Posted on 02/23/2004 11:18:54 AM PST by Hon
(Nudge, nudge...wink, wink...did you hear Bush was AWOL?)
As you can see from the image below, there is no adjustment to the fuse to permit an adjustable detonation time, that is the purpose of the FUSE, it burns at a perdetermined rate and when it gets to the bottom.... BANG
BTW.. For all you fellow VN vets... you yall remember the litte clasp on the safety handle? It may be the years but I just remember them being shipped in those cardboard tubes. Anybody? 
Kerry: "We do not need to divide America over who served and how."
Congressional Record ^ | February 27, 1992 | John Kerry
Posted on 02/15/2004 4:08:10 PM EST by Hon
Speech of John F. Kerry
February 27, 1992
Page S2479 Congressional Record
Mr. President, I also rise today--and I want to say that I rise reluctantly, but I rise feeling driven by personal reasons of necessity--to express my very deep disappointment over yesterday's turn of events in the Democratic primary in Georgia.
I am saddened by the fact that Vietnam has yet again been inserted into the campaign, and that it has been inserted in what I feel to be the worst possible way. By that I mean that yesterday, during this Presidential campaign, and even throughout recent times, Vietnam has been discussed and written about without an adequate statement of its full meaning.
What is ignored is the way in which our experience during that period reflected in part a positive affirmation of American values and history, not simply the more obvious negatives of loss and confusion.
What is missing is a recognition that there exists today a generation that has come into its own with powerful lessons learned, with a voice that has been grounded in experiences both of those who went to Vietnam and those who did not.
What is missing and what cries out to be said is that neither one group nor the other from that difficult period of time has cornered the market on virtue or rectitude or love of country.
What saddens me most is that Democrats, above all those who shared the agonies of that generation, should now be refighting the many conflicts of Vietnam in order to win the current political conflict of a Presidential primary.
The race for the White House should be about leadership, and leadership requires that one help heal the wounds of Vietnam, not reopen them; that one help identify the positive things that we learned about ourselves and about our Nation, not play to the divisions and differences of that crucible of our generation.
We do not need to divide America over who served and how. I have personally always believed that many served in many different ways. Someone who was deeply against the war in 1969 or 1970 may well have served their country with equal passion and patriotism by opposing the war as by fighting in it. Are we now, 20 years or 30 years later, to forget the difficulties of that time, of families that were literally torn apart, of brothers who ceased to talk to brothers, of fathers who disowned their sons, of people who felt compelled to leave the country and forget their own future and turn against the will of their own aspirations?
Are we now to descend, like latter-day Spiro Agnews, and play, as he did, to the worst instincts of divisiveness and reaction that still haunt America? Are we now going to create a new scarlet letter in the context of Vietnam? Certainly, those who went to Vietnam suffered greatly. I have argued for years, since I returned myself in 1969, that they do deserve special affection and gratitude for service. And, indeed, I think everything I have tried to do since then has been to fight for their rights and recognition.
But while those who served are owed special recognition, that recognition should not come at the expense of others; nor does it require that others be victimized or criticized or said to have settled for a lesser standard. To divide our party or our country over this issue today, in 1992, simply does not do justice to what all of us went through during that tragic and turbulent time.
I would like to make a simple and straightforward appeal, an appeal from my heart, as well as from my head. To all those currently pursuing the Presidency in both parties, I would plead that they simply look at America. We are a nation crying out for leadership, for someone who will bring us together and raise our sights. We are a nation looking for someone who will lift our spirits and give us confidence that together we can grow out of this recession and conquer the myriad of social ills we have at home.
We do not need more division. We certainly do not need something as complex and emotional as Vietnam reduced to simple campaign rhetoric. What has been said has been said, Mr. President, but I hope and pray we will put it behind us and go forward in a constructive spirit for the good of our party and the good of our country.
Read 95% of the threads. Major kudos to you. Major! And you are being modest, you played more than a "small" role:-) But no kudos on this thread. It detracts from your other stellar efforts.
This still dosen't wash
#1. As noted elsewhere in this post you have any where from 4 to 12 seconds before the thing goes off, AFTER THE PIN IS PULLED AND THE SAFETY LEVER IS RELEASED.
#2. The #1 rule in dealing with grenades is YOU DON"T PICK "EM UP.... you YELL... "GRENADE!!!!" AND HIT THE DIRT
Picking them up and tossing them away to save everyones life only happens in the movies.
That said, the ONLY time I saw a guy do that it went off just as he stooped over to pick it up... just like Max, ....."cept Max was luckier
I think there would be a lot less animosity if the Democrats also took that approach to the President's National Guard service. As for Cleland, my understanding is that he continually raises his military service.... he portrays himself as having been unfairly disparaged as unpatriotic by the Republicans when he was defeated for office, and then points to his terrible injuries as his defense, in order to trash the Republicans. As terrible as his injuries are, they don't entitle him to elective office for life, nor do they make anyone voting against him a hater of disabled persons, veterans, etc. Moreover, if Mr. Cleland wants to cite his military injuries as qualifying him to criticize President Bush's military service, don't you think Mr. Cleland opens his own records to scrutiny? If he claims that they entitle him to speak with authority on an issue, then isn't it a legitimate inquiry? I have yet to see where the Republicans raised this issue.... I thought it came up in response to Mr. Cleland's attacks on President Bush. Incidentally, it would seem to me that Mr. Cleland's injuries, as non-combat related, illustrate the danger inherent in any military service... even, perhaps, the National Guard....
Exactly! People complain that the RNC doesn't fight back hard enough and that they let the dems get away with everything. Then they turn around and bi*&h when FACTS are presented.
One can't please these people.
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