Murtha "war" record

[TexasPatriot8]

Well, as is ALWAYS the case, the truth comes out eventually (you'd think the democrats would learn this eventually). And as it turns out, Murtha isn't even as big a war hero as John Kerry, and John Kerry did't see or really do squat in his pathetic three months in Vietnam (You did know Kerry served in Vietnam right?). Got this from a friend of mine, a REAL Vietnam war vet. Don't know how much this has already been sent around and is known about already, and I didn't see an applicable thread on FR already, so I thought I'd post it since it's well worth it and important to know about Murtha. Give this a good read and then pass it around to everyone you know. Are there ANY "war heros" among the democrats who are REALLY war heros, and not just cowards who are rewriting history to make them look like they are. The real war heros don't brag about it to then give them some kind of standing to critique the war. Murtha is a coward and a nothing but a little weekend warrior pretending to be a tough war hero. Only two of his 37 years in the Marines was active duty time, and he wasn't in combat in Vietnam. Read on.

"Double checking press accuracy ...

What is a War Hero?

I've been listening to Congressmen Jack Murtha's negative comments about the war in Iraq for some months now. I've heard him repeatedly described as a "war hero". Thirty-seven years in the Marine Corps.

Wow! I visualize a burly ex-marine, his chest bedazzled with medals, the survivor of countless combats in Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War. A man who knows war and combat from the inside out. A man with the experience that allows him to see that the war in Iraq is hopeless and we should all quit and go home.

Although I've been turned off by Murtha's remarks, I never questioned his war hero status. Nor has our liberal press which is why Murtha has been getting away with his charade! Then the other day, bingo, I suddenly knew something was rotten in Denmark about Jack Murtha's war hero status. I've been bothered by his comments in the past but his latest remarks about Marines killing civilians in cold blood caught my attention. Whether this turns out to be true or not, something just didn't compute. That was the moment when I woke up and said, "Hey, I'm going to check this guy out." No real Marine who's "been there" would prejudge combat troops prior to the release of a military inquiry.

And what did I find. Did I find a man of vast operational experience with an extensive combat record? No. I found a man whom fellow congressman Don Bailey of Pennsylvania, silver star and three bronze stars, calls a liar and a phony. A man who came to Bailey crying and sobbing, thanking him for saving Murtha from the ethics committee (on Abscam-related charges) at which time he admitted to Bailey that his purple hearts weren't earned. A man with a couple of years of active duty and the rest of his 37 year career spent in the Marine Corps Reserve. A man with one year in Vietnam as a staff intelligence offer. A man who's no more been in combat or is a war hero than I am. Even John Kerry has more combat experience than Jack Murtha.

(I know flight attendants who have spent more time in Danang than either one of these jerks. ... Luke)

So what is a War Hero? Well at the bare minimum, a war hero would have to be somebody who's actually been in combat, somebody who's been in direct contact with the enemy over some extended period of time, somebody who's been shot at and/or had their life repeatedly threatened like infantry or the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force pilots who flew over Vietnam, somebody who has performed his or her duties in a heroic manner.

And what is Jack Murtha? Just one more scheming politician, a Democrat, sensing a change in the direction of the political winds. A man who volunteered for a year's duty in Vietnam as an intelligence officer so he could come home and run for congress i n 1968 as a war hero. Barf. Sound familiar? A man who's thinking about the next election and hoping he's on the right side when it comes.

As a citizen and as a congressman Murtha has every right to express his opinion on the Vietnam War - but not cloaked in the mantle of a Marine Corps war hero with vast experience in such matters. His comments are very destructive to the morale of our troops and have only one objective - to get reelected.

Regards, Dick

PS I also think Murtha's a bit unhinged."

[U S Army EOD]

He enlisted in the USMC reserves in the Korean War but never went to Korea. I wonder what the American Spirit Honor Medal was. My guess is something like the National Defense Medal that everyone gets.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

And it would not be that hard for someone to check.

Radical idea: the shitbird comes clean.

[ChildOfThe60s]

Wiki could say the sky is blue, the grass is green and I would demand proof before I half believed it.

[OldEagle]

It is my understanding that he was on active duty at some point during the Korean conflict and he did not serve in Korea.
I have a thing about career reservists, particularly while a member of congress. It is way too easy to have a conflict of interest and way too easy to attain rank for nonmilitary reasons.

[Tribune7]

You sure of that? Seriously, you have some documentation? It would be great to change the Wiki article :-)

[Tribune7]

ABSCAM is fair game, though

Wiki skeptics feel free to ignore :-)

Congressman Jack Murtha (D-PA) was indicted but not prosecuted because he gave evidence against Murphy and Thompson. The FBI videotaped Murtha as saying, "I'm not interested. I'm sorry... at this point."

"You know, we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't," Murtha also said on the tape.[1]

In November 1980, the Justice Department announced that Murtha would not face prosecution for his part in the scandal. In July 1981, the House ethics committee also chose not to file charges against Congressman Murtha, following a mostly party line vote, after which E. Barrett Prettyman, Jr., thet panel's special counsel abruptly resigned in protest.

In 2002, one of the panel members, Rep. Don Bailey (who lost to Murtha in a primary challenge in 1982) released a public letter stating "I was, to be honest, critical about how you misled me about Abscam where you convinced me you had voluntarily told federal agents about the offer of money to you," Bailey wrote Murtha. "I learned later, after I had successfully defeated the ethics charges against you, that you had merely manipulated the system to cooperate with federal agents to avoid prosecution," Bailey added.[2] On Jan. 9 2006, Bailey told Cybercast News Service that he now believes Murtha was "pretty damn stupid" during the Abscam sting.

[Tribune7]

And while I'm at it, here' Don Baily's article.

[Coop]

I agree completely. I don't think you'll see Irey get anywhere near this stuff.

[deport]

Wiki says "He fought in the Korean War and earned the American Spirit Honor Medal."

---

No it doesn't... It says:

...He left Washington and Jefferson College in 1952 to join the Marines during the Korean War. There he earned the American Spirit Honor Medal....

The Medal is awarded to fewer than 1 in 10,000 or so recruits.... according to his Rep. web site.

...He learned about military service from the bottom up, beginning as a raw recruit when he left Washington and Jefferson College in 1952 to join the Marines out of a growing sense of obligation to his country during the Korean War. There he earned the American Spirit Honor Medal, awarded to fewer than one in 10,000 recruits. ......

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

He strikes me as not-too-bright, btw.

[PhilDragoo]

So Murtha has a history of ethical anacephalism vis-a-vis Abscam ("Put that fifty large on ice for me") and use of steroids on his personal military record in addition to being what Colonel Hunt calls ACE, a pol giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

Murtha has slandered our Marines in a manner vastly beyond that which got former Clinton Defense bimbo Sara Lister the boot in 1997.

Murtha has performed as a propaganda megaphone for terrorists who kill our soldiers daily in the most cowardly fashion.

Murtha has cost the war on terror more precious percentage points as part of the larger Democrat effort to defeat America in the theater of domestic public opinion--just as the Left did for the Vietnam War in the late Sixties and early Seventies.

[woofie]

What do you make of the political implications of Murtha being the "quiet " congressman for so long who has become the loud "vocal" critic now ...I dont buy that its all about his principals


what causes a shift like that in politics?

[Polybius]

A man with a couple of years of active duty.......

Well, I guess that makes me four times more of a military hero than Murtha. :-)

[deport]

what causes a shift like that in politics?

---

Age impacts us all...... wait and you'll find out.

jmo.

[woofie]

so you see him going out in a blaze of glory ...or is he just demented like the rest of us?

[greasepaint]

Murtha's Bronze Star, with 'V'.

The award is for what incident?
The incident was on what date?

[M1911A1]

Hey, I agree that the awards system is not exactly fair or impartial...I have seen officers (and some enlisted) scheming and lobbying for awards, and it is pretty disgusting. It's imperfect, but it is what we have, and the deserving and undeserving rate what Uncle puts in the SRB or OQR.

Murtha (whom I loathe) got his awards, and unless somebody with some first hand information and no ax to grind steps up to contradict those awards,(like the Swifties) I see little profit or honor in making them a political target.

As to his time in the reserves vs. active duty, as long as he isn't misrepresenting the facts, who cares? The point of the reserves is to be ready to go to war, and Murtha did, at a time when the reserves were largely left unmobilized.

I agree with abnsgt, if you start slapping Murtha around for being a reservist, you are going to annoy a lot of us weekend warriors who have recently done some time in the sandbox.

I am as anti-Murtha as you can get, and if the media is portraying him as a "war hero" (I can't remember that exact phrase being used, although I wouldn't doubt it) then the media is fair game for that exaggeration, not Murtha.

Benedict Arnold had a pretty good service record. So did Tim McViegh. There are a lot of people with zero military service who are doing a good job in the current administration in the WOT.

I wouldn't care if Murtha had a more colorful chest than Audie Murphy and had was in combat every one of his years of service, his current position and actions would still be repulsive.

I salute him for his service, and hate his guts anyway.

[U S Army EOD]

As always you never cease to amaze me. How you been doing?

[deport]

JMO... he's beginning to relive his past in glory that only his mind can conjure up.

[Frank_2001]

Exactly. I LOVE the Internet...what a way to get the TRUTH out!!:)