DUTY WORLD

February,

Black History Month,

Reminds Us:

"Our Loyalties Must

Transcend Our Race"

~ Clyde Collins ~

     Before Pvt. 2 Donald Duty joined the U.S. Army he was a school bus driver for a "voluntary ethnic transfer program" in a big city on the mainland.

     In this public funded program, minority kids were bused out of the ghetto to schools in the more well-to-do neighborhoods, but only if their parents thought it best to do so.  It was part of a larger desegregation plan.

     On one particular day, the late Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, Jan. 15, Duty picked up his predominantly Black junior high school kids in the ghetto, headed for the plush hills of suburbia.

     Now it cannot be said for sure that the bus was haunted, but it was an old bus.  And believe it or don't, as the bus bumped along, the ghost of Martin Luther King Jr. whispered to the school bus driver, "Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class and our nation."

     "What?" said Duty.  He glanced over his shoulder at one of his sleepy passengers.  "Did you say something?"

     The little Black girl's eyes went round.  "No!  You're crazy!"

     "Hmmm," groaned Duty as he drove past rickety wino dens and battled with a cement-mixer truck for an on-ramp to the freeway.

     Soon enough the school bus loaded with little equalities rattled along the freeway past a local U.S. Army post.  Again the ghost of a Black preacher named King whispered to the driver, a little louder this time:  "No individual can live alone; no nation can live alone, and as long as we try, the more we are going to have war in this world."

     Duty grew more pallid than he already was.  He glanced over his other shoulder at a tough Black kid glaring back at him.  "You talking to me?" said Duty, his voice a quiver.

     The kid threw his arms up into the air.  "Why I be talkin' to YOU...  You're scary!"

     Duty shrugged.

     The school bus chugged ~ down an off-ramp and up into the trimmed, pruned splendor of suburbia.

     And the ghost of the man who had studied the nonviolence of Gandhi and the civil disobedience of Thoreau, baritoned:  "Adapting nonviolent resistance to conditions in the United States, we swept into Southern streets to demand our citizenship and manhood.  If they let us march, they admitted their lie that the Black man was content.  If they shot us down, they told the world they were inhuman brutes."

     Duty accidently ground the gears as his bus jerked up a long hill.

     The ghost of the man who had been jailed 29 times for what he believed in, continued to say, "The nation and the world were sickened and through national legislation wiped out a thousand Southern laws, ripping gaping holes in the edifice of segregation."

     At the top of the hill where a panoramic view of the city could be enjoyed on an occasional clear day, a group of about 20 people stood with quart-size cans of motor oil in their hands.  Two cars were parked sideways, blocking the street.  Duty knew these people intended to stop his school bus and pour the cans of oil over his passengers' heads.  He knew it because these people were wearing white hoods.  He stepped on the brake and idled the engine half a block away.

     "We're gonna have to go the long way," moaned Duty.

     "But we'll be late for class," moaned a passenger.

     Duty winced ~ and he looked up at the overhead mirror.  He saw the now totally awake expressions upon his passengers' faces.  They were peering back at him expectantly, watching, wondering what he was going to do now!

     Then for a long moment Duty stared through red-rimmed eyes at the crowd up the street.  He slipped the bus into gear, gunned the accelerator and let out the clutch.

     In no time at all the school bus was roaring in fourth gear directly at the blockade.  As the bus sped forward, the ghost of he who was assassinated by a sniper's bullet outside a hotel in Memphis, Tenn., April 4, 1968, had one last thing to say to the all-of-a-sudden unrelenting Caucasian at the wheel:  "Now the judgement of God is upon us, and we must either learn to live together as brothers or we are all going to perish as fools."

     A couple of years later Duty and a Black soldier were sitting outside the company barracks at TAMC one evening.  They were exchanging tales.  When Duty finished this particular story the other soldier exclaimed, "Then what happened?"

     Duty's soul expanded like a blooming flower above the city lights and below the twinkling stars.  With a smug little smile he said, "We got to school on time."

###

photo above:

"The Trial Of Sergeant Rutledge" 1960

###

Osama Bin Laden Dead

President Barack Obama

May 1, 2011

11:35 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good evening.  Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history.  The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory -- hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.

And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world.  The empty seat at the dinner table.  Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father.  Parents who would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace.  Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.

On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together.  We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood.  We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country.  On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.

We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice.  We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda -- an organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe.  And so we went to war against al Qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies.

Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we’ve made great strides in that effort.  We’ve disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense.  In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven and support.  And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al Qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.

Yet Osama bin Laden avoided capture and escaped across the Afghan border into Pakistan.  Meanwhile, al Qaeda continued to operate from along that border and operate through its affiliates across the world.

And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.

Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden.  It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground.  I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan.  And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.

Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.  A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability.  No Americans were harmed.  They took care to avoid civilian casualties.  After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.

For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies.  The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.

Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort.  There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us.  We must –- and we will -- remain vigilant at home and abroad.

As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not –- and never will be -– at war with Islam.  I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam.  Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims.  Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own.  So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.

Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was.  That is what we’ve done.  But it’s important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding.  Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.

Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts.  They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations.  And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.

The American people did not choose this fight.  It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens.  After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war.  These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded.

So Americans understand the costs of war.  Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed.  We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies.  We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror:  Justice has been done.

Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who’ve worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome.  The American people do not see their work, nor know their names.  But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice.

We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country.  And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.

Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores.

And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11.  I know that it has, at times, frayed.  Yet today’s achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.

The cause of securing our country is not complete.  But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to.  That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.

Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are:  one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.  May God bless you.  And may God bless the United States of America.
        
11:44 P.M. EDT

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