John Lavelle - Right

Few things make me rage more than disrespect for our troops. So I did get pretty upset when I read this story tonight about the late Gen. John D. Lavelle. Lavelle was made a scapegoat by President Nixon and his administration in 1972 for a bombing run in North Vietnam the was believed, at the time, to be unauthorized. He was demoted to Major General and forced to resign.

Problem is…the bombing run was authorized, and by Nixon himself.

Here we get a more complete view of how the Nixon administration was so obsessed with winning the 1972 election, that anybody who stood in the way of electoral success was pushed aside, whether at the expense of privacy or of their career. The Vietnam War was already becoming unpopular, and Nixon had authorized a secret bombing campaign. Must have seemed like electoral poison to his handlers.

That this happened at all is disgraceful enough.  That Nixon, who had the power to stop this, but stood by and did nothing, is an atrocity.

What was done to Lavelle has been discovered now, and he will be restored to four stars, posthumously. A hero finally gets his due.