General Victor "Brute" Krulak Dies At 95

[Thomas Graves]

General Victor "Brute" Krulak died two days ago, in La Jolla. Hopefully, he wrote his memoirs about his interesting life and, hopefully, they'll be published. Hopefully, he shares his thoughts and/or observations about the assassination. We can only hope that he did, that they will, and that he does.

--Thomas

Edited December 31, 2008 by Thomas Graves

[William Kelly]

January 7, 1913(1913-01-07) – December 29, 2008

https://www.usna.com/SSLPage.aspx?RSS=obits...r=&pid=6911

After World War II, Krulak held several key jobs, including commander of the 5th Marine Regiment and later chief of staff for the 1st Marine Division during the war in Korea. Later he served as commander of the Marine boot camp in San Diego and, from 1962 to 1964, as special assistant for counterinsurgency to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Krulak had hoped to become Marine Corps commandant, but President Johnson in 1968 nominated Gen. Leonard Chapman Jr.

Krulak retired and began a second career as an executive for Copley newspapers and as a columnist. He retired as an executive in 1977 but continued to write.

Nickname"Brute"Place of birth

Denver, Colorado

Allegiance

United States of America

Service/branch

United States Marine Corps

Years of service1934 - 1968Rank

Lieutenant General

Commands held

2nd Parachute Battalion

5th Marine Regiment

Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego

Fleet Marine Force

, PacificBattles/wars

World War II

• Vella Lavella
  
  
• Raid on Choiseul
  
  
• Battle of Okinawa
  
  

Korean War

Vietnam War

Awards

Navy Cross

Navy Distinguished Service Medal

Legion of Merit

(3)

Bronze Star

Purple Heart

Relations

Charles C. Krulak

, sonOther workNewspaper columnist

^[1]

Victor H. Krulak dies at 95; retired Marine lieutenant general

Nicknamed 'Brute,' Krulak was a decorated World War II hero and the author of a history of the Marines titled 'First to Fight.'

By Tony Perry

December 31, 2008

Retired Marine Lt. Gen. Victor H. "Brute" Krulak, celebrated for his leadership in World War II, Korea and Vietnam and for his authoritative book on the Marines, "First to Fight," died Monday at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. He was 95 and had been in declining health for several years.

In a career that spanned three decades Krulak displayed bravery during combat and brilliance as a tactician and organizer of troops.

"Brute was very forgiving of young Marines who made mistakes," said retired Col. G.I. Wilson, a combat veteran. "But he was hell on senior officers who preferred careerism and bureaucracy over decisive action. He detested those who lost sight of looking after their enlisted Marines and young officers."

Born in Denver on Jan. 7, 1913, Krulak was a 1934 graduate of the Naval Academy -- where he picked up his nickname, a jest on the fact he was 5 foot 4. As a junior officer he served in Marine actions in Central America, where his views on counterinsurgency were formed.

In World War II, as a lieutenant colonel, he led a battalion in a weeklong battle as a diversionary raid to cover the invasion of Bougainville. Although wounded, he refused to be evacuated. For his bravery he was awarded the Navy Cross.

Under heavy fire from the Japanese, the Navy sent patrol boats to evacuate wounded Marines. Krulak befriended one of the young commanders, John F. Kennedy. Decades later the two shared a drink of whiskey in the Oval Office after Kennedy was elected president.

After World War II, Krulak held several key jobs, including commander of the 5th Marine Regiment and later chief of staff for the 1st Marine Division during the war in Korea. Later he served as commander of the Marine boot camp in San Diego and, from 1962 to 1964, as special assistant for counterinsurgency to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

As commanding general of Fleet Marine Force Pacific he made 54 trips to Vietnam.

His ideas about mining Haiphong Harbor and relying on small unit actions in South Vietnam to win the support of the populace clashed with the strategy of Army Gen. William C. Westmoreland, commander of all U.S. troops from 1964 to 1968. He opposed Westmoreland's decision to establish an outpost at Khe Sanh, which resulted in one of the bloodiest sieges of the war.

Krulak had hoped to become Marine Corps commandant, but President Johnson in 1968 nominated Gen. Leonard Chapman Jr. Krulak retired and began a second career as an executive for Copley newspapers and as a columnist. He retired as an executive in 1977 but continued to write.

In 1984, his book "First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps" was published, examining the history and culture of the Marine Corps. It remains on the official reading list for Marines and has been said to carry the DNA of the organization that prides itself on being the worst enemy that a foe of the United States can imagine.

"The Marines are an assemblage of warriors, nothing more," Krulak wrote. He called on Marines to maintain a "religious dedication" to being ready to "go and win -- and then come back alive." He disdained Pentagon bureaucracy and, even as he celebrated the Corps' history, he called for Marines to "remain on the cutting edge of the technology that will keep its specialty effective."

Bing West, former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration and author of books on Marines in Vietnam and Iraq, said Krulak "was legendary for the depth of his intelligence."

In a 2007 speech to the Marine Corps Assn., Defense Secretary Robert Gates praised Krulak for "overcoming conventional wisdom and bureaucratic obstacles thrown in one's path." Among other things, Krulak advocated that the Marines form a special forces unit when other Marine leaders opposed the idea.

All three of Krulak's sons served in Vietnam: Charles and William as Marine infantry officers, Victor Jr. as a Navy chaplain. After retiring from the Marines, William followed his brother into the Episcopal clergy.

Charles, as a general, served as Marine commandant from 1995 to 1999, and followed in his father's footsteps as an innovator and champion of the enlisted man. Along with his sons, Krulak is survived by four grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Krulak's wife, Amy, died in 2001. Funeral services are set for 2 p.m. Jan. 8 at the chapel at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=19014971

SAN DIEGO:

Lieutenant General Victor Krulak, who headed all U.S. Marine forces in the Pacific during part of the Vietnam War, has died. He was 95.

Krulak died Monday at the Wesley Palms Retirement Community in San Diego, according to Edith Soderquist, a staff member at the facility. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Krulak commanded about 100,000 marines in the Pacific from 1964 to 1968 - a span in which the United States drastically increases forces in Vietnam.

Krulak, nicknamed "Brute" for his direct, no-nonsense style, was a decorated veteran of World War II and the Korean War.

After retirement, he often criticized the government's handling of the Vietnam War. He wrote that the war could have been won only if the South Vietnamese had been protected and befriended and if enemy supplies from North Vietnam had been cut off.

"The destruction of the port of Haiphong would have changed the whole character of the war," he said two decades after the fall of Saigon.

Krulak once summed up the U.S. dilemma in Vietnam by saying, "It has no front lines. The battlefield is in the minds of 16 or 17 million people."

Before assuming command of Fleet Marine Force Pacific, Krulak served as principal adviser on counterinsurgency warfare to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and the joint chiefs of staff.

"I never got enthusiasm out of war, and I'm convinced that the true pacifists are the professional soldiers who have actually seen it," Krulak said many years after retiring from the post.

During World War II on the island of Choiseul in the Solomon Islands, Krulak led his outnumbered battalion during an eight-day raid on Japanese forces, diverting the enemy's attention from the U.S. invasion of Bougainville.

Krulak's troops destroyed hundreds of tons of supplies, burning both camps and landing barges. He was wounded on Oct. 13, 1943, and later received the Navy Cross for heroism, along with the Purple Heart.

At 43, he became the youngest brigadier general in Marine Corps history up to that time. Krulak received the second of two Distinguished Service Medals when he retired from the military.

For the next nine years, he worked for Copley Newspapers.

He also wrote the book "First to Fight," an insider's view of the Marine Corps.

His son Charles Krulak served as commandant - the Marines' top post - from 1995 to 1999.

xxxxxxx

He entered the U.S. Naval Academy as an undersized teenager, but Victor H. “Brute” Krulak rose to command all Marine Corps forces in the Pacific, helped develop a boat crucial to amphibious landings during World War II and spoke his mind in disagreeing with a president over Vietnam War strategy.

Lt. Gen. Krulak, a decorated veteran of three wars, died of natural causes late Monday night at the Wesley Palms Retirement Community in San Diego. He was 95.

Standing barely 5 feet 5 inches tall, he was jokingly nicknamed Brute by his academy classmates. The moniker stuck, reinforced by his direct, no-nonsense style.

“There was nothing undersized about his brain,” Time magazine later said.

One of Gen. Krulak's three sons – retired Gen. Charles Krulak of Wilmington, Del. – said his father “was proud of just being a Marine . . . He never forgot that at the end of the day, everything he did was in support of them.”

As a major in the years before World War II, the senior Gen. Krulak helped create the amphibious-war doctrine that the Marines used to defeat Japan in the Pacific. He championed the Higgins boat landing craft that was involved in every World War II amphibious assault, as well as the prototype for the Amtrack vehicle still used by Marines today.

Gen. Krulak was known as a master strategist, said Mike Neil, a San Diego lawyer and retired reserve Marine brigadier general.

“He brilliantly orchestrated the 1st Marine Brigade to save the day at Pusan Peninsula (during the Korean War),” Neil said.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Gen. Krulak formulated the counterinsurgency theory that would be tried out in Vietnam. His “inkblot strategy” called for small groups of Marines to go into villages and work with like-minded locals to defend them against guerrilla forces – a plan resurrected with considerable success two years ago in Iraq.

While commanding more than 100,000 Marines in the Pacific from 1964 to 1968, he took part in a critical stage of the U.S. buildup of forces in Vietnam.

Before his retirement from the military after 34 years in 1968, he was considered a strong candidate for commandant, the top Marine post that his son Charles attained in 1995.

“You'd be hard-pressed to name another Marine in modern times who has had as great an impact on the direction of the Marine Corps – or, for that matter, the country,” said Gary Solis, a former Marine historian and now a law professor at Georgetown University. “From the late 1930s to the 1970s, Victor Krulak had his thumbprint on absolutely everything.”

As commander of Fleet Marine Force Pacific, Solis said, Gen. Krulak required every commander from the battalion level and up to pass through his Hawaii-based headquarters as they left Vietnam. Those commanders briefed him and his staff on the latest developments.

“These (meetings) were crucial to his understanding of what was going on in Vietnam,” Solis said.

A tenacious critic of the government's handling of the Vietnam War, Gen. Krulak wrote in the book “First to Fight” that the conflict could have been won only if the Vietnamese people had been protected and befriended and if enemy supplies from North Vietnam had been cut off.

“The destruction of the port of Haiphong would have changed the whole character of the war,” he said two decades after the fall of Saigon.

In a 1995 interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune, Gen. Krulak said he brought up the port during a meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967. The conversation didn't last long after Gen. Krulak said the wrong targets were being hit.

“(Johnson) got to his feet and propelled me to the door, politely. That's the last I ever saw of him,” he said.

Looking back on his combat operations, Gen. Krulak said, “I never got enthusiasm out of war, and I'm convinced that the true pacifists are the professional soldiers who have actually seen it.”

After leaving the military, Gen. Krulak worked for Copley Newspapers, serving at various times as director of editorial and news policy and as news media president of Copley News Service.

He retired as vice president of The Copley Press Inc. in 1977 and then contributed columns on international affairs and military matters for Copley News Service.

Chuck Patrick, former chief operating officer of Copley Press and a director and executive committee member of the Copley board, said: “An airport delay of six hours turned out to be one of my greatest memories. Brute told me all about his experiences in Southeast Asia, about his good relationship with President John F. Kennedy and about how his disagreements with President Johnson probably kept him from becoming (Marine Corps) commandant.”

Patrick said he and Gen. Krulak became close friends while serving on the executive committee of the Ponderay Newsprint Co., a newsprint mill in Usk, Wash.

But it was the general's annual phone calls to Patrick's daughter that touched him the most. “Brute was her Santa Claus. Every year in November, he'd check with me about how she was doing before he'd call her to tell her what she needed to work on (before Christmas arrived). Those calls meant so much . . . ”

Gen. Krulak, a native of Denver, received his appointment to the Naval Academy before finishing high school. He received a waiver to bypass the Marine Corps height requirement of 5 feet 6 inches.

In 1934, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps after graduating from the academy.

In December 1959, Gen. Krulak assumed command of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, a position he held until his appointment in 1962 as an adviser in the Kennedy administration.

In 1963, he was described by his World War II commander, Gen. Holland M. “Howling Mad” Smith, as “the most brilliant officer I've known in my 58 years in the Marine Corps.”

A longtime Point Loma resident, Gen. Krulak was honored in 1968 as San Diego's “Citizen of the Year” by San Diego Uplifters, a group of 400 professional and business leaders.

During his retirement, Gen. Krulak was active in many community organizations. His roles included serving as president and trustee of the Zoological Society of San Diego.

Gen. Krulak and his late wife, Amy, were known for their annual Fish House Punch parties held to celebrate Gen. Krulak's Jan. 7 birthday. They started the tradition in the 1940s while living in Quantico, Va. The beverage included brandy, lime juice and apple brandy.

Besides Charles, Gen. Krulak also is survived by sons, the Rev. Victor “Vic” Krulak of San Diego and the Rev. William Krulak of Baltimore; his four grandchildren; and his 10 great-grandchildren.

Services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Jan. 8 at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station chapel. Private inurnment is scheduled for Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.

Edited December 31, 2008 by William Kelly

[William Kelly]

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/USO/ap...;Krulak

Letter Re: Dealey Plaza Photos And Lansdale Identity

Victor Krulak

15 March 1985

Mr. Fletcher Prouty

Alexandria, Virginia

Dear Fletch:

As I read your interesting letter it is plain that you have not wanted for interest or achievement in your life. It has to have been exciting and rewarding too.

Mine has been a lively existence too. I had much to do with Vietnam from '64 to '68, and was loudly disenchanted with what went on and how. I recorded it as part of my book First to Fight that came out a few months ago.

I've also spent ten years in the newspaper business (a most useful education) and now write a syndicated weekly column. I wrote another book, Organization for National Security that resulted in my testifying before a Senate committee.

All taken together, a stirring life.

As to your chronicle concerning the JFK assassination period, I remember your going to Antarctica. I was in the Pentagon at the time of the tragedy but have no recollection of where Lansdale was.

The pictures.-- The two policemen are carrying shotguns, not rifles. Their caps are different (one a white chinstrap, one black). One has a Dallas police shoulder patch, one does not and their caps differ from that of another police officer in photo 4. Reasonable conclusion -- they are either reservists or phonys. And, as you know, city cops don't have anything to do with Sheriff's offices.

As to photo no. 1. That is indeed a picture of Ed Lansdale. The haircut, the stoop, the twisted left hand, the large class ring. It's Lansdale. What in the world was he doing there? Has anyone ever asked him and who was the photographer? Why did he take the pictures? What did he do with them?

I have examined my own records and find no clue that would help. Suffice to say, it is a fascinating proposition.

I am returning your pictures.

Best regards always.

Sincerely, [signed, Brute Krulak]

Edited December 31, 2008 by William Kelly

[William Kelly]

Document Title:

DoD Access List Cuba Players

Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency & Special Activities

SACSA

Maj. Gen. Krulak

Col. Higgins

Col. Strozier

Capt. Eggeman

Col. Wyman

Col. Hawkins

Miss Grace Sciacca

Mrs. Carolyn Kercheval

Miss Linda Sadler

Cpl. Gould

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=10272&relPageId=3

June 1963 Memo from Krulak re: McCone and Cuba and Vietnam:

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...amp;relPageId=3

Edited December 31, 2008 by William Kelly

[Thomas Graves]

William Kelly said:

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/USO/ap...;Krulak

 

Letter Re: Dealey Plaza Photos And Lansdale Identity

 

Victor Krulak

15 March 1985

Mr. Fletcher Prouty

 

Alexandria, Virginia

 

Dear Fletch:

I've also spent ten years in the newspaper business (a most useful education) and now write a syndicated weekly column. I wrote another book, Organization for National Security that resulted in my testifying before a Senate committee.

[...]

As to your chronicle concerning the JFK assassination period, I remember

your going to Antarctica.

[...]

Best regards always.

 

Sincerely, [signed, Brute Krulak]

[emphasis by T. Graves]

________________________________________________________________

Great post, William.

Now please allow me to relay a personal anecdote or two to y'all, in an attempt to keep the Forum up close, and well, personal: 1) As some of you know, my adoptive father, the recently-deceased Dr. Orville Melvin Graves, Jr (!) was a close friend of Krulak's in La Jolla. He even took "Brute" to visit my much-wiser older brother at my brother's house in "North County" one day, entirely unannounced (which is not surprising in-and-of-itself as that was our Dad's basic "MO"). Well, during lunch, my brother, who had been an officer in the Air Force during 'Nam, was asked by Krulak how the food had been ('67 - '69?) at my brother's base in the Phillipines. In my mind this tends to verify the image of Krulak's having been very concerned about the welfare and morale of enlisted men and junior officers, in general. 2) My Dad told me that when he first met Krulak (at Inchon, I believe, around the time of the Chosin Reservoir battle and retreat), Krulak ordered my Dad to take his brass bars off of his lapel (proper terminology?) because they made too nice a target for enemy snipers. 3) A few years ago, my Dad gently corrected my grammer (sp?) one day by telling me, "The gerund always takes the possessive." Having re-read Krulak's letter to Prouty (thanks to you, William), I now got me a sneakin' hunch that he learned this rule of grammar from Krulak and, as a good father, just passed it along to me. (See above; "emphasis by T. Graves")

--Thomas

PS So William, do you think that Krulak might have had something to do with JFK's assassination, or just the unconscionable  dirty rat attempt by the our military-industrial-mafia-intelligence complex to "off" or otherwise incapacitate, politically and/or physically, your buddy Castro? Just curious, William.

PPS Super Bowl prediction: My Chargers 31, your Eagles 6

PPPS Anyone know any juicy insider information or insight for that matter on that soon-to-be-released report on the super secret, hush-hush covert op "When The Whip Comes Down" by The Rolling Stones? Details coming your way soon, right here most probably. Go, you Chargers. (The perennial West Ham United of American football. LOL

Edited January 31, 2017 by Thomas Graves

[William Kelly]

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/USO/ap...;Krulak

Letter Re: Dealey Plaza Photos And Lansdale Identity

Victor Krulak

15 March 1985

Mr. Fletcher Prouty

Alexandria, Virginia

Dear Fletch:

I've also spent ten years in the newspaper business (a most useful education) and now write a syndicated weekly column. I wrote another book, Organization for National Security that resulted in

my testifying

before a Senate committee.

[...]

As to your chronicle concerning the JFK assassination period, I remember

your going

to Antarctica.

[...]

Best regards always.

Sincerely, [signed, Brute Krulak]

[emphasis by T. Graves]

________________________________________________________________

Great post, William.

Now please allow me to relay a personal anecdote (sp?) or two to y'all, in a "vain" lol(?) attempt to keep the Forum up close, and well, personal: 1) As some of you know, my adoptive father, the recently-deceased Dr. Orville Melvin Graves, Jr (!!) was a close friend of Krulak's in La Jolla. He even took "Brute" to visit my much-wiser older brother at my brother's house in "North County" one day, entirely unannounced (which is not surprising in-and-of-itself as that was our Dad's basic "MO"). Well, during lunch, my brother, who had been an officer in the Air Force (capatilized?) during 'Nam, was asked by Krulak how the food had been ('67 - '69?) at my brother's base in the Phillipines. In my mind this tends to verify the image of Krulak's having been very concerned about the welfare and morale of enlisted men and junior officers, in general. 2) My Dad told me that when he first met Krulak (at Inchon, I believe, around the time of the Chosin Reservoir battle and retreat), Krulak ordered my Dad to take his brass bars off of his lapel (proper terminology?) because they made too nice a target for enemy snipers. 3) A few years ago, my Dad gently corrected my grammer (sp?) one day by telling me, "The gerund always takes the possessive." Having re-read Krulak's letter to Prouty (thanks to you, William), I now got me a sneakin' hunch that he learned this rule of grammar from Krulak and, as a good father, just passed it along to me. (See above; "emphasis by T. Graves")

--Thomas

PS So William, do you think that Krulak (might have) had something to do with JFK's assassination,

Thomas,

I don't think that Krulak was anything other than an honorable man and military hero.

Do I think he has something to do with JFK's assassination?

Well, Krulak was the Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities (SACSA) and according to the memo by his assistant, Col. Higgins, was given responsibility for responding to the CIA's request for assistance from the military.

In that regard, he was involved with the covert maritime operations against Cuba that became entwined with the events of Dealey Plaza. It's a shame that he wasn't properly questioned about them.

Since LBJ didn't appoint Krulak Commandant of the USMC, his desired post, which his son attained, I take it that he wasn't responsible for making LBJ president.

or just the unconscionable (sp?) dirty rat attempt by the our military-industrial-mafia-intelligence complex to "off" or otherwise incapacitate (sp?), politically and/or physically, your buddy(?) Castro? Just curious, uh, William.

I don't think the mafie are really in the equation, and I don't know why you would think Castro is my buddy.

PPS Super Bowl prediction: My Chargers 31, your Eagles

The Chargers aren't going to make it that far, and I wouldn't bet the Eagles will be there either, though Bruce the Boss will most certainly be "Workin' on a Dream."

BK

PPPS Anyone know any juicy insider information or insight for that matter on that soon-to-be-released report on the super secret, hush-hush covert op "When The Whip Comes Down" by The Rolling Stones? Details coming your way soon, right here most probably. Go, you Chargers. (The perennial (sp?) West Ham United of American football.) LOL

Edited January 1, 2009 by William Kelly

[Thomas Graves]

William Kelly said:

Thomas Graves said:

William Kelly said:

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/USO/ap...;Krulak

 

Letter Re: Dealey Plaza Photos And Lansdale Identity

 

Victor Krulak

15 March 1985

Mr. Fletcher Prouty

Alexandria, Virginia

      Dear Fletch:

I've also spent ten years in the newspaper business (a most useful education) and now write a syndicated weekly column. I wrote another book, Organization for National Security that resulted in

my testifying  before a Senate committee.

[...]

As to your chronicle concerning the JFK assassination period, I remember your going

to Antarctica.

[...]

Best regards always.

Sincerely, [signed, Brute Krulak]

[emphasis by T. Graves]

________________________________________________________________

Great post, William.

Now please allow me to relay a personal anecdote (sp?) or two to y'all, in a "vain" lol(?) attempt to keep the Forum up close, and well, personal: 1) As some of you know, my adoptive father, the recently-deceased Dr. Orville Melvin Graves, Jr (!!) was a close friend of Krulak's in La Jolla. He even took "Brute" to visit my much-wiser older brother at my brother's house in "North County" one day, entirely unannounced (which is not surprising in-and-of-itself as that was our Dad's basic "MO"). Well, during lunch, my brother, who had been an officer in the Air Force (capatilized?) during 'Nam, was asked by Krulak how the food had been ('67 - '69?) at my brother's base in the Phillipines. In my mind this tends to verify the image of Krulak's having been very concerned about the welfare and morale of enlisted men and junior officers, in general. 2) My Dad told me that when he first met Krulak (at Inchon, I believe, around the time of the Chosin Reservoir battle and retreat), Krulak ordered my Dad to take his brass bars off of his lapel (proper terminology?) because they made too nice a target for enemy snipers. 3) A few years ago, my Dad gently corrected my grammer (sp?) one day by telling me, "The gerund always takes the possessive." Having re-read Krulak's letter to Prouty (thanks to you, William), I now got me a sneakin' hunch that he learned this rule of grammar from Krulak and, as a good father, just passed it along to me. (See above; "emphasis by T. Graves")

--Thomas

PS So William, do you think that Krulak (might have) had something to do with JFK's assassination,

Thomas,

I don't think that Krulak was anything other than an honorable man and military hero.

Do I think he has something to do with JFK's assassination?

Well, Krulak was the Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities (SACSA) and according to the memo by his assistant, Col. Higgins, was given responsibility for responding to the CIA's request for assistance from the military.

In that regard, he was involved with the covert maritime operations against Cuba that became entwined with the events of Dealey Plaza. It's a shame that he wasn't properly questioned about them.

Since LBJ didn't appoint Krulak Commandant of the USMC, his desired post, which his son attained, I take it that he wasn't responsible for making LBJ president.

or just the unconscionable (sp?) dirty rat attempt by the our military-industrial-mafia-intelligence complex to "off" or otherwise incapacitate (sp?), politically and/or physically, your buddy(?) Castro? Just curious, uh, William.

I don't think the mafie are really in the equation, and I know why you would think Castro is my buddy.

PPS Super Bowl prediction: My Chargers 31, your Eagles 6

The Chargers aren't going to make it that far, and I wouldn't bet the Eagles will be there either, though Bruce the Boss will most certainly be "Workin' on a Dream."

BK

PPPS Anyone know any juicy insider information or insight for that matter on that soon-to-be-released report on the super secret, hush-hush covert op "When The Whip Comes Down" by The Rolling Stones? Details coming your way soon, right here most probably. Go, you Chargers. (The perennial (sp?) West Ham United of American football.) LOL

Edited May 19, 2017 by Thomas Graves

[Thomas Graves]

Good reply, William. Well-reasoned. And points taken. Thank you for being a scholar and a gentleman on this.

(Actually, the sole reason for my posting this "reply" is to covertly insert the measley six points which the Eagles will manage against the Chargers, if both teams somehow make it to the Super Bowl, and which I somehow managed to omit from my post.)

--Thomas

Edited January 1, 2009 by Thomas Graves

[Thomas Graves]

On 12/31/2008 at 4:12 PM, Thomas Graves said:

[emphasis by T. Graves]

________________________________________________________________

Great post, Bill.

Please allow me to relay a personal anecdote or two to y'all, in an attempt to keep this here Forum up close, and well, ....personal:

As some of you may know, my adoptive father, the recently-deceased Dr. Orville Melvin Graves, Jr., was a close friend of Victor "Brute" Krulak here in La Jolla, California. (Krulak lived in a retirement home called "Wesley Palms" up on the hill. [google it])

Dad even took "Brute" up the road to visit my much older and wiser brother in what we call "North County" one day, entirely unannounced, of course, which was not surprising in-and-of-itself to my brother in that that was kind of our Dad's M.O.

Well, during lunch, my brother, who had been an officer in the Air Force during 'Nam, was asked by Krulak how the food had been at my brother's base in the Phillipines (in '66 - '68?). Small thing, but in my mind it tends to verify the image of Krulak's being concerned about the welfare and morale of enlisted men and junior officers, in general.

My Dad, a Navy "MASH-like surgeon during the Korean Conflict, told me that when he first reported to his commanding officer, Krulak, in 1951 or 1952 (at Inchon, I believe, around the time of the Chosin Reservoir battle and retreat), Krulak ordered my Dad to take his brass bars off of his lapel because they made too nice a target for enemy snipers.

 

A few years ago, my Dad gently corrected my grammar one day by telling me, "The gerund always takes the possessive." Having re-read Krulak's letter to Prouty (thanks to you, Bill), I now got me a sneakin' hunch that Dad learned this grammar rule from Krulak and, as a good father that he was, was just passing it along to me. 

--Thomas

[...]

bumped

Edited May 19, 2017 by Thomas Graves