I apologize right now to my followers for the temporary deviation from this blog’s theme. However I simply cannot remain silent on this one…
Recently, our President has taken it upon himself to repeatedly criticize the late Senator John McCain, a former Vietnam war POW, and respected Navy veteran.
I really do not care why.
But what I care about is the number of Americans who are standing by and saying NOTHING. And of those Americans, the number of American Military Service Members and Veterans who are saying NOTHING, or saying it quietly.
To those soldiers past and present I say I’ve already watched as you have stood silent and allowed noncitizens who served beside you be deported. And now you are staring at your shoes while a United States President denigrates a decorated war veteran – your brother.
I am not a service member. But I am the daughter of a three combat tour Green Beret who served his country in Korea and twice in Vietnam. And if you don’t have the guts, allow me.
I watched MY guys serve in Vietnam to the loud and nasty criticisms of the American people to the extent that we did not dare say or admit our fathers were even IN the U.S. Military all while 58,220 of them came home unremarked and unacknowledged in body bags; I watched the rest of MY guys come home with missing limbs and undiagnosed, untreated PTSD to people who SPIT on them; I watched MY guys grieve at the Wall while seeing NEW guys come home from the Middle East and be called “Heroes” for doing their jobs.
And now, not enough of you are standing up for a man who served his country as a POW and then as a U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate. Why? Because even as a good soldier he lived his conscience? Because everyone is afraid of the big bully on the block OR because you are willing to turn a blind eye to ANYTHING this man does to get whatever self-serving thing it is you want?
I really don’t care why. I don’t want to hear excuses from Military Service members.
Where was the outrage right there in that Ohio campaign rally hall? Where are the Veterans groups? Let me tell you where one news article said: “REFRAINING FROM POLITICAL COMMENTARY.” https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/veterans-express-disappointment-in-president-trumps-comments-about-sen-john-mccain
Well I have had enough. This is bigger than “disappointment.” Let this Military Brat set your socks on straight…
At the John McCain Memorial in VIETNAM…
Nobody deserves thanks for funeral services but the soldier in the box and the family mourning him. For the rest of us it is an HONOR to pay tribute to the fallen.
Nobody has a right to criticize a U.S. Veteran’s honor or performance but his fellow soldiers, and the peoples of countries impacted by said war. NOBODY.
–Especially nobody who evaded military service. Especially civilians who CANNOT IMAGINE what war is like and the price paid to survive one.
Stand up, soldiers…I’m talking to all of you. Defend your brother.
Or don’t expect the average American to throw parades and call YOU a hero when you come home, or trust your voice to say what it is you need as a veteran or active duty member enough to VOTE for whatever you ask.
I was raised to believe the Military protected its own…that “we” (even dependents) were all family… I don’t care what branch you serve or served in. I don’t care if you are a soldier’s parents or children or comrade or drinking buddy: It’s time to close ranks. John McCain is family. OUR family.
But then I am just the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran. Maybe times have changed…
….Oh, retreat Hell!!!
De opresso liber.
Zombie Salmon (the Horror Continues) 