Crossing the line for a brother

I'm a Clark supporter myself however the following editorial shows that Bush has no lock on the military/veterans vote.

By TERRY PARKHURST
GUEST COLUMNIST

When I left Seattle in the midst of the Boeing Bust of the early '70s, a few friends told me, "You're going to die, man."

But I lucked out in several ways and got not only a good rating -- Photographer's Mate -- but also good duty at a Naval Air Station in El Centro, Calif. Besides, direct U.S. involvement with the war ended in January 1973. I can still recall, however, the anguished looks of two chief petty officers, their eyes on the television showing people trying to catch helicopters out of what was then Saigon, toward the end of 1975. The war closed then for good and it was as if it was all for nothing.

Even though I had not gone to Vietnam, I felt a bond with those men, as Americans. Their government had placed them in harm's way and told us all: This is for a worthy cause, the fall of communism. The net result was supposed to be freedom. Who would have guessed at the start of that adventure that communism would trump freedom, at least in Vietnam?

I didn't talk much about my service when I returned to the University of Washington in the fall of 1976. No one cared. But then in 1999, it seemed to come full circle for me. Arizona Sen. John McCain, a former Naval aviator and reluctant hero -- he became known on talk shows for saying he'd achieved the feat of stopping a missile with his plane -- was running for president. I felt compelled to work for him. McCain was "the real deal," said Washington Secretary of State Ralph Munro, whose son worked for the senator.

But McCain lost and George H.W. Bush's son took the mantle of commander in chief and seemed to relish in the title.

However, when I heard President Bush say, "Bring it on," I thought to myself, spoken like a man who had never seen combat.

And so recently I found myself, a registered Republican, at a "meet-up" for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination. I knew he was a Vietnam combat veteran, but until I read a recent copy of Atlantic Monthly, I didn't know the horrors he had seen. His numerous medals -- a Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V and three awards of the Purple Heart -- did not come easily

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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/154165_firstperson29.html

Excellent article.

BUT...how will this man vote 4 years afterwards? :shrug:

:dem: :)