Texas Highway Patrolman Mistakes US Army 1st Cavalry for Gang/Drug Organization

On Veteran’s Day last week, we posted a video showing you what happened during a recent, local traffic stop where an American Soldier who had served eleven (11) years with the 1st Cavalry of the U.S. Army, was driving along on his way back from getting his daughter settled in here at prestigious Southern Methodist University (SMU).

As he was returning back home to Tennessee, he was stopped — for no known reason — by a Texas Highway Patrolman on I-30 near Greenville.  This is what you see in the video.  Get this – and remember, it’s all on videotape:

The Texas Highway Patrolman actually asked our hero why there was a  “sticker” on his rental car. (What sticker?  Check out this image, see for yourself.)   This is the magnetic U.S. Army 1st Cavalry plate that he puts on all of his cars.  You know – you’ve seen them.

They Bring Out the Drug-Sniffing Dogs — This Sticker is So, So Suspicious

Well,  the DPS Trooper obviously needs some help, and let’s hope he’s getting it.  The Trooper made the Soldier wait thirty (30) minutes for DPS to bring out a drug-sniffing dog.  Yes, the Trooper thought the sticker was some kind of secret code for druggies, or gangs, or something.  Seriously.

Well, the dog eventually arrived, did his job, and cleared the car.  Good dog.

That’s not the end of it though:  at this point, the Soldier (and my client) had the audacity to ask the law enforcement officer why he pulled him over for having his 1st Cavalry magnetic plate on his car.  The officer got a little bent out of shape by his question.   Please, please — go watch the video.

Perhaps you will notice that my client is African-American.  Listen to the questions he’s asked by the Trooper– things like, are you carrying illegal drugs or other bad things there in the back of your car (guess that the daughter’s college stuff looked really sneaky or something).

Oh, by the way, what’s the big deal about the 1st Cavalry? 

This division is one of the most famous and most decorated combat divisions of the United States Army.  The magnetic sticker is filled with symbolism (from Wikipedia):

Yellow, the traditional cavalry color, and the horse’s head refer to the division’s original cavalry structure. Black, symbolic of iron, alludes to the transition to tanks and armor. The black diagonal stripe represents a sword baldric and is a mark of military honor; it also implies movement “up the field” and thus symbolizes aggressive elan and attack. The one diagonal bend, as well as the one horse’s head, also alludes to the division’s numerical designation.

And, who knows where the Trooper has been, because this symbol isn’t exactly unknown.  Check this out (also from Wikipedia):

• In Rambo: First Blood and the Rambo sequels, Rambo’s mentor Col. Troutman wears the unit’s insignia.
• It was featured in the classic movie Apocalypse Now. 
• Also seen in the movie We Were Soldiers as well as the book the movie was based upon
• Clint Eastwood played a fellow soldier (and Korean war vet) from the 1st Cavalry in his award winning movie, Gran Torino.
• General Wheeler has this on his dress uniform in The Last Castle.   General Mansfield does likewise in Eureka.
• Director Oliver Stone is also a veteran of the 1st Cavalry Division  — and it was his experiences with the 1st Cavalry that are brought to film in his classic Vietnam movie, Platoon.
• Oliver Stone also brings the 1st Cavalry onto the big screen in the Tom Cruise mega-hit, Born on the Fourth of July.

Maybe the Drug Cartels and the Drug Gangs Need to Consider Magnets, Too

Finally, one last thought.  Forget the movies.  Forget the nation’s highways, where cars (at least here in Texas) routinely have military symbols on them, particularly the 1st Cav.

Here’s something to ponder: How many druggies or gangs or evildoers of whatever sort actually have MAGNETIZED symbols that they slam onto their car bumpers? 

Do the Zetas have these magnets?  How about MS13?

You gotta wonder.