SwiftVets.com

[RivanG]

Dear Friend,



There is a contentious foreign policy debate going on in the Senate this week. It concerns the Bush administration's insistence on advancing the careers of John Bolton and others who have failed to make our nation as safe and secure as it should be.

To me, it makes little sense to stand up for those who have not made our nation safer and more secure. But what should be beyond debate is the need for America to fully honor its commitment to those who do make America safer and more secure every day -- the men and women of our military.

They put it all on the line for us. So, why do some in Congress -- including those who are most vocal with their "support our troops" rhetoric -- want to hold back on helping our soldiers and their families?

Those who have stood for us should know that we stand with them, today and always. Share the story of a family you know that has endured hardship in service to our nation.

http://www.johnkerry.com/action/shareyourstory.php

This week, as the Senate debates military spending, I will be pressing to advance key elements of our Military Families Bill of Rights. When I do, I want to enter into the Senate record stories from families that know firsthand the hardships that our troops and veterans so willingly take on to keep America strong.

I hope you will take just a few minutes right now to share a story from your family or your community. It's one way you can personally help them get the support they so clearly deserve.

http://www.johnkerry.com/action/shareyourstory.php

We can begin by increasing the financial support military families receive. We can help them meet the increased expenses every military family faces when a loved one is deployed. We can extend military health insurance eligibility to all members of the National Guard and Reserve, whether mobilized or not. As many as one in five of them don't have health insurance right now.

Whether it's families here at home who can no longer pay their bills with their modest military salaries ... or children left without health insurance because a reservist parent lost his or her coverage ... or health care expenses going through the roof for an injury received in the line of duty ... or simply being unable to afford a hotel room to be by the side of an injured loved one recovering from battlefield injuries in a V.A. hospital...

Any way you look at it, too many military families face challenges that we ought not to let them face alone.

Our Military Families Bill of Rights will stand by our brave men and women in uniform. And it will lend support to their families. Here's another example. Our Bill of Rights will extend from 180 days to a full year the amount of time a family that has lost a loved one in combat can keep living in military housing. Isn't that the least we can do?

Let's give voice to our values. Let our troops and veterans know just how much you appreciate their unbelievable sacrifices. Share your personal story right now. I know it will help.

Thank you,

John Kerry

http://www.johnkerry.com/action/shareyourstory.php


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[LewWaters]

[LewWaters]

I guess the Devil made me do it but I just had to add my account of hardship to their website. Any bet they'll actually leave it up or even add it?

Share Your Story

[mtboone]

Quote:
The only family I personally know of that has suffered hardships is my own. They've had to endure my tirades when some peacenik found out I was a Viet Nam veteran and decided to call me a baby killer. They have had to sit by and watch as I cried when I saw my fellow vets called murderers, rapists and monsters, back in 1971 and since.

They wince when I tell them the story of the young lady that sat next to me on a plane back in 1970 and once she found I was in the Army freaked and called me a killer.

Thanks to people like John Kerry, a political opportunist trying to endure himself with the anti-war left to gain a political office, before he decided to become a war hero, I have endured over 30 years of loosing friends who are afraid I am a walking time bomb with a hair trigger.

Hardships? Try keeping a job with people who don't trust you and assume you are a trained killer and monster, as described by John Kerry before the Fulbright Committee. Try having a loving marriage with a wife that leans left and also assumes Kerry told the truth when he branded us all monsters and murderers, the same wife that decided my medals were something of shame and got rid of them without my consent. I didn't ever try to throw mine away, like Kerry did.

I served in Viet Nam with pride, have no idea if I ever killed anyone, although I highly doubt it, and came home to a country filled with hatred towards me, all because I believed in standing up to Communism.

The killing fields of Cambodia and the Vietnamese Boat People of the 70's, untold numbers of who died trying to escape the Communism that people like Kerry helped install, shows just how wrong Kerry was back then.

Want more hardships? What about the families of nearly 3,000 people killed on September 11, 2001? What did Kerry do to help prevent that, in his nearly 16 years in the Senate prior?

Why does Kerry demean the current administration for the war on terror (which includes Iraq as another battle) when Bush is doing exactly the same things Kerry called for Clinton to do back in 1997 and didn't do? What sort of hardships occurred because Senator Kerry didn't bother to show up for Intelligence Committee meetings or show up to vote on bills?

Like it or not, service to our nation, be it military, police, firefighter or simple civil servant entails certain hardships. Nothing in life is free, unless of course, you are part of the Massachusetts elite.

Lew, Bravo Zulo to you and you brought out the emotion that we went through for so many years and even today to some extent. I have tried to explain to my family and friends during the last election of what we had to go through in the 70's and my reason for going against Kerry; Mom and brothers and sister are all solid Democrats, and it fell on deaf ears. It was not until I found my Swift brothers that some type of peace came to me, a pride of being united and talking again with men I shared a common bond. Thanks.
_________________
Terry Boone PCF 90
Qui Nhon 68-69

[LewWaters]

I totally understand, Terri. I too am a recovering Democrat, with every last one of my family still in. Both of my sisters were there and saw much of what we went through in the 70s and have even expressed pride that I served. But, when it came to Kerry, they couldn't fathom he was one of the main characters responsible for what we went through.

I wear my title of "The Black Sheep of the family" with pride

Thank you for the kind words.
_________________
Clark County Conservative

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

We can never forget the ones who paid with their lives, but we must pay even more attention to those of you that lived and came home, because in a sense, your lives were changed in ways that were unthinkable until the anti-Vietnamese war crowd brainwashed our whole culture.

For the mere fact that you exist and that you went and did what your country asked you to do, we are grateful.

There's no way to pay back what was stolen from you.

But, you're not alone any more and there are so many more on your side now than ever before. People who understand more than they did back then. People who are proud to call you "friend." People who are interested rather than repulsed or fearful when they learn that you're a Vietnam veteran. People who are willing to stand up for your rights and work on improving your benefits and help remove the tarnish from your image - the tarnish that people like Kerry and Fonda put there.

I hope that that helps in some way.
_________________
~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother

[Nutso]

This is just a lame attempt by traitorman sKerry to try and grab the military vote next time. He knows that last year they were overwhelmingly against him and he is just trying to position himself as pro-military for 2008. Once again we see him trying to use our military for his own personal gain, by pretending he cares. He is now for the miltary and cares so much, but refuses to apologize for once calling them criminals, and it is just another transparent attempt to promote his own agenda.

[carpro]

Something tells me the service of the Swiftvets is not over.

In about 3 years, they'll be needed in service of their country once again.

Unfortunately.
_________________
"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."

[RivanG]

Now he is taking credit for 2 elements of Military Families Bill of Rights passing the Senate.

Dear Friend,

I wish you could have been on the floor of the Senate to see it happen.

Yesterday, I put our values to a vote -- advancing two key elements of our Military Families Bill of Rights. Their successful passage produced a dramatic victory for military families that have sacrificed so much for our country.

You made it happen. By giving voice to our values over months of effort, the johnkerry.com community moved military families closer to the help they so richly deserve.

We succeeded in getting the Republican Senate to allow military families who have lost a loved one to remain in military housing for a full year, not the current 180 days. Then we got the Republican Senate to agree to assure that all military families receive a total of $500,000 in death benefits when a loved one dies in service to America.

These measures passed, in no small part, because I was able to read some of the more than 3000 personal stories that johnkerry.com community members shared in response to my call for help.

Several Senators were so moved that they asked on the spot to be added as co-sponsors. We still have work to do. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives where we'll have to press for action.

But, right now, I just want to thank you. We gave voice to our values and won.

Together,

John Kerry

P.S. Below are just a few of the many stories that I officially entered into the Congressional Record.

To read all of the stories entered into the record please visit:
http://www.johnkerry.com/features/militaryfamilies

Alan - Aberdeen, SD

This is a story about my own family. In January 2003, my wife was called to active duty with her Army National Guard unit. She was inactive status and a mere 7 days from being completely out of the military when she was mobilized. She went from being a civilian attorney to a Sergeant/E-5 administrative clerk at a significant loss of pay. At that time, I became a single parent to four young children for one full year. In August 2004, I too was called to active duty with my Army Reserve unit. I went from being a university professor to being a Sergeant First Class/E-7. Once again, our four children were without one of their parents during their critical stages of development. We've done our part, now it's time for others to do their part. The burden placed on the National Guard and Reserve forces seems extreme. The morale among more seasoned soldiers, those with 10 to 20 years of service, is not good. Many are getting out of the military at the first available moment.
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Jack - Corpus Christi, TX

This is a story about a young couple in Austin, Texas. The husband works for Home Depot and was called up in the Marine reserves. There are two young children, both girls. One of the girls has Job's Syndrome. Home Depot did not continue the family's insurance.

They had to go out and pay ridiculous rates for additional health insurance to cover the child. That was money they could not afford because Home Depot did not pay his salary while he was gone. The child was in the hospital for much of the time the father was in Iraq. The mother had to take off from teaching to stay with the child in the hospital. She used up all vacation and sick time, and then was docked pay for lost time. We are not taking care of our soldiers or their families.
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Doris - Albuquerque, NM

I just lost my husband on February 11. He was a navy pilot for 28 years. He paid on my SBP for years, and now I can hardly get by, and waiting for the increase in October is going to be difficult. I will have to sell my house to survive. It appears they are waiting for us to die to....

Not enough is being done for the active duty veteran. I don't see how the administration can be so tight with the veterans and their loved ones while we wage war in a foreign country and pour in millions of millions of dollars.


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[RivanG]

He is pathetic...

Lew, your story appears to have been left out... I wonder why?

http://www.johnkerry.com/features/militaryfamilies/

Military Families Bill of Rights

FROM THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, APRIL 13, 2005

This debate on emergency funding for our military wouldn't be complete if we did not begin to address the crises military families face at home as well as abroad.

I am proud that the Senate has passed my two amendments -- one to allow families to stay in military housing for a full year after the death of a spouse, the other to ensure all military families receive $500,000 in total death benefits when a loved one dies in service to America - but I am also deeply moved by the stories I've heard from across our country in the last 24 hours about the challenges to military families every day.

Yesterday, I sent an email to Americans asking them to share their stories - of husbands and wives, sons and daughters, neighbors and friends who serve their country with courage but have been left on their own by our policies here at home. Within hours over 2,000 Americans sent me their stories. They took time out of their busy days to share their stories on the hope someone would listen. Their voices must be heard in the halls of Congress. Today, I enter a small sample of their stories into the Congressional Record to prove we are listening, and hope that today's victory marks a new beginning - -and that soon Congress will answer all their prayers and pass a comprehensive Military Families Bill of Rights.

--John Kerry

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

Mine isn't there, either.

I feel snubbed. (Not. )

Navy vet of Jimmy Carter's toothless military, wife of a 24-year Mustang, mother of a sailor, but the hardships foisted onto the military by Kerry & Co., Carter and Clinton just aren't as compelling as the hardships which this Senator is single-handedly battling in the Capitol building!

Where's that gag smiley when I really need one!

That this bozo even thinks he has a snowball's chance of not being laughed out of Dodge with statements like this is simply mind-boggling.

I keep going back to that clinical definition of "narcissism." It's still all there, ain't it?
_________________
~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother

[LewWaters]

This next election should really be interesting, on the left. How many more besides Hitlery and Hanoi John feel the Presidency is owed them?
_________________
Clark County Conservative

[Rdtf]

from FreeRepublic:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1388171/posts

Quote:
Kerry Email Accuses GOP of Challenging Democracy, Obsession with Power [Hypocrisy Hurl Alert]
John Kerry.com ^ | John Kerry


Posted on 04/21/2005 7:40:54 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest


Check out Kerry's latest barfer of an email, sent to supporters [like me ;-0].

In both the text of his email and the linked video, he muses darkly about Republicans being obsessed with power and literally undermining our core constitutional principles and threatening democracy.

And, hewing carefully to his consultant-conceived course, he liberally sprinkles his spiel with references to "values," "families," etc.

Read/listen to it and hurl!

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[Stevie]

ah gee, I deleted my post... I posted before I finished reading all the above posts.... and checked th e dates!

but Terry, Lew and others.... I can't even begin to imagine how hard it's been for you all..... with even family not believing you! geeze!
I'd be glad to write 'em a letter and tell 'em they are wrong!
(like they'd believe a stranger..... like they do Kerry)
ick...
I do hope it helps in some small way that STRANGERS (like me- and even my doctor says I'm strange....) believe you - and NO way
believe Kerry (and his BB).
I'll stand up for you all to anyone! thinking.... I need to make a new road sign for my land..... ' I love Vets against Kerry'
_________________
Stevie
Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage
morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should
be arrested, exiled or hanged.

[coldwarvet]

I know this account will also be left out. But perhaps the screener might have a heart and be converted.

In 1975 as a USAF security specialist I was on patrol in the 90th MSS missile wing. The honorable man sitting next to me had served in Vietnam. Shamefully I admit that I was a little afraid of him because of all of the messages I had received from educators and the media of our service men in Vietnam behaving badly.

The Vietnam veteran sitting next to me had just re joined the military after being out for a few years? I asked him, why did you come back in? Suddenly he broke into tears and said; "Steve they just do not understand us out their. We are not monsters we thought we could bring freedom to oppressed people and we could of if the politicians would have let us do our job". Perhaps John Kerry and Hanoi Jane owe about 3,000,000 men & women who served in Vietnam an apology.

ColdWarVet
_________________
Defender of the honor of those in harms way keeping us out of harms way.

"Peace is our Profession"
Strategic Air Command - Motto

USAF 75-79 Security Police