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BS About Hagel: First Enlisted Man to Head the Pentagon

By: AndrewHyman (Diary)  |  January 8th, 2013 at 04:27 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

According to President Obama: “He’d be the first person of enlisted rank to serve as Secretary of Defense….”  Nope.  According to the Navy:

James Vincent Forrestal was born on 15 February 1892, in Matteawan (now Beacon), New York….World War I interrupted his career in finance, however, and he enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a seaman second class on 2 June 1917….President Harry S Truman selected Forrestal as the first secretary of defense.

So, Forrestal ran the Pentagon as the first Secretary of Defense (the Pentagon had been built during the Roosevelt administration).   Forrestal’s rank of “seaman” was one of the lowest enlisted ranks in the U.S. Navy.  My Dad was one.   (No jokes, please, about “Seaman Hyman” or about my own rank in the Army, which was “Private Hyman”!)

I don’t have any position about the Hagel nomination, pro or con, though I share many of the concerns reported in the media.  It’s not encouraging that his former enlisted status is being puffed up in a historically false way.  This is not to diminish Hagel’s heroic military service one bit, or to suggest that he’s the one who decided to sweep Forrestal under the rug.

Of course, the deep researchers and independent thinkers in the mainstream media have been exposing the truth to their usual degree:

Linda Feldmann, CS Monitor: Hagel “would be the first enlisted man, and the first Vietnam veteran, to head the Pentagon.”

Mark Memmott, NPR: Hagel “would be the first former enlisted man to lead the Pentagon….”

Teresa Welsh, US News & World Report: “he would be the first enlisted man to serve as secretary of defense.”

Blah, blah, blah.

COMMENTS

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  • funwithknives

    No doubts that Forrestal’s service record made it to WikiPedia at a minimum.
    But no one contained within that August Trade known as ‘The SCUM’ could be moved enough to go and find out this tidbit.

    So, why all the hero worship? His name was/is(?) on an Aircraft Carrier,[and a Really Big One at that] for cryin’-out loud.
    If it winds up that there will be a “U S S Hagel”, what will it’s function be?
    Water Carrier?

  • athanor

    Someone probably got confused by the wording in the link you provided that says:

    He commissioned as an ensign, Naval Reserve Flying Corps (NRFC) at Boston, Massachusetts, on 17 November of that year, and he gained his wings of gold as Naval Aviator No. 154 [HTA–heavier-than-air] on 6 December 1917. Soon thereafter, Forrestal served in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations.
    Following the Armistice, Forrestal, discharged from the Navy with the rank of lieutenant, NRFC, on 30 December 1919…

    • AndrewHyman

      Yup, Forrestal became a commissioned officer later on, after he was a seaman. That doesn’t seem confusing to me; lots of people have gone from enlisted to officer. Thanks, though, for pointing this out.

  • Viet71

    Don’t know much about Hegel. But an EM who becomes a U.S. senator is worthy of my attention. Maybe he’s not PC from the Left or Right standpoint. I want to know his character. Does he speak Truth as he sees it?

    • rossg

      Viet71. You raise a good point. I expect a Cabinet member to carry out the intentions of his commander in chief, but I also expect him to have integrity and tell the truth to the president and the American people. How is Hagel’s honesty and ability to effectively perform duties assigned him?

  • WmCraig

    Germany did something like that didn’t they, I mean elevate a disgruntled medal winning enlisted soldier who fought in a war his government lost. A loss that lead to a period of humiliation for his country. An former enlisted soldier who blamed the children of Israel for his countries military woes and advanced his career on holding them accountable for his nations military troubles. Or do I remember my history wrong.

    • AndrewHyman

      That seems like quite a huge stretch, not something I would suggest based on anything I know.