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Navy_Navy_Navy
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Joined: 07 May 2004
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 Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 4:51 am Post subject: An Open Letter to the SVPT - Matthew Holmes |
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http://www.opinioneditorials.com/freedomwriters/mholmes_20041104.html
| Quote: | November 04, 2004
An Open Letter to the Swift Vets & POW'S for Truth
Matthew Holmes
The 2004 presidential election will go down in history as being won not by special interest groups, billionaire options traders, or rich Ketchup queens, but by 250 Vietnam veterans who never forgot the oath they swore—to defend this country against all enemies.
I’m talking about the Swift Boat Veterans & POW’s For Truth.
I’m talking about a tiny group of men who served their country with honor, only to be treated with apathy by many of their countrymen, and with malice by war protesters like John Kerry. I’m talking about men who were disparaged by John Kerry in Senate hearings, accused of being war criminals who committed atrocities on a daily basis, and men who were abused with the same accusations by their captors in POW camps thousands of miles away in Vietnam.
I’m talking about men who have spent the majority of their lives trying to forget the scathing lies and horrors they faced in Vietnam, but had the courage to stare their nightmares in the face when America was once again threatened by a man they knew to be unfit for the presidency.
Their point was a simple one.
"Kerry betrayed us by telling the people we were committing atrocities," said Major Bud Day. "A man who does that is not fit to lead. It's impossible to let this man masquerade as a war hero and someone who has leadership. To imagine this guy who betrayed us becoming president and him being the leader of our armed forces is just unthinkable."
The Medal of Honor Major Day wears around his neck is proof that he knows a hero and a leader when he sees one. While John Kerry was protesting the efforts of soldiers like Bud Day, Major Day was languishing in the Hanoi Hilton as a POW. Major Day escaped from his war prison once and wandered through the jungle for two weeks eating frogs to survive before being recaptured and held prisoner for the next six years.
Major Day is one example of the type of soldier that led the charge against John Kerry. He is not a political hack, a paid operative, or a politician seeking office. Major Day, and the other members of the Swift Vets and POWs For Truth, are the best America has to offer, and the one’s to whom we owe our lives and our freedom.
They are our fathers and our grandfathers, who fought in a war they won’t talk about much, who shy away from accolades and labels like “hero,” and who refuse to believe they did anything extraordinary by serving their country.
To the Swift Vets and POW’s For Truth, I would say this:
The Vietnam War ended long before I was even born. I’ve never met any of you and have only learned about you through the stories I’ve read.
But I know what kind of man Clayton Blair was. He was a soldier in WWII. He was brave, kind, and honorable. He was my grandfather. I know the kind of man he was, and I see the same man when I listen to any of you speak.
My brother is currently serving America in the War On Terror. I know the love he has for this country and how deeply he cares for his teammates in the military—again, the same qualities I notice in each of you.
I feel that I know each of you personally, because soldiers never change.
Thank you for always being there when this country needed you. Thank you for answering the call to arms thirty years ago in Vietnam—and for responding again a few months ago in Washington D.C. Thank you for revisiting the pains of your past and risking your reputations to make sure the American people knew the truth about John Kerry.
Thank you for your heroism in Vietnam, and your patriotism in 2004.
We are forever in your debt.
It was these men—our Vietnam Veterans—who were spit on, cursed, and accused of atrocities by John F. Kerry and his ilk in the 1970s.
And it was these same men who took up political arms against Candidate Kerry more than thirty years later and dealt the deathblow to his campaign.
I hope the irony of that is not lost on John Kerry.
Matthew Holmes is a 27 year-old columnist for Wildfire Politics http://www.wildfirepolitics.com His columns have been featured at NewsMax.com, Opinion Editorials.com and other media outlets. |
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~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother |
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BuffaloJack
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 1637
Location: Buffalo, New York
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| Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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... to defend the country against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
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Swift Boats - Qui Nhon (12/69-4/70), Cat Lo (4/70-5/70), Vung Tau (5/70-12/71) |
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