Heros

Everyday Heros - now there's an oxymoron

Last week, 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 one soldier wrote the senator a letter. He is currently deployed to Iraq, and in defense of this recent comment, he says:
I am a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. I am currently on my second tour in Iraq, a tour in which I volunteered for. I speak Arabic and Spanish and I plan to tackle Persian Farsi soon. I have a Bachelors and Associates Degree and in between deployments, I am pursuing an M.B.A.
In college, I was a member of several academic honor societies, including the Golden KeyHonor 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 you were President, I would serve you justsas faithfully.
I serve America, Senator Kerry, and I am also providing asservice to the good people of Iraq. I have not terrorized them in the middlesof 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 has terrorized Iraqis in the middle of the night, and raped them and murdered them). And we have a responsibility to see to it that another onesdoesn'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 were 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 towatch you try and climb out of the holes that you constantly dig foryourself.
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

As a side note to this, here's my commentary of this entry:
I'd never really thought about it, but the Armed services does consider a major portion of the male poulation to be disposable. They were called the infantry and most WWII movies are all about them.
But I'm not sure it's the same now, because the enlisted men and women are all volunteers now.
Once upon a time, during the days of the mandatory draft, if you didn't join before your 'number' came up, then you did become one of the potentially disposables - usually a foot soldier.
My Hubby joined just out of HS, before he would be a 'number', he joined the Navy. He served on aircraft carriers and also did shore patrol. Both potentially dangerous jobs.
My Daughter, after 4 years of college joined the Navy in the hopes that she would be awarded a scholarship and after spending her time in college, she was a assigned to an aircraft carrier that was stationed in the Persian Gulf for many months at a time. She spent a number of months stuck on a ship and then another eight months outside of Dubai and off the coast of Iraq.

Not too dangerous you say? Remember the U.S.S. Cole.

My son-in-law, after his 4 years of college, also joined the Navy (for the second time) in the hopes he, too, would also receive a scholarship. He spent the majority of his time as the ship's surgeon living day to day on a transport ship, training on equipment, dispensing medicines and transporting troups - Marines, soldiers and other 'infantry men' headed to Iraq to rebuild a country. He is still in the Navy and will be sent to Iraq or somewhere else in that region at some point in the future.
Since there is no mandatory enlistment service program currently for men or women, they have all join based on their own decisions. Our armed services, while servincg in them is indeed dangerous, it can provide a future that many of our young people could only dream about. Many, many people spend their whole working their whole life serving our country.
While I agree with the Senator to not waste the educational opportunities offerred to people by American schools; but don't bust a vein watching our young soldiers being handed guns, keep in mind that the vast majority of these young people are voluntarily serving in the armed forces because they felt it necessary to defend the USA and what it stands for.
What I disagree with concerning Kerry's remarks, is the fact that he indicates that only morons or 'nobodys' get caught up in an ongoing war that seems to the majority of Americans to serve no purpose.

Many of my friends and my church member's family have loved ones in that area and they all write home complaining about the poor image the media paints of this situation. All say the Iraquis are so excited to see the assistance of the world's greatest countries helping them out. They see each and every soldier as the epitomy of the American citizen.

The #1 complaint our Soldiers have is that it appeears that the people back home seem to have forgotten them and that the government contiunally cuts back on guns and ammo. The things they need in order to survive. We can't back out now, just because the Democrats are in power for the moment.

I wonder, just who does Senator John Kerry think has been defending HIS America for he last 200+ years?