On a trip to Chicago, I stopped at the scene of the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre on North Clark Street where seven men were lined up and murdered by four men who were presumably Al Capone’s agents in 1929. Today, the site has been razed. It was across the street from the pizza restaurant where we would be dining that evening. I found no markers about the killings. I thought of this long ago event when shortly after midnight this morning I received news the president fired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Jim Slife late Friday. He had already fired, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan in January.
Brown’s firing was clearly racist. Franchetti and Fagan’s firings were misogynistic. All four were appointed by President Joe Biden.
Secretary of Defense Hegseth previously said that Brown should be fired along with all other generals involved with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, according to Associated Press. Though we knew this might be coming, that it actually happened is an affront to every person who served in our military, including me.
That the president picked as Brown’s replacement, a former three-star general who does not meet congressionally mandated requirements, adds fuel to the fire.
Once I take a cup of coffee and peel myself off the ceiling, there is work to do: writing letters to Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a letter to the editor of the newspaper, and reaching out to everyone I know.
Journey Home 
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