SwiftVets.com

[Rurik]

On Thursday, August 24, 2004 “Kerry's Lost Opportunity; He could have healed the wounds of Vietnam. Instead, he tried to exploit them”, by HERMAN JACOBS, was posted at the Wall Street Journal's site,
Opinion Journal Online at http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110005524

Here is the response I sent them (read Jacobs first):

>>Perhaps because Mr. Jacobs was “on the other side” and did not himself serve, he still does not “get it”. His essay, while quite moving, manages a major rewrite of the facts and thus misunderstands the depth of the veteran anger which has been simmering for 35 years.
Central to Mr. Jacobs’ understanding is “The Truce” which he says occurred “years ago”. However, whatever the nature of “The Truce”, it occurred only very recently, in the early 1990s, after two watersheds, the American military triumph in Desert Storm and the collapse of international communism. Until then, the nature of “The Truce”, was quite different from what Mr. Jacobs describes. Need I remind that “Vietnam syndrome” was invariably invoked whenever there was a chance the military might be committed? And at such times, The Vietnam Veteran was usually invoked, negatively, by the left. All the mislearned and erroneous “lessons of Vietnam” had a major impact on Angola, Central America, Korea, and a number of Middle Eastern crises, most serious of which was our withdrawal of support from an embattled Shah. This led directly to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, and global Islamic terrorism, and thus, indirectly to the 9-11 attack itself. And if the concept of disloyalty had been sanctioned then, the current round of disloyal opposition in time of war would never have been considered.
Nor during this time was there any such concept of respecting the veterans for their individual achievement. The way “The Truce” actually operated was that Vietnam veterans shut the hell up and kept it to themselves while the protestors continued to tell their version of events of a seriously mistaken war - the version which is still the officially received wisdom. You learned that if you wanted to get hired, or accepted for a program, you conveniently omitted mention of military service from your résumé. Socially it was even worse. Vietnam vets were treated essentially as minor war criminals, not worth pursuing, unless they spoke up. In certain areas of society - academia, the news and entertainment media, publishing, and some other fields, it was worse. To remember these decades as a “Truce” is an insult which demonstrates that Mr. Jacobs does not at all understand.
Subsequent to the American victories in 1991, and the return of the American military to pop icon status, a bit of revision was unavoidable. From the early 1990s I did start to hear the first plaintive declarations, “Yes I respect Vietnam Vets.” But it always sounded shallow, awkward, and insincere. And still does. “Yes, We respect you. Now will you please go back up to the attic?” The new version of “The Truce” might better be described as “We’ll forgive you veterans for your service, so long as you don’t demand any public honor, and do not question us who have scorned you for a quarter century.” This is very like the motorist telling the injured pedestrian, “I won’t sue you for damaging the front of my car, if you don’t bring up your crippling injuries.” The Vietnam Vet still remains the Banquo’s Ghost at America’s table.
Under such a situation, “binding up the nation’s wounds” is a process of alibi. Neither George Bush, nor John McCain, nor Bob Kerrey nor John Kerry could accomplish it. Don’t you remember that Jimmie Carter first tried to “bind the wounds” using this “forgive and forget” ploy, and how well it didn’t work, though he had yet to acquire any personal baggage? His blanket pardon to the protesters, deserters and dodgers proved the first major political blunder of his presidency.
Remember another national grievance which refuses to die. Large numbers of American Blacks who have never themselves been slaves, still hold a sense of bitter grievance over slavery, though they have been separated by five or six generations, a century and a half, from their most recent slave ancestors. And their grudges are leveled against people, most of whose ancestors had never been slaveholders in the first place. We Vietnam veterans nurse our resentments not for an affront to some distant ancestor, but for injustices suffered personally, against those who personally inflicted them. This is why “the wounds will never be “bound up” by any sort of a process which might be called “no fault treason”. Most of us are willing to forgive those who were minor protestors when young, so long as it is they who are called upon to accept a small amount of the stigma we bore so heavily for thirty-five years. But we are not willing to abide or make peace with their leaders, and that includes most particularly John Kerry, but also Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jane Fonda and also many of the other left-wing leaders of the Democratic Party and the elite media.
Yes, repentant protestors, such as Mr. Jacobs, and also some of the more narcissistic new conservatives wold like to put this whole unpleasant business behind us, so they can get on with their current party, but Banquo doesn’t depart just because he is inconvenient.
An analogy. You and several housemates have a wild party in which one of your housemates gets very drunk and vomits in the living room. In the morning, instead of doing the responsible, but unpleasant measure of demanding that the miscreant clean up his own mess, you throw a rug over it and pretend nothing happened. After a few weeks, the mound underneath the rug will be impossible to ignore, and the stench will begin pervade the house. For a while longer you can pretend not to notice and attack as a troublemaker anyone who comments on the stink. But sooner or later, the mess will have to be confronted, and the longer the wait the worse the cleaning task will be.
After thirty-five years, it may be too late to grant the Vietnam veterans their due, now that we are entering older years. it’s a bit late for a parade, or a thank-you kiss, like that famous one on the cover of Life Magazine. But for the sake of the country’s future the stinking mess left over from the Vietnam War must be confronted, no matter how awkward to our elites. So I welcome the current swift boat confrontation for providing us an opportunity for this long overdue task. Perhaps, in the best Shakespearian fashion, John Kerry may yet perform a great service to our nation as he provokes his own personal destruction.

signed (name)
US Army, RA68046537, combat engineer, RVN 10/15/69-10/12/70<<
_________________
Hating John Kerry continuously since 1971.

Essayons!
Fight Build and Destroy

[producehawk]

Kerry is insane

[Harley90]

I truly believe that no one person can "heal our wounds." They have been deeply embedded in each and everyone of our souls for years. Granted that some of us have been able to put the past behind us (as much we can) and go on, never forgetting, never totally letting go but, nonetheless, being able to go on. I still feel to this day, as I did over 25 years ago that, our goverment failed us when we returned.

Having to change from uniforms to "civilian clothing" before getting off a plane at home so no one would know that we were in the military was the worst slap in the face.

Could anyone change what happened in the past?

Anything now would be fruitless too little too late......

[lucky]

I will apologize for my thinking when I was younger Harley. I was shamed but not ashamed but it is all the same really. I was never ashamed of our military soldiers, just the government. I was very young during the whole conflict. It seemed the country was in an intense turmoil constantly. Since I was a kid in the 60's i saw the war on TV nightly. I saw the riots and demonstrations. And then when I was 15 I saw saigon fall and the airlift. I was 15 at that time. It was confusing to me.

I satrted reading all the books that were coming out from veterans and it was confusing to me that everything I read from soldiers never mentioned any atrocity at all. The few veterans I did talk to had scars but scars of war none told me about atrocities. I did read of a few atrocities and they were being charged for those crimes but they were so few compared to how long we were there and the manpower overall. Was I missing something?

Every movie I saw that showed any war crime atrocity in it was like a script from the words Kerry said. Confusing to me also. I saw many who claimed to be vets from vietnam and some of them told me of crimes but I found that they never served. (found out by another veteran who was there. It was uncanny to me how they could sniff em out) confusing to me also.

the 70's marched on and it seemed to be behind us now. I grow up and in the meantime read more studied more. I started to read about all wars and not just vietnam. I go to school start a career and feel a need to serve after my father passed away, not sure why but did. I did enlist in the army and all the instructors or most of them were vietnam vets. Some of them told me while chatting after I told them about the stories I read about, about how there were no crazed muderers, some happened but it was the exception and not the rule there. I started to not be confused but what could I do?

I served and got out and 15 years later we are up to now. I again started to hear about swift vets. I came and saw the site. I learned about the other sites and go and learn more. from them I learn about more sites and on and on. Now I am not the least bit confused but MAD. I felt like a whole generation was shamed on LIES. Sure the government and leaders had faults but the way to handle em was to come back and change with open channels of communication and vote the rascals out. The soldiers should have been consulted and the government should have listened and correct the mistakes. Not bury them deep in our psyche.

Kerry was scum what he said and did. He stabbed all these great americans in the back and twisted the knife. We can"t change the past Harley but can't we try to make amends? I hope so. I apologize about the shame I felt when I was younger and if any want me off the site for good I will leave but I promise to saty and fight till the end. I am mad also at Kerry and others who spit on you. I am hoping that we can get this all out and lift the shame away. I want the shame to shift to those that spit on you.

I apologize Harley for being so long in this post but I have never been so proud as I have been of all the great men (and ladies) from all the services from different eras get together like this. I never thought that it would happen.
_________________
life is great

[Robert Cooper]

Only the truth can heal wounds, and that of only the survivors. The millions who suffered and died directly related to John Kerry's activism is a matter that cannot be undone.

I have reason to believe that Kerry and the VAVW is not the only guilty party involved.

READ: http://www2.swiftvets.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6129
_________________
Know the difference between Politics and Mesmeratics - one embraces, propagates and promotes the truth, while the other manipulates it!

[lucky]

Robert. That is what I meant but my words fail me at times. The truth will out all. And with the truth I believe those millions will be heard.
_________________
life is great

[Robert Cooper]

Lucky, your words were well written and thoughts fully conveyed and my intent was to reitterate what I understood you to say.

I appreciate you sharing your personal experiences and struggles for seeking the truth.

I think existence of today's Independent News Networks and radio talk forums is directly related to our experience with the Vietnam issue. Back then the Mainstream Media was not accountable to anybody - that's not true today.

They still manipulate the truth - the most common tactic is just to create doubt. They typically report a piece of news that is accurate - but, they finish it with: "Some do not hold to the same views - Is Mr.X being truthful, or is their actually some dark deviate conspiracy behind Mr.X as his opposition suggests?"

I fidelity in the people who deliver the news. I watch some programs for recipes and mini-concerts - but, when it comes to news, I change channels
to watch the news that are known for their credibility.
_________________
Know the difference between Politics and Mesmeratics - one embraces, propagates and promotes the truth, while the other manipulates it!

[tikoys]

When I came home from over there my family told me not to wear my uniform. They said that everyone was against the war. This sadened me very much. People like Kerry and Hanoi Jane were really trashing us.
My time over there was hell but the hell I went through at home was worse. I felt as if everything I did over there was for nothing!!
I was very proud to be in the service and planned on staying in. This all change when I got home. I didn't know all this was going on in our country till I got home.
Now Kerry has opened all the old wounds again that had almost healed after all these years.