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The 900 pound gorilla is off of our backs.The scarlet letter, the one placed there by John Kerry in his lying before Congress, is now removed.We have had the opportunity to hit back at the one most responsible for spreading the lies about us and our service....and hit we have...for we have helped, in many major ways, to deny him what he has always wanted. We have made him pay for the lies he told about us....and about the lies he told about all of those Americans listed on that Black Granite Wall in Washington.The Vietnam War is finally,truly, over.....and...

We were sitting watching the news...my 7 year old daughter and myself. The usual was on...some talking head droning on and on about President Bush...and the War in Iraq. Soon pictures of soldiers patrolling the streets of Baghdad came on the screen. My daughter asked me a question upon seeing the soldiers. "Daddy...why did you go to war?? Why did you go to Vietnam??" I tried to reason an answer for her....that I went to serve my Country. That I went because I felt that maybe,just maybe, it was important enough...that I thought that a danger was growing over there...a...

"It's past midnite said Charles the grinning boy..."Blue Oyster CultFor over 30 years...Vietnam Veterans..(and let's be honest here...EVERY veteran is included in John Kerrys statements..as Viet Vets were TRAINED by Korean Veterans...by WWII Veterans..so they are implicated too.) have had a 900 pound gorilla on their backs. They have had the "Scarlet Letter" squarely placed on their foreheads...telling the world that they (in the world of John Kerry) are "..killers and rapists."For the entire time we have had to live with the knowledge in our hearts that when we said we served in Vietnam...in the backs of peoples minds sprang...

"We will not quickly join those who march on Veterans Day waving small flags, calling to memory those thousands who died for the 'greater glory of the United States.' We will not accept the rhetoric."John Kerry--"The New Soldier" (Epilogue)============================Senator Kerry...I thought you might like to meet a couple of those men who served in Vietnam.These are the men you tried to paint as soldiers who ravaged South Vietnam in the manner of..."Ghengis Khan". Men who "raped,cut off ears,cut off heads......" in the service of their Nation.Now that you are running for President and painting yourself as some sort of 'hero'....I...

Dear Mrs. Robinson,Since I served 4 months in Vietnam...I am an expert in the behaviour and conduct of American Servicemen and women.Your son, Sgt. James W. Robinson Jr., was a baby-killer...a rapist...a person who tortured innocent Viet-Cong and North-Vietnamese soldiers (who were ONLY fighting for freedom from the war-mongering Americans). When I came back from Vietnam (where in only 4 months I managed to get 3 Purple Hearts...a Bronze Star...and a Silver Star..showing just how wonderful I am) I told the world about your son. I sat there before Congress and told them about how your son raped and tortured..and...

"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..." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Every action produces a reaction. It's simple really.......... ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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...

For good and ill, the Iraqi prisoner abuse mess will remain an issue. On the one hand, right thinking Americans will abhor the stupidity of the actions while on the other hand, political glee will take control and fashion this minor event into some modern day My Lai massacre. I heard some Arabs and Muslims are asking for an apology. I humbly offer mine here: I am sorry that the last seven times we Americans took up arms and sacrificed the blood of our youth, it was in the defense of Muslims (Bosnia, Kosovo, Gulf War 1, Kuwait, etc.). I...

President Reagan's death brought to the fore his outstanding accomplishment of ending the Cold War. Like American presidents before him he led the U.S. in the charge against the "evil empire" by forging alliances and sending troops to remote theaters at high cost in blood and treasury. What makes Reagan's vision for victory particularly remarkable is that it stemmed from the belief in the power of technology as both a force multiplier and a game changer. For the three and a half decades that preceded Reagan's presidency, Americans lived in the ominous shadow of a thermonuclear war that threatened to...

"Ronald Reagan, D-Day.....and the War on Terror" It is somehow fitting that Ronald Reagan passed away on the day before D-Day. It is somehow fitting that perhaps the greatest President in my lifetime (and could be argued...in any lifetime) passed away just about the time that 60 years ago...men were parachuting into France...in a beginning of the end of the evil that was the Nazi Empire. It is somehow fitting that the man who, in an absolute display of faith in the American dream and capabilities almost by himself caused the beginning of the destruction of the evil that was...

Decision Brief No. 04-D 25 2004-06-01 "Welcome to World War IV " (Washington, D.C.): Suddenly, the heretofore unthinkable seems not so impossible. Domestic political considerations driven by declining polls and negative reporting have prompted the Bush administration to take a series of dubious tactical decisions in Iraq. These have, in turn, contributed to a worsening situation on the ground there, featuring continuing physical insecurity, political turmoil and demoralization of U.S. forces. Amplified by relentlessly unfavorable press accounts and increasingly shrill Democratic criticism, these developments have given rise to still more dubious tactical decisions, an emboldened opposition on the ground and...

"Taps" Composed By Major General Daniel Butterfield Army of the Potomac, Civil War "Fading light dims the sight, And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright. From afar drawing nigh -- Falls the night. "Day is done, gone the sun, From the lake, from the hills, from the sky. All is well, safely rest, God is nigh. "Then good night, peaceful night, Till the light of the dawn shineth bright, God is near, do not fear -- Friend, good night." ============================ "TAPS" is the most beautiful bugle call. Played slowly and softly, it has a smooth, tender and touching character....

You put on the uniform.....and you do so of your own Free will. You put on the uniform ...be it that of the Army...or Navy...or Air Force...or Marine...or Coast Guard. And you do so with the understanding of some very simple promises. YOU promise to uphold the Constitution.... YOU promise to help defend your Nation ...your family...in every which way that you are asked. YOU promise to put up with doing duty in the coldest places...and the hottest. YOU promise to put up with bad food sometimes. YOU promise to follow orders (as long as they are lawful)..even tho those...

When I was around 6 or 7 years old (funny how you really don't want to remember some things) my father got hurt while on the job. The accident broke his spine in half...leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. I remember all the hectic days from that time...and I remember when he was finally stabilized...that he transferred to the V.A. Hospital in Long Beach,California. I remember going to the V.A. Hospital for the first time.....being surrounded by so many people in wheelchairs...or on gurneys. Men with missing legs....or arms...or eyes. Being as young as I was...it was quite frightening....

"WELCOME HOME" Each word, by itself, is a very powerful force. Conjuring up images of family....of your mother and father....sisters and brothers....of being away for a long time...and having them so glad that you're back. Together.......the words can be so powerful that they can actually heal. =========================== I enlisted in the United States Army when I was 17. I had already graduated High school....and had been taught from the time that I was born that each of us has a duty. A duty to serve and protect our Nation....which in reality is serving and protecting our families...and our way of...

He had an old mans walk. Slow steady pace...deliberate. He would walk the neighbourhood 2...3....4 times a day with his aged beagle Fred at his side...always ending up for a least a few moments at the bottom of the hill in the graveyard sitting by his wife who had passed on a few years before. He didn't talk much to the rest of us. But he was friendly enough to always say "Hi!!". He was friendly enough...and patient as he would stand still as the neighborhood children gathered around Fred.(That beagle had the biggest ears I have ever seen on...

Her little face was scrunched up...as only a six year old can be when attempting to be a 'big girl' and not cry. Her normal reaction to the news that her daddy was finally home would be to run and jump into his arms and hug his neck with all the power her little arms could muster. She would smell the familiar 'Daddy Smell'....and bury her little tiny face into her daddy's neck...happy to be just holding her daddy once again. But this time...it was different. This time there would be no hugs... This time there would be no joy...

"Find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground "Crosby,Stills,Nash and Young I tend to wander around cemeteries. Especially right before Memorial Day. It seems to help me regain focus on the day that is set aside to honour those who have served this Nation in uniform. On one such visit...I noticed a man ( a fairly old man with white hair) wearing part of a military uniform. Why I noticed is pretty simple....he had only one leg...and was supported by his remaining leg..and 2 wooden crutches. It kinda stands out...especially in a cemetery. As I got closer to where...

Grow Up! Prior to the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom last year, I wrote that we would not find easy allies among the Iraqi people. It had nothing to do with Muslim disdain for Westerners. It had nothing to do with Iraqi fears of Western colonization. It had nothing to do with oil. It had completely to do with the average Iraqi’s horrific fear of his own government and its vast network of informants and enforcers. The average Iraqi still possesses that fear. This cannot be emphasized enough. There remain very few Iraqi citizens willing to risk their lives in...

Ibn Humaid Blasts ‘Hideous’ Iraq Prison Violations Abdul Jalil Mustafa, Arab News AMMAN, 13 May 2004 — Speaker of the Saudi Shoura Council Dr. Saleh ibn Humaid yesterday condemned the abuses committed against Iraqi prisoners by the US-led coalition troops as “hideous”, and warned the latest violation of human rights in Iraq could “exacerbate” the risk of terrorism. “The suffering of the Iraqi people has been aggravated by the latest media revelation of the hideous scenes of human rights violations against Iraqi prisoners,” Dr. Ibn Humaid told prominent Parliamentarians from eight countries who met to consider ways to help Iraq...

We're a little different....we Americans. Full of hope and life...wanting nothing more than to live a good,decent life...and pass on to our children the Freedom and chance to betterment that we ourselves have had. We don't want to conquer the world...we don't want to even own the idiot thing. We watch dumb t.v. shows...and ,sometimes, even dumber movies. All with the expectation of trying to enjoy a couple of hours of leisure..and,really,doing nothing important. And yet...we also aspire to goodness...and ,maybe, just a little greatness (always with the small 'g'). We TRY to do good the world over. We TRY...