I've been thinking about your dilemma. Of course you should defend John McCain's conduct in that incident, vigorously. You were there and you know what happened.
I've been thinking about the whole Viet Nam effect on the US. For just about everyone in our generation, it tore us apart from the dreams and expectations we grew up with. Our parents believed WW2 would end war for good, and Korea was an adjustment that had to be made as the world settled down. During the cold war, we trusted Ike to keep the world safe. And then along came Viet Nam, with a whole new set of reasons to go to war.
I don't think I'm alone in this. It's just not right to criticize or judge anyone about their Viet Nam experience, having never been there and having never been in the situation to have to decide what I'd do if faced with fighting a war I didn't want to. So, no, I won't judge McCain on what he did there, but it certainly doesn't excuse his behavior since. Most people who suffered because of Viet Nam lead good, decent lives, and have not advocated sending others to wars that might have been avoided.
And then the hypocrisy gets to me. The "Swift-Boating" of John Kerry was inexcusable. What he did in the war is not fair game, and the double standard is particularly disturbing.
The Trump situation criticizing McCain's war record? It was harsh. But McCain can't expect to remain unscathed if he insists on calling people he disagrees with whacko-birds and crazies, etc. I'm glad someone finally pushed back.
As far as criticizing Trump's not being in the war? Like I said earlier, "don't criticize what you don't understand". It's just not fair game to judge young men's responses when faced with that situation.
Thank you. This has been a good exercise in clarifying my own very difficult emotions about that era and the fallout from it.
There is much you say that I agree with, but I could not disagree with you more strenuously about the treatment of John Kerry. (Also, I wasn't in Vietnam with McCain, I served with him two years after they released him from Hanoi)
This is in no way personal towards you, grania...I just feel quite differently about it. I had the opportunity to meet a number of the Swift Boat Veterans while counter protesting Code Pink outside of Walter Reed.
I spent about four hours with them on a nasty, freezing December, and had ample opportunity to discuss a wide range of subjects with them as we supported the troops inside Walter Reed. And they had plenty of scathing criticism of John Kerry, and given the source, and the vehemency to which they described their negative opinion of him, I was inclined to agree with them.
I drove around with this on my car up here in Massachusetts for the better part of a year, and while my car was never vandalized, I did get flipped off by a middle-aged woman with her gray hair up in bun!
I am loathe to criticize any veteran of a war, unless there circumstances to do so, and my two main reasons are: They throw their lot in with the extreme left to sabotage our troops who are still in combat, or they are an outright traitor.
As far as I am concerned, John Kerry is a traitor. He met with the North Vietnamese in Paris in May of 1970 while he was still in US Naval Reserves. He should have been tried and convicted under the UCMJ (Never mind the Logan Act) which which specifically forbids the type of activities he was engaged in. He is a despicable piece of crap, and is so viewed by the vast majority of men who served directly with him.
Please note that this is not an indictment of your view on this, grania, I respect that, but completely disagree with it.