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the troops and the veterans. He has fought for them when McCain has voted against benefits.
In late 2005, it was Kerry who took the risk in describing the difficulty of US soldiers doing house to house searches in a country where they knew little of the language and culture. He explained the situation from the viewpoint of the soldiers, turning every corner, not knowing what to expect. He also carefully attempted to explain it from the Iraqi point of view - the fear they feel of foreigners, not even speaking the language knocking on their doors. This led to many people arguing that the Iraqis need to do that work. You could hear echoes of his own experience in Vietnam.
The really sad thing about the SBVT (other than the impact on the campaign of course) is that it prevented people from seeing how much Kerry actually does relate to the troops. Had he won, the veterans would have had a genuine ally, not someone who would discard them when they were no longer useful as props.
I know that listening to Senator Kerry made me far more supportive than I was before. In 1971, he also impacted my view of the soldiers for the better. I remember being blown away by the intelligence and eloquence of a 27 year old - someone not that much older then me. In fact, I even came to be embarrassed that as the Secretary of a Social Studies Club in high School I worked very hard with the President of the club to insure that the wording on a scroll our club was forced by our sponsor to make and send to some troops avoided saying that we supported the war.
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