Medals

[cadetat6]

> This was forwarded to me by a friend. I don't know who wrote it but
> it sums up the feelings many people have.
>
> I'm not worthy to question John Kerry's war record. Because I don't
> have one. I spent the Vietnam War in elementary school. And the
four years I was in the Army were all behind a desk. My fort was
> unofficially known as "Uncle Ben's Rest Home." So I don't know
> anything about war. Though I do know a little bit about men who've
> been to war. I've been around plenty of those. Like my step-father.
>
> He got bunged up pretty bad in France. I know that because I saw him
> in a swimming suit once. But he never talked about it. Not once.
If you asked him about the war he'd tell hilarious stories about
basic
> training, or where the guys he served with were from, or how fun it
> was learning to fly the gliders, or the time they stole the
ambulance to go into town and get drunk in France, or a few of the
phrases in
> German he learned. But he'd never actually talk about the war.
> Unless he was really drunk. In which case he still wouldn't talk
> about it. He'd cry about it. He'd put his head in his arms in the
wee hours of the morning and sob to himself about how the men around
him
> were broken and torn when the gliders crash landed into the French
> countryside. But that was only once or twice, and that was never
> about him. And the little box of medals at the bottom of his
> footlocker never came out. It was kind of the same way at the
Legion and the VFW. Every day he'd check in at both places, to sign
the
book and to have a beer, and I would tag along. All those men had
been in
> the service, and most had been in combat, but I never heard a war
> story. Lots of Army stories, and Navy stories, sure. About guys
they knew and leaves they were on and officers they messed with. But
> nothing about the war.
>
> It was the same way in the Army. In my day, it seemed like
everybody above staff sergeant or captain had been in Vietnam. I
went in 10
> years after the war ended but the guys on the second half of their
> careers had all gone. You could tell when they wore their dress
> uniforms. But that was the only time. Men didn't talk about what
> they'd done in the war. They didn't boast of their accomplishments.
> They didn't brag about their medals. But if you chanced to see them
> in their dress uniforms, with the rows of service ribbons, you could
> read their history there, you could see that those who'd done the
> most spoke of it the least. Like one of our drill sergeants in
basic training. Buffing the floor in his office one day we saw the
service ribbons pinned to his Class A uniform on the coat rack.
Comparing
> them to the poster in the company day room we learned he'd gotten
the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. We asked
about
> them and he made us do push-ups for being nosey. The night before
> graduation, when he welcomed us as fellow soldiers, we asked him
> again, we almost pestered him. Finally he relented and gave us two
> sentences: "I was in a war. I got hurt." And that's all he'd say.
>
> Kind of like a man I know, who received the Medal of Honor. One
night he stood in a long line to shake hands with Colin Powell. The
man,
> because of the nature of the event, wore his medal around his neck.
> As he came to Colin Powell the man said, "General, it's an honor to
> meet you." And Colin Powell responded, "No, sir - it's an honor to
> meet you." Anyway, I know this man, and he's often asked to tell
his story, of how he earned the Medal of Honor. And he never does.
Oh,
he answers, and he talks, and he inspires, and he talks about the
war.
> But he neglects the part about the lives he saved and the courage he
> showed, and instead talks about a young Vietnamese man who helped
him to safety when his legs were too shot through to hold him
anymore.
>
> I don't know anything about war. But I do know a little bit about
> men who've gone to war. And none of them act the way John Kerry
> does. None of them brag about, boast of, talk about or otherwise
try to benefit from their service. They don't prostitute their time
in
> uniform for personal gain and ambition. They all modestly and
> insistently say that they "didn't do anything." They minimize their
> contributions and put them in the context of the similarly
courageous and noble service provided by their comrades. A true
hero doesn't
> boast. In fact, he kind of keeps his deeds to himself. Which is
what makes John Kerry so different. Which is what makes John Kerry
so
> unbelievable. I don't know war. But I do know war heroes. And he's
> not one of them.

[colmurph]

Thanks for posting that.......we ALL need to read that!

[Jerry D]

I agree that was a great post ,Thanks for posting ....

[SparrowHawk62]

He was there, he served, he's a shipmate!
Thank you for the post!

[Boats]

Bravo,

[b3196]

Very good!! Thanks for posting that
Bob K

[reconeil]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH,...and ditto-ditto-ditto-ditto-ditto EVERYONE.

Neil

[SEATJERKER]

...rest our case,...

...