Page 12 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • October 8, 2014 Hollywood’s ‘gorilla’ warfare Hollywood has always loved guerrilla warfare -- per- haps too much so. Missions “behind enemy lines” enable the director to showcase actors without having to go out and locate and rent tanks, aircraft, artillery, or more than a few dozen extras. Large- scale war movies without government coop- eration used to be unaffordable. John Wayne, who never actually served, was credited with possibly saving the Marine Corps during the years between World War II and the Korean War with “The Sands of Iwo Jima” which deployed dozens of Amtracs -- lightly armored amphibi- ous tractors -- Sherman flame-thrower tanks, and landing barges. Most of the fictitious Marines got to survive the movie and those who were killed died quick, clean, brave deaths. In 1954, when United Artists tried to get Marine Corps backing for “Beachhead” with Frank Lovejoy and Tony Curtis after heavy casualties in Korea, the film company was told not to expect any equipment because the U.S. Marine Corps was actively recruiting with the idea that some Marines got back alive. The screenplay for “Beach- head” called for two of the four Marines to die in ways that were bungling and ugly. Stuff like that happens, but never in Hollywood. The director may have been taking his revenge because the whole film has aspects of black comedy. One Marine drops a hand grenade down the hatch of a Japanese tank -- a war movie cliché. This time, the Japanese soldier inside the tank grabs the American and pulls him in. They blow up together. Another Marine, killed by a Japanese knife attack, is hacked and blown up after his death to simulate a dead Japanese so the other two Marines can escape. The two surviving Marines are chased through the jungle by one Japanese soldier. They capture a cute little Japanese sailor in dress uniform and hand him over to a Papuan cannibal in return for a canoe. They listen to the sailor’s final screams as they paddle away. Finally, when the PT boat sent to lift them off is sunk with all hands by a Japanese destroyer, Tony Curtis swims out and blows up that Japanese destroyer with a single hand grenade. This could have been called “gorilla” warfare in terms of who believed stuff like that could happen. It could also be argued that the director was not thrilled with the denial of cooperation. Real guerrilla warfare is something else again. National Commander of the American Legion Mike Helm recently noted a heart-breaking statistic: The most recent data indicates that 22 veterans per day kill them- selves after separation from the service. This means that the United States is losing more people at home than in the Middle East. This, too, is a part of guerilla warfare. The aftermath of protracted fighting that all too often involves civilian deaths has a drastic effect on small-town kids who believed in what they signed up for. The first official “guerrilla” war given that name was the Spanish insurrection against Napoleon in the first decade of the 19th century. The Spanish people at the time disliked their king, their queen, and the prime minister who used the queen to run the king for his own benefit. Having seen the British destroy or capture the French Navy and the Spanish Navy at the same time at Trafal- gar in 1805, Napoleon decided to capitalize on dynastic unpopularity and oust the king, queen, and prime minister and set up his mediocre brother Joseph as the new king of Spain. The French, at this point, had chased the British off the continent of Europe. (“Roll up the map of Europe. We shall not need it these next 10 years,” William Pitt the Younger said after he heard that Napoleon had separated and destroyed Russia and Austria in the same battle at Austerlitz, a few months after the British had destroyed both French and Spanish naval power at Trafalgar.) Much as the Spanish people had disliked the original royal family, they disliked the idea of a French (actually Franco-Italian) king of Spain even more. When Joseph rode through the streets of Madrid in his carriage throwing out gold coins by the handful, not a single spectator picked up one of the coins. Peer pressure may have been a factor, but people saw it happen and they were astounded. The Spanish Army had no hope of defeating the French Grande Armee, but when the British Navy landed 20,000 British soldiers and 18,000 allied Hanoverians and Bruns- wickers, the Spanish rose against the French as British allies and “guerrilla warfare” was born. The Spanish attacked French couriers and supply trains. The French retaliated by destroying whole villages. A dark advantage to Spain and Britain came out of these atrocities. The French Bonapartists probably could have done a much better job of administering Spain than the fading Hapsburg-Bourbon monarchs. However, after all these rampages by furious French soldiers -- the repri- sals were so savage that the Poles in the French army deserted and joined the Kings German Legion rather than murder their fellow Catholics -- the Spanish came to hate everything French for the next generation and no rap- prochement was possible. The essence of guerrilla warfare is not so that Hol- lywood can make movies without government coopera- tion. The essence of guerrilla warfare is to throw away the lives of thousands of your own civilians to make sure the invader is so hated that nobody decent and honorable will cooperate with him and anyone who does cooperate is readily identified as a traitor. We made it through the Korean War to a stalemate because most of the fighting was conventional, air power was viable on stripped mountainous terrain, and most Koreans were sincerely anti-communist since their lead- ers against the Japanese had been anti-Japanese and anti- communist at the same time. We did less well in Vietnam, where the people were nationalists who resented white colonialists -- the French -- who we had once supported and saw us as more of them same. Some of the Vietnamese I spoke to after the war could not believe we ever let ourselves be pulled in. The secret of success in guerrilla warfare is being will- ing to expend far more people than the invader loses to make sure the invader is far too hated to have any chance of winning the peace that comes after the war. Americans need to understand this. Our own young people, whether they die by battle or suicide, are too good and too valuable to throw away. Letters to the Editor Grateful for ambulance & police care Dear Editor: I want to thank the Midland Park Ambulance Corps for their care and ride to Valley Hospital. After four days, I came home almost 100 percent recovered. The policemen were able to help, too. Thank you very much and God bless you guys for a job well done. Dorothy Rocco Midland Park Says Scanlan should be mayor Dear Editor: A sufficient representative group of voters has sup- ported Brian Scanlan, a declared Democrat. He has taken his seat with the entirety of the Wyckoff Township Com- mittee to similarly serve all residents. Consistent with past practice, committee members, with recurring terms of elected service, have taken a term as mayor. Why not Brian Scanlan? We citizen resident voters have no voice in the mayor naming process which, in this case, narrows reasonable accountability to the “final four” committee members. As a Republican and a Wyckoff resident for more years than all members now sitting, save one, I see it as about time that we put away those old, ancestral voting practices and allow the “Scanlans” of this community to take their turn at the plate. Robert Craig Wyckoff BOE candidate seeks support Dear Editor: My name is Randy Dixon and I am a candidate for the Franklin Lakes Board of Education. I have lived in the borough for over 15 years and have two children in our schools. My daughter attended Colonial Road School and now attends Franklin Avenue Middle School, and my son attends Woodside Avenue School. I value the dedication and hard work of our excellent teachers, administrators, and the parent community. My time has come to step up and serve the community and all its stakeholders: the administrators, teachers, par- ents, taxpayers, and most importantly our children. I have attended many board meetings over the past 18 months and understand the role of the trustees is not to run the schools, but to set policy and provide the oversight to ensure our schools are run well. Collaboration is a mainstay of my daily life as a director of sales of the Ivanka Trump brand at Fisher Footwear. I will bring this same skill set to unite the board and ensure the board sets goals worthy of our town’s expectations and then achieves those goals with respectful dialog. The challenges facing our district require each trustee to be open minded and thoughtful about decisions that have lasting impact on our children and the community. The ultimate goal is to give our children the best educa- tion possible while maintaining fiscal responsibility. Achievement of goals is dependent on the community’s trust in its board. The best way to establish that trust is to be always mindful of transparency. I will help build the community’s trust in our board. Please join me in moving forward in unity. I would be honored to have your vote on Nov. 4. Randy Dixon Franklin Lakes Expresses thanks for support of referendum Dear Editor: The Community Alliance of Midland Park (CAMP) is a grassroots organization made up of people who love Midland Park and value the academic achievements of its schools. We ran a grassroots campaign for this referen- dum. We would like to thank the hundreds of people who posted our lawn signs, hand delivered our flyers, donated funds, talked with their neighbors, attended board of edu- cation meetings, and supported this effort. We would like to thank the teachers, administrators, custodians, and sec- retaries of the district who also supported the vote for these much-needed repairs. We thank the board of education for the public meetings and for being willing to speak at the drop of a hat with anyone who had a question. We also wish to thank all those who came out to vote. We appreci- ate the “yes” votes, without question, but we also appreci- ate the “no” votes. Single-party government is totalitarian government. Your vote is your voice, and we need to hear your voice in Midland Park. Community pride begins in our schools, but that is not where it ends. Patricia Fantulin, President CAMP Midland Park Candidate introduces himself Dear Editor: On Nov. 4 the residents of Franklin Lakes will go to the polls and make important choices that will impact the future of our community and our schools. My name is Peter J. Koulikourdis and I am running for a seat on the board of education. I am proud to have lived in Franklin Lakes for the past 14 years. My wife Helen and I have a vested interest in maintaining the quality of our schools. Our four young children Alexia (9), Christina (8), Panagiota (7), and (continued on page 29)