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Editor's note: Don reported this story on Wednesday's hour-long edition of Nightly News. If you missed it, you can watch his report here. I asked him to give us an additional sampling of what the troops he talked to said about Secretary Rumsfeld.
If you ask America's fighting men and women, they'll tell you that changes at the top often take a long time to trickle down to them. On a day-to-day basis, an Army private is much more concerned with decisions made by their platoon leader or company commander, than the secretary of defense. That said, most of the troops we spoke with, at bases across the U.S., had more than just a passing interest in Donald Rumsfeld's retirement.
They all expressed surprise... particularly since President Bush had publicly endorsed Rumsfeld less than a week before the election. Many also say they respected Rumsfeld, knew that he had made some difficult decisions, and was doing an excellent job. Most were also optimistic, hoping that Robert Gates would be as committed to victory as they are, and might offer some new ideas to bring that about.
Here's a sampling of what we heard from the soldiers and Marines we met at Fort Hood, Fort Drum and Camp Pendleton.
"Whoever disagree with him and who wasn't completely in accordance with his views is probably going to feel relieved," said Sgt. Efren Vega. "Bottom line, we are soldiers and we do our job."
"With the Democratic party taking over in the House, there's going to be some changes economically and definitely throughout the military," said Lance Cpl. Jadd Joseph. "I'm about to go back over to Iraq, so hopefully Bush was talking about a new perspective on what's going to be going on. I hope it's for the better."
"We're always trained to adapt," said Pvt. Tim Hartman. "We'll just have to change, adapt and follow our new secretary of defense in whatever he tells us to do."
"I really have no negative feelings towards him," said Sgt. Chris Kelleher. "He's the defense secretary, he's not the president. He has our loyalty either way, no matter what he does."
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A new day, a sad day
While some may consider Donald Rumsfield a patriot,he is not. Mr Rumsfield and others of his ilk (inclusive of our President and Vice President) belong to a group of Americans, that consider themselves the ruling class of American society. They are the cultrual desendants of our imperial past, who have a calus disregard for the average American and the American form of government.
Issac, (Sent Nov 9, 2006 6:50:28 PM)
Donald Rumsfield is a patriot. He has also been the most incompetent and arrogant public official in current history (although Bush and Cheney both share those traits). I feel he has very selfishly held onto his post for far too long, at the costs of the needless deaths of many American soldiers. Whatever the reason he is leaving, I applaud that he IS leaving and also wish him God Speed (out of any position of power and may the door not hit him on his butt on the way out)..
Big Time Patriot,Bellevue, Wash. (Sent Nov 9, 2006 5:23:38 PM)
If only Rumsfeld hadn't ignored the military and gone in with a much larger force, perhaps the occupation would have turned out differently.
The force was large enough to win the war, just isn't large enough to secure the peace.
DJL (Sent Nov 9, 2006 5:07:51 PM)
Rummy was not a warrior, he was an ideologically driven technocrat who was the quintessential bull in the china shop. Some people think his attitude of disregarding counsel and trying to fit facts to his arguments are a positive quality.. most military strategists (and never mind world opinion) would disagree. Yet again we must learn the lesson of Vietnam (and other conflicts); let the Generals fight the damn war and keep politics out of it!
Brian in Virginia (Sent Nov 9, 2006 4:11:19 PM)
Donald Rumsfield is a patriot. In spite of his hard work as Secretary of Defense, he has graciously stepped aside for what he views as "good for the country". He obviously felt that there was bad blood between him and the majority of the incoming congress and senate. I feel that he has made a very unselfish sacrifice to appease partisan politics. Whatever the reason, I applaude him and wish him God Speed.
God Bless America!
Gayla Suffridge, Hazard, Kentucky (Sent Nov 9, 2006 3:51:32 PM)
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