The Honorable Thomas
E. White
Secretary of the Army
11th ACR
Reunion
Thanks, Gene, for that
overly generous introduction! Wow, what a
gathering of warriors!
·
Ollie
Pickral, President of the 11th Armored Cavalry Veterans of Vietnam and
Cambodia,
·
CSM
John Stephens, President of the Blackhorse Association,
·
General
Don Starry, our Honorary Colonel of the Regiment—and one of my personal mentors, and
Leddy Starry,
·
CSM
Don Horn; Honorary CSM,
·
Fellow
former Regimental Commanders and Command Sergeants Major, John Ballantyne, young Benjamin
Patton, Bill Cobb, Jimmie Leach, Bob Sunnell, Joe Driskill, Guy Swann,
·
And,
our current commander, Mike Davis – great show last night!
·
Troopers
of the Blackhorse and your wives—past and present, active and National Guard,
·
Family
members—particularly those of our honored Blackhorse killed in action,
·
Distinguished
guests—especially our friends from the city of Fulda, Germany, led by the
regiment’s long-serving PAO, Renate Steiber,
·
Ladies
and gentlemen,
·
My
dear friends and colleagues, thank you for allowing me the privilege and honor of speaking
here tonight.
This reunion is truly a
fantastic event—from the “Stable Your Mount Party” last night to the
memorial service earlier today to this wonderful evening with you all!
My compliments to
everyone who has worked so hard to organize and support this great centennial celebration
of the Blackhorse!
Before I begin, let
me caution you that Gene has me slotted in a potentially deadly position in tonight’s
line-up…namely, the post-dinner speaker.
This situation
reminds me of an annual corporate conference that I attended not too long ago. Upon the completion of dinner, the guest speaker
stepped up to the podium--and proceeded to drone on and on until the audience was about to
expire.
Finally, a member of
the audience picked up the chairman’s gavel and threw it at the speaker. Unfortunately, he missed and the gavel hit a women
guest who happened to be in the line of fire. When
everyone rushed over to see if she was o.k., she sat up and said:
“Hit me again. I can still hear him!”
So I’m sensitive to
this problem! And Susan has made me promise
to keep this short tonight. But I’d
like to spend a few minutes talking about the Army and our beloved regiment—its
magnificent history, its experience in Vietnam and Cambodia, and its bright future.
As the 18th
Secretary of the Army, I am always proud to represent our soldiers and their families. But I am especially proud to represent the
Blackhorse. You represent what is most noble
about our nation—courage in times of adversity, devotion to duty, and a sense of
honor and respect.
I take great pride in my
service with this grand old regiment and so should each one of you. And your very presence at this reunion indicates
that you do.
Now, as everyone in this
room knows, the 11th Cavalry’s motto, “Allons,” means
“let’s go”—and the regiment has been doing just that ever since it was
activated by an Act of Congress as a horse cavalry regiment at Fort Myer on the 2d of
February 1901—one hundred years ago this year.
That was a busy period for
the Army. The Spanish-American war had just
ended, and Elihu Root, Secretary of War, was instituting reforms—trying to change the
Army to keep it relevant—and the 11th Cavalry was a fundamental part of
that change.
But like all new
organizations, there were some growing pains. In
fact, the magnitude of the problems confronting the organization of the new 11th
Cavalry caused the 1st Squadron Commander—one of my predecessors in
command of the Ironhorse—to include the following woeful statement in a dispatch to
the War Department pleading for more officer personnel:
‘Bengal 6’ said, “I have
400 horses that have never seen a soldier, 400 recruits that have never seen a horse, and
4 second lieutenants that have never seen a trooper or a horse.”
Despite this rather
inauspicious beginning, the regiment grew quickly in size, capability, and
reputation—deploying around the world in the defense of our great nation.
·
Baptized
by fire while putting down the Phillippine insurrection,
·
Deployed
to Cuba to boldly assert American presence,
·
Conducted
the last mounted cavalry charge in our nation’s history on the 5th of May,
1916, while pursuing Pancho Villa’s rebel army across Mexico,
·
During
the interwar years, experimented with scout cars—the first mechanized cavalry
vehicles,
·
Survived
the trading of horses for steel mounts—then redesignated and fought bravely in World
War II,
·
Deployed
to southern Germany during the early years of the Cold War and patrolled the German-Czech
border,
·
Became
a legendary fighting force in Vietnam and Cambodia—5 ½ years of valor, 14 battle
streamers, and three Medals of Honor—Hal Fritz, Jerry Wickham, and Rodney Yano.
·
Returned
to Germany and guarded the Fulda gap with diligence—the famous border
legion—America’s first line of defense on the “frontiers of freedom,”
·
Safeguarded
a tense cease-fire in Southwest Asia after Operation Desert Storm,
·
Today,
the 11th ACR is the Army’s premier maneuver unit—the opposing force
at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California.
There, the Blackhorse trains the United States Army—one unit at a time—in
the brutally harsh climate of the Mojave Desert.
Consequently, the
tough and uncompromising standards of the 11th ACR have become the yardstick
against which the rest of the Army measures itself.
Ultimately, as every combat
veteran knows—tough standards and uncompromising training are what make the
difference in the bloody crucible of combat. Tough,
realistic training provides that vital edge that has allowed soldiers since the time of
Caesar’s legions to accomplish their mission at least cost in lives. This was true then.
It is true today.
Thus, it is no exaggeration
to say that today’s Army strives to match the quality of the Blackhorse.
Our mission has continuously changed during the past century, but one thing remains constant. The Blackhorse Regiment has faithfully served our nation when called, and will continue that proud tradition in the years ahead.
Having traced our great
regiment’s century of illustrious achievements, I’d like to take a moment and
highlight a time that—for many of us—was probably our most profound human
experience of a lifetime. I’m talking,
of course, about the war in Vietnam and Cambodia.
Vietnam changed my life,
just like it did for so many of you. In my
case, when I graduated from West Point in 1967, I wasn’t really sure the Army was for
me. A combat tour in Vietnam with the
Blackhorse changed my view.
Back then, we called it
“seeing the elephant.” And many of
us in this room—as veterans of Vietnam and Cambodia—have “seen the
elephant.”
For those of you who
haven’t, this term comes from an old Indian tale about three blind men who went to
the zoo to see the elephant. One reached out
and caught the elephant’s trunk. To him
it was plain to see that an elephant was much like a large snake.
To the one who grabbed a
stout leg it was obvious that an elephant was like a strong tree. The one who reached out and grabbed an ear
exclaimed that it was obvious, even to a blind man, that an elephant was like a blanket.
The point of all this is that combat is an intensely personal experience—and
what it is depends on where you see it from—your own personal perspective.
For me, combat—with its
brutally effective way of scraping away the parade field nonsense and focusing on what it
took to accomplish the mission—showed me why we have an army and what that army must
be.
The great NCOs and soldiers
in my platoons in M company and K troop and the aero rifle platoon—the finest group
of men ever put on God’s earth—stouthearted men like Jack Stoddard, Rollie Port,
Lewis Souder, Frank Saracino, and countless others—taught me my business, corrected
my mistakes, and convinced me that leading them should be the focus of my life. Leaders like Patton, Starry and Bahnsen reinforced
that view.
We were all young men who,
at the time, never concerned ourselves with the grand strategy, or the politics, or
whether the Vietnam War was right or wrong. The
war was there, and we were there, and we were going to accomplish our mission to the best
of our ability because that was the best way to stay alive.
We were proud of our unit,
valued our friendships, did the best we could to care for our buddies, and won our part of
that war, down in the mud where it got very personal.
Together, we experienced
days of boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror, miserable weather, anger,
sadness, lonesomeness, and just putting up with the daily crap that goes along with any
war—everything from hand grenades to hemorrhoids!
Through it all, we developed
everlasting bonds of friendship, trust, honor, and hope that bind us together, even today,
like no other people on earth.
It’s not like being a
member of a football team in high school or like the bonding of college fraternity
brothers.
It’s so much more than
that. Soldiers belong to a unique brotherhood
of war. We share a common heritage left by
those who served with honor and dignity.
We share a special
camaraderie unique to those who enjoyed the best of times together and survived the very
worst—a bond so strong that we wouldn’t, and didn’t, think twice about
sacrificing our own life to save a fellow soldier.
I believe that special bond
is our reward for doing what we knew was right when we were in the arena of combat, even
though some hand wringers on the side lines back home thought it was wrong.
Many times a soldier’s
normal day would be an average person’s worst, and each of our worst days is kept
buried deep inside our souls only to be shared, if at all, among fellow troopers. It can’t easily be talked about with our
civilian friends or family, no matter how close they may be.
That also goes for the
family and friends who lost loved ones in Vietnam. They,
too, find it hard to share their hurt and loneliness.
To those families, I want you to know that there are many of us who knew your
husbands and sons, and share in your great loss and in whose memories they will remain
forever.
We returned from Vietnam to
a hostile society that seemed to blame us for a bankrupt national strategy; we watched as
the government of South Vietnam gave up in 1975; we ached as we saw the overwhelming
support accorded Desert Storm veterans that had been denied us; and we were angered when
those who deliberately avoided the war were elected to positions of high public trust.
For these, and a number of
more personal reasons, many Vietnam veterans still feel bitter—believing their
sacrifices are unappreciated by the country they so selflessly served.
The Roman orator Cicero once
said that gratitude is the greatest of virtues. Those
of you who are currently serving in the Blackhorse—and the veterans who have served,
in peace and in war, —and your families—deserve the gratitude of our nation.
Because a nation that
forgets its defenders will, itself, be soon forgotten.
I know sometimes you feel
unappreciated. Yes, there are days set aside
to officially honor our soldiers and our veterans:
·
Veteran’s
Day is set aside to honor those who have served in our nation’s wars. But it is only one day.
·
On
Memorial Day we pay our respects to those who have given that “last full measure of
devotion”—including many of our Blackhorse comrades who are now memorialized
forever on that long black wall not so far from here that we visited today. But again, Memorial Day is only one day.
·
Armed
Forces Day is dedicated to those currently serving in uniform. One day. And,
because it is not a national holiday, most people don’t even know its date.
But I want you to know that
the vast majority of Americans do appreciate you.
And they don’t need a holiday to do it! So,
let me express my gratitude to you personally, and on behalf of the American people, for
all that you do, and all that you have done, in service to our country.
We owe you a debt of
gratitude we can never repay. It is not
enough, but I just want to say, on their behalf: “Thank You.”
Let me close tonight with a
quote from Shakespeare. Now, being a
cavalryman, I cannot stand up here and pretend to be some sort of devotee of the bard. But I always recall a play about a
Soldier–King of England entitled “The Life of King Henry V.”
As history tells us, Henry
and his army are at Agincourt, the year is 1415, and they are preparing for a battle with
a much larger, better-equipped, French army. The
very survival of England is at stake.
On the morning of the
battle, King Henry happens upon several of his leaders bemoaning the nearly overwhelming
odds facing them.
Seeking to put steel in
their spines, Henry proceeds to give perhaps one of the most inspirational speeches that
have ever been uttered in the history of warfare.
Now, you’ll have to
watch the play or rent the movie to hear the whole speech, but there is one short phrase
that seems particularly appropriate to the Blackhorse—and I’d like to highlight
it tonight:
Henry V said, “We few, we happy
few, we Band of Brothers; for he today that sheds his blood with me, shall be my
brother. Be he ne’er so vile, this day
shall gentle his condition.”
Inspired by those
simple yet powerful words, King Henry’s men went on to win that famous battle, just
as the Blackhorse have shed blood together for 100 years as a “Band of
Brothers,” a happy few, unique among our fellow citizens, prevailing in battle after
battle in the dust, dark, rain, and mud of faraway places—noble by our sacrifice,
magnificent by our performance, and respected by all.
The Blackhorse is now part
of the heart & soul of the Army—part of our heritage and our history. 100 years of selfless service—that is our
legacy, my brothers. And America’s Army
is stronger because of us.
It has been said that what
we do in life “echoes in eternity.”
And what we all have done in
service to our nation, will, in fact, echo with a special resonance—thanks to the
courage, selflessness, and unhesitating devotion to duty displayed by all the brothers of
this proud regiment gathered here tonight. And
the thousands like us, dead and alive, who are with us in spirit. We are, indeed, a happy few.
And I am confident that each
of our lives will continue to echo in eternity for as long as there is this great republic
we call the United States.
May God bless us all!
May God bless the
Blackhorse!
The Blackhorse forever—Allons—Let’s Go!!!