SwiftVets.com

[Butterfly]

I am not a veteran, but a faithful reader and follower of your activities. For as long as I can remember, I have have admired the military and veterans, probably because so many in my family have served and are serving.

As a young girl growing up, I remember friends and several relatives as they left to serve in VietNam, some returned, some not..... some wounded physically, some not.... but all wounded emotionally, I believe, by how they were treated when they returned. I always knew that the treatment of our VietNam vets was wrong. I remember when I was young hearing about the marches and the activities of the militant protesters, but at that point I was involved more in my own activities as a young girl discovering life.

I want to take this opportunity to apologize to all the vets for things that perhaps I should have done earlier to square things with those of you who so bravely served. This righting of the wrongs that were done may come too late for some, but I am so glad it finally has.

You will never know the tears that I have shed as I read of your feelings and experiences, the swelling of pride as I have watched you and all the other wonderful people here work together to expose John Kerry for the person he is-- a liar, a traitor, a selfish man that would do anything for his own egotistical gain, the anger as we discovered more and more of the activities he was engaged in. You are all true heros to me. (sending my own personal cyber medal your way - borrowing a script from the Medal of Honor - "Heroes are people who do what has to be done when it has to be done, regardless of the consequences")

I know that this is not over, but I pledge to you that I will be with you to do anything I am able in order to see that the truth about John Kerry is known to all citizens of this country.

My true thanks and gratitude to you all for what you have done for this country.... then and now. My children and grandchildren will know of you and the true heroes that you are.

May freedom ring forever,

~ butterfly ~

P.S. John ONeill and Navy Chief.... you ROCK.....

[NavyChief]

Wow! speechless.

Can this be the beginning of a healing for our Vietnam Vets?

- Chief
_________________
Working with Senator Kerry four years in the POW/MIA Office left me thinking -- when did the man ever do any work?

[producehawk]

Hopefully as soon as we pick off the scab kerry, the vets will be able to have a clean healing. However I think kerry and his ilk will always leave a scar.

[Montana]

Thanks for your letter Butterfly.
Montana

[debewley]

Butterfly,
Thank you so much for your kind words. You can't know just how much they mean to me and many others.

I don't really know what treatment I was expecting when I came home. I wasn't a hero and didn't expect to be treated like one. In fact when given the choice between attending a ceremony to accept my medals or having them mailed to me, I opted for the later. And I certainly didn't expect any preferential treatment. After all I was one of many who had simply done my duty.

But I certainly wasn't expecting what treatment I did recieve. No I wasn't spat on. But I soon learned that my service was a taboo subject. Not something that I wanted to bring up in polite company. I also learned that when filing a job application, it was a good idea not to mention that service. And I learned that nobody, including family and close friends, wanted to hear anything about it.

Perhaps I shouldn't, but I view this election as a final "referendum" on our collective service. No reasonably informed person can ignore those words and deeds of Kerry after he returned home. If he is elected I can only conclude that all of those deaths; all of the pain and suffering; all of the families who lost husbands, fathers, sons, brothers; all of that was REALLY in vain.


Thank you again!!
Dave
_________________
Served with US Army in Americal Division 2/69 to 9/70.

[1991932]

Thanks, Butterfly.

Great post
_________________
Former "War Criminal"

[nschlange]

To butterfly, thank you for saying what you did. I feel the exact same way about these guys and their service both then and now, i'm very proud of all of them. I think that Amercia needed to be reminded of what a true Hero is. Had they not gotten involved this generation wouuld have been left with the impression that Kerry was a hero instead of the slime ball we now know him to be.
To Debewley: this election isn't the end of this. we have a whole new generation who are right now fighting a war that kerry and his kind are putting down. They are creating an atmosphere that our soldiers now, will have to suffer the same shame that the kerry's of the world made you guys suffer, and that is an unbearable thought! I was just a kid when the war was going on, what i remember clearly was that my parents were furious with the way you were being treated when you returned home. We weren't allowed to say jane fonda's name in our house for years. to this day my mom flips when you say her name. It sill breaks my heart to think people treated you in that way! My parents got involved in the pow/mia movement and we all wore braclettes on our arms for different men that were missing in action. You have to keep talking, keep telling your stories so that it's not allowed to happen again. I've read stories that Army recruiters are being called baby killers on college and high school campuses, and why? Because a democrat wanted to be elected so he used his service to portray himself as a hero and he used the military and this war as their scape goat. I'm proud of these young guys and they deserve to have people like you and john oneil to look out for them. That's the least we can do.

[AFvetfortruth]

>>If he is elected I can only conclude that all of those deaths; all of the pain and suffering; all of the families who lost husbands, fathers, sons, brothers; all of that was REALLY in vain. >>

I've beed observing this forum for a long time but this is the the first thing that has prompted me to post a response.

Dave, you as a Vietnam veteran cannot entertain this conclusion or give any further heed to the emotion that would give rise to it. The Swift Vets have done something I've never seen in American politics: mounted a campaign of unbreached integrity that has been effective in it's mission and also raised a subject that deserved a publis discussion. I am certain that the legacy of the Swift Boat Vets, regardless of who wins the election, will be to burn into the American consciousness an upright and proper image of the Vietnam veteran. No thinking American can any longer believe any of the propaganda they were fed in the past. The apocalyptic injustice committed by the likes of John Kerry is now a matter of public record. The mask has been pulled off and they are exposed. No matter what happens today, a page has been turned and it is a new day for Vietnam veterans.

Even more important than is to never lose sight of history. We face serious threats now, but how quickly we forget what the world was like when we faced a true risk of losing our liberty. The predatory Soviet machine had intentions as vile as Islamo-fascists and they were constrained only by the willingness of Amirican military men to fight and die. You served that cause, and your actions helped pave the way for final victory. "In vain" ? Good god.

I woke up this morning on a sunlit morning as a free American. I proceeded to my voting location and voted amid good natured chatter from all quarters. It's a great day in America, thanks to you.

[mach9]

[Hondo]

Butterfly:

I agree.

I was just young enough to have missed serving in Vietnam. However, I all too clearly saw what happened. What our returning soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines went through was truly shameful - not to them, but to our nation.

I can respect the conscientious objector who refused the draft and went to jail, or who chose to carry a medic's/corpsman's bag vice a rifle. I can accept the person who left the country rather than serve. I can't agree with either position - but these individuals were at least willing to follow their convictions.

I have little but loathing for those who stayed home - safe and happy - and then denigraded those who returned. Hypocracy disgusts me.

I have even less respect for those who opposed Vietnam because of political ambition rather than conviction.

The young men and women who served in Vietnam (and yes, there were quite a number of women who served in-country) did what their nation asked. For some, this was not done entirely willingly; but they served nontheless. They "paid the bill" for freedom - theirs and ours. Sometimes the bill was paid with blood, health, or life.

One can debate the merits of the Vietnam war, and whether it was in our national interest to be involved. But one cannot debate the fact that those who served there did what their nation asked. For that fact alone, those who served are deserving of respect and gratitude from every citizen.

During the latter part of the Vietnam War, our nation failed its returning soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. Instead of receiving their due respect, they received scorn. Instead of honors, they received spittle. Instead of gratitude, they were betrayed.

And Kerry and his ilk were instrumental in that betrayal.

This must never happen again.
_________________
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse."
-- John Stuart Mill

[azpatriot]

I too also just skated on Vietnam, looking back I remember the what was said and on TV, but most of all I feel fortunate that I had a Vietnam Vet as an instructor of history no less I remember once in class someone mentioned JF (I can’t bring myself to fully type out her name) and he came unglued, not in a hostile sense (yelling and screaming) but in a very knowledgeable sense “Class had Began!” Oh we heard all about JF and Kerry and the VVAW and just how wrong they were. And we heard all about the subversive lies they had told. This became our semester course, it’s a shame that the majority of history instructors through our education system were not like him, because if they had been we wouldn’t be dealing with the Poodle now.
_________________
Proud to be an American! and member of the PAJAMAHADEEN
FedEx Kinko's: When it absolutely, positively has to be forged overnight

[CTW]

Beautiful Butterfly. and big ditto here. My exhusband was a marine, who returned to California and was actually spit on etc. Some may have read our story here. Through this campaign and because of the Swiftboat vets efforts, more healing has taken place...for him, for me, for his children. We have moved forward and upward more rapidly in the past few months than in 30 years.
I hope all the vets and their families are feeling some of the healing.
We all have been quiet too long. Maybe it was necessary. As we move forward we will educate our children and grandchildren so our Vietnam Vets are honored as they should always have been. My children have gained so much more respect and admiration for their dad and all vets than ever before. Thank you for doing this. God Bless. CTW

[Cap' DOC]

CTW

Sort of felt good these past few months to be able to discuss such things as "What did you do, Dad"?.

Thanks to all those butterflies, including the armored ones, who made it possible.

[Tom Poole]