I would like to thank John Kerry for finally giving the Vietnam Vets an opportunity for them to really be welcomed home. It's a shame that it has taken 35 years.
You said it! After 30 years, the Vietnam Vets are getting their due! And it's so great that Kerry's taking the hit. If ever somebody deserved it, he does.
Nov. 3, 2004: Vietnam vets - finally, you heroes have come home
Doug from Upland | 8-25-04 | Doug from Upland
Posted on 08/25/2004 1:51:55 PM PDT by doug from upland
Nov. 3, 2004: Vietnam vets - finally, you heroes have come home
You were spit on. You were called war criminals. You were called baby killers. You served your country and came home to abuse and to be shunned by your countrymen. Many never came home at all.
There were lost limbs, broken lives, broken families, alcoholism, drugs, homelessness, despair, and even suicide. You could not understand why you were so hated. There was no parade welcoming you home. There was nobody to offer you their seat on a full airplane. There was no one wanting to shake your hand and say, "God bless you, soldier. Thank you for what you have done for our country." Never have some of us been so ashamed of our country because of what was done to you.
Yesterday's crushing electoral defeat of Senator John F. Kerry has finally brought some closure. The repudiation of one of the chief architects of bringing together the forces that heaped shame and indignity on you has finally shown the whole world what many of us knew all along. You served honorably. You were heroes.
In desperation, Kerry made a few weak attempts of hinting at apology. It was far too little. It was far too late. It was far too disingenuous. And it angered and lost the support of the most vile of those on the America-hating far left.
For the service Kerry actually gave in Vietnam, he has our gratitude. His refusal to open all the records during the campaign still leaves us wondering what his service really was and what medals he really did earn. Apparently, he is never going to let us know all of the truth.
Three decades ago, Kerry stabbed you in the back. He did it then during demonstrations, public statements, and sworn testimony before Congress in which he lied about fellow comrades in arms. The damage he did was considerable. He caused men to die. Many of you were tortured because you would not repeat his lies and admit to your torturers that you were war criminals.
During the 2004 campaign, Kerry shamelessly did it again. With people like James Carville and Paul Begala, the Hollywood elite, a failed far left network called Air America, newspapers such as the NEW YORK TIMES and LOS ANGELES TIMES, media surrogates such as Chris Matthews, and an endless supply of the slimiest attorneys, he attacked the swift boat vets who actually had the courage to come forward and set the record straight. Kerry's hitmen, and they were that in every sense of the word, tried to blackmail them into silence by creating "Brown Books" that looked into their personal lives to find financial and marital trouble. Seldom in the history of this great nation has a presidential candidate stooped so low as did John Forbes Kerry. To say that he got down in the gutter is to give him credit for too high an elevation. He was below the gutter. He was in the sewer with vermin.
The more we learned about Kerry, the more Americans didn't like him. That is why he tried so hard to suppress UNFIT FOR COMMAND. That is why 527 groups spent over a hundred million dollars trying to do damage to President Bush, why a billionaire spent a fortune, and why a slovenly so-called documentary filmmaker created one of the great works of propaganda ever produced.
The political tsunami finally hit shore and washed away Kerry's campaign when all of America finally learned that Kerry was a hero on both sides of the war. Yes, they saw his place of honor in Vietnamese Communist War Remnants Museum (formerly known as the "War Crimes Museum") in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The communists who killed over 50,000 Americans celebrate Kerry as a hero.
We can never make up for what this country did to you. We can only ask your forgiveness. You were the forgotten heroes. No longer. You have been vindicated. With heavy hearts, open arms, and tears in our eyes, we say to you all, welcome home, heroes. Finally, welcome home.