smf
09-24-2001, 01:44 AM
Man, I hope he comes back to FG this year like is being rumored.
I agree w/ each and every word he said. Glad someone's speaking out on this stuff. I agree that in short order many of us will be called into support the war effort, in one capacity or another. Our resources just aren't there to fight what's ahead (and has to be dealt with, like it or not).
.......From Thoroughbred Times.
Trainer Small ready to return to military duty
Maryland-based trainer Dick Small watched the September 11 terrorist airstrike on the United States and his warrior blood boiled.
The 56-year-old former Green Beret during the Vietnam conflict and 30-year veteran of the Maryland racing scene, immediately raced out to Fort Mead near Laurel, Maryland, to acquire his re-enlistment papers and offer his services to his nation.
"I’m sure there are a lot of great kids, but I don’t really see anyone else in a big rush to join the service," Small said, and then added, "but if they get down to me, we’re all in trouble."
He is not optimistic about the response by American’s for the country’s campaign against terrorism, citing the influence of environmentalists and other liberal-thinking citizens. He called the nation’s military and intelligence community "basically neutered" in its current form, and he wonders where America’s soldiers of the future will come from.
"I got a feeling something bad is coming down and it could spin out of control real quickly," he said. "Everybody is going to have to do something."
And that could be a problem, Small said.
"Truthfully, I am sort of worried – this is hardball," Small said. "Look at younger people, half of them don’t work, and it seems to me like all the kids that would be good soldiers – fighting and rough-housing – we have in jail for drugs for ten years. I don’t think this is going to come out good."
Small enlisted in the United States Army after college at the age of 24 after realizing he was going to be drafted. He spent a little more than a year in the jungles of Vietnam during his three-year enlistment in America’s special forces, and upon his return to the United States on August 14, 1971, he went to Pimlico Race Course "and I’ve been there ever since."
Small has saddled 803 winners during his career including Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Concern, multiple Grade 1 winner Broad Brush, and Grade 1-winning filly Caesar’s Wish during the late 1970s. Currently, he has 13 horses stabled at Pimlico, most of which he owns. This year he has saddled 11 winners from 83 starters.
"It’s just kind of low key," Small said of his stable. "It’s not particularly by design, just how it worked out." – Victor Ryan
I agree w/ each and every word he said. Glad someone's speaking out on this stuff. I agree that in short order many of us will be called into support the war effort, in one capacity or another. Our resources just aren't there to fight what's ahead (and has to be dealt with, like it or not).
.......From Thoroughbred Times.
Trainer Small ready to return to military duty
Maryland-based trainer Dick Small watched the September 11 terrorist airstrike on the United States and his warrior blood boiled.
The 56-year-old former Green Beret during the Vietnam conflict and 30-year veteran of the Maryland racing scene, immediately raced out to Fort Mead near Laurel, Maryland, to acquire his re-enlistment papers and offer his services to his nation.
"I’m sure there are a lot of great kids, but I don’t really see anyone else in a big rush to join the service," Small said, and then added, "but if they get down to me, we’re all in trouble."
He is not optimistic about the response by American’s for the country’s campaign against terrorism, citing the influence of environmentalists and other liberal-thinking citizens. He called the nation’s military and intelligence community "basically neutered" in its current form, and he wonders where America’s soldiers of the future will come from.
"I got a feeling something bad is coming down and it could spin out of control real quickly," he said. "Everybody is going to have to do something."
And that could be a problem, Small said.
"Truthfully, I am sort of worried – this is hardball," Small said. "Look at younger people, half of them don’t work, and it seems to me like all the kids that would be good soldiers – fighting and rough-housing – we have in jail for drugs for ten years. I don’t think this is going to come out good."
Small enlisted in the United States Army after college at the age of 24 after realizing he was going to be drafted. He spent a little more than a year in the jungles of Vietnam during his three-year enlistment in America’s special forces, and upon his return to the United States on August 14, 1971, he went to Pimlico Race Course "and I’ve been there ever since."
Small has saddled 803 winners during his career including Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Concern, multiple Grade 1 winner Broad Brush, and Grade 1-winning filly Caesar’s Wish during the late 1970s. Currently, he has 13 horses stabled at Pimlico, most of which he owns. This year he has saddled 11 winners from 83 starters.
"It’s just kind of low key," Small said of his stable. "It’s not particularly by design, just how it worked out." – Victor Ryan