John Kerry enlisted in the Navy and served in Vietnam. He was the epitome of privileged, educated, smart, and entitled, and yet he still fought in Vietnam for God, Country, and Yale.
If a chickenhawk had said, “you know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq,” then I would agree that this is an issue.
John Kerry attended Yale College. He graduated and then signed up for the Navy. Kerry was sent to Vietnam, where he served his country. In much the same way that only black folk are allowed to use the N word and only gay folks can use the F word, vets can say whatever they want because they put their money where there mouth was.
Once John Kerry went to war as a Naval officer, there are no takebacks. Leave the man alone, he is a patriot. He showed his colors and they’re red, white, and blue. No takebacks on patriotism. He is entitled to come back to the US, as a civilian and have his own opinion on the war.
Chickenhawk n. A person enthusiastic about war, provided someone else fights it; particularly when that enthusiasm is undimmed by personal experience with war; most emphatically when that lack of experience came in spite of ample opportunity in that person’s youth.
Via the Guardian.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Chris, this letter was forwarded to me by my Uncle..and I’m glad he did. I was hesitant to even respond to this blog entry b/c I believed it would have been a monumental waste of time given your sentiments here. In light of this wife’s request to “forward this on???, I now give this to you. Perhaps it provides some helpful perspective. SV.
A MARINE IN IRAQ RESPONDS TO SEN. KERRY
Thanks Michelle and Aaron for this letter. Regardless of your stand on
the war, this is an excellent letter.
{This was written by my husband, Aaron, who is currently deployed to
Iraq, in defense of a recent comment made by Senator John Kerry. Pass
it along; it might inspire someone else to speak up! ~ Michelle}
John Kerry said, “You know education, if you make the most of it, you
study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart,
you can do well, and if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
So I wrote him a letter:
“I am a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. I am currently on
my second tour in Iraq, a tour I volunteered for. I speak Arabic and
Spanish and I plan to tackle Persian Farsi soon. I have a Bachelors and
an Associates Degree and between deployments I am pursuing an M.B.A. In
college I was a member of several academic honor societies, including
the Golden Key Honor Society. I am not unique among the enlisted
troops. Many of my enlisted colleagues include lawyers, teachers,
mechanics, engineers, musicians and artists just to name a few. You say
that your comments were directed towards the President and not us. If
we were stupid Senator Kerry, we might have believed you.
I am not a victim of President Bush. I proudly serve him because he is
my Commander and Chief. If it was you who was President, I would serve
you just as faithfully. I serve America, Senator Kerry, and I am also
providing a service to the good people of Iraq. I have not terrorized
them in the middle of the night, raped them or murdered them as you
have accused me of before. I am doing my part to help them rebuild. My
role is a simple one, but important. You see, Senator Kerry, like it
or not, we came here and removed a tyrant (who terrorized Iraqis in the
middle of the night, and raped and murdered them). And we have a
responsibility to see to it that another one doesn’t take his place.
The people of Iraq are recovering from an abusive relationship with a
terrible government and it’s going to take some time to help them
recover from that. We can’t treat this conflict like a microwave dinner
and throw a temper tantrum because we feel like it’s taking too long.
Senator Kerry, you don’t have to agree with this war. You don’t have to
say nice things about those of us who choose to make sacrifices for the
rights of every American rather than sit back and simply feel entitled
to it. But please, Senator Kerry, if you’re going to call me a stupid
murdering rapist, stick by what you say. Don’t tell me that I
misunderstood or that you would never insult a veteran because you are
one too. Having been there and done that does not give you a free pass
to insult me.
My suggestion for you, Senator Kerry, is to remember that your speeches
are recorded, and broadcast to us simpletons over here. You may want to
write down what you want to say before you say it; maybe have somebody
look at it before you say it and tell you what others might hear.
Remember that we can’t read your mind; if there are any
misinterpretations in what you say, it’s because you didn’t communicate
clearly.
Good luck to you, Senator Kerry; if nothing else it’s always
entertaining to watch you try and climb out of the holes that you
constantly dig for yourself.”
Sincerely,
“Somebody who is watching his daughter grow up in photographs so that
you can have the right to say whatever you want about him.”