They Will Listen

by James Glaser
February 12, 2004

Republican or Democrat it does not matter. Every American veteran will give John Kerry a chance to make his pitch, about why he should be elected President.

To tell you the truth I don't know all that much about John Kerry or his career in the Senate. I know he help start Vietnam Veterans Against the War, worked hard to get the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and he was a real push behind getting treatment for Veterans suffering from the effects of our government spraying them with the chemicals Agent Orange, Agent White, Agent Blue and maybe some other colors too.

You see, we complain about Saddam Hussein using chemical weapons on his people and we have done the same thing to our Soldiers, Marines, and Sailors, plus large portions of the Vietnamese civilian population. We knew it was making them sick, but kept doing it anyway, for years, to tens of thousands of troops and millions of civilians.

John Kerry fought hard to get help for the Vietnam Vets that suffered from our chemical warfare program and he also worked hard to get help for the children of those Veterans that suffer from the birth defect Spina Bifida. Yes, our spraying of our troops has affected their children. Who really knows how many thousand Vietnamese we killed and maimed with our chemical weapons? It could be millions, we don't know, because we don't want to count. We are however, quick to condemn other nations for doing what we have already done.

This is an interesting note: We knew before the war ended, that women who served in Vietnam had a greater chance of having children with birth defects when they returned home to the States, but we didn't tell them, until most of them had ended their child bearing years. We didn't want to pay compensation. Ever wonder why Vietnam Vets get bitter about our government?

Well like I said, I don't know where John Kerry stands on a lot of issues. But I have written at length about President Bush's Military Career so here is something about Kerry's.

John Kerry volunteered for service in the Navy during the Vietnam War; he volunteered for combat duty and was the officer in charge of a "swift boat" on the Mekong Delta. He was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with combat V, (V is for Valor) three Purple Hearts, the Presidential Unit Citation for Extraordinary Heroism, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, three Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medals, and the Combat Action ribbon.

He won his Bronze Star, when under intense enemy fire he exposed himself to pull a Green Beret back into his boat and was wounded for the third time doing it.

Every Veteran from any war knows that John Kerry has guts and that he was willing to give his life to save a fellow American in combat. That is enough to open the door to every veteran in America. Republican or Democrat, it doesn't matter, because of what he did in combat; they will give Kerry a chance to convince them that he should be President. They will do this because John Kerry has earned their respect.

I am not saying every veteran will buy what John Kerry is selling, but I know that even the most hardened Right Wing Bush zealot, will be polite enough to listen to what Kerry has to say and any Presidential Candidate would love to have that opening. John Kerry bought that opening with his courage and his blood.


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