'They just won't let that war go' [vets rethinking bush support]

[truthisfreedom]

http://www.indystar.com/articles/0/173292-5160-010.html
OF HUMAN INTEREST

'They just won't let that war go'

By Timothy Egan
The New York Times

August 26, 2004
 


Many of them are bent and broken, grayer and wider. Some carry shrapnel from a step too far, an ambush replayed over and over. All of them carry memories. And now as the debate over service 35 years ago in a war that will not entirely fade roils the presidential campaign, Vietnam veterans wonder if they are doomed to take the arguments that divided a nation to their graves.
<snip>

None of the veterans interviewed said the challenge by the anti-Kerry group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, had actually changed their minds on the election. But a handful said the attacks were making them rethink support for Bush.

"I'm a Republican -- I voted for Bush last time -- but I may go to Kerry this year," said Ron Ostrander, who served in the Army from 1966 to 1969 and lives in Vancouver, Wash. "To me, it's irrelevant whether Kerry's boat went into international waters or not, or how he got his medals. The fact that he served and did his duty -- don't try to take that away from him."

[Gunit_Sangh]

1. Du The poll on this article

There's a question about whether Kerry was truthfull about his medals. When I visited it was 62% No.

[LostInAnomie]

2. Done but forget about it...

Indy is FreepCity USA

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. I think the message here is

not whether Kerry earned his medals, but that he went to Viet Nam. That was at least implied in the veteran's comments. Even though no one is talking about it much, the fact that Bush checked that little box that said he didn't want to go to Viet Nam cannot be disputed, and veterans remember. They've got to be thinking about the mess we're in now, how much like Viet Nam it is, and how the Shrub got us there. Somehow, those who dodged bullets and were there understand more about war than those who didn't.

[Mokito]

4. The backlash cometh!