Posted on 07/18/2004 4:55:11 PM PDT by redrock
"May 18,1971"--(Evil Exists)
April 22, 1971 -- John Kerry testifies on behalf of the VVAW before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. He claims that American soldiers had "personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan..."
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Every action produces a reaction.
It's simple really..........
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You couldn't really call it a village.
I'm not really sure what you would call it. It was just a collection of lean-to's...tents and just plain 'any-spot-in-the-storm-will-do' types of shelters.
It was as if the old people and the young people had walked as far as they could...and it was just the spot that they stopped and tried to put together a reasonable image of their lives. It had water and was somewhat close to a road.
And...it was as far as they could go to get away from the war....and the soldiers of the NVA(North Vietnamese). The same NVA that had driven them away from the highlands of Vietnam. From their homes....from their lives.
That little spot in the road had around 25 people living there...mostly the old but a few young. One of them was pregnant. Luckily,for awhile anyway, a Medical Mission was nearby.
We used to patrol that area around every 3-4 days. Nothing major..just a platoon. The LT. liked to call that patrol his 'breaking-in' for newbies...for those who had just arrived 'in country'. It gave you a feel for the landscape...and it reminded the newbies that altho we were Air Cav....we also were expected to walk to earn our money.
On one patrol..we found out that the Medical Mission had left the area...and the pregnant woman was about to give birth. Being the only person on the patrol to even remotely have Medical training...( I served as a Medic)...I was volunteered by the LT. to help with the birth. One of the really old (ancient comes to mind) women knew about child-birth but was physically unable to help. Since we had a ARVN(South Vietnamese) interpreter along...I became her hands...as long as the ARVN interpreter could keep up.
The child was born into the world on May 15,1971. A little girl...all healthy as could be. We left her in the arms of her proud mother...and finished on with the patrol. (and I got the ribbing of my life about the whole thing...good natured...but it lasted for days).
The NVA activity started to pick up in the area. It seemed as if they thought we wouldn't fight back if we saw them...or came under fire. They started to get a little bolder....as they were sending out lots of patrols into the area around Pleiku..and further south.
On our next patrol into that area...we ran into a NVA patrol. Had a small firefight. Had to only work on a few minor wounds.
Then we came upon the small little spot...where the old and young had stopped to try and live.
The lean-to's were burned....the tents torn. Fire was still burning some of the bigger shacks.
The old and young people had been lined up and made to kneel...where they had had a gun pressed to the back of their heads. I know this is what happened...as each of them had a hole in the backs of their head...one made by a bullet.
The boot marks on the ground (that red dirt that seemed to exist everywhere in Vietnam)...were of standard issue NVA. So...the people who had done this were probably NVA.
I checked all that I could ...looking for even a glimmer of life. There was none.
Then I remembered the young mother....and the baby that I helped to deliver.
I searched the area..(with my back being watched by my Platoon Sgt.)...and came across them a few yards into the bush.
The young mother lay on the ground...and bullet hole in her head and laying in her arms was her baby daughter.
With a bullet hole in her head.
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Evil exists.
I came face-to-face with it on that day in Vietnam.
This is the 3rd time I've talked about that day in 30 plus years. I'm not sure if I can talk about it again ever.
But the same evil that I found in the highlands of Vietnam...exists today.
30 plus years ago...a self-serving ex-sailor sat before Congress and lied to them about the behaviour of American Soldiers. Lied to them in order to make himself look good. Lied to them in order to further his own ambitions.
Lied to them to facilitate the Evil.
And now...that same liar ...that same self-serving arrogant bastard is running for President.
I cannot prove it...but I have always believed that the actions of people like Kerry...facilitated the death of that young mother and her baby.
I would hate to think of a world...were someone like Kerry had as much power as a President of the United States has.
What would be the consequences????
Evil exists.
It is up to us...to defeat it.
tet68 and other veterans on this thread :
I'm a brand new freeper and I registered after years of lurking specifically to learn from you all on this thread. Thanks and endless respect to you all from a life-long civilian who lives safely in a rich and blessed country in part due to your service.
I've recently had some debate with a veteran (US Army 1959-1962, one tour in Germany) about the leadership that veterans provide to the rest of us. I look up to veterans and believe they represent the best of virtues, including truth. I think veterans define patriotism and what America stands for. At the same time I think the Democrat party pretty much represents evil these days. My veteran friend tells me that he served so that everyone could make up their own minds, and he has a hard time choosing between the two parties. Frankly I find that hard to understand because I do see American politics today in good/evil terms.
Could you all do me the honor and great favor of sharing how your experiences as veterans influence your thinking about politics today? You've seen evil that most of us can't begin to imagine, and you've literally done the "standing" to define what this country stands for. My experience is limited to civilian life here in the US. I really think the Democrats are evil, but I know that some veterans are Democrats, and I certainly don't have the experience and time in grade they have in serving the country.
How can I square those things up? Am I wrong about American politics being good versus evil today? If I'm right, how do I show proper gratitude and respect to a veteran who supports an evil political party?
Thanks again to you all for the security you've provided to me and my family, and for any insight or further lessons in patriotism you might be able to add in this thread.
You said it all.
To John Kerry and all the other Traitors:
Gee, I don't know what happened.
When I left we were winning.
Welcome to Free Republic
FYI
That doesn't mean that "We" were bad and "They" were good. It's simply that some in the U.S. Military behaved in illegal, immoral, disgusting, etc. ways.
To deny that is absurd.
Some went too far in their determination to win at any cost. I don't hate those that did - but I can't say it's excusable either. It was a very long and miserable war.
If you don't believe Kerry (or me) - (which I can understand) simply do a little serious research of the Press reports of the day. There's lots and lots of pictures of this stuff (which weren't easy to fake back then).
Would anyone deny that the use of .50 cal's for perimeter defense was pretty standard?
Thank you for your service. It was somewhere in the late 70's that I met a recently retired Bird Colonel who had served in late WWII and both Korea and Nam. My civilian living was made in radio and I had been conditioned by ABC news and the AP. I believed the stuff about the guys that served in Nam.
I once made a slightly disparaging remark about the enlisted men who served in Nam compared to WWII and Korea.
I thought for a second I was going to have to defend my honor with my fists. He went over case after case of above and beyond the call of duty perforances by the Men who served in Nam.
I have always remembered that a man who had commanded troops in the WWI, Korea and Nam, felt the best quality of troops served in Nam.
He said the ones that avoided the draft and protested were garbage.. but the men who served in Nam were absolutely the best.
I have never forgotten his heated and forceful remarks. It was one of my first clues about how biased and agenda driven the main stream media is.
Again I thank you for your service. Men like Kerry make me sick. Men like you make me proud of my Nation.
He said that we wouldn't believe how crazy things are there. He said "You don't know how good you have it here. You live better than anywhere else in the world. No one in the world lives like you do. You know that don't you? Yes, you know that."
Then he read a letter from one of the Nuns who worked there. He talked about a Leper Colony that he ministered to. ( they can't get medicine because of the wonderful, benevolent, Communist government.) He said that since the Commies took over, 90% of the population still lives in poverty ,(in spite of their promises to improve life ) He said the "party" controls everything: schools , Churches, they watch everyone. If you say anything against the government, they throw you in prison. Then he asked "Do you have any idea what that is like?"
I want to be clear- when he was asking if we knew how good we had it, it wasn't a "blame America" tone. He was trying to wake people up about how blessed we are to live here. It was a great presentation.
But the sad part is that when he asked if we knew how good we had it, I thought- Do we know? And then I thought about my Kerry- supporting fellow-Catholic neighbors , and Michael Moore, and all the people who have seen his movie, and Jimmy Carter and Hollywood, and their expressed love for Fidel Castro, and Hillary's Viet Nam trip, and Soros and the rest of the multi-zillionaires, and their connections to Move On . Org, and it's ties to the Communist Party. I wonder if we know how good we have it? Or , will we throw it all away?
We need to pray for our country, and president Bush, that's the only way we will have victory. This is not going to be an easy campaign. The pubbies are dealing with unprecedented-in-our-history propaganda. Pray.
Bumping your's to the Top, redrock!!!!
I was running barefoot through the cornfield at the time, and knew nothing of the horrors of war. I still only know what I've been told. I don't know what it feels like to experience war first-hand, and God willing, I never will. It's by the grace of God, and soldiers like you, that I've been able to go through life without knowing those pains. I've been very well protected. Thank you.
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JOHN KERRY = Enemy of Vietnam Vets
http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1320
as opposed to:
MEL's -PASSION- was sparked by -WE WERE SOLDIERS-
http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=39081
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Reportedly it has aired on Amy Goodman's "All Things Considered". I do not know if their position was that "these things happened and were suppressed" or that "Kerry lied and his most extreme lies were suppressed". John Kerry himself has recanted and said that they were the words of an angry young man.
And when Kerry says that the use of .50 cal's against personnel is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions he is correct.
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I was but knee high to a grasshopper when the last bird took off from Saigon, but even then I knew what had happened wasn't good. As the years went on and I learned about Vietnam, and what our men went through, the more convinced I became that it WAS the good fight, just like WW II.
We went there not for material gain, or land, or colonization. We went there to keep other men free. Those men (and more than a few women)who fought there and came home to an ungrateful nation had every reason to be bitter, as demonstrations mounted and foul epithets were hurled at them. But in the main they were not bitter. They went home and took up jobs, started families, and made this nation better.
Then there were the ones like Kerry. Forever embittered, they undertook the mission to bring the US down. They believed that fighting 'glorious' communism was wrong, and our nation had to pay for it. And now that SOB wants to be our President?! I say him nay, and I will make my voice heard on 2 Nov 04!
Thanks for your service, gents. You set the standard.
Could you point out where the Conventions actually say this??? I'm trying to find it.....perhaps a URL???
Thanks,
redrock
Here's your chance to back up that statement with a source.
M2 .50 Caliber [12.7mm] Machine Gun
This gun may be mounted on ground mounts and most vehicles as an anti-personnel and anti-aircraft weapon. Associated components are the M63 antiaircraft mount and the M3 tripod mount. The M2 .50 Cal. flexible version is used as a ground gun on the M3 tripod mount or various Naval mounts. The M2 .50 Cal., M48 turret type, fixed type, and soft mount are installed on mounts of several different types of combat vehicles and ships. The weapon provides automatic weapon suppressive fire for offensive and defensive purposes. This weapon can be used effectively against personnel, light armored vehicles; low, slow flying aircraft; and small boats.
The M2 machine gun on the M3 tripod provided a very stable firing platform. Together with its slow rate of fire and its traversing and elevating mechanism, the M2 was used to a very limited extent as a sniper weapon during the Vietnam war at fixed installations such as firebases. Snipers prefired the weapons at identifiable targets and worked the data into range cards insuring increased first-round accuracy. The 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division constructed 20-30 foot high shooting platforms, adding steel base plates and posts to further stabilize the M2 on the M3 tripod. Together with the use of Starlight night vision scopes, the M2 severely limited enemy movement within 900 yards (1,000m) of the perimeter of a firebase.
Actually, we don't use .50 caliber against people....
We use it against their equipment! If it hits them in the process of destroying their gear, oh well! Sucks to be them. Shouldn't have taken up arms against us in the first place.
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