A Tale of Two Heros (moral, testimony, attend, America)

[Wleeper]

A TALE OF TWO HEROES


John Forbes Kerry was born into the wealthy and prestigious Forbes family and grew up well connected in the upper class due to his Forbes and Winthrop roots. His idol was John F. Kennedy, with whom he and his family socialized. It was Ted Kennedy who would become his political mentor. Because his father was in the foreign service young John attended exclusive private schools in Europe before returning to attend Yale. Shortly before graduation, which would have made him eligible for the draft, John Kerry request a 12 month deferment to study in Paris which was denied. Rather than face the draft he joined the navy.

Of the four years John Kerry spent in the navy, only four months were spend on the ground in Vietnam. During that four months Kerry received three wounds, two of them under dubious circumstances, for which he was awarded purple hearts. In two actions involving the swift boat he commanded he was awarded a bronze star on one occasion and a silver star on the other. Even though both actions required the combined efforts of the entire crew, thus exposing them all to the same level of danger, it was only Kerry, Senator Ted Kennedy's protege, who was signaled out for awards. After receiving his third purple heart Kerry used an obscure navy regulation to get himself transferred back the United States where he served out the rest of his tour as an Admirals aide.

Following his discharge Kerry became involved in the anti-war movement where he soon became a leader along with Hanoi Jane Fonda. In testimony before the U. S. Senate on April 22, 1971, Kerry stated that his comrades in arms, some who were still fighting and dying in the jungles of Vietnam had:

"Raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Kahn, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal rage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country."

This testimony, along with films of other anti-war activities in which he participated were used by North Vietnam in the propaganda war as well as shown to our captured service men as a method of demoralizing them.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mike Christian came fro a small town near Salem Alabama. He didn't wear a pair of shoes until he was 13 years old. At 17 he enlisted in the U. S. Navy. He later earned a commission by going to Office Training School. Then he became a Naval Flight Officer and was shot down and captured in 1967.

Mike had a keen and deep appreciation of the opportunities this country, and our military provide for people who want to work and want to succeed. As part of a change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from containing handkerchiefs, scarves, and other items of clothing. Mike got himself a bamboo needle and over a period of a couple months created an American flag and sewed it inside his shirt.

Every afternoon, before they had a bowl of soup, the pow's would hang Mike's shirt on the wall of the cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge of Allegiance my not be appreciated by many today but for those pow's in that stark cell, it was the most important and meaningful event of the day.

One day the Vietnamese searched the cell, discovered Mike's shirt with the flag sewn inside and removed it. That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, and for the benefit of all, beat Mike severely for the next couple of hours. Then they opened the door of the cell and threw him in. The other pow's cleaned him up as well as they could.

The cell in which they lived had a concrete slab in the middle on which they slept. A naked light bulb hung in each corner of the room After the excitement had died down, one pow looked in the corner of the room, and sitting there beneath that dim light bulb with a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo needle, was Mike Christian. Through eyes swollen almost shut from the beating he had received he was sewing another American flag.

He was not making that flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was to his cell mates to be able to pledge allegiance to the flag and to the country. (As told by one of the pow's in that cell; Arizona Senator John McCain)

* * * * * * * * * *

God has blessed this nation with many young men and women who have served our country with honor and distinction. Most of them have performed heroically when circumstances forced them to reach deep inside themselves for the courage needed to face the challenge. Some have received military recognition but most have not. Those who came home did their best to put the horror behind them and resume their lives. Almost none have come home to disparage their compatriots and then seek to exploit their own military record.

The greatest of these heroes are those described by Abraham Lincoln as having "given their last full measure of devotion." Their deeds are buried with their bodies under small white crosses in France and in unmarked graves in the jungles of Viet Nam.

Yes, our nation has been richly blessed by many heroes throughout our history, but John Forbes Kerry is not one of them.

[Fra.Morelia]

Huzzah! well said, indeed. I never trusted that litte <explitive deleted>. I'll tell you this: I don't think he is getting the proverbial military vote.

[civilcynic]

I don't particularly care for or trust John Kerry but there is no reason to diminish his military service because you don't like his past anti-war rhetoric, don't believe he deserved his medals or knew other Vietnam vets who either suffered more or was more courageous under fire.

John Kerry, like it or not, served in the military and paid his dues. For all his wealth and connections, he did not avoid going to Vietnam by using his family's influence to get him into the National Guard by bumping Kerry up over the backs of 10,000 other young Americans on the National Guard waiting list to the top of the list as the Dubya did. Although John Kerry used an "obscure naval regulation", as you put it, to get out of Vietnam earlier, he did it by the book. George W., on the other hand, after being given priority to get into the National Guard through his family's connections, did not show for his medical exam and has large gaps of service time in which he went missing.
to this day, Pres. Bush is opposing the relases of information from the Texas Archives which would prove whether he actually served his time in the national Guard. Why is that....What does he have to hide.

John Kerry may have his flaws but at least his record is out in the open to view, pick apart, discuss and/or criticize and that takes courage. Pres. Bush in the meantime continues to oppose review of his military records except for those he approves and, that to me is cowardice!

[trishtrish10]

if kerry was pro-life, i would vote for him. why is it that vice presidents always make the best speeches? is it because they can't deliver? edwards had a great speech, but then if all our problems were solved fairly we wouldn't need or give much attention to the politicians.