Posted on 05/15/2004 3:13:53 PM PDT by Deacon_m
(FIRST LETTER) A Veteran's Letter to Kerry:
Dear Senator John Kerry:
Since it has become clear that you will probably be the Democratic nominee for President, I have spent a great deal of time researching your war record and your record as a professional politician. The reason is simple, you aspire to be the Commander in Chief who would lead my sons and their fellow soldiers in time of war. I simply wanted to know if you possess the necessary qualifications to be trusted in that respect.
You see, I belong to a family of proud U.S. veterans. I was a Captain in the Army Reserve, my father was a decorated Lieutenant in World War II; and I have four sons who have either served, or are currently serving in the military. The oldest is an Army Lieutenant still on active duty in Afghanistan after already being honored for his service in Iraq. The youngest is an E-4 with the military police. His National Guard unit just finished their second tour of active duty, including six months in Guantanamo Bay. My two other sons have served in the national guard and the navy.
In looking at your record I found myself comparing it not only to that of my father and my sons, but to the people they served with. My father served with the 87th Chemical Mortar Battalion in Europe. They landed on Utah Beach and fought for 317 straight days including the Cherbourg Peninsula, Aachen, the Hurtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. You earned a Silver Star in Vietnam for chasing down and finishing off a wounded and retreating enemy soldier. My father won a Bronze Star for single handedly charging and knocking out a German machine gun nest that had his men pinned down. You received three purple hearts for what appears to be three minor scratches. In fact you only missed a combined total of two days of duty for these wounds. The men of my father's unit, the 87th, had to be admonished by their commanding officer because: "It has been brought to our attention that some men are covering up wounds and refusing medical attention for fear of being evacuated and permanently separated from this organization..."
It was also a common problem for seriously wounded soldiers to go AWOL from hospitals in order to rejoin their units. You used your three purple hearts to leave Vietnam early.
My oldest boy came home from Iraq with numerous commendations and then proceeded to volunteer to go to Afghanistan and from there back to Iraq again. My sons and father have never had anything but the highest regard and respect for their fellow soldiers. Yet, you came home to publicly charge your fellow fighting men with being war criminals and to urge their defeat by the enemy. You even wrote a book that had a cover which mocked the heroism of the U.S. Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. Our current crop of soldiers has a philosophy that no one gets left behind; and they have practiced that from Somalia to the battlefields of the Middle East. Yet as chairman of a Senate committee looking into allegations that many of your fellow servicemen had been left behind as prisoners in Vietnam, you chose to defend the brutal Vietnamese regime. You even went so far as to refer to the families of the POWs and MIAs as Professional malcontents, conspiracy mongers, con artists, and dime-store Rambos.
As a Senator, you voted against the 1991 Gulf War, and have repeatedly voted against funds to supply our troops with the best equipment, and against money to improve our intelligence capability. I find this particularly ironic since as a Presidential candidate, you have been highly critical of our pre-war intelligence in Iraq. However, you did vote to authorize the President to go to war, but afterwards you proceeded to do everything you could to undermine the efforts of our government and our troops to win this war on Terrorism. Is this what our fighting men and women can expect of you if you are their Commander in Chief? Will you gladly send them to war, only to then aid the enemy by undermining their morale and cut off funding the weaponry they need to win?
Our country is at war Senator, and as has been the case in every war since the American Revolution, a member of my family is serving their country during the war. Now you want me to trust you to lead my sons in this fight.
Sorry Senator, but when I compare your record to those who have fought and died for this nation, and are currently fighting and dying, the answer is not just no, but Hell No!
Sincerely,
Michael Connelly February 14, 2004 Dallas, Texas
Forward this to EVERYONE you know--we can NOT afford to have this man as the President of the United States!!
(SECOND LETTER)
A Soldier's Letter To Kerry:
Dear Senator John Kerry:
You have often spoken out about the quagmire which is the Iraqi 'occupation'. I would like to list a few of the accomplishments of my commrades in Irag's:
1.) Over 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations.
2.) School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.
3.) Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons stored there so education can occur.
4.) The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off-loaded from ships faster.
5.) The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.
6.) Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever in Iraq.
7.) The country (Irag) now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the war.
8.) 100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to 35% before the war.
9.) Elections are taking place in every major city, and city councils are in place.
10.) Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.
11.) Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.
12.) Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.
13.) Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with US soldiers.
14.) Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever.
15.) Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to prevent the spread of germs.
16.) An interim constitution has been signed.
17.) Girls are now finally allowed to attend school.
18.) Textbooks that don't mention Saddam are in the schools for the first time in 30 years.
My fellow Americans, Please don't believe the lie that the Iraqi people don't want us in their country! I have met many people in Iraq that tell me how glad they are that we have come. Unfortunately though, they do not believe that they will ever see the freedoms we came there to make possible for them; but, they hope and pray that their children will see it!
We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge anyone, anywhere to dispute with me on these facts. This soldier will set John Kerry straight about any 'quagmire' he may think we are having in Iraq. If you are like me and very disgusted with how this period of rebuilding has been portrayed, email this to a friend and let them know there are good things happening.
Ray Reynolds, SFC Iowa Army National Guard 234th Signal Battalion
Are they valid? Origin? Anything with a "pass it on" is always suspect.
PING!!!
hmmm,
Do you all think this (first letter at least) could backfire?
I mean, after all, if the Kerry camp wanted to get dirty, couldn't they make a point that President Bush used his family's political influence to get into the National Guard to avoid going to Vietnam? And then further the point that Bush didn't show up for a physical?
I mean, any allegation that Kerry's purple hearts might not be fully deserved and that he took advantage of any injuries to come home seem a little petty next to a man who did everything possible to stay out of Nam in the first place.
Neither can compare to the "Greatest Generation" who fought WWII.
LOL Bring Back the Draft...
I smell potential ozone.
Thousands of American kids joined the reserves.
Bush Sr. had little if any influence at the time of Dubya's enrolling in the national guard.
Dubya was trained as a fighter pilot, and tried to volunteer to go to Vietnam in that capacity.
The aircraft Dubya trained on was deemed obsolete, and rather than spend more money training someone that was leaving the service, the NG released him a bit early.
Go TROLL elsewhere, or I'll sic the Viking Kitties on you.
meow
As far as I'm concerned, Kerry's purple hearts were NOT fully deserved. The fact that he got them is not the same as fully deserved. What I've heard from his commanding officers is that they wanted him out of country because he was so bad.
Your trolling will not work here.
Re the 2nd letter...http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/reynolds.asp
This account has been banned or suspended.
Dang you work fast! I wanted to ping the kitties here after watching her make a fool of herself.
Perhaps next time.......
Does Kerry belong to either the American Legion or the VFW? or any other veterans organisation?
Welcome to Free Republic.
Well, he certainly won't be joining the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth". :=)
Copied and forwarded ...
LETTERS @ GOHOTSPRINGS.COM
I don't quite know how to ask this, but we are trying to start a weekly show where we will read letters from the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and the surrounding areas that are in harms way. - this will include the Marines in the Horn of Africa and even in Haiti! From anywhere and everywhere!
We are NOT going to be doing a politically bent show for one side or the other, nor do we wish to air any information where our enemies can garner intelligence.
What we are looking for are what the major media would consider as 'mundane', 'boring', 'un-newsworthy' - We want the day to day reality of life. The trips to the local orphanages - helping rebuild a school - washing desert 'cammies' in a mud hole - a quiet day of solitude - an impromptu guitar song-fest in the desert.
All those little items of information that are sent home - we want to share with as many people as we can so they can 'relate' to our military. To let them know that these are our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, friends .... not just nameless numbers or ratings. Let us see and possibly feel part of their lives.
We will not divulge last names nor address information - locations will be general - NO unit designations other than Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine.
I have been posting these short letters to several news sites and the response from people has been tremendous. The American people want to KNOW their protectors!
If you want to narrate a story on the radio, we can set that up also (with the same restrictions to names, etc).
Please send your emails, stories, questions to me at:
letters @ gohotsprings.com
ps ... reports of all the heroics will be given special attention. We don't need a saga - so far the most popular letters have been the "short notes home" to Mom, Dad, etc.
Bring our military to life - to honor - to America.
I ask that you forward this letter to everyone you know that has a son, brother, daughter, sister, or friend in the military
Carl L. Steplock III
Hot Springs, AR 71901
http://focus.gohotsprings.com
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
Ronald Reagan
You got that right.
Those leftist scums just couldn't leave it at, "Yes it is true"
They just had to add the lies from the opposing viewpoint - I'm sure they have the opposing viewpoints from concervative Christians on their pro-communist/homosexual stories, don't they?
Forwarding!!!!
*smack!*
consider yourself "biff-baffed" for not pinging me to this.
ping
see that the usual suspects get this, 'k?
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.