DEAR AMERICANS, WE STILL HAVE SOME "UNFINISHED BUSINESS"

GOPUSA.COM ^ | NOVEMBER 10, 2004 | DEBBIE DANIEL

[CHARLITE]

There is a large group of "walking dead" in our midst . . . and I cannot get them off my mind and heart. We ignored them once, and I pray we won't do it again.

If this past presidential election did nothing more than bring to the fore a story that we've not heard . . . we cannot in good conscience ignore it.

One, lone soldier, told his story several years ago, and we listened with "bated breath." But recently when the other side of the story was told, we slightly turned our heads and called it politics.

There was no "slight" with mine . . . it was turned completely. I'm convinced we have some "unfinished business" concerning thousands of men and women who came home from a war that mistreated them, to loved ones who disowned them, and to a country that spat in their faces . . . all because of one man.

I spent election eve watching the movie "Stolen Honor". It's not about the Swiftboat Veterans, although we owe a great debt of gratitude to them, but "Stolen Honor" is about the men who served as prisoners of war for six and seven years being tortured at the hands of the North Vietnamese - and it got worse because of that one man's voice.

They told their story in "Stolen Honor", but we shunned them, too.

How can we have that many American soldiers, who were there, coming forward to tell their side of a story and we won't listen? One man told his and it became immortalized as truth . . . the only truth.

Does it make us feel better to stick with the one man's story? Then we have no apologies to make? Then we can move on with our lives? And then we can bury all of it . . . finally?

But these "walking dead" can't even find solace while waiting for their graves to be dug. The wounds have been reopened only to have the knife dig deeper, the pain hurt more, and the scars much more visible.

We have a Vietnam Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. that honors 58,000 dead men and women who served their country honorably. Americans come by the thousands to pay tribute to these brave soldiers who lost their lives, but we won't take the time of day to say "thanks" to those still living who also served honorably.

It's as if these are the "bad ones" . . . only these living soldiers committed the atrocities of which that one man accused them.

These, who are still living, learned a long time ago to muzzle their mouths and suppress the awfulness of that war. Their greatest reward would have been to die along with the others.

The dead were brought home to finally have a wall built in their honor, but the living were to suffer a slow agonizing death for the rest of their lives. And we've been satisfied to let them.

I would implore you, Americans everywhere, to help us find a way to honor our "living" soldiers of Vietnam, for when they are finally laid to rest, there won't be a "wall of gratitude" built with their name on it, but they can go to their graves knowing their country did love them.

They will never know any gratitude for fighting in a war on our behalf . . . unless we tell them. They served their country . . . and for that, and that alone, we should be grateful.

As we approach this Veteran's Day, I hope that we can reach out to these soldiers and "bring them home again" . . . not with spit on their faces; not with bile thrown at their bodies, but with love and kindness for a job well done.

I exhort all of us to find a Vietnam Veteran somewhere . . . seek them out, to shake a hand, hug a neck, or say, "I never had the opportunity to thank you for your service in Vietnam, but I want to now."

In light of all that's happened in the past few months, they will know exactly what you're talking about and nothing more needs to be said. Nothing at all . . . that's it.

We can do this.

You talk about healing? I'll say no more.

Debbie Daniel can be contacted at: dddtx@yahoo.com

[Chieftain]

Thanks for the PING Tonk, and welcome home, my brother.

[Chieftain]

You can find it right here.

[Chieftain]

I emailed this to the author:

Dear Debbie,
Thanks for the great article you wrote regarding Vietnam veterans in GOPUSA.com. Someone posted it on Freerepublic.com, my favorite Conservative News forum.

Your commentary brought tears to my eyes. I am glad you were able to watch 'Stolen Honor' before the election. I did everything I could to spread the word about it. I attended a public showing of it in Orlando, Florida at the Lake Eola Band shell six days before the election. I was fortunate to attend a private reception afterward for the POWs and Swiftee attendees. It was an evening I shall never forget. I got to meet these brave men who valiantly served in Vietnam and exposed Kerry for the fraud he attempted to portray on the American electorate, as well as those that endured years of captivity and abuse and torture and never succumbed to their captors demands, but were forced to listen to the voice of a man who betrayed all of us, who had worn the same uniform. That man was defeated in his attempt to ascend to Commander-In-Chief by George W. Bush, with the support of millions of veterans.

I worked very hard for President Bush's reelection, and I fought even harder for Kerry's exposure and defeat. I knew immediately that the one group who could do the most damage to Kerry was the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and I worked feverishly to support them. The leftist media did a great job of convincing the public and especially the rank-in-file Republicans that it would be illegal to have any connection with the Swiftees, which was totally incorrect. The Swiftees were attacked at every turn by the Democrat surrogate minions in the liberal media. The Bush-Cheney campaign was prohibited from coordinating with any '527' group, but rank-in-file members had no such restriction. Many Republicans had a great opportunity to meet and appreciate these brave men who once again answered the call to serve their nation, but stayed away out of erroneous fear of hurting the campaign.

I hope now that every Republican can take this opportunity of Veterans' Day to reach out to all Vietnam veterans and publicly thank them for their service to our country in Vietnam as well as their efforts to expose and defeat our betrayer, John Kerry.

Semper Fidelis,
Name
USMC (retired)
Orange Park, Florida

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[Keith in Iowa]

Thank you for your service - then, and now.

[Chieftain]

Thank you. It was my honor and pleasure.

[sneakers]

I bookmarked your site to share fuzzy122. God bless our VietNam vets. I was in elementary school and high school during the VN War. I always had a special place in my heart for the men who served there. By the same token, I always had a deep hatred for those who protested - especially Hanoi Jane and Tom Hayden. I dimly remember someone - Kerry, I guess - who testified against our guys. I always hated him too. Now I have a name to go with the face. He had a lot of nerve to run for President! He needs to be brought to justice as the traitor that he is!

sneakers

[Jon Alvarez]

i thank every vet I see...i encourage all to do the same.

it's very rewarding

[grassboots.org]

Welcome Home...

[texson66]

WHat you said, Tonk! Amen! If the scumb@g tries to run in 08, we'll have to double our efforts too!

[Valin]

We grow and learn.

I was talking to a guy a couple of months ago, he told me why kerry wasn't going to get elected. "That (blank) is so stupid that he thinks vets have forgotten what he said and did."

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Thank You Brother

[exhaustedmomma]

Buddy Poppy: VFW
Today, VFW Buddy Poppies are assembled by disabled, needy and aging veterans in VA Hospitals and domiciliaries across the country and are distributed by VFW Posts and their Ladies Auxiliaries. The minimal assessment (cost of Buddy Poppies) to VFW units provides compensation to the veterans who assemble the poppies, provides financial assistance in maintaining state and national veterans' rehabilitation and service programs and partially supports the VFW National Home for orphans and widows of our nation's veterans.

"In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead.
Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved and now we lie,
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw,
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us, who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow,
In Flanders Fields.

[mattdono]

Bump to my freedom-lovin' FRiend.

[Veritas et equitas ad Votum]

You are a hero and an inspiration.

[fuzzy122]

"He needs to be brought to justice as the traitor that he is!:

From your keyboard to God's ear.

Stay Strong,
Fuzzy122

[Delta 21]

The Kerry timeline spells it all out. The news media is still in such denial that when the people do finally wake up to this, and they will, that it will spawn a much welcomed surge of conservatism in the country.

Watch the folks in dear 'ol Mass put him right back in office, and they deserve just what they get. Leadership from a murderer and a traitor.

[Chieftain]

While I appreciate your sentiment, I wouldn't make a wart on a mole on a hero's hind quarters.

The heroes are making history today in Fallujah, Iraq, and some of them will enter their eternal rest there today. Please don't confuse me with them.

[Veritas et equitas ad Votum]

Did you train some of the men who trained these fine Marines now doing business in Fallujah?

I think EVERY man and woman who volunteers to fight for this country and does so honorably is a hero, regardless of when, why or where he is called upon.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!