On Vietnam Vets being anti-Kerry.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

There's a discussion going on in the forums on nationstates.net (a site where you can create your own country - highly recommended). Mine is "Anacanapanastan" - feel free to search for it to see what's up with my nation - over 3 billion citizens!

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?threadid=489474

Anyway, just now I saw a discussion of whether or not vets returning from Vietnam were spat upon. One guy who claims to be a vet says it happened to him, then manages to get a jab at Kerry and VVAW, and implies that they weren't REALLY veterans. I kinda went on a rant after that. :-)

My post:


>Eutrusca: "Those of us who really were veterans held the VVAW in the utmost contempt."

So the Vietnam Veterans Against the War weren't really veterans?

Just like Kerry just pretended to go to Vietnam and save his crew from a rocket-bearing VC? And Kerry just pretended to save a fellow sailor at great risk to himself?

And, while we're at it, George W. Bush DIDN'T pretend to join the National Guard?

Wouldn't the ire of Vietnam vets be better suited if directed toward a Fortunate Son who avoided going, but then dresses up in a flight suit even though he shirked what duties he signed up for? No, let's gang up on one of our own because we disagree with his stance of not wanting more of us to die in an unnecessary war in Southeast Asia. Makes a lot of sense.

And another generation dies unnecessarily because the frat boy they voted for gets us into another war of choice based on lies. Gulf of Tonkin = Weapons of Mass Destruction. 9/11 = Reichstag Fire. Iraq = Vietnam.

That being said, I'm glad the original veteran commenter on this thread survived the war, and I thank him for his service to our nation, whether or not a few idiots spit on him when he returned.

[karynnj]

1. I know they don't deal with facts

but here is part of last Wednesday night Senate record. Senator Warner was the Secreatry of the Navy in 1969 when Senator Kerry was awarded his Silver Star. He was the highest level person involved in awarding the medal. Senator Warner and Kerry visited Iraq together in January 2006.

From Thomas, page S6261 and 6262:

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I will conclude. The Senator from Massachusetts and I have had this conversation about that period of history before. We will have it again and again. I recall, I went to the Pentagon in February 1969 and was there for 5 years in the Navy Secretariat. As the Secretary of the Navy, the Senator always said I was his boss. He has been very respectful about that.
I remember when his Silver Star came through our Secretariat at that time. I went back and checked for accuracy, and it was accurate, I say to the Senator. He knows that, and I know that.

I thought many times about that period, and I recall that the then-Secretary of Defense, Melvin Laird, came to the conclusion that we had to begin a program of Vietnamization and begin to look toward bringing our troops home. I remember that, and the rest is history.

I share those concerns. I, like the Senator from Massachusetts, every day, particularly in my responsibility as chairman of the Armed Services Committee, worry about these men and women in uniform. Like the Senator, I visit the hospitals, go to the funerals when it is appropriate for me to do so. I share that burden. I think most of our colleagues do.