Oliver North wraps up the reasons for the disgust most Vietnam Era veterans feel for John Kerry.
Does that mean you lied under oath? Or does it mean you are a war criminal? You can’t have this one both ways, John. Either way, you’re not fit to be a prison guard at Abu Ghraib, much less commander in chief.
Of course, North is really a bad guy, not the kind of veteran the Kerry supporters would listen to.
Once again, Abu Ghraib is pushed to the front of the news line. Got to send Kerry’s problems back somehow, I guess.
The latest report to come out works its magic to try and blame everyone in the chain of command, up to and including Rumsfeld. I think what bothers me most is that many of our journalists and politicians are so out of touch with reality, having never held a corporate job, that they can’t grasp the simple reality of an organizational structure. And they certainly don’t understand military organizational structure.
Just look at any company and its workforce. How many people who work for Daimler-Chrysler even know who the CEO of their company is? Do they feel like they are guided in their day-to-day activities by this person? Are they?
Contrast that to the military, where just about every soldier knows who Rumsfeld is. But they may not know who their Division Commander works for. The highest level that would be expected to have any knowledge about the goings-on in Abu Ghraib would be General Janet Karpinski (I have to wash my mouth out with soap after linking that rank to her name). But even in her case, I don’t know that she would have been up on all the nocturnal doings at the prison. She certainly wouldn’t have told anyone above her unless there were problems she couldn’t handle. And if she couldn’t handle them, why was she wearing a star? The same can be said for the colonels, majors, and captains working for her.
Even at lower levels, much goes on that the boss knows nothing about. I was deployed with several of my younger mechanics once and heard stories about one of them involving a beautiful woman and Oreos (I’ll leave it at that) that I would have never known about except in the context a close-quarters deployment. I was a captain.
Any person who feels Rumsfeld should resign over this needs to take a look at the place they work, and put it all in perspective.
A very inspiring story over at I love Jet Noise regarding Jeremiah Denton.
Oh, you don’t know him? His story is there, too.
Readers’ Digest published a book in the ’70s entitled POW. It was exceptional. I’ve looked for it in used book stores, but have yet to find a copy. The book had a tremendous impact on me. What the men went through as POWs in North Vietnam is almost beyond belief.
I got just a taste of it myself in Survival School. The POW training was only three days, but the longest three days I’ve ever spent. What you learn is who you really are. It was humbling.
I’ve known several former POWs during my career, and every one was an inspiration. Colonel Ed Hubbard was something of a mentor to me as a junior officer. He was always focused on the positive. He loved to talk about how much you can accomplish if you push yourself. While a POW, he and the man in the next cell began a competition to see who could do the most pushups. The first day, he was proud to report he did 51. His neighbor did over 200 the next day. That inspired Colonel Ed to beat him. And he did. He saw this as proof you can always do more than you think.
He is the unofficial jumprope champion of the world. The two men fabricated jumpropes and competed each day. The reason Colonel Ed holds the record is they were released the day after he set it. The other man didn’t get a chance to beat him.
Jeremiah Denton is such a man. And when he speaks, his words have real meaning.
When Kerry joined me in the Senate, I already knew about his record of defamatory remarks and behavior criticizing U.S. policy in Vietnam and the conduct of our military personnel there. I had learned in North Vietnamese prisons how much harm such statements caused. To me, his remarks and behavior amounted to giving aid and comfort to our Vietnamese and Soviet enemies. So I was not surprised when his subsequent overall voting pattern in the Senate was consistently detrimental to our national security.
We can all debate what Kerry did and didn’t do. From my perspective, this trumps all.
Jeff Quinton at Backcountry Conservative is putting together a list of Bloggers Who Served in the military. The concept initiated at azcentral where E. J. Perkins compiled a listing of those politicians who have spent time in uniform.
“Bunker Mulligan”–U.S.Air Force, 1972-1992, Helicopter mechanic/flight engineer/gunner, Systems Engineer, Aircraft Maintenance Officer, USAFA Instructor.
Maybe it’s a call-up!
(Brian pointed me in the right direction!)
What you are about to read is opinion. I won’t even attempt to back it up with quotes or links. Some will believe it, some won’t. Some of you may actually look at the past with a different perspective. That’s my intent. Whether that means anything to you or not is up to you.
Now that the Swift Boat Veterans have come out against Kerry (which is only tacit approval of Dubya), we in the blogosphere have waited to see if the old media would finally pick up on the story, and how it would be spun. And there was never any doubt that it would be spun. What I think you will see is a focus on Bush’s ANG service, with sideways glances at Kerry’s activities. So, I thought I’d give you my take, as a veteran and pretty perceptive observer of personality.
Dubya (who wouldn’t mind being called that) decided to fly. His father had done so in the Pacific War. It was a logical decision. Going in via the Texas Air National Guard meant he could go straight through flight school with a guarantee of getting a fighter to fly. Going in through active duty meant he would have to take his chances. Dad flew fighters, he wanted to do so, also.
For those of you who snicker at Weekend Warriors, understand the the Texas National Guard has seen as much combat as many active duty units. At the time Dubya enlisted, the TANG had F-102 aircraft on rotation to Vietnam. This was no “safe” enlistment. In fact, I believe the possibility of flying in combat appealed to him. Following in Dad’s footsteps. The Bush family is very close, and this is no stretch of the imagination. Dubya finished his basic training and Undergraduate Pilot Training, and returned to his unit for advanced training in the F-102. After qualification, a friend has said the two of them asked to be included in the next rotation to Vietnam. I believe this, as it fits with the personna I see. They were turned down due to lack of flying hours, and associated experience. By the time he had the requisite flying time, the rotations of Guard aircraft were ended.
John Kerry (who would never tolerate a nickname, or any joke at his expense) enlisted in the Navy after being refused a deferment to go to school in Europe. The majority of naval forces in Vietnam had no contact with the enemy. Had he really been interested in fighting in a war, I don’t understand why he didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps and join the Army. My guess is he considered service on a ship to be safe, as long as he got the AEF medal to show he’d spent time in a combat zone. Once on a ship, he saw the opportunity to get on Swift Boats, the new version of JFK’s (the other one) PT-109. At the time he volunteered, the Swift Boats were doing coastal patrol work, with smaller vessels handling the riverine work. Still pretty safe, but he could play the new JFK and live out his fantasy.
Almost immediately after his transfer, the Swift Boats took on a more dangerous mission inside the Mekong Delta–where the bad guys lived. Given the opportunity, he did what he could to make himself appear the hero while working to get out of harm’s way as soon as possible.
I don’t know if all that is accurate. I can only look at this through their current personalities. I feel confident of this assessment, and have to say that when duty called, Dubya responded and Kerry tried to go to Europe. Quite the opposite of what the general consensus is, don’t you think?
***UPDATE*** Well, I hate to say I told you so.
For my sons, and all the other GIs out there: 213 Things Skippy Can’t Do – The List
77. The MP checkpoint is not an Imperial Stormtrooper roadblock, so I should not tell them “You don’t need to see my identification, these are not the droids you are looking for.”
130. “I
Maybe I can explain to some of you why military veterans don’t feel comfortable with John Kerry. I’m talking about my generation, and those immediately preceding and following mine. And I’m speaking of professional military folks, not the one-termers who came in and left for a variety of reasons.
I enlisted in 1972 after dropping out of college. I left school with a 1.25 GPA. Yes, I had a pretty good time. The recruiter had me convinced to enlist for six years, but Dad had a little talk before I signed the papers. Understand, this is the “Old Chief.” Dad retired from the Air Force as a Chief Master Sergeant–one of the top 1% of the enlisted force. And he lived the role. Think of the movie role Sam Elliott played in We Were Soldiers, and you have some concept. He told me he had seen many young men come and go. Some liked the military, and some didn’t. He pointed out that if I didn’t like it four years down the road, I’d see all my friends leaving and I would still have two years to go.
I enlisted for four years.
I quit wearing my uniform when I traveled after one trip through the San Francisco airport. Someone made a rude comment and spit on me. I could have ripped his head off, but it was his city. I would have ended up in jail. I kept my composure.
He was a Kerry follower.
Whatever John Kerry did in Vietnam is really irrelevant to military professionals. We all have our own opinion of whether he was a hero or not. From everything I’ve learned of him since he “torpedoed” Dean (to use rfidtag’s verb), I see nothing of value. I had never even heard of him previous to this election cycle. He was simply another Senator living off the Government teat, and really doing nothing to earn his perks. He didn’t need the paycheck. But, except for my taxes paying for all of it, it was of no import to me–I don’t live in Massachusetts. If they want a do-nothing as their junior Senator, who am I to complain?
But if he wants me to support him for President as a veteran, he’s out of bounds. He waived that support when he failed to get elected to Congress as a war hero and became the voice for those who needed some credibility in the anti-war movement. Face it, he was an opportunist. He demeaned the service of his “Band of Brothers” to build himself up. He encouraged such things as happened to me, one of his “brothers”. And every other veteran.
I’ve seen a few John Kerrys during my career in the military. So had my dad. They are careerists, not professionals. They will do whatever it takes to make themselves look good to superiors. When I first got my commission, I worked for one. Fortunately, the colonel above us saw him for what he was. This captain spent a lot of time escorting visitors, which he felt gave him “visibility”, and would do just about anything to get recognition. The colonel kept him busy so that we lieutenants could get the job done. I even wrote about my experiences at the time. (Oh no…did I really use “nadir” in a sentence?).
Kerry would have gotten along quite well with that captain, except when they ran into a conflict over who would get to escort the general’s wife.
Add those two things together–self-serving opportunism and treasonous behavior toward fellow vets–and perhaps you’ll understand why any medals he has mean absolutely nothing to me in his run for the Presidency.
I don’t trust him.
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