SwiftVets.com

[ADJ2]

I served in the US Navy 1966-1970 in VF-14 Tophatters aboard the USS John F. Kennedy CVA-67.

During my tour we sent several of our pilots to Viet Nam in support of our
of troops.

When I got out of the Navy I became a Police Officer. My real love was fire fighting. For the past 20 years I have been a firefighter paramedic
in the Columbus Ohio area.

I have been a member of the IAFF (International Association of Firefighters) since my rookie days.

The IAFF exective board has thrown thier support behind John Kerry.

The fire service has been sold out by General President .Harold Schaitberger.

IAFF locals through-out the country have not been asked who they support
If so, the majority would NOT respond with John Kerry.

I feel that I have been sold down the river by by the IAFF and Maligned
by John Kerry.

Even though I did not serve "In Country" I'm a Viet Nam Vet none the less.

Because of people like John Kerry I could not wear my uniform while on liberty without fear of repercussion or worse.

I watched the Swift Vets as they each came before the mike and explained the reason John Kerry should not be allowed to lead the US Military.

I listened to men who had been their with Kerry, fought beside Kerry, and
know what type of person Kerry was then and is now.

I urge every Vet from all wars and every firefighter to stand with this elite group of warriors and keep John Kerry out of the White House.

[waltjones]

Welcome aboard, ADJ2! I was really disappointed to hear that endorsement myself, but there's that history of bad feelings between unions and Republicans; I wish it weren't so, but there it is. If you didn't - like me - have a dislike of Kerry because of what he did to us Vietnam vets, would you still feel the same way? How about your brothers? Semper Fi! Walt
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Walt Jones (USMC, '65 - '69) It says much about the person who defends a man with no honor.

[Montana]

[a41capt]

I agree ADJ2! I've been a professional firefighter since 1975, and a member of the IAFF all these years. I served aboard the USS Samuel Gompers and made 4 trips into DaNang during the 1971 to 1974 period. While I was not a Brown Water Sailor, and I did not serve in the coastal patrol groups, I did repair work on 2 "Swifts" during my trips into DaNang (they were aluminum, and I was a Shipfitter) and met the men that fought these small craft up and down the coast. I thought they were some of the most courageous and honorable men in the Navy at the time, and it pains me to learn that one of them is using his SHORT time in-country to buffalo the American public.

Like you, when I arrived home, I couldn't wear my uniform on leave or during travel. A girl in the San Diego airport spit on me on one of my first trips home because I wore the ribbons of a "Baby Killer", a position supported by the anti-war activists of the time. This hurt me deeply as a 19 year old man, and I cannot forgive the American public for allowing this atrocity to this day. I've never truly come home.

Now to the point. I am also an instructor for the IAFF, teaching hazardous materials response and weapons of mass destruction training (I've been in this field since the early '80s), so I travel our country extensively training my brother and sister firefighters. It will comfort you to know that almost to a man, they vote republican, regardless of the misguided direction of our venerable organization. To quote a brother from the Atlantic City Fire Department last summer, "When the curtains close behind us on election day, we vote the way OUR conscience tells us, not the way our union president tells us".

I agree, the union leadership has NEVER asked my opinion when it comes to backing a candidate. However, until a day comes where they truly can control the voting booth, I too will "vote the way my conscience tells me", and I will get the word out to as many like minded individuals as I can.

Get the word out, tell the truth, contribute to your chosen candidate, and VOTE. It's your right as a true citizen, a veteran that has earned the right to stand up and speak his peace.
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Semper Paratus

[Montana]

Hi Shipfitter and a41Capt

Thanks for your servicex2. Sounds like you were on Gompers
when Kerry was telling Congress everyone around you
was committing atrocities.

Welcome home brother.

Montana
"Nemo me impune lacesset" (No one will provoke me with impunity)
Don´t Tread on Me

[DEL]

HELLO BROTHER,
I am a retired firefighter,Local 330, a navy Vietnam vet and outraged.
I have contacted the international and demanded my name be removed from the rolls of honorary withdrawals.
I also have requested time at union meetings to present my case. I plan to visit every engine house in this city and others to express my outrage directly to my brothers.

[a41capt]

Thanks Montana. I think the only atrocities commited by anyone I ever knew was how well we killed case after case of Pabst beer at deep water pier in DaNang, if and when they actually let us off the ship.

My fondest memories were of sitting in the middle of the harbor, working 16 or more hour days, repairing ships that had been shot to rag-dolls during one "Freedom Train" run after another up the coast at Haiphong. Welding a patch where some commie round went through, repairing a stack, fixing ventilation systems blown out by some shore battery, or just building replacement parts for normal breakage.. Then, when you thought you couldn't stay awake another minute, you did your topside watch with concussion grenades and an M14 rifle, shooting every floating piece of junk in the water, and setting off grenades every 30 minutes or so. When you did get to sleep, either the guy on watch with the grenades kept you awake, or they'd tie a destroyer alongside for repair, and they'd keep their active sonar up most of the day and night to deter swimmers. Sounded like someone slamming the side with a 100 pound sledge hammer! Still, it was far easier than getting up for a day of patrols along some canal or coastal harbor, in may cases kill or be killed, and my hat is off to you guys that really fought the war. While I was in the Phillipines, or Taiwan, tied to a pier and safe and sound, you guys were laying it on the line 24-7, doing what your country asked.

One bright spot was on my 21st birthday. We actually had to pull into Deep Water Pier for re-supply, and they decided to let us off for a few beers. I managed to put a case down before some zip decided that he would stage a mortar attack on the ship that was fixing all the other ships, and we had to get underway ASAP. We left in such a hurry that we took off part of the end of the pier. Now, how many other men have a memory like that of their 21st birthday!

I never had to run down VC and kill them to save my boat though, so I guess I can't get the Siver Star, or run for President either... You folks that went in harms way deserve better representation than this, and I hope enough people will listen to end this travesty before it's too late.
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Semper Paratus

[carpro]

Semper Paratus, huh?

Welcome aboard Coast Guard.

Semper Fi
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"If he believes his 1971 indictment of his country and his fellow veterans was true, then he couldn't possibly be proud of his Vietnam service."

[carpro]

Sorry for my confusion.

I thought semper paratus was the Coast Guard motto and I had not read enough of this thread.

My welcome still stands.
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"If he believes his 1971 indictment of his country and his fellow veterans was true, then he couldn't possibly be proud of his Vietnam service."

[a41capt]

Hi Del:

As a fellow Firefighter and proud union member, I want to thank you for your service both in and out of country. As for our union leadership not even asking our permission before throwing their support behind John Kerry, I've been wondering if some of us shouldn't consider starting our own group of Firefighters For Bush.

This would probably mean immediate censure from the International, and I'm sure, several editorials opposed to our movement in the IAFF Journal, but as a socialist organization (yup, socialism is one of the founding tenets of labor!), as members we should have a say in everything the union takes part in.

Now for the really SAD part, I'm a contributor to the FIREPAC as a member of the Leadership Trust. I could've crapped when they sent out a letter to me the other day saying my contributions would help insure the election of John Kerry... I felt like committing suicide!

For the time being, I'm trying to make up for my error by directing as many people as possible to this website so they too can see the truth behind the sham. As far as the Firefighters For Bush, perhaps that'll be next, even with the loss of my participation at the higher levels of the International (I am a master instructor and travel coast to coast teaching HazMat and WMD for the union) that I'm currently involved in...
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Semper Paratus