Posted on 10/30/2004 7:05:27 PM PDT by quidnunc
Being a prisoner of war in Vietnam had some high points but many more low ones. The worst days physically were behind us in 1970, 1971, and 1972. After Ho Chi Minh died in 1969, the routine torturing of POWs for propaganda purposes pretty much stopped. Our captors panicked in November, 1970, following the daring raid on a closed POW camp at Son Tai 20 miles west of Hanoi — and moved all of us into the huge Hoa Lo prison in central Hanoi. We finally were permitted a semblance of societal life after years in solitary and/or stuffed into tiny windowless cells with two or three other POWs.
Our morale — at least in the cells in which I lived during this time — while not so idyllic as those portrayed in the farcical "Hogan's Heroes," was tolerable compared with the dark ages of 1965-1969.
The peace talks in Paris had been plodding along since March, 1968, following the Communists' total drubbing in the 1968 Tet Offensive. Most of us expected a break in the talks after the election of Richard Nixon; it appeared there might be movement.
The Gulf of Tonkin incident, the springboard for President Johnson's launching of attacks against Communist North Vietnam, lay four years in the past. The Communists, however, were buying time. They were helped by a misinformed public in the U.S. — pressured on one side by a war that had dragged on seemingly forever and on the other by Americans whose primary interest was not the success of their government.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at timesdispatch.com ...
It's all about Stolen Honor. Imagine Kerry as Commander in Chief. Imagine the horror.
I don't think so, and neither do many people I know. We have a war to fight. It's going to take a long time. Kerry is not the one to take us through it.
Richmond resident Paul Galanti (Cdr., USN Ret.) was shot down over North Vietnam June 17, 1966, and spent 2,432 days as a prisoner of war in Hanoi.
Big Bump.
And I think it verges on the immoral for the media not to tell EVERYONE about FnKerry.
It sure wasn't for lack of trying. Hundreds in Free Republic kept sending the truth about FnKerry to the media. They refused to broadcast it. They swept our emails and mails under the rug.
Milking the clock, hoping we would all just go away.
I, sir, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Without freedom, we would be . . .
Veterans Day should = the most major holiday around. I thank God daily.
http://www2.swiftvets.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15303&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45
read this, it's really scary:
The antiwar movement goes into FULL SWING Nov 3 as I read the site link. They have been building momeentum about civilian deaths and holding the US responsible. illegal war etc. They post that this will begin regardless of the election results. Kerry win they will be emboldened but will demand he stop it. If President Bush wins it will be uglier. I expect the National Guard will again be called upon.
So this information will again be buried. An truly we will all be moved to a more difficult mission. I never wanted to see the 60s/70s era return but this generation will have to learn the hard way. I am so worried about our children. My 20something kids already are having arguments and divides between them and their friends. Its going to the streets. No matter how old I am I can't just watch it on tv. Been ther done that,got a t shirt. the Iraq people have a chance but if we cut and run they will be slaughtered. No one who votes for Kerry has any concern for that.
I need to go pray and cry. CTW
Never Ever Kerry
tazannie, it's in the Lord's Hands now. I have faith. I also feel that if we lose, then the Lord knows that our President is too good to have to face what is going to happen with our world, and that the Lord does not want a good man like President Bush to have to take responsibility for it.
But I still have faith that President Bush will be our President for another 4 years. I am not ready to give up yet!
Have faith!
Thanks for the post. How many times do we have to read things like this and then watch polls showing a dead heat!?I had such hope last night that the Swiftvets were going public bigtime with the Hanoi/Kerry connection; but, I believe they had to know to stand down for a reason. I will forward this story to everyone on my list, my steadfast pro-Bush supporters and, God knows why, my still pro-Kerry relatives and friends. I'll hope and pray this convinces them to pick Bush on Tuesday. Keep working to re-elect our President.
If it comes to civil war I pledge my life in our defense
Please do not rule out civil war. We have been "radicalize" by the left my entire life. We need normal back in American. I love this country. We will prevail.
It remains both a disgrace and a mystery why Kerry is a member of the US Senate and NOT a member of the population of a federal prison.
Kerry, by his own admission, committed war crimes. Kerry, as the evidence has shown, committed treason by meeting in Paris with the sworn enemies of the US.
Kerry, as the FBI files have documented, was involved in a conspiracy to assassinate members of the US Senate and Congress.
So, the question is: why is he allowed to walk free instead of being behind bars? Who is protecting him and why?
Inquiring minds want to know.
FYI, when Edwards talks about two Americas, apparently he and Kerry live in the other one.
Who is protecting him and why?
Kennedy
Matt Drudge is also with Kennedy, in protecting sKerry. Many Freep folks have sent him information about sKerry and he is silent. I have lost any respect I have ever had for him. Bye Bye, Matt!
There are so many obvious cases of grotesque media bias, but the continual refusal to examine Kerry's past and the constant slanting of stories pro-Kerry and anti-Bush will go down as some of the worst in our history. Can't believe this election is even close - Bush should be winning with all but the hard-core 30% left-liberals who would never vote for a Republican. We should be seeing a huge landslide for Bush on Tuesday, but given our MSM I'll be happy with a solid, thumping 300+ electoral votes and 53-46 popular vote (with 1% leftover for loony Nader).
I have heard stories of thousands of military servicemen and women that refuse to reenlist or extend their service obligations until they know who will be the next president. If Kerry gets elected then stand by for heavy rolls within the military. Kerry be the one that will have to reinstitute the draft because there will be a mass exodus. Most of us remember what Clinton did his first year in office: recommended a zero pay raise and implemented the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy with gays. Lord only knows what JFnK will do.
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