Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Lifetime of Service And Strength

A big theme of the convention and of Kerry's entire campaign, really, is John Kerry's record of service both in the military and the Senate; that he is a leader and a fighter both in and out of combat and he will do whatever it takes to make us safer.   The not so subtle point, of course, is that John Kerry is not only fit to be Commander In Chief but he would also make a BETTER one than George W. Bush.  Since we're dealing with a political campaign, I imagine it would be easy for one to think that ALL this is is a campaign theme and that if it sticks, it would be due more to constant repetition rather than anything else.  Well, I had the pleasure to attend the Veterans Caucus Delegates' Meeting and I have to say that seeing John Kerry's "band of brothers," the actual men he commanded in Vietnam, close up singing America The Beautiful and, with hand over heart, pledging allegiance to the flag, tears in their eyes, I truly believe them when they say that "if John Kerry were to call on us today, he'd have a full boat."  These guys are not just props used by the campaign and what they are saying is more than a catchy slogan.  They said they'd go to hell for him again and I believe it.

James Carville, General Wesley Clark and Former Senator Max Cleland, all Vietnam Veterans, also attended and spoke.  Here's a highlight from the General:

"[The Republicans] would have you believe that they are the party that's best qualified to keep this country safe and secure and I'm here to say, it's not so.  That flag behind the band of brothers on stage, that flag is our flag.  We served under that flag.  We got up and stood reveille formation, we stood taps.  We fought under that flag, we've seen men die for that flag, we've seen brave men and women be buried under that flag.  And no John Ashcroft or Tom DeLay or Dick Cheney can take that away from us!"

Go, Wes.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

"if John Kerry were to call on us today, he'd have a full boat"?

Somehow I doubt that ... here's a nice then/now picture of Kerry's "Band of Brothers":

http://mrgrumman.home.comcast.net/KerryVets.JPG

Notice that only two of Kerry's "Band of Brothers" actually support him, while the rest consider him unfit to be President?

Here's a close-up, for those of you who might have issue with seeing the above:

http://www.swiftvets.com/images/KerryBrothers.jpg

7:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Overall, the records portray the former Navy lieutenant as a courageous officer. Kerry's commanders described him as "top notch," "intelligent," "polished," and "brilliant." The records cover the period when Kerry was an officer from 1966 to 1970.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/articles/2004/04/22/navy_records_detail_kerry_vietnam_duty/

10:23 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A previous comment stated "Overall, the records portray the former Navy lieutenant as a courageous officer. Kerry's commanders described him as "top notch," "intelligent," "polished," and "brilliant." The records cover the period when Kerry was an officer from 1966 to 1970."Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth, but nice try at parroting the pro-Kerry spin.

Here's a scan of Kerry's fitness report showing his actual marks. At the time of Kerry's eval, anything other than an Exceptional "firewall" ("Exceptional" ratings in all categories) was considered career-ending. Of the 14 categories, Kerry made "Exceptional" in only three (3), recieved single step-downs in nine (9) and two steps down in two (2).

Kerry was, at best "average" in the section of his performance review that really mattered ...

http://idisk.mac.com/stephenacook/Public/kerrysitrep.jpg

12:01 PM  

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