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SOLDIER'S LETTER TO JOHN KERRY
Focus on Freedom ^ | 20040214 | Michael Connelly

Posted on 03/27/2004 7:32:01 AM PST by steplock

SOLDIER'S LETTER TO JOHN KERRY
February 14, 2004

Dear Senator Kerry:

Since it has become clear that you will probably be the Democratic nominee for President, I have spent a great deal of time researching your war record and your record as a professional politician. The reason is simple; you aspire to be the Commander-in-Chief who would lead my sons and their fellow soldiers in time of war. I simply wanted to know if you possess the necessary qualifications to be trusted in that respect.

You see, I belong to a family of proud U.S. veterans. I was a Captain in the Army Reserve, my father was a decorated Lieutenant in World War II, and I have four sons who have either served, or are currently serving in the military. The oldest is an Army Lieutenant still on active duty in Afghanistan after already being honored for his service in Iraq. The youngest is an E-4 with the military police. His National Guard unit just finished their second tour of active duty, including six months in Guantanamo Bay. My two other sons have served in the National Guard and the Navy.

In looking at your record I found myself comparing it not only to that of my father and my sons, but to the people they served with. My father served with the 87th Chemical Mortar Battalion in Europe. They landed on Utah Beach and fought for 317 straight days including the Cherbourg Peninsula, Aachen, the Heurtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. You received a Silver Star in Vietnam for chasing down and finishing off a wounded and retreating enemy soldier. My father earned a Bronze Star for single handedly charging and knocking out a German machine gun nest that had his men pinned down. You received three purple hearts for what appear to be three minor scratches. In fact, you only missed a combined total of two days of duty for these wounds. The men of my father's unit, the 87th, had to be admonished by their commanding officer because:
"It has been brought to our attention that some men are covering up wounds and refusing medical attention for fear of being evacuated and permanently separated from this organization...."
It was also a common problem for seriously wounded soldiers to go AWOL from hospitals in order to rejoin their units. You used your three purple hearts to leave Vietnam early.

My oldest boy came home from Iraq with numerous commendations and then proceeded to volunteer to go to Afghanistan and from there back to Iraq again. My sons and father have never had anything but the highest regard and respect for their fellow soldiers. Yet, you came home to publicly charge our fighting men with being war criminals and to urge their defeat by the enemy. You even wrote a book that had a cover which mocked the heroism of the United States Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. Our current crop of soldiers has a philosophy that no one gets left behind, and they have practiced that from Somalia to the battlefields of the Middle East. Yet as chairman of a Senate committee looking into allegations that many of your fellow servicemen had been left behind as prisoners in Vietnam, you chose to defend the brutal Vietnamese regime. You even went so far as to refer to the families of the POWs and MIAs as professional malcontents, conspiracy mongers, con artists, and dime store Rambos.

As a Senator you voted against the 1991 Gulf War, and have repeatedly voted against funds to supply our troops with the best equipment, and against money to improve our intelligence capability. I find this particularly ironic since as a Presidential candidate you are highly critical of our pre-war intelligence in Iraq. However, you did vote to authorize the President to go to war, but have since proceeded to do everything you can to undermine the efforts of our government and our troops to win. Is this what our fighting men and women can expect of you if you are their Commander-in-Chief? Will you gladly send them to war, only to then aid the enemy by undermining the morale of our troops and cutting off the weapons they need to win?

Our country is at war, Senator, and as has been the case in every war since the American Revolution, a member of my family is serving their country during the war. Now you want me to trust you to lead my sons in this fight.

Sorry Senator, but when I compare your record to those who have fought and died for this nation, and are currently fighting and dying, the answer is not just no, but Hell No!

Sincerely,

Michael Connelly
Dallas, Texas
February 14, 2004


The URL for this story is:
http://www.gohotsprings.com/focus/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=834


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2004; kerry; lie; veterans
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
John F'n Kerry is a lying traitor ~ Bump!

We are winning ~ the bad guys are losing ~ trolls, terrorists, democrats and the mainstream media are sad ~ very sad!

~~ Bush/Cheney 2004 ~~

21 posted on 03/27/2004 10:10:09 AM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: blackie
F'n (lol, the meaning of "F" has changed since JFK's day, ironic good news for the good guys this election year!), bump!
22 posted on 03/27/2004 10:55:11 AM PST by Ragtime Cowgirl ("(We)..come to rout out tyranny from its nest. Confusion to the enemy." - B. Taylor, US Marine)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Up with the good guys!! :)
23 posted on 03/27/2004 11:18:57 AM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl; dennisw; SJackson; yonif; Salem
Ping on #16
24 posted on 03/27/2004 1:15:17 PM PST by Happy2BMe (U.S.A. - - United We Stand - - Divided We Fall - - Support Our Troops - - Vote BUSH)
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To: steplock; MoJo2001; B4Ranch; grizzfan; Conspiracy Guy; MeekOneGOP; GladesGuru; ZULU; montag813; ...
Ping!

Bump!

BTTT!
25 posted on 03/27/2004 1:21:37 PM PST by Calpernia (http://members.cox.net/classicweb/Heroes/heroes.htm)
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To: steplock
Dear Mr. Connelly:

Lot's of fancy words, but who are YOU to judge? You just served in the National Guard. I was in Vietnam. I know what Death is. I know what Honor is. You know nothing of this as you did not serve in Vietnam. Now sit down.

Sincerely:

Senator J.F'n Kerry
26 posted on 03/27/2004 1:37:46 PM PST by geopyg (Democracy, whiskey, sexy)
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To: geopyg
Kind of hard to form a balance opinion when you only spent four months on a boat or in a base camp.
27 posted on 03/27/2004 2:28:19 PM PST by U S Army EOD (John Kerry, the mother of all flip floppers.)
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To: onyx; Howlin; Matthew James; river rat; tet68
GREAT letter!
28 posted on 03/27/2004 2:31:24 PM PST by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: Travis McGee
Bump!
29 posted on 03/27/2004 2:41:24 PM PST by Matthew James (SPEARHEAD!)
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To: steplock
Excellent !
30 posted on 03/27/2004 2:42:28 PM PST by BlessedBeGod ('I went to Vietnam, yada yada yada, I want to be President...")
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To: steplock
Worthy of another BTTT!
31 posted on 03/27/2004 2:57:04 PM PST by JDoutrider
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To: Travis McGee
Great letter is right.
Makes me weepy.
Such good people in this country.
32 posted on 03/27/2004 4:51:59 PM PST by onyx (Kerry' s a Veteran, but so were Lee Harvey Oswald, Timothy McVeigh and Benedict Arnold.)
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To: U S Army EOD; river rat
I read somewhere that when Kerry took his three-scratch-out, the rest of his crew were rotated to shoreside admin assignments. IOW, he didn't leave them to face combat, he got them OUT of combat as well. This could go a long way to explaining his medals, and their loyalty. The crew member who is not "on board" with Kerry was not one of the crew that got to take shore duty after Kerry left, he had already left the crew, and remained to complete his combat tour.
33 posted on 03/27/2004 7:34:50 PM PST by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: onyx
There are lots of families who racked up that kind of military history. Most of them are from the south, in my experience.
34 posted on 03/27/2004 7:36:21 PM PST by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: Travis McGee
Somebody had to crew that boat.
35 posted on 03/27/2004 8:45:25 PM PST by U S Army EOD (John Kerry, the mother of all flip floppers.)
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To: U S Army EOD
New crew, that's what I heard. Kerry got them all administrative outs to shore leave. Payback for the Silver Star recommendations?
36 posted on 03/27/2004 8:49:27 PM PST by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: Travis McGee
So somebody else had to do their jobs for the remaining eight months I guess. If I had somebody else fill my slot while I wimped out, I couldn't live with myself.
37 posted on 03/27/2004 8:57:59 PM PST by U S Army EOD (John Kerry, the mother of all flip floppers.)
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To: U S Army EOD
Frankly, I wonder at this point I wouldn't hold anything past him, not even giving himself his third "go home now chit" scratch.

He came home, and laid a blood-libel on all VN vets! That's something not even Benedict Arnold did!!

38 posted on 03/27/2004 10:42:54 PM PST by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Bump!
39 posted on 03/28/2004 1:10:03 AM PST by windchime (Podesta about Bush: "He's got four years to try to undo all the stuff we've done." (TIME-1/22/01))
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