Maggie's Farm

Second in a series:

Rocky Marciano (Born 1 Sept. 1923), heavyweight boxing champion, was born Rocco Francis Marchegiano in Brockton, Massachusetts, the son of Pierino Marchegiano, a shoe-factory worker, and Pasqualena Picciuto. He was considered the roughest kid in the neighborhood, although he was not overly pugnacious. A star athlete who hoped to become a major league baseball catcher, he dropped out of school at age sixteen…Marciano then became a manual laborer while playing baseball on local semiprofessional teams. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 and was honorably discharged in 1946. Marciano kept his baseball dream alive until the spring of 1947, when a tryout with a Chicago Cubs minor league affiliate revealed that he lacked foot speed and a strong throwing arm.

Marciano had begun boxing competitively while in the army, mainly to avoid KP duty…. In 1948 Rocky participated in the Golden Gloves and advanced to the All-East championship tournament. He had aspirations to box in the Olympics, but he broke a thumb in winning a New England AAU (Amateur Athletic Union)tournament that served as a trial for the Olympics. He then decided to turn professional and gave up his job as a digger for the gas company. Experts considered Marciano too old, too short, and too light, at 5' 10" and 190 pounds, to become a successful heavyweight prizefighter….Marciano was [then] extremely well trained and took care of his diet.

Photo Courtesy of Michael N. Varveris, author of "Rocky Marciano The 13th Candle"

An out-and-out killer in the ring, instinctively swinging for blood on every punch, he is the mildest, friendliest and most loyal of men outside it.

Rocky's amazing record of 49 consecutive professional wins will probably never be exceeded, nor his KO percentage of 87.76%.

Marciano was the first and last champion in the heavyweight ranks to retire undefeated. And he only lost once in a 12-fight amateur career.

Marciano enjoyed life in the fast lane ("If you want to live a full life then live dangerously"), disliked routine, and was fascinated by the mobsters with whom he socialized and did business, such as Vito Genovese. He was a great hero to Italian Americans. Friends and acquaintances customarily gave him spending money, bought him dinner, and paid for his clothes. Parsimonious, Marciano never picked up checks. However, he was a poor businessman who made several bad decisions…

In the mid-1960s Marciano turned down $2 million to fight Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) when he could not get into fighting shape. In 1969 he participated in a computer tournament involving former champions that grossed about $1.7 million. For this endeavor he lost nearly 50 pounds, wore a toupee, and sparred eight hours of one-minute rounds with Ali to produce a marketable conclusion. Seven different endings were prepared, with the computer giving the victory to Marciano.

One day before his 46th birthday, on August 31, 1969, Marciano died tragically in a plane crash near Newton, Iowa, while on the way to a birthday party.

From the American Council of Learned Societies, Sport (January 1953), and the National Italian-American Sports Hall Of Fame

That rhetorical question from Barry Goldwater still haunts us today.  Many of us who supported the US being in Vietnam found ourselves in the uncomfortable posture of, in effect, backing President Johnson’s floundering, painful, costly half-way measures.  Instead of early on going deep and hard to close Haiphong, punish Hanoi, and cut the infiltration routes, the US dribbled in and hesitated.  What earlier forcefulness would have yielded is indicated by the more compliant reaction from North Vietnam immediately following our major Linebacker pummeling of it in 1972.

Analogies can be misleading.  Rather, the question of why not victory is to open readers’ minds to wider possibilities than appear in most of the discussions of what to do about Afghanistan.  The very concept of victory seems to have disappeared from our vocabulary and consciousness.

Victory is the accomplishment of the objective of a reasonably lasting situation in which Afghanistan is not a threat to its neighbors nor ourselves in the West.  Pakistan’s nukes cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of foes.  Iran cannot be allowed to extend its influence, or coercion, upon others.  India’s security interests must be respected.

The arguments against a perimeter containment are compelling, as ineffective.  The arguments against complete or hasty withdrawal are compelling, as worsening the threats.  The arguments against solely counter-insurgency without enough securing forces are compelling, as inadequate.

Democratization, modernization, social services, etc. may be tactics toward the objective, but are insufficient without trusted security.  Security requires seriously reduced cross-border sanctuaries and support together with seriously diminished internal capabilities of Taliban, Al Quaeda and drug lords.

For Afghanistan’s sake, as well as other corollary objectives, that means several measures:  1. Surgically take out Pakistan’s nuclear capability, combined with India’s open pledge and actions to reduce its arming, presence and targeting of Pakistan, recognizing that India’s fears of Pakistan are real;  2. Substantially take out Iran’s nuclear capability, and embargo its critical gas imports; 3. Buy Afghanistan’s opium production while simultaneously training and supplying Afghans who cooperate with viable replacement crops and businesses, to reduce the funds flow to drug lords; 4. With vote of Congress, commit 100,000 more primarily combat troops to Afghanistan to clear and hold, while energetically pursuing longer (2-3 years, at least) building up of competent Afghan security forces, us and they pursuing forward counter-insurgency.

In 1964, Goldwater lost by a landslide.  The rest is history, or commentary.  President Obama, like President Johnson, deserves respect and support for not bugging out.  However, experts judge both’s half-way courses result in long drawn out losses.

In 2006, President Bush changed course in Iraq.  The loud bipartisan support from Senators Lieberman and McCain, commanding the center, was critical.  They have again come forth. “Only Decisive Force Can Prevail in Afghanistan: A middle path of muddling through is the real recipe for quagmire and loss of public support.”

Barry Goldwater’s words in 1964 are as appropriate now: “Why Not Victory?...I’m convinced that in this year 1964 we must face up to our conscience and make a definite choice. We must decide what sort of people we are and what sort of world we want–now and for our children.”