DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP (Conclusion)

Oh, my country, bless the training that from cot to castle runs -

The pitfall of the stranger but the bulwark of thy sons -

Measured speech and ordered action, sluggish soul and un-perturbed,

Till we wake our Island-Devil-nowise cool for being curbed! 

When the heir of all the ages "has the honour to remain,"

When he will not hear an insult, though men make it ne'er so plain,

When his lips are schooled to meekness, when his back is bowed to blows -

Well the keen aas-vogels know it--well the waiting jackal knows.

Build on the flanks of Etna where the sullen smoke-puffs float -

Or bathe in tropic waters where the lean fin dogs the boat -

Cock the gun that is not loaded, cook the frozen dynamite -

But oh, beware my Country, when my Country grows polite!

Rudyard Kipling, Et Dona Ferentes (1896)



WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

12
January 2016

Persian Gulf, off Farsi Island










It had been a frustrating voyage for the two-boat detachment
making a routine transit from Kuwait to Bahrain.  The departure 
had been delayed by engineering problems with one of the boats.  
When they finally got underway shortly after local noon, the 
detachment commander [hereinafter, “the Commanding Officer”] 

conducted only a cursory briefing for the crews of his two boats 

because of time constraints.  Each boat had a crew of 5 sailors and 

each was armed with both .50 calibre heavy and 7.62 mm medium 

machine-guns, a total of 3 weapons per craft.





 


Several hours into the transit, one boat suffered yet another 
engineering casualty and the other came alongside to render 

assistance.  






Shortly thereafter, two small Iranian boats approached and the 

Iranian crews began displaying small arms of the AK-47 variety.  

The Commanding Officer was able to notify NAVCENT (the





Naval Component of Central Command) that he was being hailed, 

but shortly thereafter, all communications between NAVCENT and 

the boats ceased.






Air assets from USS Harry S Truman began a search and USS Anzio 

(CG68, whose motto, ironically, is Stand and Fight) responded.  A 

few hours later, it was Anzio who entered Iranian waters in search



of the American craft and engaged in “robust bridge-to-bridge 

communications” with Iranian military vessels.  (If there is one good 

side to this pathetic story, it is that at least one American Naval 

officer that day had remembered to strap on his balls—or her balls,

as the case may be!) At any rate, Anzio was informed that “the RCBs

were in Iranian custody at Farsi Island.”








The crews and their boats were released the next morning and taken 

under escort by Anzio.  The crews were relieved and transferred 

ashore and Anzio put replacement crews aboard the RCBs which 

took them to Bahrain.  








But then the sickening details began to come out.  What follows 

is from a Navy investigation.






As soon as the Iranian boats made their approach, the Commanding 

Officer –an officer of the United States Navy of the same rank as 

Stephen Decatur, an officer in command of two warships of the United States and of nine American



bluejackets—promptly surrendered.






He did not go to GQ.  




He did not tell the Iranians to “get the hell away from my boats or 

I will blow you out of the water.”  (He could have easily done so. 

Four of “ma deuce” would have reduced the small Iranian boats to



splinters.) 






He did not tell his crews “Don’t give up the ship!”



He surrendered!




After the Korean War, it was discovered that many American soldiers 

and airmen who were captured by the Chinese and North Koreans

had turned their coats, turned on their fellow prisoners, and



collaborated with the enemy.  (Interestingly, hardly any Marines did

so—and  note was taken that in the Marine Corps, an institutional 

ethic of honor, self-sacrifice, and loyalty was specifically built into 

recruit training, so that Marines would rather die than betray their 

Corps or their fellow Marines.)







As a result, President Eisenhower directed that steps be taken to 

create an aspirational statement of core ethical standards applicable 

to ALL of America’s warriors. To this day,  those six





aspirational standards are taught to, and memorized by, every 









As a result,

President Eisenhower directed that steps be taken to create an 

aspirational statement of core ethical standards applicable ALL of 

America’s warriors. To this day, those six standards are taught to, 

and memorized by, every American fighting man and woman 

starting in boot camp, the Academies, ROTC, and OCS.




CODE OF CONDUCT FOR MEMBERS 
THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES


I.  I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country 

and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.




II.  I will never surrender of my own free will.  If in command, I will

never surrender the members of my command while they still have 

the means to resist.




But not this poor excuse for an American!  He immediately 

surrendered!




He had two (relatively) heavily armed warships of the United 

States of America and nine American bluejackets under his 

command, 

BUT.  


HE. 


SURRENDERED!



I am surprised that Bancroft Hall is still standing.  Surely John
Paul Jones must have leapt from his sarcophagus in the Academy

Chapel and dashed to Memorial Hall to make sure that Perry’s 

flag was still there, and then…..wept for a Navy that puts 

officers in command who are afraid to “go in harm’s way.”




There is an old military saying, probably dating from Caesar's

X Legion, or perhaps from Alexander’s Army 300 years earlier,

or even the Sargon's mighty armies: “Excuses are like ass 

holes; everybody has one.”




In this case, the Commanding Officer's was a doozy!




Did he remember San Bernadino Strait (see Part I)?  




Did he remember Captain Ernest E. Evans of USS Johnston who, 

at  0700, that awful morning, looked out across the San Bernardino 

Strait and saw, not a couple of flimsy little Iranian boats but a fleet 

of 22 battleships, heavy and light cruisers and destroyers coming at 

him? 




Did he consider emulating this American hero who informed his 

crew that "This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from 

which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we 

can."?   




Did he then, take a deep breath and do his duty to his Nation, his 

Navy, and all who had come before him?




Did he go to flank speed with his one good boat and attack the 

approaching armed enemy—an enemy who had stated its attempt to

board his command, set foot on what is American soil, and thereby 

earn the undying respect and admiration of his Country?  




Oh, hell no!  




Here, instead, is his confession to the investigators:  


"So at that point and time, if I had decided to start a firefight, I know 

a lot of my guys would be dead….We all might be dead at that 

point….I didn’t want to start a war with Iran either.  I didn’t want to 

start a war that would get people killed….”




The investigation by the Navy is still under way.  Only three senior 

commanders have been relieved because they have "lost the

confidence of their superiors."  




Well, as they say, duh!  




They clearly failed to properly train their subordinates, and they put

a coward in command of one of our warships.




Uniform Code of  Military Justice, Article  99:  




Any member of the armed forces who before or in the presence of 

the enemy—…(2)  shamefully abandons, surrenders, or delivers up 

any command, unit, place, or military property which it is his duty to

defend;…shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a 

court-martial may direct.




So, the Lieutenant should be sweating bullets.  But I doubt that this 

pathetic Administration will let him go to trial. Hell, they may give 

him a medal--the Putting Politics Over Duty Cross."  Certainly, John

“American-Fighting-Men-In-Vietnam-Were-Murders-And-War- 

Criminals” Kerry actually thanked the Iranians for their
cooperation and remarked that “we can all imagine how a

similar situation might have played out three or four years ago.”  

(New York Times, 13 Jan 2016)  


But there is more!  Our hero, having, shamefully  surrendered his 

command without firing a shot took it upon himself to throw out the 

rest of the Code of Conduct, too.  




III.  If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available.  

I will make every effort to escape.  I will accept neither parole nor 

special favors from the enemy.




and 




V.  When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required

 to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth.  I will evade 

answering further questions to the utmost of my ability.  I will make 

no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or 

harmful to their cause.  




So, did he suddenly regain his senses and at least try to restore his 

honor and do his duty? 




Of course not.  He allowed himself to be videotaped telling the 

Iranians  “It was a mistake that was our fault and we apologize for 

our mistake…. The Iranian behavior was fantastic while we were 

here and we thank you very much for your hospitality and your



assistance.”  




Well, Dayum!!!  The American POWs who endured days and weeks 

of torture rather than betray their Country must be sick to their

stomachs. 




Compare this to Senator McCain.  After months and years of torture 

and starvation rations, he is suddenly given clean clothes, allowed to 

bathe and shave, and then paraded into a room where there were tables

set with fresh fruit and vegetables--and full of TV cameras!  One of 

his torturers puts a huge grin on his face, sticks out his hand, and says 

"Merry Christmas, Mack-Kane."




And Lieutenant Commander John S. McCain, USN, third of that 

honorable name, replied " Your behavior has been fantastic while I 

have been here and I thank you very much for your hospitality."




Right???  In a pigs eye!  He looked right into the cameras, gave 

the goo....., er, the North Vietnamese gentleman the finger, and said 

"Fuck you!  Now let's see you use that tape!"




He later wrote that as a result, he was subjected to "attitude 

readjustment"...10 straight days of physical torture.  Then, "my 

attitude having been suitably adjusted, they tossed me back into my

cell."  




It is hard to live up to high standards of honor, but so many have and

it is shameful that the Commanding Officer in question did not even 

try! 




Nor did our President.


According to Reuters in  an article published on 18 January 2016, the 

Obama Administration said that the release of the sailors “shows the 

power of diplomacy and the promise of its new engagement with 

Iran.”  




Or…. hearkens back to the  days when the Barbary Pirates could 

seize our ships and ransom them back to us.  Until our Navy....

and a few Marines...taught them a lesson.  Remember, the first time 

the American flag was raised over a captured fortress in the old 

world, it was at Derna, on the "shores of Tripoli."  




Sooooooo, ............I leave this where I started, with a quotation by 

Robert A Heinlein, the dean of American science fiction writers

and USNA, Class of 1929: 




“Roman matrons used to say to their sons: ‘Come back with your 

shield, or on it.’ Later on, this custom declined.  




SO DID ROME!”