The Ghost Army

The Yankee Army was once a terror the world over, it left behind more than its share of victories and defeats. This is not an article glorifying the Yankee Army, far from it. This is a critical assessment as to just how far it has fallen and how much the South was, and is, responsible for propping it up.

Victory breeds weakness. This statement may not make sense at first, but to understand it we must look at historical armies. Weakness breeds laziness and laziness leads to slipping standards. In short, this chain of events eventually leads to defeat on the battlefield.

The British Empire once spanned across the world. No corner of the planet was left untouched by it. It was at its time as powerful, if not more so, than the modern day American Empire. The saying was, “The sun never sets on the British Empire.”

From a glorious and respected military to a mere shadow of itself, the British military has fallen far from what it once was. Once upon a time, hearing that the “redcoats” were arriving may have brought a swell of hope for colonists who were battling off wild savages. The beat of British drums and the crimson uniforms drove fear into the enemy and pride into the hearts of your average British subject, who enjoyed the fruits of the empire’s strong navy and army. The uniform of the British soldier and sailor bore both respect and admiration, much like the uniform of the American soldier once did not all that long ago. And, just like the men in gray once did for our people.

Her Majesty’s military is not the only example we have to work with in this exploratory article. No, we have the Huns, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Chinese, the Romans, and many more. All of these armies had one thing in common – they were great. Historically, they pushed the envelope of military tactics, weaponry and strategy. Their impact was unmistakable, just as the Yankee Army.

What we are currently witnessing is the fall of the American Empire’s military, but frankly this is nothing new. It has been going on far longer than many realize and it is inevitable. Defeat, like mistakes, are often the best teachers. Mistakes sharpen our focus and increase our drive. We push harder for what it is we want. For every setback and defeat, we grow stronger. It is very much the same with militaries in a sense. Obviously, continued tactical and strategic losses are bad for any fighting force. However, a good kick in the pants every now and then is needed, unless a military becomes complacent from their own success.

The clock started ticking in 1865 for the Union Army. High on its vicious destruction of the South, which left a trail of blood, broken families, and destroyed communities, the Yankee Army began to grow fat and lazy on the back of its success. Even post-Reconstruction, and despite several other expeditionary successes, it continued in its slow decline. The Great War and World War 2 were “false” peaks for the American Empire’s war machine. Those wars involved the “forces of democracy” defeating foes already outnumbered and engaged in warfare with multiple empires, including the Russians.

Southerners have often been at the helm for many of the successes of the the former Union Army, now turned Imperial Army. Whether that was through participation, training, or leadership, many Southerners were responsible for maintaining the fighting spirit of the Yankee Army, an army that many of its own citizens abandoned. For example, the Virginia Military Institute trained many of the finest generals of the 20th century. Names we all recognize such as George Patton (spiritually and ethnically Southern), Chesty Puller (Virginian) and George Marshall (a Yankee) left behind excellent legacies. Audie Murphy, one of the most decorated soldiers of all time, even hailed from Dixie.

Military service is, after all, a Southern tradition. It is why still we make up the overwhelming portion (although shrinking for our new “stunning and brave” warfighters) of the Empire’s legions. Southerners have been, and still are, some of the fiercest fighters in the world. It was many a Southern son who fought with valor and bravery street-to-street in Mosul, Iraq. It is often the Southerner who takes the brunt of the Empire’s foreign policy. It is Dixie’s sons and daughters who put on the uniform overwhelmingly, not the Yankee as it once was. We are the janissaries of the American Empire.

The American Empire has not been in a legitimate war since Germany and Japan were smoking ruins. The U.S. military, as it stands now, hasn’t won a war since then. Korea, my grandfather’s war, was a “police action” and North Korea is still here today. Vietnam was a disastrous political quagmire. Grenada was so short and small it would be better off classifying it as an adventure. Kosovo was more of an air support mission than anything else. The Gulf War (and Iraq 2.0) was akin to a playground bully beating up on a frail, sick kid. Saddam Hussein refused to believe we would even invade when Bush II started Vietnam 2: Sand Boogaloo. Look how that worked out. Now, we still have Afghanistan, Niger, Syria and tons of other countries with Uncle Sam’s military. Pro-tip: we will lose in ever single place. Even now it is fighting a war which it is incapable of winning. Militaries are built to destroy, not build.

As a result, the “Global War on Terror” now stretches 19 years. Almost two decades with no end in sight.

An army abroad, more than it is at home, is often the first sign of a troubled empire. As you read this, there are teenagers that have never known a time of peace. They will fight in the same war their parents have fought in. It’s absurd, yet politicians and others, feasting on the scraps of the American Empire, will tell you that this is good and patriotic. They’ll lie, cheat and chant that our boys and girls are “fighting for freedom.” It’s disgusting. Freedom for what?

Crisp, sharp, and effective uniforms have given way to individual branches wanting to distinguish themselves individually outside of their dress uniforms. Sloppy discipline and falling standards define the military as it transformed from a fighting force into an SJW experiment. It’s more important to brainwash troops with leftist propaganda than it is to fight the enemy or train for the mission. The military once considered the last conservative bastion of the American institutions. Good people now find themselves trapped in it. Increasingly more are leaving as they get the chance. Retention rates are the lowest ever seen, absurd bonuses are dangled in front of ignorant civilians and desperate service members in an effort to stop the hemorrhaging.

But, it can’t be stopped. You can’t stop something that is falling. The reason it can’t be stopped is because the military abandoned what made it great. It abandoned its Southern and masculine roots. Wars are started on complex fabricated lies, strategic victories slip between the fingers as quickly as they are obtained, morale is at an all time low, training is relaxed in the name of equality and kindness. These are not the things of a strong military. This is a military laughed at in Russian and Chinese strategic circles.

Veterans come home broken, both physically and mentally. They’re doped up on opiates from poppy fields they once were forced to protect. They become addicted, and when the cord is cut by the VA, spiral into eventual suicide (with 17 veterans dying every day). Citizens, who once held them in esteem, now ignore their existence, as if the very war still going on is a distant memory. Only in the South do service members regularly get a “thank you for your service,” aside from rural areas of the Midwest or rural enclaves of the Yankee states. In the South, military service is something that is still largely honored and respected. It always has been because it is part of our culture.

The last thing that remains, however, is the irony. The irony that the American Empire has become and lived out exactly what it fought against in 1776 – a replica of the British Empire. The sun is setting now, just like it did then, on the once great empire.

God bless you and God bless Dixie.