Quote Originally Posted by Surferbeetle View Post
No, and my answer was not one either.
Could have fooled me.

The bulk of my work has been small team work and I do not buy into the false hierarchy of strategy>operations>tactics in terms of social standing.
'in terms of social standing' ? No idea what you mean.

Walking a mile in the shoes of others....I suspect that you and I are not aware of the context and nuances involved in the formulation of the Admiral's decision.
Your man Colin Powell once said:

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.
In other words cut through the crap and get to the crux of the matter. Moorer should have done this, he failed.

You are talking about the CJCS, he should be a quite exceptional person and not unable to make even the most basic decision.

We are also aware that POW's and fellow soldiers want to know that they (and theirs) are not going to be left out in the wind with no concern as to their welfare.
You do the best you can to bring them home. In the case of Son Tay it was merely a gesture. It also blew any chance of actually bringing any POWs home as the North Vietnamese they were moved beyond reach. Asl any POW would they have preferred a handful being brought home or just a token gesture?

Not to put too fine a point on it but, as you know better than I most probably, battlefields are tough places where tough calls are made and horrible things regularly happen. The Admiral made a tough call, and from this armchair it appears to have been the right one.
The Admiral was also in an armchair... a comfortable one in Washington. He can claim no excuse like the fog of war etc etc. He made a bad call and has no excuses.