JOHN Kerry went to Vietnam. Voluntarily. Given that President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and every chicken-hawk in the coop did all they could to avoid getting the mud of Indochina on their loafers, his service should make Kerry the election-year choice of those who serve, or once served, in our country's uniform.
Instead, military men and women are overwhelmingly suspicious of Kerry. Many despise him so intensely that their emotions verge on hatred.
What went wrong?
. . . read the article . . .
Finally — and this is the one the pundits have trouble grasping, given the self-promoting nature of today's culture — real heroes don't call themselves heroes. Honorable soldiers or sailors don't brag. They let their deeds speak for themselves. Some of the most off-putting words any veteran can utter are "I'm a war hero."
Real heroes (and I've been honored to know some) never portray their service in grandiose terms, telling TV cameras that they're reporting for duty. Real heroes may be proud of the sacrifices they offered, but they don't shout for attention.
This is so profoundly a part of the military code of behavior that it cannot be over-emphasized. The rule is that those who brag about being heroes usually aren't heroes at all. Bragging is for drunks at the end of the bar, not for real vets. And certainly not for anyone who wishes to trade on his service to become our commander-in-chief.
#1
This is the kind of real hero that Ralph Peters was talking about. Read what Col. James Moschgat,
United States Air Force Academy - class of 1977, has to say about Medal of Honor recipient William âBillâ Crawford: 10 Things a Janitor Can Teach You About Leadership
#2
I love Ralph.. I wonder if he has any extra children I could raise as my own.
Posted by: B ||
08/24/2004 18:15 Comments ||
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#3
This guy nails it.
I havent been able to really put my innermost "this bugs me about Kerry" into words until I read this piece.
Now I know. Its his incessant bragging.
I dont go out pointing out my bronze star, nor my other awards unless someone asks - they sit there in my presentation case, and that sits on the mantle at home. Same goes for my "Brag Wall" certificates and award/commendation letters for my actions as a non-uniformed person in service to my country.
The only place I really talk details about them is at the VFW or at the Legion. And mainly with guys that I see as heroes, because they did the hard things, and came home to jackoffs like Kerry and his VVAW, or to silence like the Koreran War vets.
I've met guys like this in public places, like PTA meetings, who brag about what they did. Then I invite them to join me at the Legion or VFW to "tell war stories with the guys", and they always, ALWAYS, back off. Its the firm handshake, the look in the eye, the military language and general demeanor when military things are discussed that gives away a real vet - and in the case of a Marine, a "Semper Fi" will always slip out.
Kerry seems to have crossed the line between the truth, and the war stories we tell each other when we are drininkg at the Legion or VFW.
Do you know how to tell the difference between a Fairy Tale, and a War Story?
A fairly tale begins once upon a time...
War Stories start off with "No shit, this really happened, there we were..."
#4
I asked my Dad when I was a kid if he got any medals, and he said no; he should have got some for what he did, but he never did. He said that other guys got some for lesser deeds. There was no bitterness. He felt part of of his unit and that was enough for him. Later on I found out he always volunteered for first wave: Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa. 31 months in the Pacific, humble man, great deeds, few words. Miss the old guy.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/24/2004 21:11 Comments ||
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#5
modesty speaks a lot louder, AP. I bet your Dad was a good man
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/24/2004 21:33 Comments ||
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#6
Peleliu AND Okie?
Sheesh - just to live through both of those is the mark of a hero I'd like to have been able to buy him a shot of whiskey (or a beer).
And you'll note that the War Story joke above has one grain of truth in it...
#7
OldSpook---One third of the original troops Dad left with survived to the end of the war. His best buddy committed suicide in 1964, survivor guilt. Dad's most dangerous time occurred on Okinawa. He and his buddy were told to take their amphib to a certain coordinate by nightfall. They did. Nobody else there. That night, our Navy shelled the shit out of the place. Dad and buddy were tossed around and tenderized all night. In the Am some guys showed up, said what in the hell were you doing there? the Navy shells the place all the night to keep the Japanese away........../end war story
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/24/2004 22:13 Comments ||
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EFL Kerry's Cambodia Whopper
By Joshua Muravchik
Most of the debate between the former shipmates who swear by John Kerry and the group of other Swift boat veterans who are attacking his military record focuses on matters that few of us have the experience or the moral standing to judge. But one issue, having nothing to do with medals, wounds or bravery under fire, goes to the heart of Kerry's qualifications for the presidency and is therefore something that each of us must consider. That is Kerry's apparently fabricated claim that he fought in Cambodia....
The WashPost has published letters to the editor about Kerry's Cambodia lie (or lies since he repeated it many times) and now published an op ed but still hasn't reported the Kerry Lie as news.
Posted by: mhw ||
08/24/2004 8:28:00 AM ||
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#1
"matters that few of us have the experience or the moral standing to judge..."
Right, like that's ever stopped the MSM from trashing the US military.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/24/2004 9:05 Comments ||
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#2
I should add that even though they have yet to report the Cambodia lie, the WashPost does have an editorial also on it at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27343-2004Aug23.html
also, Slate has a rebuttal claiming the lie might be a true (the Slate author doesn't seem to realize the Kerry camp has already abandoned this position) at: http://www.slate.com/id/2105529/
Immigrant Muslims have their panties in a bunch again, yet again demanding that the host country modify its habits in order to satisfy the "modesty" of people recently catapulted through time from the year 600.
What is it with these Muslims and their obsession with women's underwear? Only a few months ago, I wrote in "The Panty Jihad" (published in FrontPage Magazine on June 15) that some self-appointed Muslim spokesmen in a British town were wailing to the skies about the underwear firm of Sloggi, which posted stylized panty ads on a billboard near a mosque. A slanging match ensued, with the Muslims enjoying the advantage of British Labour government protection from having to hear anything unpleasant about their religion or "culture." [sic.] After well, slogging it out for a couple of rounds, Sloggi conceded and took its panties down.
Now, it's hospital gowns in the United States. The hospital that has found itself scrambling to accommodate Muslim women, and the acute sensibilities of Muslim males, is the Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. The refugees in question are from Somalia, where a little girl spread-eagled on a table and held down screaming by several adult women while someone snips off her genitals so she will never experience sexual desire or fulfillment is presumably not regarded as "immodest" in their "culture." [sic.]
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
08/24/2004 4:24:33 AM ||
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#1
My question is why were these people allowed to migrate in the first place? When your religion influences your health care your nuts.
Posted by: Trolling for Allan ||
08/24/2004 4:34 Comments ||
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#2
In the case of the Maine Somalis, they weren't "allowed," they were actively sought out and shipped over en masse thanks to the local Catholic social services. They are now a permanent and embittered subclass sucking up the scant resources of Maine's social welfare system. Just google on "lewiston" and "somali" and you'll find the whole story.
#3
LL: Same in London SE3 - they stole and ate the donkeys that were used for children's rides on Blackheath common.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/24/2004 4:53 Comments ||
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#4
"...a woman who has been surgically rendered asexual through circumcision - not an Islamic practice but one that flourishes in Islamic societies - will have no desire to stray and cause the husband to lose face - or make demands he canât fullfil. "
Well said. One note though-use of the word "circumcision" is not exactly accurate. Clitorectomy is not akin to male circumcision; it is akin to male castration. The organ of sexual pleasure is cut off. (But "asexual" pretty much communicates that.)
BTW-3 1/2 years ago our town saw an influx of refugees from Somalia. They had big time culture shock-most of the women didn't know what an oven was for. Snow and cold weather rendered them stunned, and the concept of clocks was a complete mystery.
#8
Catholic Charities are moving Somalis into Fort Wayne as well. I guess I am glad to see any Somalis make it out of Somalia even if I pay more property tax. The group we are getting are decendents from Bantu tribesmen that ended up in Somalia as slaves. The American Midwest has a better record of assimilating diverse racial and ethnic people when compared with the record of the Horn of Africa. We'll watch the donkeys.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/25/2004 0:38 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
