A Retrospective Tribute to the Alaska Territorial Guard

When I was a young lawyer in Alaska many years ago, I took my young children to see the Fur Rondy Parade in Anchorage.  Conditions were not ideal on that winter day. The sky was overcast, and the temperature had dropped to 20 degrees below zero.  

The day was so cold that the marching bands sheltered inside moving school buses.  Band members would open the bus windows and stick their horns out into the frigid air just long enough to complete a tune. Then they would retract their instruments and slam the windows shut.

I judged the weather too harsh for my children to endure, so I parked the family car in an alley where we could view the parade without leaving our vehicle.

Parade participants were bundled up in arctic gear. I recall the beauty queens perched on the hoods of fancy automobiles. Their skirts were short, but their legs were encased in insulated survival pants.

About halfway through the parade, I saw a platoon of Alaska National Guard soldiers wheel around a corner, marching briskly with their M-1 rifles at port arms. They were all wearing camouflaged white jump suits, and they wore fur caps on their heads. They did not look like they were cold.

All the soldiers in that platoon were Alaska Natives, mostly Inuit, the best I could tell, and some Athabaskans.

I was suddenly moved by a burst of patriotism, and I admired these men who had sworn to defend Alaska with their lives. Did they have grievances against the white outsiders who took over their ancestral land and hauled away its natural resources--timber, gold, copper, and oil?

Perhaps they did, but on that cold day, their rugged, patriotic spirit was all I could see, and all that the soldiers wished to communicate.

Before Alaska achieved statehood in 1959, the Alaska National Guard was called the Alaska Territorial Guard. During World War II, the Inuit and Athabaskans were called up and armed to defend against the Japanese invaders who had gained a foothold in the Aleutian Islands.

I doubt that a single Alaska Territorial Guardsman held back or asked why he should risk his life in defense of the United States. Like young men all over America who enlisted in the military after Pearl Harbor, the Natives stepped up to do a dangerous job that had to be done.

President Trump will soon meet President Vladimir Putin at Elmendorf Air Force Base on the outskirts of Anchorage, Alaska. The two world leaders will search for a way to end the war in Ukraine.

It is a fitting place to meet, for American territory comes closest to Mother Russia in Alaska. Indeed, the nations are less than 3 miles apart in the Bering Straits, and the distance can be walked when the Bering Sea freezes over in winter.

Americans should pray for peace as Presidents Trump and Putin meet this week. They should also say a prayer of gratitude for the Alaska Territorial Guardsmen who rose to their duty during the Second World War.

 

The Hill's Michael Starr Hopkins calls for Plan B after Trump-Biden Debate, but he ain't got no Plan B

 I was stunned by how quickly the mainstream media threw Joe Biden under the bus after last night's presidential debate with Donald Trump. It was as if the leftist pundits awoke from a deep sleep and realized for the first time that the Emperor was wearing no clothes!

Even the New York Times's op-ed writers, reliable lap dogs for the Democratic Party, admitted Joe's debate performance was dismal.

Michael Starr Hopkins, writing for The Hill,  undoubtedly spoke for millions of progressives when he wrote today that "Democrats need a Plan B." Unfortunately for the Trump haters. Hopkins has no Plan B.

Hopkins admitted it would be "political suicide" for the Democrats to switch candidates at this late hour, and thus, they must rally around Biden despite his glaring flaws. "We can't change the quarterback," he acknowledges, "but we can improve our playbook."

In essence, Hopkins argues that Biden can still defeat Trump on election day if Democrats simply repeat the shrill mantra that Biden is better than Trump.

It's a pathetic argument, and most Americans don't buy it. They're looking for a leader who can end the Ukrainian war before it goes nuclear. They are searching for someone who can shrink the national debt, which accrues interest at a trillion dollars every 100 days. They want a secure border that will keep rapists and human traffickers out of the country.

Biden has done nothing to address these problems—in fact, he created them or made them worse. I think Donald Trump will defeat Joe Biden in November. If so, Democrats will have only themselves to blame.

December is the Cruelist Month: Watch Out, Student Debtors

 T.S. Eliot was wrong: December is the cruelest month, not April.  

We think of December as a time for rest after a toilsome and anxious year--a time to prepare for Christmas and reconnect with our loved ones.

Yet, December can bring a lot of nasty surprises--shocking us when our hearts are mellow and our guard is down.

For example, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. 

The Germans launched the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944.

George Washington's ragtag army sneaked across the Delaware River and surprised the Hessians on Christmas Eve, 1776.

Poor Napoleon was shocked when he reached Moscow in December of 1812. He thought he had beaten the Russians, but he was wrong. By the time he got his army back to France, he had lost 90 percent of his soldiers. 

So here are my predictions for the month ahead: Americans will receive two rude shocks.

First, the United States is prosecuting a hot war by proxy in Ukraine. Americans believe that the plucky Ukrainians are beating the crap out of Russia.

I don't think so. The Russians are masters of winter warfare and still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Vladimir Putin will remind America there is a price to pay for mucking around in eastern European politics. 

Second, the crypto craze will blow up next month, and everybody who bought crypto coins will be wiped out. You will be surprised to learn the names of famous people who got duped.

These two bombshell events will rock the American economy and make us all poorer.

If you are a college student, this is the December to be on your guard. Now is a terrible time to take out student loans to pay for your studies. This might be a good time for you to take a gap year, get a job, and start thinking seriously about what you will do to make a living. 

If you're majoring in liberal arts, now is an excellent time to consider changing majors. You may love literature, but you will need more than a bachelor's degree in English to get a job.

My advice: select a vocationally oriented major and read Henry James on your own time.

Surprising the Hessians during the holiday season