PRESTOPUNDIT -- "It's a team sport, baby!"

A FULL PAGE AD IN THE MARINE CORP TIMES:

In 1971, I awoke after three days of unconsciousness aboard a hospital ship off the coast of Vietnam. I could not see, my jaws were wired shut and my left cheekbone was missing, a gaping hole in its place. Later, while still at St. Albans Naval Hospital, one of my earliest recollections is of hearing about Kerry's testimony before Congress. I remember lying there, in disbelief, as I learned how Kerry told the world that the Army that I served in was reminiscent of Genghis Khan's; that officers like me routinely let their men plunder villages and rape villagers; that ''war crimes'' committed in Vietnam by my fellow soldiers ``were not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command.''

Then Kerry went to Paris, meeting with North Vietnamese enemy officials, while our soldiers still fought in the field. The pain and disbelief I felt listening to his words went deeper than the pain I felt from the enemy fire that wounded my face. I was discharged from the hospital 18 months later. The wounds inflicted by the enemy had fully healed. More than 30 years later, the wounds inflicted by Kerry continue to bring pain to scores of Vietnam veterans. Those wounds -- the bearing of false witness against me and a generation of courageous young Americans who fought and died in Vietnam -- are more serious than any warranting a Purple Heart. They never go away.

Today, new generations of heroes are serving our country, defending our freedoms from an insidious enemy. One of them is my son, a Marine Corps weapons officer who flies the F/A 18 Hornet. He belongs to the same Marine Corps that Kerry ridiculed with his 1971 book cover showing protesters simulating the Iwo Jima Memorial, raising an upside down American flag. He flies the same F-18 fighter jet that Kerry voted against in the Senate. Yet Kerry shamelessly drapes himself in the imagery of Vietnam, military service and the support of veterans, devoid of any media scrutiny. Veterans' criticism falls on deaf ears, and legitimate criticism of Kerry's post-war record is discredited as a personal attack or an attack against his service.

Kerry surrounds himself with a handful of veterans and claims overwhelming support from the veteran community. Yet he won't answer or apologize for the wounds he inflicted on them, insisting that his Vietnam experience gives him credibility on defense issues. If Kerry wants to exploit his service, he should at least have the courage to look veterans like me in the eye and give an honest answer on his actions then, his votes since and his plans for the future.

Part of the ad copy written by Dexter Lehtinen, former US Attorney and Vietnam vet. Posted by Greg Ransom | TrackBack