SwiftVets.com

[D17Trooper]

I was 3 Platoon, D Troop, 17 Cavalry, 199 LIB, RVN Nov67 - Jan69. VA says I am 100%. Life member DAV since 1992. Been a member VVA about 3 or 4 times. Now belong to VFW, American Legion. Since most of you guys seem to be squids, I'll try not to confuse you with any Army jargon -- I wasn't really Army anyway -- I was CAV, 11D, an "Armor Recon Intelligence Specialist". Rode around in M113As, known as tracks or APCs, ours were called ACAVs. Think that stood for "Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle". Survivor of TET '68. My VSM is supposed to have one of those little silver stars, showing five "campaigns", but it was just one tour, extended 66 days for the 150 day early out.

Second, to Shane Moore, no shame in being libertarian. I've voted in every prez race since '68. I figure if you don't vote you give up your right to *****. I've never voted for a Republican for prez. I've never voted for a Democrat for prez. Last three elections I voted libertarian. I don't see spit's worth of difference between the two - Rep and Dem. No matter who gets it, we get the shaft, we lose more of our freedoms, we pay more in taxes, and the gov't gets bigger. At least the libertarian party has one plank I can always support -- we have too damn much
government and need to get rid of some of it. Unfortunately, this time out, I might have to break that tradition and go Bush. Haven't made up my alleged mind yet.

Third, Burkett wrote a book called "Stolen Valor" in which he explains how Vietvets got the shaft (in a "historical explanation" sense) from the media. In his first appendix he shows how to file a FOI act request for anybody's DD214 from St. Louis. He got severely pissed at wannabees, so he shows how to go after them. He has publically exposed several of our Hollywoodenheads over the years. Makes for good reading if you can keep your temper.

Last, see below for a few links. The Federalist website is by a guy who is a strict constitutionalist. He has a few petitions you can go sign if you want. One of them is to throw activist judges (those who "interpret" the constitution instead of just reading what it says) off the federal bench. Another quotes a law prohibiting anyone giving "aid an comfort" to the enemy in time of war from ever holding a seat in Congress, and calling for the powers that be to revoke Kerry's senatorial status. In other words, to kick him out of the Senate. It's worth reading. I've included a letter some of you may have seen -- it's from Micheal Connelly, and is titled "A soldier's letter to Kerry".

I hope this might stir things up a little.



[from the http://federalist.com/ website]
Kerry can't be giddy about Edwards' anti-growth (read: anti-jobs) voting record, or his anti-military voting record, or his anti-family voting record, or his anti-tax-cut voting record. In these respects, Edwards does anything but "balance" the Kerry ticket. To the contrary, his populist rural Southern gentlemanly façade simply doesn't square with his hard-Left Senate voting record. In fact, the non-partisan National Journal, which has been rating voting records for a long time, puts Edwards a close fourth behind Kerry, who is rated the most Left-voting member of the Senate. Without question, then, this is the most liberal major-party
ticket in American history -- a ticket that outflanks even Mondale-Ferraro.



http://Kerry-04.com/
http://kerry-04.com/about/resume.php
http://Kerry-Edwards04.info/
http://federalist.com/current/

Moore's movie reviews
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/206835p-178461c.html
http://slate.msn.com/toolbar.aspx?action=print&id=2102723
The Bush approval rating has risen 5 points (to 55%) since Moore's "movie."
Is this why?

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/07/ 01/limbaughing_to_the_left/

http://www.scaryjohnkerry.com

===============================================

Dear Senator Kerry:



Since it has become clear that you will probably be the Democratic nominee for President, I have spent a great deal of time researching your war record and your record as a professional politician. The reason is simple, you aspire to be the Commander in Chief who would lead my sons and their fellow soldiers in time of war. I simply wanted to know if you possess the necessary qualifications to be trusted in that respect.



You see, I belong to a family of proud U.S. veterans. I was a Captain in the Army Reserve, my father was a decorated Lieutenant in World War II; and I have four sons who have either served, or are currently serving in the military The oldest is an Army Lieutenant still on active duty in Afghanistan after already being honored for his service in Iraq. The youngest is an E-4 with the military police. His National Guard unit just finished their second tour of active duty, including six months in Guantanamo Bay. My two other sons have served in the national guard and the navy.



In looking at your record I found myself comparing it not only to that of my father and my sons, but to the people they served with. My father served with the 87th Chemical Mortar Battalion in Europe. They landed on Utah Beach and fought for 317 straight days including the Cherbourg Peninsula, Aachen, the Hurtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. You earned a Silver Star in Vietnam for chasing down and finishing off a wounded and retreating enemy soldier. My father won a Bronze Star for single handedly charging and knocking out a German machine gun nest that had his men pinned down. You received three purple hearts for what appears to be three minor scratches. In fact you only missed a combined total of two days of duty for these wounds. The men of my father's unit, the 87th, had to be admonished by their commanding officer because: "It has been brought to our attention that some men are covering up wounds and refusing medical attention for fear of being evacuated and permanently separated from this organization..." It was also a common problem for seriously wounded soldiers to go AWOL from hospitals in order to rejoin their units. You used your three purple hearts to leave Vietnam early.



My oldest boy came home from Iraq with numerous commendations and then proceeded to volunteer to go to Afghanistan and from there back to Iraq again. My sons and father have never had anything but the highest regard and respect for their fellow soldiers. Yet, you came home to publicly charge your fellow fighting men with being war criminals and to urge their defeat by the enemy. You even wrote a book that had a cover which mocked the heroism of the U.S. Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. Our current crop of soldiers has a philosophy that no one gets left behind; and they have practiced that from Somalia to the battlefields of the Middle East. Yet as chairman of a Senate committee looking into allegations that many of your fellow servicemen had been left behind as prisoners in Vietnam, you chose to defend the brutal Vietnamese regime. You even went so far as to refer to the families of the POWs and MIAs as Professional malcontents, conspiracy mongers, con artists, and dime-store Rambos.



As a Senator you voted against the 1991 Gulf War, and have repeatedly voted against funds to supply our troops with the best equipment, and against money to improve our intelligence capability. I find this particularly ironic since as a Presidential candidate you are highly critical of our prewar intelligence in Iraq. However, you did vote to authorize the President to go to war, but have since proceeded to do everything you can to undermine the efforts of our government and our troops to win. Is this what our fighting men and women can expect of you if you are their Commander in Chief? Will you gladly send them to war, only to then aid the enemy by undermining the morale of our troops and cutting off the weapons they need to win?



Our country is at war, Senator, and as has been the case in every war since the American Revolution, a member of my family is serving their country during the war. Now you want me to trust you to lead my sons in this fight.



Sorry Senator, but when I compare your record to those who have fought and died for this nation, and are currently fighting and dying, the answer is not just no, but Hell No!



Sincerely,



Michael Connelly February 14, 2004 Dallas, Texas



> Forward this to EVERYONE you know--we can NOT afford to have this man as the President of the United States!
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D17Trooper
3 Platoon, D Troop, 17 Cav, 199LIB, RVN 67-69
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[ASPB]

D17trooper,

You'd be surprised! The founders are squids, I'm a riverboat squid, but there are a lot of jarheads, groundpounders, and flyboys around here!

For what it's worth, I'm more libertarian than republican but to vote anything but republican in recent decades is like throwing your ballot out the window of a speeding hotrod.

Vote Republican and work to have the party embrace more of the libertarian agenda. The roots of libertariansim are in the Republican party and sure as hell not in the leftist/Socialist party. Vote to unite and not to divide! Do you think Marxists in leftist rags are ever going listen to your agenda?

Welcome Aboard!

Tom
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On Sale! Order in lots of 100 now at velero@rcn.com Free for the cost of shipping All profits (if any, especially now) go to Swiftvets. The author of "Sink Kerry Swiftly" ---ASPB

[Doc Jerry]

Well put Mr. Moderator.



Go Air Force!!! Medics are there when you need us...

[Theresa Alwood]

I voted for Geroge Bush in the last election, but the two prior I voted for Ross Perot and learned the hard way. It is better to vote Republiban because all it caused was 8 years of Clinton. With this election being close it is really up to us to convince those who are either still considering each candidate or those who have not yet made up their minds that George Bush is the man we need.

I do not agree with everything George Bush says, but the DNC has really gone so far to the left that I just know that is not where I want to go. It is important that you see who and what John Kerry is. He is for bigger taxes, bigger government, and he is not ready to take a stand and fight terrorism. He flips and flops on every issue, every vote and often changes his stance depending on who he is trying to persuade to vote for him. At least with George Bush I know he will try to protect this country and he stands firm on who he is. I may disagree with some of his ideals but I can respect someone who is firm on them and will not waiver. John Kerry sways like a flag. Depending on the direction the wind is blowing is where he will stand.

We also must consider who John Kerry will put on courts? Do we want the US Supreme court to be the like infamous 9th circuit court in CA? I don't think so. It is important to put people in the Supreme Court who can look at the issues aside from politics. I do not see where the DNC would appoint anyone who is other than the person who they know will be very liberal. The DNC forgets that the other half of this country is a conservative base.

The imost mportant question is who do you think the better person is? What is the most important issue of today? I have learned that I can not be a one issue voter and must look at who do I think will do the better job...and to me there is no doubt that man will be George W. Bush.

[D17Trooper]

Tom
I thank you for your welcome. I was interested in your perspective.
You said, "For what it's worth, I'm more libertarian than republican but to vote anything but republican in recent decades is like throwing your ballot out the window of a speeding hotrod.

Vote Republican and work to have the party embrace more of the libertarian agenda. The roots of libertariansim are in the Republican party and sure as hell not in the leftist/Socialist party. Vote to unite and not to divide! Do you think Marxists in leftist rags are ever going listen to your agenda? "

For your last point first, it's been my experience that nobody EVER listens to my agenda and then implements it. Sometimes I can talk someone into changing a little bit of their own agenda to include a small piece of mine, but then they take ownership, and now that idea is a part of theirs, just ask them, they will tell you. Some of us with similar ideas as parts of our collective agenda can now implement. The main plank of libertarianism I am most for is the idea that we have too damn much government and must get rid of some. No hardcore republican or democrat would ever vote to reduce the power of the gov't.

Now for your first point (last). to vote anything but republican is wasting your ballot. Every election, there are those who are neither rep or dem. In 2000, there were 87 people still running for prez on election day. I do not believe that ONLY two parties are capable of truly representing the views of 300 million folks, so I do believe that some of those fringe wierdos need to get at least a few votes that don't come from their immediate families. I will not pick the lesser of two evils, so I vote for someone whose position has something about it that I can agree with. I also vote that way to put the dems and reps on notice that there are some of us that jest ain't happy with what they are doing. These points must be made, and I don't see many who will encourage a third party candidate. Look at the language -- 85 of them were a "third party" candidate -- another way of saying "useless", or "without a chance", or "loser". But this election, I might have to give up the luxury of voting the way I believe, because if it really is close it might be too dangerous.

By the way, has anyone read "Stolen Valor"?
_________________
D17Trooper
3 Platoon, D Troop, 17 Cav, 199LIB, RVN 67-69
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[D17Trooper]

Theresa
I understand why you are pointing at Bush as the only choice. If I believed that there are only two candidates, I would think so, too, and I may yet decide that I have to vote that way this year. I was talking to someone this morning who is a lifelong dem, and he was going to vote Kerry. I asked him what he knew about Kerry. He told me Kerry is a Dem, had a good upbringing, and was a decorated Vietnam vet. I told him that if that was all I knew about Kerry, I might be leaning towards him too. He told me he had just seen "Farenheit 911", and so he had a problem with Bush. I asked him about what percentage of that film he thought was true, and he said about 70%. I will try to educate him this week.

I have come up with a ticket I would be happy to vote for, but they aren't running this year. What do you think of Jesse Ventura for Prez, and Bill Cosby for Veep?
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D17Trooper
3 Platoon, D Troop, 17 Cav, 199LIB, RVN 67-69
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[D17Trooper]

[Tom, down count my replies if you want to, I don't care about your scores, I'm just trying to communicate]

Theresa

Sorry, here I was trying to respond to what I considered your most important point, and then I closed out the last one before I even mentioned it.

You said "We also must consider who John Kerry will put on courts? Do we want the US Supreme court to be the like infamous 9th circuit court in CA? I don't think so. It is important to put people in the Supreme Court who can look at the issues aside from politics. I do not see where the DNC would appoint anyone who is other than the person who they know will be very liberal. The DNC forgets that the other half of this country is a conservative base. "

If the petition page at http://www.federalist.com is successful, I will be a lot less worried about that in a few years. They have a petition calling for a way to fire activist judges. Best candidate for Supreme Court Justice in recent years (my opinion) was Robert Bork, and the dems sank him. In fact his name has now become a verb, as in "I didn't agree with him so I borked the nomination". Kerry as prez would be such a disaster I'm not as worried about what one of his appointments might do from the bench. Maybe I should be. Dems are bad enough. Right now, that's just who Kerry sold out to most recently. I might be more afraid of who else he might sell out to, like what Clinton did to us when he sold out to the Red Chinese Army. DNC got 500 million, Red Chinese Army got technology stolen from that California lab. As yet, nobody charged with anything except one guy charged but then cut loose. It would be mildly interesting to find out if the sacrificial goat is still alive, or has since met with an "accident". Anyway, the dangerous part is that, once appointed, there is no way to fire a judge.
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D17Trooper
3 Platoon, D Troop, 17 Cav, 199LIB, RVN 67-69
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[DADESID]

>>>By the way, has anyone read "Stolen Valor"?<<<D17Trooper

Yes.

I've had it just about since it was published in 1998. I have referred to it on many occasions to rebut some of the distortions that have been trotted out as "conventional wisdom". Mr. Burkett is to be commended for his exhaustive research and documentation.

There is a website for this work at:

http://www.stolenvalor.com/

A google search will turn up over 1600 pages of sites referring in some way to the book. Even the V-V-A-W has one. I checked it out, and to call it "unpersuasive" would be generous.

[abartholomaus]

Hmm... I've seen a lot of interesting stuff from this group. I find the different perspectives to be very interesting, and I saw one person say something about converting a Democrat.

I come from a Democratic upbringing, that goes back before the depression on my Father's side. My grandparents where farmers in the midwest and have voted Dem their whole lives.
My mother tends to vote Democratic, but she was a Republican at one point too. I tend to view my self as a moderate, and I try to find the nugget of truth through all the hype. Even though I consider myself moderate, I end up being labeled a liberal. I think this is interesting, because if I were in Europe, I'd be labeled conservative.

I tend to vote Democratic, because I am an atheist. I have found that the Republican party has thrown themselves in with a group that manipulates science for religious purposes and personal gain.

I wonder what you all would say to make me change my mind.
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http://andyhome.webhop.org
Freedom of Expression
Freedom of Mind

[Theresa Alwood]

Well let me see what I can do to change your mind....I am a republican and I consider myself a moderate republican because I am pro-choice (there is another threat dedicated that part of the discussion), anyway I go to church most every Sunday. To me, religion is not something I speak openly about, nor is it something I push down someone else's throat. It is personnel between my and my God - that is how I look at it, but I also feel that as this country was founded on the right to believe in God the word God should not be totally omitted from everything we hold dear. If you do not want to say the word...then don't. That is how I look at religion.

But the most important thing is that the republican party has a very conservative base, but it also has other aspect which are good, some are bad. But I feel the choice to choose between a republican who would rather let you spend your money or a democratic who wants more of your money so they can tell you how they are going to spend it. I know...I know I am going to head about how President Bush increased the deficit. BUT people MUST take into consideration of 09-11. Plus the TSA was formed which the republican party DID NOT want to make Federal Employees and the DNC Pushed.

I feel the single most important question to ask in this election is who will better protect this country? Do you want a president who has the balls of what it will take to stand up for us? Do you want a president who feels that the choices he is making is what is best for America and not based upon how the world will percieve us. Do you want a president who says what he means and means what he says? Or do you want a president who will say what he thinks a certain group he is standing in wants him to say. Now I know I only agree with President Bush about 75% of the time...but with John Kerry it is 2% of the time. I know where President Bush is coming from. He has not waivered on his core belief's and I like and respect that. John Kerry....well he has voting against just about every military bill that has come up...he voted to cut spending in the CIA...of course I will admit this was before 09-11...but just think if John Kerry had his way the military would not even have the body armour....remember his infamous "I voted for the 87 billion before I voted against it". Typical John Kerry voting record. Voted for the war but did not read the documents presented as to why we were going to war and now IS agaist the war. What does that tell you about a man?

So have I shown any light onto convincing you that George Bush is the man to be elected. Sometimes you just have to put some of your issues aside and consider who would be the better man. Sometimes in politics the candidates can be pretty crappy...but in this case I think President Bush has been firm, strong and right in his resolve. Terrorist declared war on us over 20 years ago and we slept up until 09-11. Did not matter that we were attack in Beirut, or the first WTC, or Khobar Towers, or the two embassies in E. Africa of the USS Cole....america slept.

Who do you think would better protect America?

[coldwarvet]

[redhawk34]

D17trooper
Howdy Redcatcher, 'course I've read "Stolen Valor". Jug Burkett is one of us, HHC 199LIB 68-69, 1LT.
Good guy, invaluable book.

"The purpose of Cavalry is to add "tone" to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl."

I dunno about "tone" but D-17th Cav. sure added something to the 199th. Totally freakin' crazy, of course, but this is "career enhancing" in the Cav. Their actions, particularly during TET '68 would curl your hair. Like charging up Charlie-owned roads in the middle of the night, or the dash to Phu Tho racetrack, in tracks with just enough armor to keep out the rain.

Bro, I ain't gonna try to persuade you to do anything. Cav got their own union, and I know better. For me, voting for Bush not only takes a vote away from Kerry, but gives it to someone who can beat him.

Welcome Home, Trooper, and welcome here.
Redhawk 34
Infantry Boat driver, 199th LIB
My contribution;
http://www.swiftvets.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=200

[Doc Jerry]

Theresa:

Well put!!!







Go Air Force!!! Medics, we're there when you need us.