The Northcountry Chronicle

King For a Day

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by W.D. Ehrhart Recently a young man who is in a college ROTC program and about to embark on a career in the U.S. Army seems to have read enough of my writing that he saw similarities between me and the point of view suggested by David Hackworth in his 1990 memoir About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior. My young correspondent, whom I’ll call Emmett, wanted to know if I thought problems like “ticket-punching” and “careerism” still existed in the military, and what he might do to change or at least mitigate them. Did I have any advice for him? “I don’t know …

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Do Not Thank Me for My Service

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by W.D. Ehrhart For the past two decades, I’ve been patient with this ridiculous insistence by my fellow Americans on thanking me for my service. I have tried to imagine that they mean well and are sincere in their thanks, however misdirected the sentiment may be, however oblivious to reality the well-wishers may be. For two decades, whenever someone has thanked me for my service, I’ve simply said, “You’re welcome,” and let it go at that. But I have finally run out of patience. I just can’t keep my mouth shut anymore. I’m tired of their stupidity and ignorance, and the utter emptiness of their …

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Iran in the Crosshairs

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by W.D. Ehrhart So after waging open warfare against Venezuela for months, obliterating a village in Nigeria, and bombing Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Somalia, our intrepid president, in his quest for the Nobel Peace Prize, is making noises about invading Greenland—Greenland, for cryin’ in a bucket!—Cuba, and maybe Mexico. Perhaps most ironic of all, he’s threatening to attack Iran in defense of Iranian civilians being murdered by the repressive ayatollahs for taking to the streets in protest of tyranny.  Given what’s been happening in this country—think Senator Mark Kelly, Renee Nicole Good, Tim Walz and Jacob Frey, just for starters—there’s something laughable about the MAGAPrez …

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Does God Love Losers, Too?

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by W.D. Ehrhart Right after the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LIX last year, Coach Nick Sirianni proclaimed, “God’s blessed us very much. He gave us all the talents to be able to get here. So first and foremost, thanks to Him,” adding later, “Thank you, God, thank you, Jesus.” At the time, such proclamations worried me quite a bit. In an essay I wrote called “Thank God for the Eagles Victory,” I found myself wondering if Coach Sirianni believed that God is an Eagles fan who made sure the Birds had enough talent to defeat the Chiefs last year? What about the other thirty …

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A Critic in the Peanut Gallery

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by W.D. Ehrhart Recently, I received an e-mail from an Austrian man I’ve known for over 40 years. Let’s call him “Adi.” Here is what he wrote: “Greetings from Austria across the wide wild waters to my U.S. friends. Peace be with you, and strength. I shall open my heart, ventilating my anger and frustration. The U.S. was so much part of my life and my job [as a student and then professor of American literature]. Whatever shortcomings there were, my attitude was always, always positive. Even during the Vietnam War, when a whole generation—my generation—forcefully opposed it. Also, the U.S.A. has been kind to …

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Serving Our Nation and Protecting Our Freedoms

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by W.D. Ehrhart I recently received an invitation from my Congresswoman, Mary Gay Scanlon (D, Pa. 5th Dist.), to participate in something called the Veterans History Project. Her letter begins: “Our veterans and fallen service members put their lives on the line to serve our nation and protect our freedoms, so it is important that we preserve their stories for our nation’s history and to foster community among our veterans. That is why I am pleased to announce my office’s participation in the Veterans History Project (VHP) run by the Library of Congress.” The problem here is that most veterans since at least the end …

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