"The unwilling doing the unnecessary...."

[Jonathan Lighter]

Cf.

1972 Edward L. King _The Death of the Army: A Pre-Mortem_ (N.Y.: Saturday
Review Press) 96 [Google Books]: His troops went into combat with the motto
"UUUU" ("We are the unwilling, led by the unqualified, doing the
unnecessary, for the ungrateful") chalked on their helmets.

This "UUUU" variant is frequently cited - in later years.

JL

On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 9:37 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "The unwilling doing the unnecessary...."
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  Quoting Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu>:
>
> > Quoting "James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at netscape.com>"
> > <JJJRLandau at NETSCAPE.COM>:
> >
> >> On Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:13:39 -0400 Jonathan Lighter
> >> <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >> Subject: "
> >>
> >> <q>
> >> It's hard for me to believe that Google Books (and Amazon) turn up so
> >> little for this quotation, which I first heard (or more likely read) in
> >> the early 1970s (in the 1970 version) as applied to the Vietnam War.
> >> <snip>
> >> "We are the unwilling, led by the unqualified
> >> </q>
> >>
> >> I have a vague recollection that when I reported into the Pentagon in
> >> November 1969 this was already a cliche.  I do remember, but cannot
> >> put a date to, a professionally-printed placard which went something
> >> like this:
> >> "We the unwilling led by the unqualified, have been doing the
> >> unnecessary for the ungrateful for so long, we are now qualified to
> >> do anything with nothing."
> >>
> >> The quote had nothing to do with combat or politics; it was merely
> >> used to express frustation by working technical people (e.g. computer
> >> programmers) at what they considered to be idiotic decisions by thier
> >> superiors.
> >>
> >>     - Jim Landau
> >
> > FWIW
> >
> > GB gives as "v.52-1970" Labour Monthly p. 39
> > And one Australian armoured vehicle in Vietnam had written on its side:
> > "We are
> > the unlucky, led by the unqualified, to do the unnecessary for the
> > ungrateful."
> >
> > GB gives as Epoch volumes 19-20 "1969" p.225:
> > We are the unlucky
> > Led by the incompetent
> > For the unnecessary"
> >
> > Stephen Goranson
> > http://www.duke.edu/~goranson
>
> *Correction*. Though Googlr Book Item Notes claims 1969, the following from
> Spring 1971 Epoch [Cornell U.]
> "We are the unlucky
> Led by the incompetent
> For the unnecessary."
> Written on a wall at Camp Pendleton.
>
> Izzy Stone wrote that he got his quote from the May 8 Washington Post.
>
> Whether Labour Monthly is eally 1970 and pre or post May * I don't know.
> SG
>
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