Chappie
Or Life in Hegseth's Military
This past weekend I attended a gathering of military professionals. It was a small affair, yet the guests were impressive. All of them currently serve in the United States Army. Most of them graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. They are each successful in their respective military specialties. The majority happened to be women. Two of them are African American. For a slob like Pete Hegseth, it would cause his coiffed hair to wilt and contribute to his permanent scowl.
While I sat with this impressive group, I was struck that I don’t know what it is to serve in the current environment. Though I had a long military career, I am also nearly five years retired and have quickly become one of the “old dudes” at the party people look past. Still, it made me consider how insulting it is to women and minorities to not only be marginalized, but also overlooked.
Trump and Hegseth have ordered that the sacrifices of female veterans not be acknowledged at Arlington National Cemetery, ending a 28-year tradition. Whiskey Pete has personally stricken female and minorities from being promoted into the General Officer ranks under the auspices of not supporting DEI initiatives. These are career military professionals who earned their rank.
The same can’t be said for a sotted former Fox News couch host who not only hit a drummer with an axe, but also can’t hold a candle to the women and people of color he disdains.
I wonder what it’s like to serve in a racist and misogynistic organization where this is tolerated at the highest levels and the people beneath the management have to carry on in a toxic work environment? And these are the people we expect to fight and win our wars. Pete’s bluster aside, the current one with Iran—which we started, as a point of fact—cannot be classified as a victory.
Which brings us to the namesake for this week’s article, General Daniel “Chappie” James, Jr., United States Air Force. His photo in the Pentagon was ordered removed last week by the Secretary of War Crimes. My fellow writer, Keifer Allan, summarized the act in his excellent Substack listed below.
Chappie was the first African American USAF four-star general. He flew 101 combat missions in Korea and another 78 combat missions in Vietnam. That’s 179 more missions than I’ve ever flown, and equally more than Hegseth, certainly, since Apache helicopter rides don’t count. Say what we want about the wars in which Chappie fought, his accomplished career is unmatched, but that’s too much for an otherwise unremarkable and selfish prick like Pete.
Chappie was a Tuskegee Airman. He flew both prop planes and jets, fighters and bombers.
He was also a staunch supporter of integration, being arrested for his convictions during the Freeman Field Mutiny in Indiana over April 5 and 6, 1945.
His storied career included flying with legendary Ace, Brigadier General Robin Olds, and an in-person stand-off with Libyan strongman, Muammar Gaddfi.
Chappie considered it an honor to be an American patriot and could be at times controversial. Some of his statements critical of the militancy of the Civil Rights movement were read into the Congressional Record. Hegseth has stuff in the Record, too, but for the wrong reasons.
Married to his wife, Dorthy, they had two sons and a daughter. General James died in 1978 and continues to receive accolades according to his wikipedia page.
He was awarded honorary doctor of laws degrees from the University of West Florida in 1971; the University of Akron in 1973; Virginia State College in 1974; Delaware State College in 1975; and St. Louis University in 1976. He was named honorary national commander of the Arnold Air Society in 1971.
In 1993, James Jr. was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.[21]
In 2019, he was chosen as the Class Exemplar for the U.S. Air Force Academy Class of 2022.
In 2020, the Pensacola Bay Bridge was renamed the General Daniel “Chappie” James Jr. Bridge, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signing the bill designating the bridge’s name on June 2, 2020.[22] Representative Alex Andrade and Senator Doug Broxson sponsored the successful initiatives in the Florida Legislature.[23] The bridge connects larger Pensacola with Gulf Breeze and the beachfront community of Pensacola Beach.
Erasing Chappie is an insult to him. Doing so further insults those who currently serve who once again must endure what he actively campaigned against.
To quote Chappie’s youngest son, Claude James on the occasion of his father’s 100th birthday:
“A warrior dies two deaths, one is the physical death and other is when his name is no longer mentioned. And, it’s on me because I’m the last of his children to push that as far as I can before I’m gone,” declared [Claude] James.
No, I opine it’s on all of us. Chappie, you deserve to be remembered at the highest levels. For your accomplishments. For your legacy. Oh, and that you’re an African American shouldn’t matter. A warrior is a warrior. A good man is a good man.
And Hegseth couldn’t carry your boots.
Thanks for sticking with me.
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This was at least six years ago, but the Air Force required us to know a lot about Chappie’s career for the written promotion tests for NCOs. Hopefully they still do, he’s a bad mf!
Removing Chappie's photo is disgraceful.
Ignorance and bigotry define Hegseth.