Posted on 12/05/2003 10:29:45 AM PST by FlyLow
A SALUTE TO ALL:
TODAY I FOUND A E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR HOWARD DEAN AND ALSO READ HIS PRESS RELEASE OF NOV 18 RE: REPATRIATION OF HIS BROTHER'S REMAINS. I SENT THE GOV THE MESSAGE COPIED BELOW. IF YOU ARE OF LIKE MIND, FEEL FREE TO USE ALL OR ANY PART TO CONVEY YOUR FEELINGS TO HIM.
BEST REGARDS,
ED BROWNE
MAJOR GENERAL EDWARD M. BROWNE UNITED STATES ARMY, RETIRED 4337 COLLINGTREE DRIVE ROCKLEDGE, FL 32955 TEL-FAX: 321-637-8948 E-MAIL: ebapache6@aol.com
December 2, 2003
THIS MESSAGE IS FOR GOVERNOR HOWARD DEAN. PLEASE PASS IT ON TO HIM.
Governor Dean:
Reportedly, your brother and his traveling companion were not members of the US Military nor on a US Government mission when they were captured and killed in Laos. Consequently, a great number of Military Service members--many served in SE Asia--are offended and upset over the Ceremony with Full Military Honors accorded the remains of your brother and his companion.
I just read your November 18, 2003 press release re: recovering the remains of your brother Charles and his traveling companion, Neil Sharman. Your comments, "This is painful not just for us, but for the families of every POW/MIA in America. Based on my spending time in Southeast Asia last year I can tell you and all those families that similar efforts are being made for every family and every missing American from these Southeast Asian wars. This is an extraordinary step our government has gone to [to bring home every POW/MIA]", clearly imply that your brother and his companion were in country in some official capacity as a service member or on some other US Government mission. Their presence and status for being in Laos needs clarification. If they were in country on personal excursions, the Full Military honors and repatriation ceremony accorded their remains were unearned and undeserved.
While lamenting your loss of a loved family member, we feel that providing Military ceremony and honors to anyone that did not deserve them cheapens the meaning and sidesteps the intent of reserving such honors for those that gave their lives earning them. If your brother and Sharman were in fact on a Military or Government mission serving our country, I will be the first to stand up to salute and honor their sacrifice. If they were not, you owe an apology to Americas' Military Service members and the families of the men and women who truly gave their all in those "Asian Wars."
I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Edward M. Browne
ABSOLUTELY...let's build a FREEPER fire under this issue by sending a personal eMail to Dean.
At least Clinton could maintain that he, like others, had ben conned by Lawrence.
In this case, Dean and others have apparently pulled strings to get the military treatment for Dean's bother.
Dean's brother was a war protestor /McGovern organizer, and as a rich-kid he was in Laos:
1) at best, on a journey of "self-discovery" travelling with another disaffected "photo-journalist" and on their way to Nepal (!!), presumably to "achieve oneness" or something like that;
2) or worse, documenting American "atrocities" in our "secret war".
Dean gets away with hypothesizing that his brother "might, for all I [Dean] know" have been working for the CIA. Well, stated that way, ANYBODY "might" have been working for the CIA. But the probability is smaller than a snowball's chance in Hell.
So -- Dean has pulled off a scam to hide his brother's past, which discourages similar efforts at Dean's own past.
And the press is gloriously incurious about the whole matter.
We need to know, and that person MUST be held accountable for their disrespect to those that have served honorably.
In 1971, Dean, who had been a wrestling team captain in high school, received a draft deferment for an unfused vertebra in his back. In the Aug. 15, 2002, Aspen Times, Dean said he "skied 80 days" in Aspen during the winter of 1971-72. The Times reported that Dean "loved skiing bumps," otherwise known as moguls. (Some health publications note that moguls can put particular stress on the spine.) "It was a great time to be a kid and do something relatively fun," Dean recalled. He added that he also worked that year "pouring concrete."
Time reported on Aug. 11, 2003, that Dean spent the year "skiing and bumming around. He hit the slopes, tried pot, washed dishes, poured concrete and drank impressive amounts of beer." On June 22, 2003, Tim Russert asked Dean on Meet the Press, "Why were you able to ski on Ajax Mountain, pounding your back, and pouring concrete, and not serve in the military?"
Dean told Russert, "I was given an examination. I had a previous back problem, which is evidently congenital, which prevented me from doing any sustained running, a problem that I've had since then, since that time, which requires that when I get out of the car I often have some pains up and down my leg and back and so forth. But I have been able to exercise [and have] a vigorous athletic life except for some things. One of those is long-distance running, which is how the problem came to my attention in the first place. I noticed the pain when I was in high school running track. After the physical, I received a 1-Y deferment, [which] means you can only be called in times of national emergency. I didn't have anything to do with choosing any draft deferment. The United States government said this is your classification. I'm not responsible for that."
Dr. Dean got the medical deferment, but in a recent interview he said he probably could have served had he not mentioned the condition. "I guess that's probably true," he said. "I mean, I was in no hurry to get into the military."
In the 10 months after his graduation from Yale, time he might otherwise have spent in uniform, Dr. Dean lived the life of a ski bum in Aspen, Colo. His back condition did not affect his skiing the way the rigors of military service would have, he said, nor did it prevent him from taking odd jobs like pouring concrete in the warm months and washing dishes when it got cold.
Even the candidate's mother, Andree Maitland Dean, said in a recent interview about his skiing after receiving a medical deferment, "Yeah, that looks bad."
.................
I ask Doc Howie Dean:
Doc Dean, what was your preference in skincare in Aspen when you went skiing for eight months directly after the military let you out of your obligation -- after you showed them those "x-rays"? Did you prefer 'Reflectant Sunscreen Cream', 'Sun E45 High protection Lotion', or the 'Coppertone Ultrashade 23 Lotion' -- it provides your skin's natural sunburn protection while simultaneously providing a unique method of skin hydration. Skin protection is maintained for eight hours during water sports and vigorous exercise such as skiing in Aspen. So Doc, what's the scoop, eh?"
Asked by The Quad-City Times, which is based in Davenport, Iowa, to complete the sentence "My closest living relative in the armed services is," Dr. Dean wrote in August, "My brother is a POW/MIA in Laos, but is almost certainly dead."
Dean lied and your spin doesn't wash, his brother wasn't in the armed services.
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.