Excerpt from New Joe Galloway Book: 'On War'

By: Greg Mitchell Two weeks ago, E&P reported that the long-awaited sequel to "We Were Soldiers Once...and Young" was about to be published. The book, by legendary war reporter Joseph L. Galloway and Lt. Gen Harold Moore (Ret.), is now here, and it is titled, "We Are Soldiers Still." An excerpt appears below.

The first book was made into a movie starring Mel Gibson as Moore and Barry Pepper as Galloway.

In the new book, Galloway and Moore explore their relationships with 10 American veterans of the 1965 battle at Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam, along with Lt. Gen. Nguyen Hu An, who commanded the North Vietnamese Army troops. Galloway was awarded a Bronze Star for valor for his actions then, a rare honor for any journalist.

In a pre-publication review, Publishers Weekly observed: "It would be a monumental task for Moore and Galloway to top their classic 1992 memoir... But they come close in this sterling sequel." Kirkus Reviews: "A worthy and wise successor to one of the best books ever about combat in Vietnam."

The publicity release for the book explains: "Traveling back to the red-dirt battlefields, commanders and veterans from both sides make the long and difficult journey from old enemies to new friends."

Galloway is a frequent columnist at E&P. He covered at least seven wars after Vietnam and recently retired at Knight Ridder/McClatchy. In a note to me this month, he described Chapter 12, titled "On War," a "distillation of our combined 75 plus years of firsthand experience of wars and warriors and offers some lessons applicable to today."
Here is the excerpt from Chapter 12, "On War."
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Contrary to the conventional wisdom, there?s no one more cautious and conservative when it comes to starting a war than old soldiers and old generals who have spent a career, indeed a lifetime, fighting and commanding in wars and suffering the consequences. In the words of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant: ?There never was a time when, in my opinion, some way could not be found to prevent the drawing of the sword.?

The two of us are, by virtue of our ages, creatures of the last half of the 20th Century and the early years of the 21st and have felt in full the weight of that old Confucian curse ?May you live in interesting times.? Our professions?mine as a career Infantry officer and Joe?s as a foreign and war correspondent?have ensured that we have more than a passing familiarity with the wars and upheavals that have ensued.

Neither of us is a pacifist; neither a jingoist or a war lover. Most wars are cruel and costly mistakes whose causes are rooted in the failure of diplomacy and poor judgment in national leaders. It is far easier to get into a war than it ever is to get out of one. The outcome is seldom what those who championed a war, any war, envisioned when first the bands began to play and soldiers began to march. No one at the time reckons that war will consume billions or even trillions of dollars that might have been better spent on the real needs of a nation and people. Few foresee the crowding of military cemeteries and military hospitals that are the inevitable consequence of war, along with grief-stricken families who have lost a beloved young man or woman and lives not yet lived.

War is absolutely the last card any national leader should play, and only when every other alternative has been exhausted. If the hand was being played by an old soldier, a war veteran, I can assure you he would guard that war card to the bitter end and play it reluctantly and with the fear and trepidation of experience.

There are tests to be met and questions to be answered before going to war: Is it truly in the interest of our national security? Do the people support such a decision and are they willing to serve in that war and sacrifice for it? Is the military fully prepared, trained and armed to win that war? Do our military planners have an exit strategy? What of our enemy? Do we understand enough about his culture and history and motivation to fight him intelligently? How long is he prepared to continue the fight? Are we prepared to fight at least that long, plus one day more?...

The questions above demand answers and careful thought before the war drums are sounded and the dogs of war let loose. These times, indeed all times, demand national political leaders who know not only our history but the history of the world and its nations and peoples. We need leaders of principle, courage, character, wisdom and discipline and yet we seem trapped by a system of choosing our presidents that pushes those who possess those traits aside in favor of others who look good on television, are skilled at slandering and demonizing their opponents in a campaign and are able to raise the hundreds of millions of dollars required to ensure election at any cost....

We are six years into this unnecessary war and our military is on the verge of breakdown. The demands of Iraq have eaten up our strategic reserves and we now have no forces available to cope with emergencies in a world made far more dangerous and hostile to the United States by Mr. Bush?s misadventure. I remember with sorrow how low our Army sank in the wake of the withdrawal from Vietnam and how hard and costly it was to repair and rebuild that Army into the vibrant and competent force that swept Saddam Hussein?s Iraqi Army out of Kuwait in less than a week in 1991.

Those who brought us to this war with such certainty about how easy and quick it would end should be assigned to write long essays on these words from Erasmus: Dulce bellum inexpertis. (?War is delightful to those who have no experience of it.?) George W. Bush should have old Erasmus?s words carved over the entrance to the planned $500 million Bush Presidential Library in Dallas. War is never easy or cheap. Never. When any political leader thinks of starting one he should first seek advice from those who bear the scars and memories of combat and the wives and children of the fallen who live their lives with forever broken hearts.

The expensive lessons learned in Vietnam have been forgotten and a new generation of young American soldiers and Marines are paying the price today, following the orders of civilian political leaders as they are sworn to do. The soldiers and those who lead them will never fail to do their duty. They never have in our history. This is their burden. But there is another duty, another burden, that rests squarely on the shoulders of the American people. They should, by their vote, always choose a commander-in-chief who is wise, well read in history, thoughtful and slow?exceedingly slow?to draw the sword and send young men and women out to fight and die for their country. We should not choose for so powerful an office someone who merely looks good on a television screen, speaks and thinks in 60-second sound bites and is adept at raising money for a campaign.

If we can?t get that part right then there will never be an end to the insanity that is war and the unending suffering that follows in war?s wake--and we must get it right if we are to survive and prosper as free Americans in this land a million other Americans gave their lives to protect and defend.