John O'Neil and the other Swift Boat Veterans for truth have my eternal gratitude for both their service and sacrifice during the Viet Nam War, also for their self-less devotion to the truth that helped unmask the fraudulent democratic candidate for president. I don't think heroic is too strong a word to use to describe their willingness to subject themselves to the abuse, the character assassination, the reviling that they were forced to endure (again) as a result of stepping forward to try to shine the full light of truth on this sad chapter in the American story. When I think of the abuse they had to endure (think of Laurence O'Donnell's melt-down during a recent MSNBC discussion where he repeatedly called him a liar on the air), I can think of only one reason why O'Neil and his [true] band of brothers would subject themselves to that--they love their country, and they long for the truth to come out. There was no other reason--and no other payoff.
You would have thought that these Viet Vets had already given the last full measure of devotion once they were called back from the battlefield. But for this group the war went on and on--througout the 70's where anti-American types like John Kerry desecrated their service and sacrifice, on through the 80's and 90's where the soft fog of time spread over their memory and ours allowing us all to 'forget' but never fully understand, and on into this election cycle where this hero who never bled, tried to lift himself atop the prone body of the men he so maligned. And through it all, John O'Neil never so much as raised his voice in anger.
Welcome home, men! Accept with honor the gratitude of a grateful nation. We salute you all!
Well said, MarDav.
Well said, MarDav.