Were YOU there?

H E L L O, REALITY CALLING......What it all comes down to is simple: anyone who went to ‘Nam is more of a man than anyone who went into the Air National Guard to avoid going, whether the person in question actually showed up for duty or not, yuhknowwhudImean? I'M SORRY, WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT IT?

All who served time in Rotten VietNam (RVN to those whose misfortune led them to an intersection with the BackSide of Hell) deserve respect if for no other reason: We were there! We humped the Arizona, ratted the tunnels of Cu Chi, kept Hiway 1 open, patrolled the coasts and rivers, flew the skies, mopped the blood, counted the days, did our part. Sometimes a whole lot more than our part for some of us, gone these 35 or more years. Ghosts of memories of lives cut short, by the tens of 1000's, shimmer in the mind, as alive as ever, frozen in the moment....but only in the minds of we who were there!

The inherent hypocrisy in all this is that the debate is over whether Kerry was a "hero", instead of  "WAS HE THERE”, doing his duty and making the best of a bad situation in the time -vaunted American Way. Do we expect "HEROism" from our Candidate, IF HE WAS THERE, but FAR less of a standard from the Candidate WHO DUCKED OUT of Uncle Sam's kind offer of an All-Expenses-Paid EXTENDED TOUR of SouthEast Asia? Both Bush and Cheney opted not to participate in the “trial-by-fire” VietNam Experience, making them no different than Clinton or the many others who chose college deferments or Canada instead of two years in green. Hmmmm, and the envelope please? The winner is......NOT the American People if we can't decry this INDIGNITY for what it is! ANY....that means "any-and-all",....ANYONE who served INside the confines of VietNam, during the period otherwise know as the VietNam Conflict, deserves all respect displayed to the colors at any (and all) times: it is the contract we make with our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, individually and together. Honorable service is the standard, service under fire in combatconditions ALWAYS trumps playing air polo with the A.N.G. The VietNam VETERANS have already been demeaned sufficiently, first during the period of the war, then in the years after. NOW we have someone come along and HE’s been there! The FIRST (perhaps the only) VietNam VETERANpresident of the UNITED States of America, what a concept! And your guy is….? A Draft Dodging Air-Guarder! Are you serious? And this guy is supposed to project a firmer, more aggressively defensive America in a world beset by conflict? Tell you what, I’ll take a guy who walked the path in ‘Nam, on point, every time, to the “JODY” back home. Call me crazy, but being in close contact with bullets flying freely with totaldisregard for your personal safety gives you a far better perspective on WAR than ANY amount of Monday Morning Quarterbacking.

As a VietNam VETERAN, a survivor of the very worst year, a year in which more young men died not only in the course of that year, but also more than in all previous years COMBINED , as a survivor of that time and that year in Hell-on Earth, I am insulted and affronted by the attacks on John Kerry. This is a furtherance of the disrespect accorded VietNam VETERANS during and after their service. Spending time in the fungus-ridden sweatbox that was the Republic of VietNam meant eating three meals a day out of boxes for days and weeks on end, drinking water reeking of quinine, remembering to take your daily and weekly Malaria pills while watching your skin turn yellow, and jumping at stray sounds. It meant watching civilians suspiciously and carefully, watching your buddies back and keeping a cool head under fire. Not everyone did it well; many, too many, did not do it successfully at all. The Military Command did little to help: their focus was on aggrandizement and promotion. A large part of that was in dispensing medals…to say that Kerry did not “earn” his is to pull a curtain behind which cower far too many “professional” Military officers and non-coms. Bronze Stars were routinely given out to E-7 and above NCO’s and Lieutenants thru Majors; Lt Colonels and above received Silver Stars. Buck Sergeants, Staff Sgts and the odd Spec 4 got ArComs (Army Commendation Medals); Purple Hearts were given out like candy…too many got them for falling while running to a bunker. This is not meant as a blanket condemnation of all who received medals; the vast majority earned theirs the hard way. The sad fact was the Pentagon shipped numbers of Officers over to get a little “blooding”, pick up a medal or two and then back Stateside to make room for the next group, so they could have a combat tour on their record. I have seen men wearing CIB’s, with wreaths, no less,that never saw combat closer than a bunker on a Base Camp perimeter line. The Combat Infantryman’s Badge is supposed to be a mark of combat experience, UNDER FIRE.

For someone who couldn’t be bothered with wearing his uniform on a regular basis, when he had the opportunity, Bush certainly likes to parade in it now! His behavior demeans the deaths of those gallant aviators whose remains still lie scattered on hillsides in the Peoples Republic of VietNam. He had the chance to suit words to action, but fell short. John Kerry could have taken the same easy way out, yet chose to go and serve. If for no other reason, he deserves respect, and the others do not.