Original message:
From: David Stinson
Subject: OT: Open Letter from a Green Beret to John Kerry
(copy of editorial by Don Bendell snipped)

Mr. Stinson, are you employed by, a volunteer at, or otherwise associated
with the Bush for President campaign?

It's interesting to note that when I did a Google search of "Don Bendell"
the first site that comes up is titled "Welcome to Bendell Enterprises": it
has a link to Mr. Bendell's agent prominently displayed on the page. The
fact that Mr. Bendell is, as a Republican spokesman, so obviously (you'll
excuse the pun) "bush league" is indicative of how desperately the
Republican National Spin Meisters are trying to find anything or anyone who
will denigrate Senator Kerry's war record.

No matter: Mr. Bendell was there, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
I doubt that his recollection is the only valid one of that place or time,
and I also doubt that he has the one true account of Vietnam. Loyal service,
even as part of an A team, does not grant an old soldier the right to
rewrite history.

I was there, too: and everything John Kerry said is true.

That Mr. Bendell didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen: he is entitled
to support and protect the memory of his comrades, as am I - but not at the
expense of whitewashing what others have documented. Yes, some soldiers
_did_ cut the ears off VC dead. Yes, some soldiers did other unspeakable
things: just ask Rusty Calley if you don't believe me. Some of it, I saw
with my own eyes, some I read in the courts-martial and/or arrest reports I
saw as a Military Policeman.

Mr. Bendell is entitled to be proud of his relatives who are in the National
Guard, especially in peacetime when there's little chance they'll be put in
harm's way - and I am entitled to hold someone who is standing for election
to a higher standard. The rich and powerful have a greater obligation to
the ideal of service than do ordinary men and women, and Shrub wasn't there.

Whatever Mr. Bendell's perception of the Vietnam war is, he's not entitled
to shoot the messenger who first brought the ugly, sad truth to America's
attention in a way that could not be denied or swept under the rug. That
John Kerry chose to leave the war zone early is no shame: nobody who's been
shot at blames another for taking advantage of the "three strikes" rule,
which spelled out early return for a sailor who was wounded three times.
Only an former General Officer like President Eisenhower could tell the
military brass "I will not send one American boy into that elephant grass",
and for the same reasons, only a decorated commander like John Kerry could
have founded Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

At a time in our nation's history when the rich and well connected were
scurrying to park their sons' yachts in safe backwaters, a well connected
young man raised his hand, took an oath, and took everything that came with
it. You can't fake that kind of courage, and you can't spin his opponent's
kind of cowardice. John Kerry was there.

Bill Warren

P.S. Readers are invited to cross-post this to any newsgroup where Mr.
Bendell's editorials are appearing.

P.P.S. FWIW, some soldiers did kill dogs: the unfortunate animals couldn't
read signs, and those that were lucky enough to wander through a minefield
unscathed would, sad to say, leaves tracks that Viet Minh sappers could
follow. I did, too: in my case, as a courtesy to our Vietnamese workers, who
wanted them for food but were unable to participate in butchery because of
their religeous beliefs.

(William Warren is a pseudonym I use to protect my privacy. I will respond
with my actual name to anyone who asks offline: modify the return address in
an obvious way to email me directly. I don't work for the Kerry campaign, or
the government, or the Democratic party, and have never even met the
Senator.)

William Warren wrote:
( a bunch of Kerry-loving crap)

All your blather and blah in support of Kerry
goes right out the window in this one passage, quote:

...Sure, there were a couple
bad-apples, but I saw none, and I saw it all, and if I did,
as an army officer, it was my obligation to stop it,
or at the very least report it. Why is there not a
single record anywhere of you (Kerry) ever reporting
any incidents like this or having the perpetrators arrested?
The answer is simple. You are a liar...

Democrats have shown who they really are by their
choice of this despicable man; a fine decendent of
the Clinton tradition. You are a sick, twisted
and evil party and the sooner you are stamped out,
the better for our poor nation.
D.S.

"David Stinson" wrote in message
...

William Warren wrote:
( a bunch of Kerry-loving crap)

All your blather and blah in support of Kerry
goes right out the window in this one passage, quote:

[From Don Bendell's editorial -bw]
...Sure, there were a couple
bad-apples, but I saw none, and I saw it all, and if I did,
as an army officer, it was my obligation to stop it,
or at the very least report it. Why is there not a
single record anywhere of you (Kerry) ever reporting
any incidents like this or having the perpetrators arrested?
The answer is simple. You are a liar...

The answer IS simple, and it is that Kerry was a young, impressionable,
idealistic junior officer with a boat and crew to care for, and with a
dangerous and thankless job to do, and what were undoubtedly "Latrine
Lawyer" fables at the time he heard them got lost in the noise until they
were later verified by those who participated or those who apprehended the
participants. I don't care when Kerry realized that the stories were true: I
care that he had the guts to act on those truths.

As I said before, Mr. Bendell is not the guardian of the "one true version"
of Vietnam history. His stipulating that he "saw none" just before bragging
that he "saw it all" is understandable: old veterans, both he and I, each
have our own version of the truth as we saw it, or (more accurately) as we
remember it.

It happened. You don't need to take my word for it: look up the
courts-martial records and interview the convicts who did it. Of course, the
"30 old white men" who run America are counting on the likelihood that
nobody will bother.

Democrats have shown who they really are by their
choice of this despicable man; a fine decendent of
the Clinton tradition. You are a sick, twisted
and evil party and the sooner you are stamped out,
the better for our poor nation.
D.S.

Oh, sorry, I thought we were having a discussion about politics: you appear
to be reciting a speech by Juan Peron.

Call me back in ten or twenty years: if your "friends" stay in power, you'll
be living in a tent, choosing between buying food or medicine, and you'll
own nothing but the TV set your masters will use to tell you what to think.

I pity you.

Bill Warren.

David Stinson wrote:
William Warren wrote:
( a bunch of Kerry-loving crap)

All your blather and blah in support of Kerry
goes right out the window in this one passage, quote:

...Sure, there were a couple
bad-apples, but I saw none, and I saw it all, and if I did,
as an army officer, it was my obligation to stop it,
or at the very least report it. Why is there not a
single record anywhere of you (Kerry) ever reporting
any incidents like this or having the perpetrators arrested?
The answer is simple. You are a liar...

Democrats have shown who they really are by their
choice of this despicable man; a fine decendent of
the Clinton tradition. You are a sick, twisted
and evil party and the sooner you are stamped out,
the better for our poor nation.
D.S.

Good God, David. Are you so blind, or senile as to deny that atrocities
occured in Vietnam? Do you also deny the Holocaust ever happened?

Our nation would not be so poor, if....

jak

David Stinson wrote:



William Warren wrote:
( a bunch of Kerry-loving crap)

All your blather and blah in support of Kerry
goes right out the window in this one passage, quote:

...Sure, there were a couple
bad-apples, but I saw none, and I saw it all, and if I did,
as an army officer, it was my obligation to stop it,
or at the very least report it. Why is there not a
single record anywhere of you (Kerry) ever reporting
any incidents like this or having the perpetrators arrested?
The answer is simple. You are a liar...

Democrats have shown who they really are by their
choice of this despicable man; a fine decendent of
the Clinton tradition. You are a sick, twisted
and evil party and the sooner you are stamped out,
the better for our poor nation.
D.S.


If Kerry should be elected president (God forbid!!!), and we have
another 9/11 type attack, Kerry will be leading the anti-war protest.

JJ wrote:


If Kerry should be elected president (God forbid!!!), and we have
another 9/11 type attack, Kerry will be leading the anti-war protest.

Absolutely. In fact, Kerry, in a speech to the Council on Foreign
Relations last October, stated that he would cease the war on
terrorists, would negotiate with terrorist states, would APOLOGIZE for
the actions of the United States so far, and would return terrorism to a
"law enforcement issue" rather than the declaration of war it rightfully
is.

This is the exact policy followed by the Clinton Administration, which
led to the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

The safety of my family is far too important to risk ever voting for a
demonstrable ignorant buffoon like Kerry. President Bush has taken
exactly the correct path in fighting the war on terror.



--
David Ragsdale, R.E.H.S.

David Ragsdale wrote:


JJ wrote:


If Kerry should be elected president (God forbid!!!), and we have
another 9/11 type attack, Kerry will be leading the anti-war protest.


Absolutely. In fact, Kerry, in a speech to the Council on Foreign
Relations last October, stated that he would cease the war on
terrorists, would negotiate with terrorist states, would APOLOGIZE for
the actions of the United States so far, and would return terrorism to a
"law enforcement issue" rather than the declaration of war it rightfully
is.

This is the exact policy followed by the Clinton Administration, which
led to the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

The safety of my family is far too important to risk ever voting for a
demonstrable ignorant buffoon like Kerry. President Bush has taken
exactly the correct path in fighting the war on terror.



Maybe Kerry is going to get Jane Fonda to run on the ticket with him,
and appoint Barbra Streisand, Whoopei Goldberg, Martin Sheen, and Rosie
O'Donald to the White House advisory staff. You know, those folks that
said they would leave the country if Bush were elected.

I happened across this thread then read all the posts. Not much on radios
but I did use radio to kill communists during those years, 1967-1968.

I was there, too: and everything John Kerry said is true.

I think the problem with Mr. Kerry is he testified he'd seen atrocities then
later admited he had not.




That Mr. Bendell didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen: he is
entitled
to support and protect the memory of his comrades, as am I - but not at
the
expense of whitewashing what others have documented. Yes, some soldiers
_did_ cut the ears off VC dead. Yes, some soldiers did other unspeakable
things: just ask Rusty Calley if you don't believe me. Some of it, I saw
with my own eyes, some I read in the courts-martial and/or arrest reports
I
saw as a Military Policeman.

That Calley trial was a biggie but a biggie because his act was so rare.
Given the political climate after I got home, if there were other such
events they would have been jumped on by the press and Service. If you were
military police attending Courts Martial of people who did bad things that
is also a statement that soldiers were monitored and if they f'd up they
..were brought up on charges. The remains of people, men, women, children
horrendously murdered by the VC-NVA represent actions never addressed, and
they represent many MANY Mai Lais.

That was over for me on 5 May 1968, Hue, Dong Ha , Qua Viet, discharge
in San Francisco. Today, however, as a lifelong registered Democrat I will
not-can not vote for Kerry. I feel no trust. He represents a very left
highjacking of my party by '60s types who hate the Constitution, Bill of
Rights, fellow citizens, and America in general. Sorry, Kerry and his ilk
would not be good for our country or any other country'
EZ