it talk for the 99% of Americans too.