Posted on 08/06/2004 7:22:03 PM PDT by wagglebee
Capt. Scott O'Grady (U.S. Air Force, retired) once was on the cover of Time magazine, perhaps the first individual warrior-hero of America’s challenging new era of conflict. Shot down while flying a fighter in support of the NATO no-fly zone over Bosnia in 1996, he escaped and evaded the enemy for days until a Marine team flew in for the rescue. The gutsy aviator captured the imagination of Americans and gave a face to GI heroes all over the globe.
Electing to end a 12-year career in the Air Force, the hero now lives in Dallas and is pursuing a master's degree. And he’s supporting the re-election of President Bush.
In speeches and lectures around the country and recently even in an Internet chat room session sponsored by the White House and attended by NewsMax, O’Grady spells out that he has no doubts about his president’s hard line on the War on Terror:
“President Bush has shown through his decisive leadership that we will take a stand against terrorism. Because of his leadership, we have made major changes in our government to help us against this war, such as the Homeland Security Department, the PATRIOT Act, and a proactive policy of fighting terrorists on their own soil before they come and kill us in our country.
“I believe that it's President Bush's personal values, morals and his clear determination not to allow the terrorists to succeed and to take a proactive role against them, and to view it for what it is - a war - not a criminal act that we need to fight with law enforcement, as the previous administration did and failed.”
'Nightmares' About Admitted 'War Criminal' Kerry
Capt. O’Grady is equally vocal about his distaste for candidate John Kerry as a potential commander in chief:
“I can tell you that I, Scott O'Grady, do not see him fit. I have had nightmares about this. Let me put it this way. I have myself have heard John Kerry testify that he committed war atrocities, where he came out and admitted that he is a war criminal. That he was involved in activities in Vietnam where he hurt innocent civilians.
“There is a big difference between war operations where civilians are hurt or killed in collateral damage. It's a tragedy of war versus actually targeting civilians, which is a criminal act. It's against our military laws of warfare. It is an unlawful act to purposely target non-combatants.
“I've heard from Senator Kerry's mouth when he testified after coming back from Vietnam that he purposely took part in activities that targeted civilians.
"The other reason I don't see him fit is his Senate record. His voting record does not support the military: the supplies they need, the pay they receive, the support for their families. I think it would be a major mistake for the American people to vote for John Kerry.”
When a cyber-questioner looks to the controversial Patriot Act as an indication that Bush has overstepped, O’Grady fires back:
“The misleading myth that the Patriot Act has carte blanche authority to violate civil liberties is a lie. All the Patriot Act does primarily is to allow federal agencies to communicate more effectively with one another to fight the War on Terror with intelligence and allows federal agencies to investigate terrorist groups just as if they were organized criminals, i.e. the Mafia.
“Federal wire-tapping was allowed before the Patriot Act to follow individuals. All the Patriot Act does is to take policies already in place to fight crime to be allowed to fight terrorism. I will also note that there has not been one instance of reported abuse because of the Patriot Act.”
Media 'Very Biased'
If O’Grady nurses a pet peeve it has to be what he perceives as a media bias toward the negative when it comes to reporting on the war in Iraq.
“I drive my opinions by stories from people who just came back from Iraq. They tell me of the great stories of freedom going on over there. Citizens embracing them for granting them freedom and allowing them to participate in activities they would not have been allowed to before. I feel the media has become very biased lately, and I find that very disheartening.”
O’Grady is also opinionated when it comes to those who suggest that President Bush hasn’t been mindful enough of our men and women in uniform.
“[I]t is my understanding that President Bush in 2004, his budget contained the largest increase for the Department of Veterans Affairs than has ever been requested. I also understand that President Bush's budget allows for more than a million more veterans to seek health care than in the year 2000. It's also my understanding that President Bush's 2004 budget included the largest ever increase for veterans' health care.
“Since President Bush took office, the VA's health care budget has been increased by over 30 percent.”
O’Grady says he was inspired to join the service by a Vietnam veteran father and a call to duty he could not dismiss. To this day he says he was able to survive his dramatic ordeal in Bosnia because of his faith in God and country.
President Bush could ask for no worthier advocate.
This guy just nails it on every point!
I live in a big military town and I haven't talked to a single military person who has even considered voting for Kerry, he scares them even more than Clinton did.
First the wonderful interview on Hannity regarding the swift boat vets and now this endorsement by another hero, Scott O'Grady.
I'd like to see O'Grady run for a U.S. congressional seat or something. The guy has the right stuff.
At one time he was giving inspirational speeches, not sure what he is doing now. He surely was a hero.
I wonder if Owen Wilson knows there is an election in three months. . .
"..he scares them even more than Clinton did."
He scares me more than Clinton did, too. Not just for military reasons, but for other reasons as well. Clinton may be an unprincipled self-serving womanizer, but he did at crunch time have a certain amount of judgment about the potential consequences of his actions (at least during his first term).
Kerry is a totally amoral, spineless liar and an elitist jerk. Plus, he's not very smart. He would be an absolute disaster, we would be sitting ducks for all of those who want to harm us.
Yeah, I don't remember Klintoon asking the UN or anyone else for permission to do anything. Kerry would turn us into the laughing stock of the world.
bump
"At one time he was giving inspirational speeches, not sure what he is doing now."
I attended an event with O'Grady as the guest speaker in July. It was a great experience. He is, in fact, a true American hero.
Wrong war.
O'Grady was shot down on June 2nd, 1995, while patrolling the no fly zone over Bosnia.
It's still something of a mystery as to why the Bosnian Serbs shot down O'Grady's plane - but a case could be made that they were looking for a hostage to win some more concessions, as they had done from the pusillanimous Europeans throughout the course of the war in Bosnia.
Mike Durant, the lone surviving member of the second Black Hawk helicopter shot down in Somalia, is a Bush supporter too. I hope we see more of him on the campaign trail and at events. He will be a strong asset with Somalia really being the first fight against Al Qaeda.
Ok wrong war, but did I at least get the right President?
No harm, no foul.
He did not do neither of those. He was a complete screw up when he was shot down. He did not know how to properly use his comm gear. A basic SAM shot him down, showing his average or below average pilot skills.
He killed innocent civilians along in Bosnia, that makes him a civie killer.
He would be torn apart as a political candidate, he does not have the right stuff either. He could not handle the stress of combat, which is why he opted out of a military career. He chickened out of future wars, otherwise, he would have stayed on.
His incompetant actions in Bosnia rivals Kerry of Vietnman-to-current.
He was shot down while flying illegaly over Serbian airspace. He did not take proper evasive action. He did not know how to avoid a simple outdated SAM missile. Even an Iraqi pilot could have avoided the SAM.
Then on top of that, he nearly shot his own rescuers. He was trying to put his Baretta on safety and a round went off, nearly killing one of the Marines. They had to do a take-down on him, one Marine took his lower the other upper body so he does not inflict casualties. Yes, a man of true competance.
You were a member of the VRS when O'Grady was shot down, weren't you?
And you didn't renounce your citizenship before joining.
Living with your treason is a bitch, isn't it - no matter how hard you scrub your hands, that stain is never going to come off.
Maybe you are delusional with old age.
You used to be so fiesty - did you finally figure out that you did hand me enough rope to hang you with?
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