Washington D.C. (AP): In his first public comments on the Bush administration's surprise decision to replace him as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Peter Pace disclosed that he had turned down an offer to voluntarily retire rather than be forced out. To quit in wartime, he said, would be letting down the troops. . . . "One thing that was discussed was whether or not I should just voluntarily retire and take the issue off the table . . . I said I could not do that for one very fundamental reason," which is that no soldier or Marine in Iraq should "think — ever — that his chairman, whoever that person is, could have stayed in the battle and voluntarily walked off the battlefield. "That is unacceptable as a leadership thing, in my mind." . . . Pace, whose current term ends Oct. 1, said he intended to remain on the job until then. Navy Adm. Michael Mullen has been announced as Bush's choice to succeed Pace, who is the first Marine ever to hold the military's top post. A Vietnam veteran, Pace has served in uniform for 40 years. That experience colored his decision to refuse to quit voluntarily. "The other piece for me personally was that some 40 years ago I left some guys on the battlefield in Vietnam who lost their lives following 2nd Lt. Pace," he said. "And I promised myself then that I will serve this country until I was no longer needed — that it's not my decision. I need to be told that I'm done. I've been told I'm done. I will run through the finish line on 1 October, and when I run through the finish line I will have met the mission I set for myself," he said. . . . [Read More] We agree with TexasFred: A Marine can aspire to no greater level of personal satisfaction than knowing that he has done his duty as he served his men, his Corps, his nation and his God, and given to all nothing but his very best… That Marine is Gen. Peter Pace, Semper Fi General, I stand at attention and salute you Sir, there IS an OFFICER on deck!!
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