SwiftVets.com

[Anker-Klanker]

In the last couple of months, I’ve had some discussions with my two daughters and sons-in-law that were a rude awakening for me. I want to share some disturbing thoughts with y’all for what they are worth.

I’ve learned that by-and-large people under about 40 years old really do not understand what happened in the Vietnam War era, and simply cannot comprehend why we “old coots” are so concerned about Kerry’s past history and conduct. For these people the Vietnam experience really does not “compute.” They cannot relate to it, they cannot comprehend what Kerry’s actions in that time period really mean, and if they were taught anything about Vietnam in school it was probably that “it was an evil, corrupt war” (thanks to our liberal-infested school system).

Imagine my surprise (even shock) that my two daughters, raised in my own house, did not understand! They basically admitted that since they knew the Vietnam War was the defining moment in my own growing up, they just avoided the subject.

Maybe your kids are more aware, but I’ll bet that a large percentage of the under-40 generation(s) are similarly “afflicted” with ignorance. This is a huge group of voters! And if I’m right, we’ve not connected with them effectively if at all.

(There were also a very large number of people now in the 45-60 year-old age bracket who were draft dodgers or draft evaders, who have spent the past 35+/- years rationalizing (translation: self-propagandizing) their own decisions and conduct. I suspect that a lot of what I’m trying to say is relevant to this group as well.)

It is too late (for the 2 Nov election) to re-educate the under-40 voters about what really went on in the Vietnam era. If we’re going to get to the younger voters – as I see it – it is to change our message to one to which they can relate, a message with more of a contemporary reason for why Kerry is Unfit for Command. The messages of previous SBVFT ads may have been largely lost on them.

Please at least consider what I’ve tried to convey. If I’m off the mark, then tell me. If you think that I might have some valid points, then we need to discuss variations on my theme and explanation, and come up with ideas and suggestions in a hurry.

[Me#1You#10]

Anker, if those under 40 can see no particularly odious ramifications for aligning with and then leading an organization that would actually ENTERTAIN the notion of ASSASSINATION of our elected officials, then, perhaps, we've got bigger problems to worry about than who is sitting in the WH.

They DO understand that the "architect" of that idea is now working for the Kerry campaign, don't they?

[Anker-Klanker]

Mine do now. But they didn't. It was all going in one ear and out the other (after all it was not coming from their preferred sources of information). I remember when I was young, and nobody could tell me anything either. When they don't want to deal with the subject, they just tune out. What I found shocking was how prevelant this might be. It took a while for me to penetrate, really penetrate, their minds on the subject.

(BTW, the KC Convention is almost a closely guarded secret. Nothing in MSM, or anywhere but "angry old coots" forums. How the H*** is someone under 40 to know about that, if they don't already have an interest?)

[Tacan70UDN]

Anker Klanker - When many (most?) of the younger set rely on comedy (!!) programs to get their news, can there be any hope of an informed electorate? Why do you think JFnK has been on the late night shows - better exposure to the younger set (way past my bedtime). The slightly older set seems to be interested in trying to acquire things - like BMWs and big houses and cell phones that cook breakfast. There is no/no sense of history. I got some of Tom's bumper stickers. None of my neighbors had a clue as to the meaning of the background (Viet Nam Service Medal). They never heard of us vets being spat upon or JFnK's association with the VVAW, Jane Fonda, Tom Hayden, etc., etc. I don't know. After the first debate, the most frequent comments emphasized JFnK's "style" and ignored any substance. I think there's a lot of that after the VP debate last night also. I don't want to sound down, but I guess we do have to deal with reality. Most people seem to live only in the present, and many of them want the boom days of the Clinton administration back, when everybody could get rich. I think it stops right there - "give me". The real JFK said: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Somehow, we're now at a place where that's been turned around 180 - look at the big stink about a possible draft - (Horrors, I might have to serve my country!) It's going to take a long time to change that. Thank God for all the wonderful people serving in our military today. Hopefully, they'll give us enough time to turn this attitude around. I pray, I believe, there are still enough people in this country who can think for themselves and are willing to study history so they can make an informed choice on 2 November. Assuming that happens, then we need to continue to work to change things in this country. There's another thread around here about Veterans to Change Education or something like that. I think that's a good place to start. I think that should be our mission after November. Sorry if I've rambled a bit, but this is so important.

[Anker-Klanker]

Tacan, I can commiserate with you. But I deliberately will not until after the election. We still have time to do something, but I think we've got to be smarter - like, for example, hiring a real PR firm that understands how to communicate with young people. What about hiring Dick Morris for advice? (Maybe he'd do it for free - he's certainly been beating the stump lately against Kerry.)

Time to get creative. Later we can celebrate or mope in our beer.

[Me#1You#10]

The FEBA (Forward Edge of the Battle Area) is your next town council, PTA or school board public hearing. It is not, by nature, a conservative's "thing" to be pro-active. Either that changes and we re-attain an equal control and input into the process of "education", or this battle is, ultimately, lost. To end on a positive note, I believe that conservative activism is on the rise, and not a bit too soon.

[shadowy]

It doesn't take that long to find out what your kids think, and straighten them out if they need it. I found that my son was somewhat brainwashed, but after several conversations with me and also with his vet uncle, he came out of it.
Your kids probably respect your judgement and will be willing to converse if you show that you respect their views, too. You can ask them if they have ever felt that they were being pushed to think and believe what their teachers and celebrities and peers believed, even though they felt uncomfortable. Most kids can identify with that. They'll remember being told that evolution is a fact, and yet they know that most of us believe in God and call evolution a theory. They are uncomfortable about abortion, but they are all but commanded to be for it. And they don't like being anti-American, anti-Semitic, and pro-terrorist, yet that's where the leftists want them to be. Talk to them about how today parallels the time when we had to get into WWII, and how we are at a similar crucial point in history. Let them guess what will happen if we continue on course, and if we chicken out. Let them ask you questions, and find out what you know.

Your kids are probably bright, attractive and influencial among their peers. Like mine told me years ago, when I was concerned, "Mom, I am the peer pressure. Now he tells me that everyone he knows is opposed to Kerry. I guess he's the peer pressure, all right.
Tell your kids that this is war on the homefront, and we need them. They can arm themselves with truth, like Swiftvets in training, and they can have an impact. It's not too late. Kids love to rebel against the establishment, and the establishment is liberal now.

[Anker-Klanker]

I'm still not sure I've communicated my intended message clearly.

Yes, my kids now (belatedly, but not too late) get it!

I'm assuming that every member who reads this will ensure that his kids get it! (Be sure they do; they can fool you like mine did me)

So now how many millions of people in that age bracket are there who still might not get it because their particular stimulus has not been touched, i.e., who have not had their "chimes rung"?

ME#1 You #10 is absolutely correct that activist conservatism is on the rise, and anything anybody can do along this line will help.

BUT... I think we can reach a whole lot more younger people a whole lot faster if we can craft a SBVFT ad that is tuned for their ears, their experience, and their care-abouts.

[cipher]

My kid was old enough to remember her dad getting up every day, putting on a uniform and going to work in Germany while she was growing up.

She was young, and was going through that stage where the lines are blurred between fantasy and reality. She was starting to have some "integrity issues" (i.e., she was lying and getting caught up in maintaining the lies, and all the overhead that carries with it)

She was old enough to see her dad didn't have a chest full of ribbons like some of the others I had the honor to work with. She'd point and ask them "what's that for?" and so forth, and like as not, they'd laugh and tossle her hair and tell her it was for standing in chow line during a terrible thunderstorm, with lotsa noise from thunder and lightning, and getting all wet, yada yada The usual stuff real heroes tell kids.

When she asked why I didn't have a rack of fruit salad, I told her I wasn't in Vietnam, so I didn't rate it. She informed me (in her 6-year-old way) that I could buy them at the PX, they had lots of them there.

Being a wise (albeit undecorated) dad, I took the opportunity to explain some facts of life to her. She was clueless about Vietnam, she had no idea what war was, but it was then that the concept of the VALUES of honor and integrity started to sink in.

Now, some 25 years later, when we got an opportunity to talk about the election, she said she was totally disgusted with Kerry. I asked "Why?"

"He's got no sense of honor, daddy. He has violated his integrity. Not only has he sold out his comrades in arms and lies like a rug, he's got a bad tan." (I think she inherited her sense of humor from her mom)

She was born in 1972. The war was over long before she was old enough to talk.

It's not ALL about Vietnam. It's about honor and integrity.

You don't have to have been there to get that.
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USMC 69-72, 7th Comm, 3rd MarDiv, FMFPAC
US Army 75-79, 97th Sig, SHAPE, NATO
Arkansas National Guard 79
Defense contractor for US Navy, SSPO, SP-20, SP-24, OP-12 84-92

[GoEagles]

Agree and disagree with your post, Anker. I'm 31 years old, and don't know my history on Vietnam. My father didn't go to Vietnam because of medical reasons, and my uncle, who did go, refused to discuss it with me (or anyone else for that matter). I hate to admit this, because I consider myself intelligent and well-informed, but most of my Vietnam knowledge came from movies (Platoon, Apocolypse Now, ...).

Before I read Unfit for Command, I still understood that what Kerry did was wrong, and even treasonous, despite not understanding the Vietnam war. Of course, after reading UFC, now my blood is boiling with Kerry hatred. My point is that while it is important for people to understand the Vietnam War, it is not essential for exposing John Kerry as a treasonous, dishonorable, fraud.

PS - Can anyone recommend some good books to help me learn the true history of Vietnam?
_________________
"We cannot win this election" - John Fraud Kerry 11/3/04

Would you have gone to war with Iraq?
"You bet we might have" - John Fraud Kerry

[Tacan70UDN]

Anker Klanker - After a good night's sleep, a couple of thoughts that might be helpful. First, I'm proud to say that both our kids are anti-Kerry, and that before I brought up the subject. Maybe that's a result of kicking around the world as we changed assignments. They have a broader outlook, and our son is in the AF. For the immediate concern of getting our message out to young voters: Concerning the younger set, something they frequently seem interested in is video games, the more action the better. Perhaps an ad that plays to that interest would be more effective. For the older set, those who are managing their lives to get more things and move up, perhaps an ad dealing with management would be effective. It's my impression that senators don't have a whole lot to manage, other than trying to convince others to vote with them - the whole "grand alliance" thing. Kerry's record would indicate he hasn't done a whole lot of that. I've heard that one reason senators seldom get elected to the highest office is that they don't have that management experience that, for example, state governors do, certainly not the mgt. experience a sitting President has. To get to the targetted audiences, we have to play into their likes and dislikes. Some professional PR type like Dick Morris would have to pass judgement on all this and develop it out. Just a couple of thoughts from an old, bald AF vet. (My haircut is even shorter than what I wore on active duty.) Sink Kerry Swiftly!

P.S. (Added) I think that we should concentrate on post-Viet Nam service for Kerry's record. I think people can understand what he did after he got back from the war. The points about what he did while in the war zone make sense to us, but frequently not to people who never served. My two cents anyway.

[CTW]

It was so disturbing to me months ago when I saw Kerry winning the primary. I wasn't shocked about the younger gen not knowing about Viet Nam, just acutely aware of the job ahead of us to inform a generation before Nov. 2.

Same story from our family. My children age 25, 21 & 17 have gotten a history lesson from listening(?) to their VV dad and me. We are probably typical: Dad never would talk a lot about Viet Nam. He and my son some to this site...after my insisting. From here the lessons began.
Unfit for Command has been the #1 reference and I am trying to share the copy I was able to get my hands on. Stolen Honor is also terrific to get out to the younger gen. I am trying to get my copies forwarded around to them.
Good news.. some of the younger ones have called and asked him about Viet Nam and what he thinks of Kerry. They get a lesson! Our kids have influence..yours and mine. They are very effective w/ the internet. Us "old coots" should send info to all in their address book. They respond to visuals and cartoons.. don't we all? I find they want to know that the facts are true and not "your stupid opinion". The conservative movement must learn how to use the media more effectively needless to say.


My son reports resistance from the 21-30 year old peers. Focus for them: gay rights to marry and economy. And they are all heterosexuals, college educated. Go figure. Some say that once they took some business and economic classes, they question the liberal policies and government control of everything. It is scary to them when they realize they will have to earn a living and learn to handle finances. Ha! We have all been there.


Today my 17 year old had to take a speech/paper to school ," Should the War on Terror Be Continued?". Needless to say she understands the question and the possible consequences of cut and run. However, I wrote it with her and I hope to get and A She went really prepared. And I included a quote from Sgt. Maj. Mac Nemi from here. Thank you sir.

Yes our generation went mute and went along with the notion that further attention to Viet Nam was harmful to the country. It has been too long and now we see the consequence, albeit an unforseen consequence. We have succeeded in raising a peace loving generation. But now we seem to be contradicting ourselves to them!


Well, gotta go mail some DVDs and Books. CTW

Never Ever Kerry

[Steve Z]

I agree with many of the posters here that disputes over whether Kerry deserved his medals or not will not resonate with young voters.

I myself am 48 years old, but was too young to have served in Vietnam. I was a naive teenager when Kerry testified to the Senate in 1971, and was aware of the anti-war movement, but I did not connect today's Senator Kerry with the anti-war leader of my teenage years until reading the "Unfit for Command" book.

If there was such a disconnect for me, such a disconnect would be even greater for younger voters, who were children (or not yet born) in 1971. Such voters don't really care whether Kerry earned his medals (or for that matter, whether Bush had any special favors in the National Guard).

Young voters DO care about the War on Terror, and what is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they DO remember 9/11/2001. If THEY want to decide whether Kerry is fit to be Commander in Chief, they need to be reminded that Kerry met with the enemy, naively believed their promises of peace if America withdrew, then abandoned the South Vietnamese to a bloody massacre, after 58,000 soldiers died trying to protect them.

Young voters, these days, are horrified at the loss of about 1,000 American troops (less than 2% of those lost in Vietnam) in Iraq. They don't remember 58,000 lost in Vietnam or over 400,000 in World War II.

If SBVT can make the connection that Kerry is a "cut and run" coward, that he would "withdraw within 6 months" allow Iraq to be re-taken by the Fedayeen and the terrorists, and 1,000 soldiers would have died in vain NOW just as 58,000 died in vain in Iraq, they might be convinced not to trust Kerry. Not because he didn't earn his medals in 1968-69, but what he might do in the future if elected President.

http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=877

A Zogby poll out today shows:

Overall: Bush 46 Kerry 44
18-29 Years Old: Kerry 56 Bush 31
30-49 Years Old: Bush 54 Kerry 38
Military/Veteran: Bush 52 Kerry 39

The SBVT message HAS reached the Veterans, but NOT young people. If gullible young people can be turned out in droves and duped by Democrats, Kerry could win this election!

To reach young people--SBVT needs to remind them of Kerry's flawed judgment about withdrawing from Vietnam and trusting the enemy instead of our own Government, then strongly suggest that if Kerry is elected President, history would repeat itself in Iraq, and that letting Kerry lead the War on Terror would be dangerous for America and for them.

Let's talk about Kerry Cut and Run!!!
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The traitor will crater!

[Knighthawk]

I have not yet had the honor of visiting the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C, however, I was able to visit the traveling Memorial when it was in Melbourne, Florida a couple of years ago.

I remember talking with a woman there whose son was killed in Viet Nam. She had a stack of Text Books, probably 100 or so, and none of them even mentioned the Viet Nam War. Now mind you these are test books that are use in our public schools today.

I was lucky that my father educated me about Viet Nam.

Liberals have taken over the public schools, they write our text books that kids use, therefore it should come as no suprise that young people are not educated about what took place in Viet Nam.

Remember, the liberals would love to forget about Viet nam.
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Regards,
Brian

Beware of the lollipop of mediocrity! Lick it once and you'll suck forever.

If guns kill people, then I can blame misspelled words on my pencil.

Knighthawk's Pictures!

[SangRun Hunter]

I'm 35 and my wife is 31 we understand.

My buddy is 33 and his Dad was a medic in the 101st if I remember right. He understands and so does his wife.

My Uncle was there 1966-1967 with the USMC and I had another great uncle killed there in 1965.
My wife's father was there in 1969

My Dad was in the military, but not Nam and he was sickened at the time about Kerry and still is.

I wanted to be in the military myself and would have been the Desert storm generation, but I couldn't join due to med issues. I have utter respect for those that serve us and protect us and today if I had it all to do over I would have kicked, scratched, and conned my way to get in the service.

I completely understand why vets are angry with Kerry. Personally I'm scared Sh!!less that he will get elected and really mess things up on so many levels. I think the man is pure evil and so is his wife and I have this gut feeling he will be the one to ruin our country and maybe cause a civil war or depression to come about.

It sounds crazy, but I can't explain it.

Kerry cannot escape what he has done as the truth will come out.
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Mad as Hell!