“They were men who had not learned the art of submission, nor had they been trained to the arts of war; our ‘astonishing success’ taught the enemies of liberty that undisciplined freemen are superior to veteran slaves. As I was then, I am now, the friend of the equal rights of men, of representative democracy, of republicanism, and the Declaration of Independence—the great charter of our national rights—and of course a friend to the indissoluble union of these states. I am the enemy of all foreign influence, for all foreign influence is the influence of tyranny. This is the only chosen spot of liberty—this the only republic on earth. These are my orders now, and will be my last orders to all my volunteers: look to your sentries. Live free or die—Death is not the worst of evils.”–Gen. John Stark, stalwart at Bunker Hill, chosen by Washington over higher-ranking officers for the Battle of Trenton, praised by Madison and Jefferson, victorious over Burgoyne at Bennington, coined the New Hampshire motto in this toast on the 32nd anniversary of that victory in 1809.
"Biden’s biggest mistake was not understanding that the Military has to be last out the door, not first out the door. Civilians and equipment go first and then, when everyone and everything is out, the Military goes. So simple, and yet it wasn’t done. Tragic!"
Ernie Pyle, Italy, 1944:
The Italian mule-skinners were afraid to walk beside the dead men, so Americans had to lead the mules down that night. Even the Americans were reluctant to unlash and lift off the bodies at the bottom, so an officer had to do it himself, and ask others to help.
The first one came early in the morning. They slid him down from the mule and stood him on his feet for a moment, while they got a new grip. In the half light he might have been merely a sick man standing there, leaning on the others. Then they laid him on the ground in the shadow of the low stone wall alongside the road.
I don't know who that first one was. You feel small in the presence of dead men, and ashamed at being alive, and you don't ask silly questions.
We left him there beside the road, that first one, and we all went back into the cowshed and sat on water cans or lay in the straw, waiting for the next batch of mules.
Somebody said the dead soldier had been dead for four days, and then nobody said anything more about it. We talked soldier talk for an hour or more. The dead men lay all alone outside in the shadow of the low stone wall.
Then a soldier came into the cowshed and said there were some more bodies outside. We went out into the road. Four mules stood there, in the moonlight, in the road where the trail came down off the mountain. The soldiers who led them stood there waiting. "This one is Captain Waskow," one of them said quietly.
The injuries to the two other officers were not believed to be life-threatening, although one was wounded seriously. Officials did not identify the officers.
The training was in preparation for an unspecified intelligence collection operation, agency officials said.
Boes, 32, who lived in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, was an operations officer assigned to the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, the agency said.
He is the second CIA officer to die in the line of duty in Afghanistan. The first, paramilitary officer Johnny Micheal Spann, was killed during an uprising of Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners in northern Afghanistan in Nov. 25, 2001.
CIA officials said they could publicly acknowledge Boes' identity after they determined its release would not compromise any intelligence operations. His family also agreed to the release.
He is survived by his wife, Cindy, and his parents, Roderich and Monika Boes, of Germany. He was a graduate of Georgia State and Harvard University Law School, and he joined the CIA in January 2001 after working as an attorney in private practice.
Boes is the 80th CIA officer to die in the line of duty since the intelligence agency's creation, officials said. The names of many of those remain classified. Tenet announced his death to CIA headquarters in McLean, Va., on Thursday.
U.S. and Afghan forces continue to hunt al Qaeda, Taliban and other violent groups that remain in Afghanistan.
On Jan. 30, four U.S. soldiers were killed aboard an Army UH-60 helicopter that crashed near the Bagram air base. An American official said the helicopter and its crew were on a routine training mission and the crash appeared to be an accident.
AMERICAN DEATHS IN AFGHANISTAN SINCE OCT. 7, 2001
Sixteen Americans have been killed in combat or hostile situations:
Twenty-nine Americans have died in military aircraft crashes or while on other duty in support of the war in Afghanistan:
Shannon Spann, wife of CIA officer Johnny Micheal "Mike" Spann, at his burial on Dec. 10, 2001.Widow of first American killed in Afghanistan war slams Joe Biden (nypost.com)
"I have no illusions about what little I can add now to the silent testimony of those who gave their lives willingly for their country. Words are even more feeble on this Memorial Day, for the sight before us is that of a strong and good nation that stands in silence and remembers those who were loved and who, in return, loved their countrymen enough to die for them. Yet, we must try to honor them -- not for their sakes alone, but for our own. And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice. Our first obligation to them and ourselves is plain enough: The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. ...
We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so that we may always be free."--Actual President Ronald Reagan
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