Is it indifference, incompetence, or idiocy?
The way Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump handled our missing soldiers tells a story
Author’s Note: I would be remiss if I didn’t welcome the flood of new subscribers in the last two days. Thank you so much for subscribing to On Democracy! Every post is free but your paid upgrade is crucial to helping me continue my work and is deeply appreciated. With your paid subscription we’re able to expand our team and bring you more content and breaking news.
We lost four good men
During a training exercise in Lithuania last week the crew of an M88A2 Hercules Armored Recovery Vehicle appear to have lost their way and drove onto a frozen bog in the dark that gave way and sank their vehicle upside down. They were missing for nearly a week. Shockingly, during that time, while a frantic search ensued, we hardly heard anything from the Secretary of Defense or Commander-in-Chief.
Lost were members of the 3rd Infantry Division out of Fort Stewart, Georgia. Three have been identified but the fourth soldier was only found yesterday and has not bee named. They were Sgt. Jose Duenez Jr., 25, of Joliet, Illinois; Sgt. Edvin F. Franco, 25, of Glendale, California; and Pfc. Dante D. Taitano, 21, of Dededo, Guam.
What has shocked me is the callous disregard for these young men and their families by Hegseth and Trump. While our international partners, soldiers, and Navy divers worked through the muck and murky water to find these missing men neither man could be bothered to hardly offer a word of concern while going along with their lives. Even more pathetic, neither took time to thank our allies who expended incredible efforts and national effort for our soldiers to make their way home to their families.
We already know that Donald Trump has no regard for the service of our military personnel from his many comments ranging from saying he “likes people that weren’t captured” to the now confirmed story of referring to our fallen as “suckers” and “losers.”
Hegseth, however, has made his military service his entire personality for years. His obsession with the “warrior ethos” and our “warriors” is literally all he talks about even before being selected as Secretary of Defense. Since then he has been focused on rooting out perceived “DEI” and filming videos of himself but it’s obvious he has no interest in actually caring about our service members and their families.
It’s clear from his half-hearted efforts to acknowledge they were even missing for five days, his failure to inform the President about any of it, and obsession with his own image that Hegseth is completely unqualified for the job.
It begs the question if he is simply indifferent, incompetent, or an idiot?
Missing for days
We only heard of the soldier’s disappearance originally from a statement by the NATO Secretary General on Tuesday, March 25th when he jumped the gun and said they were dead already. That was retracted and a difficult recovery process began as the vehicle had sunk upside down in 15 feet of mud and water.
The M88A2 is a recovery vehicle that supports armored forces repair broken vehicles or get them unstuck from things as is all too often a situation tanks find themselves in. The tracked vehicle weighs a staggering 66 tons.
With it sinking into a bog there was never a good chance the soldiers involved would be found alive. Traditionally this is what’s called a ‘Serious Incident’ in the military and would be immediately reported up the chain of command in a Serious Incident Report (SIR).
When I was an operations officer we were trained to let our higher headquarters know quickly so that each layer of command could be aware and answer any questions. As a public affairs officer it was my duty by regulation to release as much information as possible to the American public as fast as possible.
In this case we didn’t hear a peep from the Department of Defense or the Secretary himself who was frantically attacking the press for the reports about his use of Signal, hiring family, and dragging his wife along while touristing through the Pacific.
What they did offer was incredibly pathetic. I guess you would call it an “official quote tweet.”
Yes, that’s the spokesman for DOD, Sean Parnell, posting a SCREENSHOT of a CNN story with his comment and then the SecDef account quote tweeting it. Not a press release from DOD. Not an official release. No statement thanking our allies for their extraordinary efforts to rescue our men.
A quote tweet.
Truly inspiring to those families, I’m sure.
What is even more bizarre is that it doesn’t appear anyone told Trump what was going on at all. When he was asked about it at noon on Wednesday the 26th he had this to say:
“Have you been briefed about the missing soldiers in Lithuania?”
Trump, “No I haven’t.” It’s also obvious he doesn’t give a damn either. One would think the Commander-in-Chief that loves the troops so much that he humps the flag in their honor, would care that four of his men are missing.
Nothing from Hegseth on the topic. He did put out this gem, which I will only post a small clip of to preserve your lunch.
That bizarre propaganda goes on for a minute and a half in glorious cinematic quality of Hegseth solemnly touring a Philippine memorial to lost U.S. soldiers in World War II. It was posted on DOD’s social channels at 7:45 am ET on the 28th.
Three days into the frantic search for the soldiers.
First mention
Throughout the search the people of Lithuania were watching the rescue unfold. They had brought in hundreds of soldiers, allies, and civilians to help including Polish military engineers, Estonian military members, local construction companies, and U.S. Navy divers. They even began a crowdfunding effort for the men’s families at home.
All along the leadership of NATO and Lithuania offered thoughts and updates on their social media and in the press. The Commanding General of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division put out regular statements and updates to international and local press back home.
The Department of Defense didn’t say a thing.
Where was Pete? Filming glowing videos and, of course, working out with whatever special operations troops he can find in his travels.
Finally, on Saturday morning as he began a press conference in Japan the Secretary of Defense found time to make a brief mention of the soldiers and their families.
That’s it. Formal thoughts and prayers.
The next day Sean Parnell posted a video that opens with attacks on the press about the many stories that broke about Hegseth over the week. Just on Saturday alone stories hit the headlines of Pete hiring his younger brother, Phil, as a Liaison with the Department of Homeland Security complete with an office down the hall. All while tagging along for all of his meetings and trips including the ongoing one he was on in the Indo-Pacific.
Then shortly after there was a story about Hegseth bringing his wife with him to sensitive meetings including high level talks with the United Kingdom defence staff and more with implications that classified topics were discussed.
Parnell posted this video as the update on the week for the entire Department of Defense.
“…and once again, did PT with the troops.”
I actually analyzed this propaganda production. The video is 1:44 seconds long and incredibly all but 20 seconds of it is video of Pete Hegseth looking at things and doing PT.
One minute and 24 seconds of travel diary and not one mention of the rest of the Department of Defense operating around the world. Not one mention of the fact that four of our soldiers were still missing at that moment and the subject of a multi-service, multi-national recovery operation.
An attack on the media and glowing North Korea style gauzy video of Hegseth is what passes for leadership at the Department of Pete.
The bad news arrives
On Monday, March 31st the missing vehicle was finally recovered and three of the missing soldiers were found deceased. On Tuesday the fourth soldier was found dead in the vicinity ending the search.
On Monday afternoon Trump once again showed he has no idea what is going on and no interest in learning more. A week into this tragedy he still didn’t know it was a tracked vehicle.
Three are “gone.” He couldn’t even muster a weak thoughts and prayers for the families. It’s all very matter of fact.
Hegseth managed to issue an official tweet on the losses between videos and photos of him visiting the Naval Academy. Look at this pathetic timeline and post.
All that time and our troops got a tweet between video takes.
As of this writing the Department of Defense has not issued a formal statement at all. Literally, there is not a single post on DOD’s social media or elsewhere marking the loss of the soldiers except reposts of Hegseth’s tweets. There is no acknowledgement at all of the incredible efforts of our allies to find our men.
A major part of the Secretary of Defense’s job entails working with our allies. Neither he nor his staff are yet to even mention them. No, he is worried about physical fitness standards and looks.
Propaganda is all that matters
I am not sure what anyone expected when Trump selected a Fox News weekend host as the Secretary of Defense. Pete Hegseth is a raging narcissist and showboat who thinks leadership is about doing pushups and taking pictures and videos.
He posted not one but two videos on his flight back from Japan to D.C. showing him signing a memo directing the military services to quickly review all of the their physical fitness standards and report to him.
He did not do a post to offer support for our soldiers, their families, and teammates nor thank, or even acknowledge, the incredible international effort by our allies and troops. He couldn’t be bothered to pretend to care that four men died training for war on the very edge of the Russian sphere of influence.
He cared about how good he looks on camera and if there is enough light for the slow motion pan of his walk up the steps. He cares about his hair being just right and making sure the camera gets his tattoos.
He doesn’t give a shit about four support troops that died in a training accident.
Hegseth is the most embarrassing Secretary of Defense we have ever had and every day shows he is unqualified, unfit, and unprepared to lead our incredible service members and the largest department of the United States government.
But, hey, at least he’s working out with the troops.
So, that’s something.
It’s just not his damn job.
If you enjoy On Democracy I’d love you to refer it to your friends.
They don't care
Well, the Felon is too busy golfing and attending sporting events and working on the final touches to turn the WH from the Nation's Warm Historic Residence into a into a cold resemblance of a beachless Mar-a-largo. The Felon has no time for details of soldiers dying in service to their country.