Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

The names of our times

Even though I no longer report on day-to-day military activities (I spent Wednesday reading Matthew Ridgway’s correspondence with Joe Collins in early 1951, as Ridgway took command in the Korean War, and I found it fascinating), I still read every KIA report issued by the Pentagon. Also, thanks to the December issue of the Marine ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos
U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos
U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos

Even though I no longer report on day-to-day military activities (I spent Wednesday reading Matthew Ridgway's correspondence with Joe Collins in early 1951, as Ridgway took command in the Korean War, and I found it fascinating), I still read every KIA report issued by the Pentagon.

Even though I no longer report on day-to-day military activities (I spent Wednesday reading Matthew Ridgway’s correspondence with Joe Collins in early 1951, as Ridgway took command in the Korean War, and I found it fascinating), I still read every KIA report issued by the Pentagon.

Also, thanks to the December issue of the Marine Corps Gazette, I also make sure to review a list of recent all Marine awards for valor. (I’d like to see this in Army magazine too.) Checking over the Marine commendations list, I saw as usual all the Jasons and Jordans, the Matthews, the Shanes and the Seths, but also was struck by these two names:

Capt. Akil Bacchus (3/6 2nd MarDiv)

Sgt. Jose Saenz IVIV (1/11 1st MarDiv) (To be accurate, that is the way it was listed, but I am pretty sure it is a Word-created typo for “IV”)

Congratulations, and thanks, to both gentlemen — and to all the others on that list.

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

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