SwiftVets.com

TXCPA · Seaman Recruit Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 1

First I would like to thank all of you Vets out there for your service. I just wanted to make a point that I don't think has been made yet. There are millions of us in our mid 30's who were raised by men who fought in Vietnam. Our fathers came home from the war and went on with their lives they raised us coached our baseball teams, went to our school picnics and worked had everyday to make sure we had everything we ever needed to someday succeed in life. Unlike Mr. Kerry who seems to take every opportunity to discuss his service, our fathers never spoke of it. Our knowledge of that war came from dusty photo albums of smiling soldiers and Marines (some of whom no longer walk this earth) and vague answers to the curious questions of kids who finally learned just not to ask.

Now we are old enough to understand what happend, and have to listen to quotes a man who wants to be our president tell us how the men who raised us, the men who gave us life, played catch in the front yard, ran alonside us when we took the training wheels off out bikes, and bandaged our wounds after we fell, that that man is a murderer and a rapist. I'm sorry Mr. Kerry but I reject your charges and I reject you. I also believe you owe an apology to every American who served in that war and the children of every American who served in that war.

I applaud all you Vets and feel sorry that it has taken this long for you to be able to discuss your service because of the reception you received when you returned home. A reception based on false claims by a fake hero, with future polical asperations.

God Bless.

WalterW · Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2004 9:40 pm Post subject:

Can you speak tonight at the Convention?

Seriously, that brought tears to my eyes. Thank you!
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"We do not need to divide America over who served and how. I have personally always believed that many served in many different ways." John F. Kerry, February, 1992

JCBoston · Seaman Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 185

TXCPA: Thank you so much for finding the words that I could not. You perfectly described my childhood.

Thank all of you guys for going over there when you were just a bunch of scared kids.

Butch · Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2004 9:56 pm Post subject:

WalterW was right....

jataylor11 · Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2004 10:17 pm Post subject:

Well done. Thank you for another insight into the negative impact Kerry's lies have had.

Now you know the lies. You also grew up with the truth. Your father's service was honorable.

jwb7605 · Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2004 2:13 am Post subject: Re: Our Father's Service

carpro · Admin Joined: 10 May 2004 Posts: 1176 Location: Texas

Thanks TXCPA
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"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."

BMG Mike · Seaman Recruit Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 19

Well, TXCPA,

I'm about twice as old as you are. My Dad's service was WW-II and Korea. He never talked about the war until he was terminally ill, and then only briefly. He was decorated with a Bronze Star - no V needed at the time to distinguish combat vs non-combat award - and 2x PH. One of those wounds left his left arm badly mangled.

In spite of his killing many in combat (Co Cmdr, 501 PIR, Normandy, Holland, Bastogne) he never displayed any violence to me or my siblings when we were growing up. He patched skinned knees, fixed broken toys, taught us fishing, hunting, camping, and most importantly, respect and honor. The latter two concepts seem to have eluded Kerry.

Veterans are not the beasts that Kerry claims. They are people with human aspirations and foibles. Most only want to live a normal life and to put the war behind them. Kerry has taken the behavior of perhaps 1/10 of 1% of the veteran population and has painted the whole 'Nam vet community with a taint that lasts to this day. I commend the SBVFT for fighting to get the truth in front of the public.

It's my experience that most veterans don't get a proper degree of respect for his service - Vietnam vets probably the least. This isn't unique to the American culture. Kipling's poem Tommy Atkins captures the essence of it.

I'm not a veteran. My Navy service was short cut by a Medical Discharge in 1960. I will say to all the veterans on this board: "Thank you for your service! I owe you a debt I cannot possibly repay." And to the 'Nam vets in particular, "Welcome Home"!

Regards

Mike

baldeagl · PO3 Joined: 07 Aug 2004 Posts: 260 Location: Texas

I finally stopped bawling long enough to write this to you. (I swear to God, some day, before I die, I'm going to stop crying about that damn war!)

TXCPA, thank you so much for writing. I've often wondered what the world would be like for my children. I never worried about them - I knew what kind of people they had become. I worried about the "others", those whose lives might have been affected by the lies that had been told about us. Your comments make me realize that all vets' kids were raised as mine were - with honesty and integrity and quiet dignity.

I spent six years in the Navy, but I never served in Vietnam. Yet the lies that were told about our men and woman in Vietnam affected me as well. I lost my cousin, Donald, in Vietnam, and he too was stained with that lie, and that hurt me even more. Even my wife has never known (until now) how I felt about that time in my life. She always told our girls, "Leave your Dad alone right now. He just got done watching a story about Vietnam, and you know how sad he gets."

Thank you for giving me a hope I never thought I would have. When my oldest daughter came back from a trip to Washington with a rubbing of Donald's name from the Wall, I thought she was really special for thinking of me that way.

Now I realize all the vets kids are special.
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