All Kerrys support and backing is based on lies just as his promises to a nation he shit on 30 years ago. Good work ya'll............
Stay safe !
Posted on 09/11/2004 11:12:23 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Frank Jones says he's angry about newly revealed memos that indicate President Bush got preferential treatment in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam war, but he's not surprised by favoritism in the Guard.
Jones, a Republican from Troy, N.Y., served in Vietnam in 1970 and 1971 before doing 16 years in the Guard himself. As the presidential election nears, Jones says controversy over both candidates' military records and the mounting death toll in Iraq are important issues.
"I'm really in neither camp at this point," he said. "However, I do see a direct correlation to Vietnam. The body count is really starting to get to me."
Some current and retired members of the National Guard and other military services say the newly revealed Bush documents do not bother them, while others say they are troubling.
The documents, which became fodder for Democratic critics last week, indicate Bush was suspended from flying with his Texas Air National Guard unit because he missed a medical exam and that he missed six months of training. Questions have been raised about the documents' authenticity.
Lt. Col. Jim Driscoll, spokesman for the Georgia Army National Guard, said retired service members may comment on political issues such as the Bush documents, but most current reservists and active-duty service members will hesitate to voice their political opinions.
"It would be inappropriate," he said. "The president is our commander-in-chief and so we have to be very careful from an ethical perspective of how we express our political opinions."
Some who served in the National Guard say it is common practice to miss drills - even up to six months - because of job conflicts, family problems or illness.
Ralph Bradley, 56, a Republican from Albany who served three years in Vietnam in the Air Force and 17 years in the Georgia Army National Guard, said members are encouraged to make up drills so they don't lose pay or retirement benefits.
"There's all kinds of situations ... that cause a person to go out of state for a period of time," he said.
Army Reserve Sgt. Tim Wilding, 37, of Jefferson City, Mo., agreed.
Back home for two weeks of leave from Iraq, Wilding said he remains a staunch Bush supporter despite allegations Bush may have tried to get out of Guard drills for several months in 1972.
"A lot of guys don't serve for four or five months at a time," he said. "They've got other stuff going on. They'll make it up later on, or they just won't get paid. That's really no big deal to a lot of National Guard soldiers."
Allegations of suspect conduct during the Vietnam war also have been leveled at John Kerry, who won three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star in Vietnam.
A group sponsoring television ads challenging his wartime record contends Kerry's own gunfire caused the wound that brought his first Purple Heart. Navy records and other veterans do not support the charge.
Ahmad Majied of Albany says the latest allegations about Bush's military record are more troubling to him than allegations about service honors leveled at Democratic challenger Kerry.
Majied, a Democrat from Albany who served 30 years in the Navy, including five years as a SEAL in Vietnam, said the memos support his belief that Bush was a "playboy" during his service years.
"He had enough money to get what he wanted," Majied said. "I think his main concern was not to go to Southeast Asia. I bet he never dreamed it would come back to haunt him."
Neal Eubanks of Leesburg, who served 39 years in the military - 23 in the Air Force and 16 in the Georgia Army National Guard - said the presidential candidates should move beyond their military records and focus on the issues, such as the economy and unemployment.
"You don't see Korean veterans or World War II veterans or Grenada veterans always talking about 'I served here and I served there,'" said Eubanks, 67, a Bush supporter.
---
Associated Press writers Russ Bynum in Savannah, Ga., David Lieb in Jefferson City, Mo., and Michael Gormley in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.
All Kerrys support and backing is based on lies just as his promises to a nation he shit on 30 years ago. Good work ya'll............
Stay safe !
I am one Reservist with no such qualms except when I am actually on a drill weekend, Active Training, or otherwise active. UCMJ 802.2(a): The following persons are subject to this Chapter: (3) Members of a reserve component while on inactive-duty training, but in the case of members of the Army National Guard of the United States or the Air National Guard of the United States only when in Federal Service.
Correction: it is still an ongoing attempt to deceive the electorate. Simply because ABC hasn't signed onto it doesn't change that fact.
Rather is NOT, was NOT and NEVER was a Marine...
He bombed out of BOOT CAMP and was sent home, to be a squating girlyman the rest of his life...
The Marine Corps learned of Rather's "shortcomings" and sent his sorry ass home --- BEFORE he became a Marine..
Semper Fi
With a name like "Ahmad Majied" -- this guy could be a convert to Islam - that took a new name to fit his conversion.....
However -- one would think that a "SEAL" who served "5 years/5 tours" in Vietnam would be proud enough of that accomplishment to ENSURE that the records would reflect his name change so that he could with confidence be accepted for the man he said he was....
Semper Fi
"Rather is NOT, was NOT and NEVER was a Marine...
He bombed out of BOOT CAMP and was sent home, to be a squating girlyman the rest of his life..."
Thanks for sparking my brain cells a bit...and I remember a movie was made about
a Marine bootcamp wash-out...except the star of that movie at least didn't become a
journalistic "presstitute".
"Baby Blue Marine"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074173/
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.