Who is Accountable for Ship Collisions?

/0 Comments/in /by

The Navy just released the report of its investigation into the separate collisions of two Navy destroyers with merchant ships (http://bit.ly/2hmzAra). The U.S Naval Institute provides a good summary (http://bit.ly/2i7MpGT). From my viewpoint as a former destroyer and cruiser ship captain, the report accurately lays the blame primarily on each captain’s failure to ensure his bridge and radar watch teams were adequately trained in basic seamanship and coordination. The teams did not know the basics of driving a ship over the ocean. The captains were fired as a result. Accountability runs deep in the Navy.

I am sure the crews were well trained to fire missiles, shoot guns, or launch torpedoes; there are training teams that board ships to help certify those qualifications. There are no teams that can adequately teach bridge and radar watch standers to coordinate with each others and maintain situational awareness at night in heavy shipping lanes. That’s the captain’s job. That requires the captain to train and certify watch standers…and be on the bridge when other ships are in close vicinity. For instance, I had a standing order that I was to be called by the officer of the deck whenever the projected closest point of approach of another ship was withing 5 miles of my ship. The officer would describe the situation and what he intended to do about it. If he made a mistake in his recommended course of action, he lost my certification for his watch qualification until I trained him better. It was my job to train him…my fault he did not know the right course of action.

The lessons learned over the years is that when the captain assumes personal accountability for anything that happens on a ship, fewer mistakes are made…same for business leaders ashore. 

 

Where Have The Civil-Military Connections Gone?

/0 Comments/in , , /by

It was across the road from the only drive-in hamburger stand in town. It was where we as kids looked through the fence at the big Army trucks parked behind the tall roof building. We held high school dances there.

It was the National Guard Armory, one of many in towns across America built after Pearl Harbor, and it was the home of an Army transportation company. It was the place which visibly connected the military to the community.

It’s gone now. So is the connection. Like other armories in towns across America, cost efficiency has dictated consolidation into big bases.

If the loss of armories is a visible sign of changing times, so is the Army-Navy game. When the Cadets and Midshipmen march into the stadium before the game, we watch the faces of people who are becoming personally involved in protecting America.

Here in Atlanta, many of us personally know an active duty serviceman or servicewoman…or the family of one.

Not so across America. Participation or connection to the military is being lost in some significant categories. The Pew Research Center has found that while a majority of older Americans have family connections, only a third of the 18-29 year-olds do.

Most of our military today comes from rural areas and the South. Nearly half of the active duty members live in just five states: California, Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia.

Most of our military today comes from middle income families; high income and low income families are increasingly not represented.

Thus the military community is becoming more insular. The connection between most Americans and our armed forces is fading away. We may publicly say thanks for their service, but we have no real family or personal connection.

In losing the personal connection built following Pearl Harbor, many Americans no longer are really concerned with how our military is used. We should be.

When the nation goes to war, so should the American people. Over the past few decades of America at war, the attitude of “we shop while they fight” is the norm. No tee time has been affected.

Pearl Harbor and the Army-Navy Game should remind us to vote carefully on how our military is used.

Andrew Bacevich in the September/October issue of the Foreign Affairs magazine makes some interesting suggestions. To keep the connection, he proposes that anytime America goes to war, like Iraq or Afghanistan, we put in place a special tax to pay for it.

He suggests a smaller standing all-volunteer Army, but a larger reserve consisting of individuals DRAFTED from across America’s demographics and geography. Draftees would represent various race, gender, ethnicity, region, class, and family incomes of American society. No exemptions.

Make changes like this and Americans will come up close and personal with the use of our military. Voters will take into account how and why America’s military is being used. Insuring America’s future will result

Pearl Harbor, where casualties were greater than for Americans in all of WW I, should cause to think about our military in a way that is above just saying thanks to its survivors.

The Army-Navy game, when the cameras show the faces of the midshipmen and cadets, should makes us think about how each of us should be personally involved in the defense of our freedoms.

Freedom will require American’s military and civilians to stay connected.

City of Alpharetta Memorial Day Ceremony Key Note Address

/0 Comments/in , /by

Good morning everyone and thank you for that kind introduction. You forgot to add one key point, however. You forgot to add that neither of the ships I commanded sank while I was captain. That’s important to ship captains.

As Dick Gregory once quipped: “When I was in the Army, if I lost my rifle they would charge me $87…that’s why captains go down with their ships.

On February 20th, 1942, Commander Edward O’Hare became the first American fighter ace when he single handedly attacked a formation of nine heavy bombers approaching his aircraft carrier. He became the first naval recipient of the Medal of Honor in WW II.

The following year, while he was leading the U.S. Navy’s first-ever nighttime fighter attack, his aircraft was shot down.

We all know Edward O’Hare. Chicago’s O’Hare Airport is named in his honor.

Across America today ceremonies such as the one we are having are being held to honor the devotion and sacrifice of Commander O’Hare and the over 1.3 million Americans who gave their lives for our nation. For them it was service above self.

I have the task of speaking to you today. Words are inadequate. I have no illusions that I can add to the silent testimony of those who gave their last full measure for their country, whose sacrifices are evident from the cemetery on the beaches at Normandy, to the hills at Arlington, to the rows of tombstones in the Philippines

Today we should also remember the sacrifices of families of those who died. Until part way through the Vietnam War, notices of the death of a serviceman were sent via telegram delivered by a taxi driver.

Picture the site of a row of small homes on a military base when a taxi drives slowly along looking for a house number. From behind curtains on the street wives and children are watching, hoping the taxi drives past their house. Then it stops. The driver rings the doorbell; hands the wife the telegram and walks away as she collapses in tears. In an all too repeated scene, the neighbors rush to be with her, knowing in the back of their minds the taxi might stop at their house tomorrow.

The military does not notify family members that way anymore. Today a team of soldiers and chaplains do the notification in a very sensitive and caring manner.

Milton said it best: “Those also serve who stand and wait.”

Abraham Lincoln noted in his brief remarks at the dedication of a small cemetery at Gettysburg:

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave their last full measure of devotion.”

The question we should ask ourselves this morning is how we can dedicate ourselves and how we can increase our devotion.

I want to submit to you today that we can honor those who fell in how we personally live our daily lives.

Those who have served in the military, both living and dead, share some common principles that we learned in boot camp. Maybe by understanding these principles we might be able to lead more productive lives ourselves.

Let me tell you my story of learning the common principles.

I’ll start first in the Persian Gulf

On November 1st, 1991, the ship that I commanded was patrolling in the northern part of the Persian Gulf as a radar picket ship. We were the closest ship to Iraq and were responsible for alerting the rest of our military forces of any air or surface attack heads south.

Suddenly, over the general announcing system, I hear the word passed: “This is not a drill. General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands man your battle stations. Inbound unknown aircraft.” The loud gongs of the general alarm started sounding throughout the ship.

Sailors started running to their battle stations. Projectiles were loaded in the guns. Missiles were made ready to shoot. Hoses were laid out to fight any fires.

I was in the back of the ship. My battle station at general quarters is in the Combat Combat Center. It was a long way from where I was to where I needed to go.

With sailors energetically racing all around me to their battle stations, I was faced with a decision. As the captain, do I walk or do I run to my battle station.

I’ll tell you what I did in a few minutes.

My decision was based on the principles I learned during the Naval Academy boot camp.

I really learned those principles in first sixty seconds.

When I walked out of the induction center door, an upperclassman got a few inches from my face and yelled, literally yelled: “Mr. Fraser, stand at attention, look straight ahead, tuck your chin in, what’s your laundry number?”

I answered: “I don’t know, sir.”

“Don’t know? Don’t know?” he yelled. “Don’t know is never an answer in the Navy. Drop for fifty push-ups. When you get to fifty, let me know. Don’t get up.”

I did fifty and stayed on my hands and toes. This upper classman started yelling again.”

“Mr. Fraser, there are only four answers to a question: “No excuse, sir!” I’ll find out, sir!” “Yes or no, sir”…and you’d better tell the truth or we kick you out here…and “aye, aye, sir!”…we don’t say “ok” here, we respond with enthusiasm.”

“Now get up. The number is on the back of your name tag.”

To this day I know my laundry number: 722639.SIR!

What I didn’t know at the time was that in those four answers I had just learned the four basic principles learned in boot camps by millions of trainees over the years…and by which we can all lead our lives.

They all support the concept of Service Above Self…of Duty, Honor, Country.

NUMBER ONE

First: No excuse,sir” teaches us the importance of the pressure of having a mental attitude of total, personal accountability. That pressure forces us to do better in everything. It also prevents disasters.

USS Hobson

A number of years ago a destroyer was screening an aircraft carrier at night. When the carrier altered course, the officer-of-the-deck became confused, turned the wrong way, and the ship was hit and cut in two by the carrier. The captain and 176 sailors went down with the ship.

At a subsequent hearing, the captain was found responsible for the sinking even though he was not on the bridge when the destroyer turned the wrong way and was killed in the accident. He had not trained his officers sufficiently.

The Wall Street Journal wrote an editorial article on this incident that in part said:

 “It is cruel this accountability of good and well-intentioned men. But the choice is that or an end to responsibility and finally, as the cruel sea has taught, and end to the confidence and trust in the men who lead…

And when men lose confidence and trust in those who lead, order disintegrates into chaos and purposeful ships into floating derelicts.”

The same principle of accountability applies to business, at home, and to government.

Tylenol

In September of 1982, six people died of poisoned Tylenol tablets. How many bottles were poisoned was not known.

Feeling his accountability to his customers, the chairman of Johnson and Johnson, against all the advice of his advisers, ordered every bottle of Tylenol removed from every shelf in the world.

Johnson and Johnson is a great company today because of that decision…not a floating derelict.

We ought to also have a sense of accountability to our wounded veterans.

There are lots of ways to do that.

One example is the Shepherd Center here in Atlanta. The Shepherd Center has a military initiative that treats brain injured soldiers…medically and psychologically.

Every day 22 of our veterans commit suicide. None of the veterans who have been treated at the Shepherd Center have committed suicide. Patients receive care that is largely unfunded by insurance or the government and does so at no cost to the patient. That’s why my book royalties are going to Shepherd.

“No excuse” A sense of accountability is principle one. It is critical to the success of our lives and our country.

 

NUMBER TWO:

The second principle is “I’ll find out.”  just taking time to think…”

Torpedo Bomber

On June 4th, 1942, Lieutenant Commander John Waldron was leading his torpedo squadron in search of the Japanese carrier force off Midway. The Japanese were not where they were expected. Waldron had done his own thinking and calculations and thus led his squadron of old, very slow planes in his own direction and soon found the Japanese carriers.

He attacked immediately at sea level altitude without fighter air cover, and in the process drew most of the Japanese defending fighters down to his level. Every single one his planes was shot down, but with the Japanese defending planes now at sea level, the American dive bombers suddenly appeared overhead and attacked without being hassled by enemy fighters.

Four of the five carriers were sunk in the next few minutes. Most of the carriers which had attacked Pearl Harbor were now destroyed.

If Waldron had not taken time to think, the world might look at lot different today.

If he had not found the Japanese and attacked without fighter cover, we probably would have lost the Battle of Midway and our last remaining carriers, lost Hawaii, had to shift our military from the Europe to the Pacific to defend the West Coast, delayed attacking Hitler, and thus provided him time to fully develop a nuclear weapon his team was building. Europe would look much different today.

It doesn’t because he took time to think.

“I’ll find out”—thinking. It allows us to be ready not only for what happens to us but how we respond to what happens to us.

NUMBER THREE:

The third principle is ethics…knowing right from wrong, telling the truth when we say yes or no. Ethics creates trust. Trust in each other is critical at sea, in our businesses, and at home.

Richard Anderson, the former Chairman of Delta, once remarked that only companies and countries with ethics long survive.

Ethics is something most noticeable when it’s missing in an organization. We are offended when someone cheats. But why are we surprised?

Football Game

Take for instance a football game where a receiver seemingly catches a pass, but there is a challenge stating that he trapped it instead of catching it. Minutes pass while the catch is viewed from every TV angle possible.

Do you ever wonder why the refs don’t just ask the player? Why is the philosophy accepted that it is ok to do something on the playing field as long as you are not caught?

Why then are we angered at companies like Volkswagen hiding the results on emission tests.

If we all want to be trusted, we need to have a strong sense of right and wrong. To do that we should write down our sense of right and wrong.

We can start with “do to others as you would have them do to you.”

I think the Rotary Four Way Test and the statements of similar organizations is a good start too.

-Is it the TRUTH?

-Is it FAIR to all concerned?

-Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

-Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Ethics creates trust.

We learned trust in boot camp.

 

NUMBER FOUR:

The fourth principle is motivating ourselves so we lead productive and meaningful lives…saying aye aye with enthusiasm.

The danger of being shot at is highly motivating. How do we translate that into our everyday lives? We know what to do, how to do it, but we need also to know why we do it.

Apple

When Steve Jobs first started Apple, his mission statement was not to make the best computers but instead read in part: “to make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that enhances humankind.” That “why” of Apple attracted talent that made Apple what it is toda

Chamberlain

In his historical novel Killer Angels, Michael Shaara tells a story that applies today as it did then.

As the 20th Maine regiment was marching towards Gettysburg in 1863, Regimental commander Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, called his soldiers together for a quick motivational talk. Here, on the eve of the battle that would decide the war, is what he said:

“This is a different kind of Army.  You go back through history you will see men fighting for pay, for women, for some other kind of loot, for land, for power, or because a king leads them, or because they like killing.  But we are here for something new.  This has not happened much in the history of the world. We are an Army out to set other men free.

No man has to bow; no man is born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was.  Here you can be something.  Here is the place to build a home.

But it is not the land.  There is always more land. It is the idea that we all have value, you and me.  What we are fighting for, in the end, … we are fighting for each other.”

We all are motivated when we know why we do things. Those who gave their lives knew why. Doing things for others should be our personal “why.”

We were taught to learn the “why” in boot camp.

Walked, not Ran

For me on that day in the northern part of the Persian Gulf, because I felt a strong sense of personal accountability as captain, I had spent time thinking about our response to an inbound aircraft and trained the crew to respond. I trusted the crew to follow those responses. I trusted the tactical action officer, who in my absence had the authority to defend the ship.

And we were all motivated because we knew the why of our mission in the northern part of the Persian Gulf

So I walked to my battle station…though a little more briskly than normal.

Closing

So on this Memorial Day

—Let’s remember Abraham Lincoln’s final words in dedicating the Gettysburg Cemetery:

That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, for the people, and by the people shall not perish from this earth.”

—Let us apply daily the principles so many millions of service men and women have learned over the years.

  • And let us leave with an American hymn in our hearts:

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life!

America, America

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

 

May God Bless the City of Alpharetta, and the United States of America.

Know the Enemy

/0 Comments/in /by

At the National War College reading Sun Tsu is required reading. My most memorable take away was the following statement:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

ISIS is an enemy; knowing them is job one before battle. Here is a link to the ISIS publication Dabiq that can help us : http://www.clarionproject.org/news/islamic-state-isis-isil-propaganda-magazine-dabiq.

The Four Way Test for Christmas

/0 Comments/in /by

I was watching last week the movie “Love Actually.” It’s become an annual tradition in my family, along with Chevy Chase’s “Christmas Vacation.” Chevy reminds me not to plug in too many lights. “Love Actually” reminds me that the Christmas season is in part about honest relationships. Non-Christians have separate times of the year to do the same; but since this is the Christmas season, I’m using this time of year to make a point.

The point is that Christmas should be a time to focus on business relationships as well as personal and spiritual relationships. One of the themes running through the various plots in “Love Actually” is that Christmas is the time to tell the truth. In the movie, that moral theme emboldens characters to strengthen relationships through being honest.

Christmas should also be a time to strengthen business as well as personal relationships. That can be done by thinking about a company’s core values. Richard Anderson, the Chairman of Delta Airlines, says the graveyard of corporate failures is filled by companies that had no sense of values.

Values are a set of moral guidelines. These guidelines can be rooted in various foundations, with religions the primary sources throughout history. That history is changing as secularism becomes more prominent, so it’s more important than ever to have a time set aside to think about morals.

David Brooks muses in a column in the New York Times on the impact of secularism on morals and relationships. He notes: “…an age of mass secularization is an age in which millions of people have put unprecedented moral burdens upon themselves…”

Any religious season, or any secular reminder, should make us think about our own business “moral burdens.” Where do we start to develop moral guidelines? We would do well to adopt for starters the basic historic religious and secular principle: “Do to others as you would like them to do to you.”

There are other good guidelines, but the one I think best for business relationships is the Rotary Four Way Test in what we think, say, and do:

1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build good will and better friendships?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Amongst all the things for which we are reminded at Christmas, thinking about how we implement our business values is one that will make the year ahead more meaningful and successful.

Damn the Torpedoes!

/0 Comments/in /by

Embroidered on the back of the Navy helmets at the Army-Navy game this year was the famous Navy battle cry: “Damn the Torpedoes! Full speed ahead.” That’s the battle order by Admiral Farragut for his ships to charge forward at full speed as they fought their way into Mobile Bay during the Civil War. That determination won the battle.

There are other famous battle cries that reveal the American spirit of determination: “I have not yet begun to fight!” (John Paul Jones – Revolutionary War), “Don’t give up the ship!” (James Lawrence – War of 1812), “Nuts!” (Anthony McAuliff – WW II Battle of the Bulge).

Determination to succeed in battle or business results in a strong work ethic, a clear sense of mission and goals, and a big dose of enthusiasm. Companies with determined workers can have a big competitive advantage over those that don’t.

It was a good thing Navy had “Damn the Torpedoes” on their helmets to keep them determined. They needed all the determination they could muster to beat a very good Army team.
Good leaders instill determination in crews and employees long before it becomes obviously necessary to succeed. Damn the Torpedoes! Applying Naval Leadership Principles to Business can help managers become leaders in instilling determination in themselves and their employees.

New York, Paris, and Pearl Harbor

/0 Comments/in /by

December 7th is Pearl Harbor Day in America. America was surprised by a Japanese attack that left most of the Pacific Fleet on the bottom of Pearl Harbor. 2,500 Americans were killed. “Remember Pearl Harbor!” became a WW II battle cry.

Last month France, and indeed the world, was surprised by Islamic radical jihadists in several Paris locations. 130 people were killed and 368 wounded. The United States has a term “9/11” to remember the Islamic radical jihadists’ attacks in New York which killed 2,996 people. In the future France may refer to the recent attacks as “11/13.” I hope so.

Countries recall many key historical events by designating a special day to remember. America has July 4th. Few Americans know it was in 1776, but that’s fine as long as we remember why the colonies declared their independence from the British Empire. Pearl Harbor Day is another recognized event with a date in history. “9/11” has become a key date too.

“11/13” also needs to be a world event date. We all need something to remind us to be careful not to be surprised. As time moves on, we too often revert back to the status quo that existed before the deadly event. Then we are surprised again.

With “9/11” and “”11/13” we have enough dates to remind us to work to avoid another terrorist created date. We need to pay careful attention to not letting our guard down over the years. Pearl Harbor Day has reminded us to be militarily strong to deter surprise attacks. “9/11” and “11/13’ should remind us to not only deter future terrorist attacks, but to also change the environments that foster radical Islamic terrorists.

Leaders To the Front

/0 Comments/in /by

Yesterday France deployed the nuclear powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to assist France’s forces already bombing the Islamic Caliphate (State). This deployment caught the world’s attention as it shows France is deadly serious when President Hollande says France is “at war.”

While the United States already has significant air and naval forces in the Syrian area, the carrier movement is a signal that France is not accepting the status quo and intends to hit back with everything it has. Since the terrorist attacks six days ago, France has moved aggressively. In addition to its military efforts, France is also showing it can take the lead and is moving to the front in providing international leadership.

So where is everyone else? The United States is not taking any major steps to pull together an international response. While we hear condolences from almost every country on earth (including, amazingly, the Chinese), there is little action on anyone else’s part to match the French response.

With this lackluster international support, it’s time for France to call NATO to action. After all, France is at war after being attacked, and it’s deploying a major asset in the carrier Charles de Gaulle.  NATO countries have agreed that an attack on one is an attack on all. If NATO cannot respond to this, then NATO has little reason to exist. It would obviously not respond effectively to an aggressive Russian move.

One of the reasons France needs to call on NATO is that France, or any European country, has not over the past few decades invested enough in national defense. The reality is that without the supply and transportation infrastructure of the United States military, the military forces of all the EU countries would be challenged to get significant numbers of troops to Syria and maintain them there.

The United States can get them there and help maintain them there. However, with Americans tired of sending hundreds of thousands of troops to the Middle East, it’s time now for NATO to take the lead and all the member countries send troops.

The carrier Charles de Gaulle is a symbol of French resolve to take the lead. At least someone is stepping up to the international front. As the old adage goes: lead, follow, or get out the way. We should all follow France this time.

Paris, War, and “Desert Drizzel”

/0 Comments/in /by

The carnage in Paris is the latest step in an escalating war between radical, jihadist Muslims and western civilization. Only one side in this war is playing with force, and it’s not the civilized side.

Burned by the results of massive efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States and its western civilization allies have been hesitant to respond quickly and forcefully to the spread of the Islamic Caliphate (ISIS). Just bombing is not forceful enough.

We are getting attacked again, this time in Paris…twice this year. So how does western civilization, not just the United States, respond? David Deptula in Wall Street Journal coins the term “Desert Drizzle” a term in contrast to “Desert Storm.” Our responses to ISIS have been a drip here and there.

“France is at war,” stated French President Francois Hollande. The rest of the world needs to be at war with ISIS too, supporting France in its efforts to effectively respond to the attacks. Fortunately, there is an organization already in place that should take charge in the war: NATO.

Article 5 of the NATO Treaty states: “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them…” This article has only been used once in the history of NATO: by the United States after 9/11. France, or the European Union, should start in motion the process of activating this article by calling together all the ambassadors of the member nations. NATO could invite other nations like Russia, Saudi Arabia, even Iran, to join in this fight as “special allies.”

France as well as all other individual nations cannot do this alone. Common defense against deadly attacks is why NATO was formed. Hopefully France will take advantage of having the support of western civilization in their war against jihadism.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/11/14/we-cant-stop-islamic-state-desert-drizzle-column/75777004/

Veterans Day Needs More Than Thanks

/0 Comments/in /by

For the past week the television networks did a wonderful job of highlighting our troops overseas and in a variety of ways saying thanks to those in the military.

However, Veterans Day should be more than just saying thanks. It should be a time to think about why our troops today are in combat zones, the reasons they were sent there, and what the ultimate objective is in order to bring them home. No greater sacrifice is being made for our country. No greater issue needs to be constantly examined.

Reality is that to most all Americans the wars overseas are not often in our thoughts. We are not personally affected on a daily basis. Since most Americans never served in the military, saying “thanks” seems to be all we can do.

Not so. If we want to say a more meaningful thanks, we would make sure all Americans have to endure some form of sacrifice. Not in the life and death way of the military, but at least something to make going to war a very personal experience.

The best way to do that is for Americans to pay the excess cost needed to keep troops overseas in combat zones. As the then Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen commented, the gravest national security threat to America is our budget deficit. A big part of the deficit is the cost of keeping our military strong and operating it overseas.

If we all want to share in the sacrifice and force ourselves to think often of the purpose our troops are in combat, I suggest we need to have a gas tax that covers the cost of going to war. Our troops are in the Middle East because it is in America’s interest to have a stable world economy. Stable oil prices are one leg that provides that stability. Let’s pay for it with a variable gas tax that increases and decreases with the cost of our combat overseas: or through a special income tax charge.

A variable gas tax or special income tax would remind us frequently of the sacrifice our service men and women are making and allow us to join them in that sacrifice. It would also help reduce the budget deficit caused by the need to keep troops in harm’s way.

We all need to say thanks on Veterans Day. We should share in their sacrifices too.