Veteran Has Had It With Republicans: ‘Don’t You Dare Thank Me For My Military Service’

[Quixote1818]

Link: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/02/02/veteran-has-had-it-with-republicans-dont-you-dare-thank-me-for-my-military-service/

[global1]

1. I Wonder If This Veteran Saw This.....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026954842

[SoapBox]

2. Now if a few million more vets would figure this out.

Pukes and Baggers do not have their best interests in mind.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

91. That is the problem

so very many love them some rightwing shit

[Hydra]

3. I'm glad he said it too

I hate seeing Congressional Republicans and others on the right pretend to support the troops even as they cut the throat of said troops on the alter of Mammon.

[shadowmayor]

4. WMD's my ass

Thanks for posting this. I spent 2005 or OIF3 or two Thomas Friedman (suck on this) units worth of time in Abu Ghraib prison where we brought liberty and freedom to thousands of Iraqis detained and trapped inside of fences within high walls. Didn't believe in the war before I went, while I was there, and certainly not after I returned. But I was a soldier, and I couldn't live with the thought of another going in my place - it's complicated. I was a stop-lossed, cross-leveled engineer sent in with the MP reserves out of NY. We had more lead, RPG's and mortars and rockets rained on Abu Ghraib than any spot in Iraq. It was truly a hell-hole beyond description. Did the soldiers torture and humiliate prisoners before we arrived? You betchya as Palin might say. But those who ran the show - contract employees and officers didn't get blamed - naturally. The deaths and rapes and more were never released to the public. Wonder why?

We were told we were a liberating force, and not an occupying force. Camp Remembrance where most of the Iraqis were detained was to remind us all of those brave firemen and police officers who died on 9-11. Yet while we were there, the boy president let it slip that Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks in NY. Not to be deterred, we charlie-miked for the rest of the year. Had a front row view of the phony elections, drove down the roads and saw the murderous carnage unleashed by our war machine, and listened intently to groups of Sunni prisoners tell me around May of 05 that the US should leave as we were killing too many people and the Shiites were taking over. That was the point where the civil war was a done deal, thanks to our war pigs in charge.

I spoke out openly against the invasion to the chagrin of many in our unit at first, but by the end of the tour, a great many had changed their minds. Senators Schumer and Clinton were sent several letters begging them to help remove the Iraqis from Abu Ghraib as it was in violation of the Geneva conventions regarding protecting those under an army's charge and keeping them from harm and away from the field of battle. Crickets on that one folks, big crickets.

ISIS was formed in our prisons, er detention centers like Abu Ghraib and Bucca. I refuse to refer to them as ISIS as they're really Al Qaeda 3.0. Why weren't any of our generals fired? Why were our politicians and media so easily fooled by the bullshit surge? I came back to a brain dead country that had no idea what was going on, much of it in our name.

Apparently Abu was selected by that well known incarceration and war expert Wolfowitz as he found it to be centrally located. The list of fuck-ups, disasters, and wanton disregard for the Iraqi people is endless. It really was a case of: Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people and kill them. Hardy fuckin' har har.

So when a dip-shit repuke tries to thank me, I am no longer polite. I tell them: "No, let me thank you for voting for the bastards who led us into a terrible war, where millions of Iraqis lie dead and homeless and suffering, where our treasure was hemorrhaged to feed KBR and other private war profiteers and where my buddies and I came back broken both physically and psychically. And now we're expected to man-up and be quiet about all that shit?"

And if a democrat dares to thank me, I simply reply: "You have got to be fucking kidding me right? Because if you don't know what a terrible insult that is, well lend me your ear, and I'll tell you a little bit about what war is really like, and I am positive you won't enjoy it one goddamned bit!"

And I always ask, "what the hell did the people of Iraq ever do to the people of the USA?"

Time to exhale

The Shadow Mayor

[Le Taz Hot]

14. On behalf of every one of us who protested, wrote letters,

tried to inform people of the DISASTER that the IWR would rain down, and WHY, I beg you, please, make this a separate thread. People need to see it. Hell, you need to offer it up as an OP ED to a major publication. People have to understand the consequences of that War for Oil. We need to understand that all of this, ALL OF THIS, was for private profit.

As a Boomer Geezer (but I repeat myself) I can tell you that it was veterans coming home from 'Nam telling us what was REALLY happening, and why, that acted as a catalyst to the Viet Nam anti-war movement.

And yes, I do thank you for your service and am angry beyond words that Greedy Old Men can get away with such carnage with absolute impunity.

PLEASE, consider making this a separate thread and if you don't want to do that, please allow me to repost in it's entirety.



LTH

[erronis]

76. +1 - thanks for keeping this topic front and center!

[G_j]

15. +1000

[H2O Man]

16. Outstanding.

Thank you.

[Wilms]

18. Thank you, Shadow.

[Enthusiast]

19. +1 a huge bunch!

[newfie11]

20. K&R

[hlthe2b]

21. Your athenticity and sincerity come through loudly in your post...

I wish I had the words to express what I feel about this whole decades long debacle. I just hope the experience doesn't destroy your life as well.

Still, I wish the latest crop (and those lining up behind them) of those eagerly lining up to fight our politician's ruinous wars under a sense of "patriotism" might hear from you and truly listen to you.

[Scuba]

22. + another

[Smarmie Doofus]

24. Please stick around.

Promise?


K and R

[JohnnyLib2]

25. K & R

A voice that needs to be heard......

[Nitram]

27. Shadowmayor, well said. Thank you.

[DeadLetterOffice]

28. What Taz said, yes, that.

[They_Live]

29. Thank you for this post

Last edited Thu Jul 9, 2015, 11:18 AM - Edit history (1)

it needs to be said again and again until it hits the people responsible and sticks to them.

[bemildred]

30. +1.

[GGJohn]

31. Great post,

as one combat vet to another,
Welcome Home Brother and I truly hope you can find the peace you deserve.

[bahrbearian]

32. ++

[Loki]

33. Please take this post and give it its own thread.

This is what many of us could feel in our bones was happening or about to happen and felt powerless to stop it. You lived it, now it's time to tell the truth even to those who don't want to hear it.

[Scarsdale]

133. Frustrating

Knowing the TRUTH, which many of us suspected, but being ignored. Meanwhile W is out making speeches at $250,000 a pop, he "Only" charged $100,000 for a speech to a veterans' group building homes for wounded vets. Laura was a
bargain" the previous year, only charging $50,000 What a charming couple, making money from people whose lives they damaged beyond repair.

[MissDeeds]

37. +1000

Thank you.

[moondust]

40. Be sure to thank Hillary, too, if you see her.

[Divernan]

95. HRC don't need no stinkin' Geneva Conventions! Never did - never will!

Senators Schumer and Clinton were sent several letters begging them to help remove the Iraqis from Abu Ghraib as it was in violation of the Geneva conventions regarding protecting those under an army's charge and keeping them from harm and away from the field of battle. Crickets on that one folks, big crickets.

Also evidenced by Hillary's support for the use of land mines and cluster bombs, regardless of how many children were killed and maimed by same. Guess she hadn't "evolved" into being a self-proclaimed champion of children yet.

"The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law: wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or destruction not justified by military necessity." -- Nuremberg conventions, Principle VI

Combatants "shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives and, accordingly, shall direct their operations only against military objectives." -- Geneva Conventions, part IV, Article 48

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/21/425303/-Hillary-Clinton-Voted-to-Continue-Cluster-Bombing-Civilians
as per http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251413864

The main point: Hillary Clinton voted to let our military continue to use cluster bombs in areas with concentrated civilian populations, despite the thousands of innocent children who have died or been handicapped due to picking up unexploded cluster bomblets.

This vote was cast in September 6, 2006 on an amendment to the Defense Appropriations act by Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Before I get into why this was such an important amendment and why a no vote was so terrible, I just want to post the vote totals with presidential candidates in bold.

30 Democrats voted YEA: Akaka (D-HI), Baucus (D-MT), Bingaman (D-NM), Boxer (D-CA), Byrd (D-WV), Cantwell (D-WA), Carper (D-DE), Conrad (D-ND)
Dayton (D-MN), Dorgan (D-ND), Durbin (D-IL), Feingold (D-WI), Feinstein (D-CA), Harkin (D-IA), Jeffords (I-VT), Johnson (D-SD), Kennedy (D-MA), Kerry (D-MA), Kohl (D-WI), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Menendez (D-NJ), Mikulski (D-MD), Murray (D-WA), Obama (D-IL), Reed (D-RI), Reid (D-NV), Sarbanes (D-MD), Stabenow (D-MI), Wyden (D-OR)

15 Democrats and every Republican voted NAY (R's not listed):
Bayh (D-IN), Biden (D-DE), Clinton (D-NY), Dodd (D-CT), Inouye (D-HI), Landrieu (D-LA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Lieberman (D-CT), Lincoln (D-AR), Nelson (D-FL), Nelson (D-NE), Pryor (D-AR), Rockefeller (D-WV), Salazar (D-CO), Schumer (D-NY)

[rhett o rick]

127. It's times like this that I truly wish I believed in hell. I'd wish that ALL those responsible

for this cruel war, rot in hell.

[Baitball Blogger]

41. You are the voice of reason.

I live in a right-wing community and it is incredible how the leadership exploited that war to push agendas that had no Constitutional foundation. We really do have to fight a philosophical war to get our country back and voices like yours will lead the way.

[B Calm]

43. This should be another opening post!

[mountain grammy]

45. Thank you for this.

My Vietnam vet husband has always asked the same question;
"what the hell did the people of Vietnam ever do to the people of the USA?"

War is, and always has been, a racket!

[Human101948]

62. They thought that they could adolpt American values...

It wasn’t a coincidence that Ho’s inaugural address, when he declared the creation of an independent Vietnam in September 1945, referred to America’s Declaration of Independence. He saw the noble values of democracy, freedom, equality and justice as the most important guiding principles for Vietnam.

In a series of eight letters and telegrams to President Harry S. Truman, and three to Secretary of State James F. Byrnes in 1945-46, Ho denounced French colonialism and clearly stated “our goal is full independence and full cooperation with the United States” and expressed the Vietnamese people’s admiration for “the American people whose fine stand for the noble ideals of international Justice and Humanity, and whose modern technical achievements have so strongly appealed to them.”

Regrettably, most of his letters were ignored. History is littered with many such missed opportunities. In this case, there were disastrous consequences.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/opinion/sunday/vietnams-overdue-alliance-with-america.html?_r=0

[mountain grammy]

74. Thank you for that history, much of which I didn't know.

While some wars appear justified, history shows us the missed opportunities that could have avoided the misery and bloodshed. As an intelligent species, we are supposed to learn from history.

[kelliekat44]

80. Yes, MLK spoke about how those letters were ignored. nt

[azmom]

47. +1

[Octafish]

48. Wish you ran for real President.

Thank you for your post and sharing your wisdom.

[Fast Walker 52]

49. war is a racket, and I have long held that the Iraq war was one of the cruelest ruses ever played on

our soldiers. They were completely propagandized by the massive lie that Iraq had something to do with 9/11. It still makes me so fucking angry!

[bigtree]

51. recommended

[libdem4life]

52. Ditto from the 60s...they said the 90s would stand the 60s on it's proverbial head. Indeed.

[historylovr]

53. +1

Thank you for speaking out.

[panader0]

54. Powerful post

[Martin Eden]

55. SUPPORT OUR TROOPS

I wanted to vomit, scream, break things, and slap the driver upside the head every time I saw one of those bumper stickers on the car or pickup truck of some flag waving patriotic armchair warrior who was all for sending our citizens in uniform to kill and be killed on the basis of lies and greed and the ambition of politicians who either didn't know or didn't care about the consequences as long as they got re-elected and their sponsors got rich.

When I marched in Washington with 100,000 other protesters a few days before Shock & Awe was launched, a small group of counter-protesters started chanting SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, SUPPORT OUR TROOPS.

I started chanting along with them SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME.

In very short order others joined me, and we drowned them out.

We knew it was a pack of lies and we knew it was going to be a costly fiasco, and we knew this before Congress voted in October 2002 to give the Chimperor authority to commit war crimes. To this day I refuse to support any politician who voted for the IWR.

[Frustratedlady]

59. You don't hear that so much anymore, do you? Support our Troops?

Now, the Repubs are voting down support.

"You did your job, now bug off!"

[L0oniX]

75. +1 I considered any car with that fucking ribbon to be a threat to me and the other drivers.

[peace13]

134. I always follow Support Our Troops with....

....bring them home! Bring them home and give them the best healthcare we can find!

[closeupready]

56. Thanks. "ISIS was formed in our prisons" - likewise, the Islamic Brotherhood

of Egypt was shaped and fueled by torture of detainees in Egypt during the early 20th Century.

Who cares about learning how to get along when war and violence are profitable?

[heaven05]

58. +1000

TRUTH!!!!!! It always slips out because we have some soldiers who have a conscience.

[chknltl]

61. At WWII's ending, German citizens were made to see.

Thank you for that tiny peek.

[Gemini Cat]

63. Thank you for this post!

Please re-post so everyone can read it!

[Raster]

64. Unfortunately the people of Iraq just happened live above a very large pool of petroleum; and...

...happened to occupy some of the most coveted real estate in the Middle East. The people, the cities, the societies and the culture of Iraq were pre-recognized collateral damage as the Bush* (selected NOT elected) mis-administration staggered and flailed about attempting to fulfill the PNAC wet dream of "New Rome."

[hwmnbn]

65. K&R to this passionate post...

Welcome to DU.

There is always a need for folks with experience and eloquence to speak about war from the soldier's point of view. I look forward to your future posts.

[The Wizard]

66. Like Vietnam

It was started under false pretenses by a president from Texas who took office under very unusual circumstances.
It was an excuse to loot the Treasury by the Bush cartel. Our media never questioned the validity of the Bush cartel's claims of WMD.
19 guys with box cutters directed by a guy in a cave halfway around the world brought this country to its knees and made us willing to sacrifice all of our values.
I'd say the Department of Defense is concealing their ill gotten gains in off shore money laundries.
As Deep Throat famously said to Woodward and Bernstein, "follow the money." And that includes the $9 billion is cash that went missing in the first month of the occupation. Lest anyone forget, 9 billion in cash in one place can be seen from the Moon.

[brer cat]

67. No one can say it better

or with more authenticity. Thank you.

[kenfrequed]

69. Too true.

I signed up during Desert Storm and protested any military action in Iraq. Thank you for standing up.

[L0oniX]

71. +1 from an old late 1960's war protester with forever changed friends who came home.

[The Polack MSgt]

78. Say it loud and often

You got a beer coming from me cousin.

[WillyT]

82. + 1,000,000,000 What You Said !!!

[Victor_c3]

83. I'm an Iraq war vet myself

I completely get everything you say. I was young and stupid when I joined the army in 1997. I actually believed our military would be used to make the world a better place. Fast forward to 2004 and I was a young infantry platoon leader stuck in the middle of the war with blood all over my hands.

Almost 10 years to the day of one of the anniversaries of one of the major firefights i led my platoon in I attempted suicide. I slashed my wrists and sprayed my blood in my wife's face after she called me a killer and a coward (she was trying to use the war against me in an argument).

The war has impacted me tremendously. I've lost numerous decent careers because of it and my relationships are a wreck. In the last year I've been locked up in a psych ward almost 5 of those months.

Whenever I hear anyone claim to be a veteran then claim that they are pro-war and military I automatically know the person certainly didn't experience combat or actually see any of the impacts of the violence we were a part of.

[Le Taz Hot]

88. Please know that you have a home here,

you have people who care for you and hundreds of combat veterans who have experienced the horrors of war as you have. Please know that YOUR VOICE IS IMPORTANT! One day of what you experienced would have made me lose my mind. I can't imagine having to go through it day after day after day.

[geardaddy]

84. +1

Thanks for telling it like it is/was.

[raouldukelives]

85. Thank you for your story Shadow. I am sorry for the burden you bear.

Only by addressing our injuries can we ever start to heal them. Only by the recalling past truths can we avoid future lies.

[herding cats]

93. We need more people like you in this counry.

For several different reasons, and all of them come back to you being one of the good ones out there.

[fadedrose]

94. Please continue to post as your remember more

nt

[MisterP]

98. +1: three words: Sons. of. Iraq.

[seafan]

100. Thank you for this post, shadowmayor. Eloquent, devastating, and must be communicated widely.

So many people back here at home marched, screamed, disrupted, protested, were arrested, and demonstrated outside politicians' offices, signed petitions, and called our "leaders" before March 20, 2003, but The Machine Of Lies ground on.

It effing ground on. Bush's illegal wars devastated so many lives, and this carnage continues today.

I will never lose hope that we will find some measure of forgiveness in the eyes of the world, and among our own people, who have lost so much under this monstrous evil unleashed on all of us, by the greed of a few.

We are thankful for your courage and your conscience, shadowmayor. Please feel comfortable among us. We need your strength.

[LiberalLovinLug]

103. Thankyou

a truly great and sincere post.

[bvar22]

104. Please post this as an OP.

All of DU (and the country) needs to read this.
Well Done.
DURec for your post!

[WilliamPitt]

105. Best post I've ever read on this site

...and I've been here thirteen years.

Harrowing. Shattering. True.

A lot of us here tried to stop it. We really tried.

Welcome home.

[gvstn]

106. Thanks for every word of this post.

I'm glad you made it back. Sorry, for those who did not. Sorry, for every Iraqi who suffered needlessly and there were indeed millions in total. This is my most central beef against Hillary. She thinks war is the answer to getting a female President. War is bad, war is terrible, no matter the reason. Thank you again.

[MyOwnPeace]

108. Yes........

you need to be published - newspapers, video media.
I'd thank you but it is obvious you are tired of that because the "cause" you were fighting for was such a fraud.
May you find peace in your life and happiness with a good future for you and our country.

[catchnrelease]

111. Yes, please make a separate thread of this

I would like to bookmark it. Very powerful.

[Voice for Peace]

112. thank you! for your post. and honesty. and having a conscience.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

115. Both parties want us to move on....

I will when I see Dubya's balding head behind bars.

[marym625]

117. Please, make this an OP.

It needs to be seen and shared everywhere.

I will thank you for sharing this with us. It's immensely personal while being something that the public needs to know.

You were there at the same time as a cousin of mine, though he was in Marines and not at the prison. This does not surprise me in the least.

[Skittles]

121. worthy of its own thread

yes indeed

[CrawlingChaos]

124. Truly outstanding post

Shadow Mayor your words have so much power. I very much hope you will stick around as there are many who need to hear them. As loudly and as often as possible.

[The Roux Comes First]

126. As Le Taz Says, Please Do Not Allow Your Moving Words to Remain Buried in a Comment Stream (nfm)

[stopwastingmymoney]

128. Thank you for writing this

I know it must have been difficult for you. My brother was there too. I don't have the words to express how heartbroken and powerless so many of us felt over the abomination of that war.

I wish you peace brother

[Heidi]

129. Kick, kick, kick!!!

[byronius]

130. Dude. More like Light Mayor.

Fucking awesome post.

[steve2470]

131. thank you! nt

[MrMickeysMom]

132. None of these guys were voted in...

There was a shit load of protest without reaction… NOw these guys are on the lecture circuit making hundreds of thousands, PER speech. That includes Clinton… she voted for it.

War criminals is us… I am not proud to be an American under these circumstances, but you already showed why.

MMM

[thekestrelseye]

138. Thank you, brother. I love you with a flaming heart.

Thank you, my brother. God, it's good to hear veterans come out & tell the truth about what these wars are really all about. Personally, I haven't been able to feel anything but disgust, grief, & revulsion in response to these wars, because I KNOW, I've always known, what they're really like, & the real reasons why they've been fought. Words aren't adequate to express the respect & admiration I feel for you, for 1) Being & staying awake (as in fully self-aware) in the middle of Hell, & in dealing with the personal consequences later, and 2) Having the courage to speak out loudly about just what kind of hell it really all is.

Myself, I can't stand these holidays we celebrate, Veterans & Memorial Day, & for the most part now, July 4th, in honor of "Our Heroes" who got themselves sucked into these travesties, these orgies of violence, cruelty & horror, all conducted ulitmately just for massive profits to a few. For these heroes who, once trapped into it, couldn't find the guts (or the awareness), unlike yourself, to tell the truth about it.

Today you've freed me to stand up, for once & all, & say: I'm not celebrating this crap, I don't buy it, never did, & I'm not putting up with it ANY MORE.

[Cassidy1]

5. The whole "hero" thing is a ruse.

Thank somebody for their "service," and then go back to eating and watching the game.

People get the impression that these campaigns are grassroots, but they are orchestrated to the point of the Defense Dept paying the NFL for patriotic displays.

US Defense Department paid 14 NFL teams $5.4M to honor soldiers.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25181085/nfl-teams-received-54-million-from-defense-department-in-last-4-years


According to a report from Christopher Baxter and Jonathan Salant of NJ.com, the Department of Defense has paid 14 different NFL teams a total of $5.4 million over the last four years in exchange for patriotic displays at games.

Per NJ.com's report, "U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz) last week called out the New Jersey Army National Guard for the spending, which, in part, paid for a segment at Jets home games in which soldiers were featured on the big screen, thanked for their service and given tickets to the game."

The National Guard responded by asserting that it was a useful recruitment tool.


"Promoting and increasing the public's understanding and appreciation of military service in the New Jersey Army National Guard increases the propensity for service in our ranks and garners public support for our Hometown Team," Guard spokesman Patrick Daugherty said.

The Jets were joined by the Falcons, Ravens, Bills, Bengals, Browns, Packers, Colts, Chiefs, Vikings and Steelers in receiving multiple payouts, while the Cowboys, Dolphins and Rams were each one-time recipients. The team that has received the most money from this practice is the Falcons, with a total of $1,049,500 coming their way in five payments.

Here's the full list from NJ.com:

[pinboy3niner]

6. I don't need DoD to tell me to honor the troops

I've been there, done that, and I know that service even in peacetime involves hard work and sacrifice for troops and their families.

Today, we've seen many of these troops come home in flag-draped caskets, or horribly wounded. They are friends and neighbors--and sometimes family members--in our communities.

DoD may milk it, and some may debate about the meaning of 'heroes,' but some of us have a perspective on what it really means to serve and to sacrifice.

R.I.P. to fallen Brothers and Sisters.

[GGJohn]

9. +1000.

[cherokeeprogressive]

23. ^THIS^

[underpants]

39. I saw a Wounded Warriors commercial this morning

Hey good for the celebrities who support this but watching it (I literally stopped to watch the whole thing) was heartbreaking. The loss of limbs. The pain. And one Veteran who was - I'm not sure how exactly to describe him - completely disabled. He could walk with assistance and he clearly was aware of what was going on in front of him but that was it. He has a loving wife and parents who will be caregivers for the rest of his life. I wasn't stopped to watch it because of the heart tugging stories, I just stood there thinking "Why? Why did this happen to these people?" We all know the answer.

When I hear a caller on the radio get a "Thank you" or people doing it in person I can't help but just want to scream WHY?!? WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?!??

[stevenleser]

87. Well said. I'm former USAF. I think you captured it perfectly.

[GGJohn]

8. Why do you put the word service like this?

"service"

[Cassidy1]

12. Words are put in quotes when they don't mean what someone suggests they mean.

Service means helping others or doing work for others.

[GGJohn]

26. You're wrong,

in the Military, service means serving your country, which I proudly did for over 40 years.
But you've never served a day in our Armed Forces, so you wouldn't understand that, no insult intended, it is what it is.

[Bigmack]

68. It's not our service... it's what the country DOES with that service...

...that really counts.

I'm proud I was a Marine (actually, nobody is an ex-Marine), but what our country did with my service....? Total bullshit.

It's very hard to admit that everything I went thru....all the suffering of my brothers... all those dead kids... was for the politicians' crassest motives.

[GGJohn]

70. I agree, but the poster I was replying to had it all wrong

and I was just correcting him what the word service meant in the Military.

[Cassidy1]

107. No insult taken.

I simply defined the word. You repeated the word in your definition, which means you never defined it. Perhaps it is you who does not understand what you did.

[salimbag]

110. Just curious

40 years in the military. Were you an officer? I am a Vietnam vet, and there was no way I would stay in the military after my experience. Wondering how you did it.

[GGJohn]

118. I started out as a WO1,

which was standard rank for helo pilots in Vietnam and went on to OCS to become an officer.

I almost did leave, but my wife and I discussed it and we decided that I would make a career of the Army and go for a pension.
There were rough spots, but we've never really regretted our decision.

We now live outside of Flagstaff, Az and run our own small farm.

BTW, welcome home brother.

[salimbag]

120. Thanks John

My only helo ride in Nam was during a short period of unconsciousness. Kind of sorry I missed the view. Woke up in the hospital, never got to thank the pilot.

[GGJohn]

122. I flew Slicks and Snakes doing troop insertions and CGS ops,

I did do a few dust off flights also.

Glad you made it home brother.

[Fast Walker 52]

44. Sick!

God the military is disgusting.

[GGJohn]

50. You ever serve?

Just curious.

[Fast Walker 52]

89. I don't think it would surprise you that I have not

and of course I was over-generalizing in my last remark. My remark was more about our military and their promoting wars in general, than the people who serve in the military.

[Cassidy1]

109. Did you ever serve?

Anybody can serve in any job or any endeavor in life. Simply being in an organization or a job is not the equivalent of serving. The idea that you put a monopoly on the word "serve" speaks to the silliness surrounding the awe of military.

[GGJohn]

119. Yes, I did serve our country and I proudly served. eom.

[bluestateboomer]

7. As a Viet Nam Vet

I want to thank all the servicemen and women who have stood in harms way. You did it mostly to stand alongside your fellow service people, who you know you can trust with your life the same as they trust you. But as an American citizen, my first thought in lieu of thanks is an apology for all the crap that you have had to endure for the sake of our country's lies and deception.

[PatrickforO]

10. Concerning W, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the other Republican hacks that killed all these people...

WAR

CRIMES

WHEN will we put them on the dock where they belong and can see the gallows from the window of their cells???

[Caretha]

137. When this happens

then we "Can move forward".

Not until then. There will be no justice, there will be no honor or truth, no equality, no freedom and no real democracy.

You cannot "Take this off the table" and expect anything other than continued corruption and evil to reign.

[Enthusiast]

11. K&R! This post should have hundreds of recommendations!

[Scuba]

13. This veteran salutes Jim Adams!

[malaise]

17. And now Dumbya who sent them to war on his lies

charged $100,000 to speak at a Veterans' event.

Don't yah just love ReTHUG patriotism!!!!

[calikid]

113. A Veterans' CHARITY event to be exact!

[malaise]

116. They are shameless

Disgusting

[samsingh]

34. this deserves to go viral

[ladjf]

35. That letter might be the best response to Republican hypocrisy I've ever seen.

Way to go Jim.

[ellennelle]

36. thank you for your courage

to say these things.

when i see anyone in uniform, i ask if they've seen action.

at that point, all i can do is apologize.

with the deepest shame.

despite my protesting, over and over and over.....

[gordianot]

38. This harkens to another age of American veterans from World War I the "Bonus March".

They were brutally put down by the same Army they served a decade before. At least this generation has not yet felt the club.

[B Calm]

42. As a veteran myself, I never could understand why veterans vote republican. K&R

[lonestarnot]

72. That and people who work for a living.

[peace13]

136. The service members in my family are still right wing.

They think I am a peacenik and that I do not support them. Go figure!

[democrank]

46. I think of you and others like you every single day.

Junior Bush should hang his head in shame.

[spanone]

57. this should be the response from every veteran

[navarth]

60. Kicking for the vets

I never had to go to 'nam because my lottery number was too high. (Younger friends here might not know what that means.) However I have many friends who are vets and they all consider Bu$h to be a traitorous war criminal. One friend is an ex-army Ranger and every once in a while I'll tell him "thank you for your service" just to kid him. He always pretends to be jumping over the table at me.

I don't want to thank the vets for their service; I want to apologize. Iraq was about OIL. Viet Nam was about rubber for Michelin. These are the opinions I have heard from my friends who were put in danger overseas.

[DustyJoe]

73. Party Neutral

As a Vet from the mid 60's I could care less what political affiliation you are if you say 'thank you for your service', in the 60's you didn't have a choice to 'serve' with the draft. Whether it was a Kennedy/Johnson or Cheney/Bush combo, both wars were unneeded and the deaths and wounded a waste of human life.

[raouldukelives]

77. K&R Killing for lies must be a most horrible truth to realize.

I am so sorry for that burden on them. They deserve far, far better. With the help of true democracy, they will get it.

No more lies.

[Uncle Joe]

79. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Quixote.

[niyad]

81. k and r + gazillion

[UTUSN]

86. R#195 & K for, I've been saying this for years. The local radio wingnut lectured me

that I should be GRACIOUS.

[merrily]

90. BOOM!

[brentspeak]

92. Actually, the Repubs are quite correct to thank the troops for their service

After all, the troops' presence and (through no fault of their own) futile sacrifices in Iraq and Afghanistan made many private contractors -- Republican donors, mostly -- insanely wealthy through our tax dollars.

Those Democrats who also voted to let Bush send troops overseas also can also legitimately 'thank' the troops for their sacrifice; they got reelected due to their spineless rah-rah'ing of the wars.

The troops' collective personal tragedy was the GOP's and some Democrats' personal gain.

[lark]

96. + 1,000,000,000

Whoohoo, love the straight talk. Repugs only care about creating new wars, continuing the old ones, and creating lots and lots of blindingly ridiculous and often unneeded military toys. They don't give a shit about the people actually fighting their wars and it seems actually wants them to die rather than spend a dime of the governments money that they earned. They certainly fund their own health care, but won't take care of the people that do their horrible dirty work.

[craigmatic]

97. If only all of them would wake up. Sadly most either don't vote or are repubs.

[SmittynMo]

99. On top of that,

charged 100K to hear an ex republican president (you know, the asshole who put us there in the first place) speak at a Veterans affair? WTF!!!!

FUCK the GOP!!!

[spiderpig]

101. Plus a private jet from Dallas to Houston

and accommodations (aren't Babs & Poppy in the neighborhood?). Pickles (Laura) pulled in $50K as well.

I just can't with this bunch.

[SmittynMo]

102. Un frickin believable

I am at a loss for words. This is so low, I can't describe how low.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

114. I wish that he could go on every TV and say this.

I wish he could say this on Morning Joe and Chris Matthews. They wouldn't let him on fox.

[Thespian2]

123. Brilliant Post

with a brilliant response in the thread...

Thanks for all the insights by both writers...

[amuse bouche]

125. Truth

[peace13]

135. Thanks for writing this.

I wasn't a soldier and the Bush years made me all but crazy. We met with 500,000 Americans on the Mall in DC to speak out against the surge. We piled in a bus and drove through the night to get there. There were folks of all sizes, ages , and colors there. Americans from every corner of the country arrived. For a day I was surrounded by people with the same urgent cause. Stop this war and bring our soldiers home. This peaceful demonstration with enough people to march the block of the Capitol Building and surround it on all sides was an amazing sight. I wish you could have seen that people from all parts of this country stopped what they were doing and got to this one spot in the country to speak out. To try to get the killing stopped. Unfortunately, there was only Cspan to cover the story and to the rest of the world it was as though it never happened.

I am sorry that so many were put in the awful position on carrying out the Cheney / * doctrine of massacre for oil profiteers. When Rumsfield said on the run up to the war that the troops are fungible, I knew that we were hostage to madmen! Why so many refused to see it, I will never know.