Well, the time has come. Life pulls one in various directions, and mine is pulling me away from online discussion, at least for the time being. Before some of you get too overjoyed, remember that I'll probably lurk here intermittently; it's just that I will not be posting anything. Lately, it wasn't the best use of my time, anyway.
Some time ago (I won't link to the thread) I posted an opinion regarding the military. My credentials for speaking in regard to the military were questioned. It was a fairly transparent attempt to get me to reveal personal information, which would, of course, be used in an attempt to ridicule me. I went along with it, so I could later point out the inherent hypocrisy.
I said was that I had been in the military, and although my personal record was, in my words, "unremarkable," I mentioned several high-ranking officials with whom I have business relationships, and therefore, I am on a first-name basis with them. In my mind, a valid comparison would be someone who worked as a roadie for a well-known musical group. No one expects the roadie to bring a crowd of thousands to its feet, but he has a degree of credibility in matters pertaining to the group, because of his close relationship to them.
I was immediately called a liar. Let's see ... (rustling noises). Ah, here we go:
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That gives me reason to doubt any of your credentials as being true.
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In other words, this person had been in the service; therefore, I must be lying.
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what marv no medals? i'm sorry if you don't have medals you have no military credentials. and i'm not talking any of those medals you earned by lying and such. i'm talking real medals.. it is clear that you don't have enough military background to participate in this discussion.
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Oh no! I've been swift-boated! Never mind that I never stated whether or not I earned any medals. The thread was closed before I had a chance to comment again, but at least one other person saw the point I'd intended to make:
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It's a shame to see a guy like Marv get swift-boated like this in a thread who's purpose is to complain about just that kind of thing.
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To reiterate: I have several friends who are the basis for a great deal of my knowledge of the military. These are the guys who have, or are protecting our country, and I'm proud to know them. The man who continues to impress me the most is a former POW from Vietnam. Here's a little about him:
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I dodged about 20 SAMs (surface-to-air missiles)--they always looked like telephone poles going by. On the 21st, I zigged when I should have zagged, and got hit. I went into a dive, on fire, at 500 miles per hour. I ejected, and when I hit the ground, they shot me.
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Another source:
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At the start, Admiral X experienced much the same shock, which other prisoners experienced, as a result of beatings by both captors and villagers, the “nasty treatment” of initial interrogation, and the physical trauma associated with ejection. He particularly recalls being “dreadfully thirsty.” Upon arrival at Hoa Lo Prison, he endured 30 to 50 days of rope torture, during which his back and both shoulders were broken; leg irons; wrist irons; and boils and mosquitoes.
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I also know that his captors were not pleased with his answers during interrogation, and expressed their displeasure with a rifle butt, which fractured his eye socket and knocked out several of his upper front teeth. As you can imagine, he received no care for these for the almost six years he was in the Hanoi Hilton. I should not neglect to mention that his wife is no wimp, either. She was raising kids during the three year period in which she didn't know if her husband was alive or dead.
In March of 1973, he was released. After almost six years of interrogation, his words to his captors were the same as the day he was captured: Essentially, "Fuck You." He then proceeded to go back to work, eventually earning three stars. I never fail to be fascinated by his accounts of his years in the service, and the people he knew, and there is quite a contrast between his lack of complaining, and the draft dodgers who have bitched continually for going-on forty years now.
Like many POWs, orthopedically, he's worse than the average person his age. He has some residual arm numbness from the "rope trick" he endured. Also like many POWs, his mind is still extremely sharp. When he said John Kerry wasn't fit to be president, I believed him.
I expressed my regards to him on the anniversary of his release this year. In return, he sent me a picture, taken about a month ago, on the occasion of his first return to the Hanoi Hilton. It's now a museum, but some cells were left intact. His was one of them. Quite an intense moment, to see a small room that was your world for that long.
I know, "what's the point?" Maybe just a little self-verification. We recently attended a function with his old "roommate" from the Hanoi Hilton. I hadn't realized a photographer would be there, and when he took a few shots, I couldn't resist setting up a shot of my own.
So possibly I've managed to make clear that I have not been making claims of personal greatness; and I've verified one of the many sources who caused me to formulate a dislike and distrust of John Kerry and at least of John Murtha's actions.
Additionally, through a nice twist of fate, I have arrived in a situation where I can usually get the opinions of some people who have a great deal of influence in the military. I never claimed that I sway their opinions; in fact most of the time I shut up and listen to them. I recommmend that everyone engage in that behavior from time to time. By doing so, I've heard some very logical reasons for us to be in Iraq.
It appears that there is a new policy regarding personal attacks. I hope it works better than the old one, whatever it was. Of course, I'm sure several responses to this post (if there are any) will contain the word "Photoshop." Whatever.
I've posted this for two reasons: To describe what constitutes a hero in my mind, and because I don't like being called a liar. I'm sure not everyone believes what I posted; To each his own.
Slán agaibh.