"It's about honor and betrayal and protecting our country"
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Kerry Smeared My Dad
Many of you believe dirty politics is the motivation of Vietnam veterans speaking out in opposition to John Kerry. Let me tell you the real motivation.
In the movie "We Were Soldiers," the story about the battle of the la Drang Valley in Vietnam in 1965, a young sergeant, Jack Gell, cried as he died, "Tell my wife I love her . . ." and my family relived the death of my dad. He told my mother in letters that he and those he served with believed they were doing the right thing, fighting to help a sovereign nation defend its freedom.
Before the movie was filmed, I heard my father's dying words from retired Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and journalist Joe Galloway, who were with him in the Valley of Death. I met Mel Gibson, who played Col. Moore in the movie, showing him family pictures and letters to help him learn the essence of these young men serving their country in a difficult time. Gibson said my father was a true hero.
I remember when the movie was released witnessing the healing of men and family members who clung to this story with a new pride after decades of being vilified. Finally, they talked about it. Finally, many were proud to be Vietnam veterans.
And then Kerry was nominated as a presidential candidate.
I don't blame Kerry for my father's death, and I don't much care if he shamelessly chased after medals. But I do care that when he returned from Vietnam he gave aid and comfort to the enemy while our soldiers were still dying. I care that he smeared my father and a generation of our armed forces with false charges of war crimes while posing himself as a hero. I care that Kerry's false charges encouraged our enemy who was pressuring our POWs in inhumane ways to confess to imaginary war crimes. I care that he went to Paris to meet with the Viet Cong in 1970 while still an officer in the Navy Reserve, returning to publicly advocate for their position and against America's position.
This isn't about politics. It's about honor and betrayal and protecting our country. And for me it is deeply personal, as it is for countless vets. Thirty-nine years later, my mother still cries on Nov 14. Thirty-nine years later, we miss my father every day. Thirty-nine years later, Kerry poses as a hero. As children of Vietnam veterans, many of us feel an unwelcome emotional strain as the arguments about what really happened in Vietnam are tugged back and forth, often by people who were not there. We deeply resent the suggestion that our fathers were war criminals as that theme inevitably seeps into the argument.
We are educated and grown. We have children of our own, some in the service. We know in our heart and soul the scars of war that will never go away. But we are not weak, and we will not be silent. I will stand with the Vietnam veterans who speak out, and the voice of my father will be heard through me.
As long as I have breath and Kerry seeks the office of president, I will speak out against him. Others like me are too many to count.
While we are dismissed as dirty politics, the truth is we would be doing the very same things if Kerry were a Republican. President Bush has never had anything to do with our opposition to Kerry, and if the president makes a personal appeal to us to stop, we cannot and will not do so, because there are some things that can never be forgiven, can never be forgotten. John Kerry is one of those things.
Those who call George W. Bush's National Guard sevice disgraceful don't seem to talk much about Kerry's treasonous and slanderous agitation after he returned from Vietnam. Not much at all. Even if we buy their contention that Bush used favors to avoid service, that trangression doesn't even enter the stadium to play on the same field as Kerry's conduct after returning from Vietnam. Visiting with Communist leaders, during a war, while an officer in the Naval Reserve. Slandering every man in uniform. Providing aid and comfort to the enemy.
This is personal to those who lost loved ones; an apology at some point in the previous 30 years would have been nice. But that would require Kerry to admit that he, and the entire philosophy underlying the anti-war movement, were wrong. Yeah, that's going to happen.
Like the new Swift Boat ad says: "Jane Fonda apologized. John Kerry never has."
Via Mudville Gazette
Posted by JB at 08:19 AM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2004
Arnhem, Plus 60 Years
On September 17, 1944, Operation Market Garden commenced in Holland. It was a bold attempt to put an early end to the war, but ultimately failed.
I just in the last few days finished watching the 6 DVD set Band of Brothers; the companion DVD includes interviews with the men of E Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne, that were part of this operation. It's very powerful stuff, and as I was watching it last night it struck me that the date of the beginning of the operation September 17, was the date I was watching the DVD. Sixty years, to the day.
Brave soldiers, I salute you.
And if you've never seen Band of Brothers, it is absolutely required viewing for those who care about the U.S. military at all. You won't wonder why the 101st Airborne is considered legendary much longer.
And so 60 years later, the Dutch still remember, and thank the Americans and British for trying to liberate them.
Remarkably, Dutch children from schools in Arnhem and nearby have also played an enthusiastic part in the commemorations.
They've performed music and written poems themselves, in honour of the veterans and what they've learnt about the tragedy of war.
A poem printed in an Arnhem Church newspaper on this anniversary reads:
In our memories you will remain,
And we will gather in remembrance,
You failed but still it gave us hope,
That one day soon,
Holland would be free again
Posted by JB at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)
September 17, 2004
Kerry Campaign Can't Be Liking This
The phrase "this election is so over" springs to mind
The Dems just may need the services of Dan Rather, Ben Barnes, and Bill Burkett once again. I wonder if they are on retainer for their dirty tricks, like the Nixon "Plumbers"? Or perhaps they are just naturally corrupt. I'm not sure which option I like better .....
Question for all the Kerry supporters: if he was a true war hero, would he do this upon his return?
AFFIDAVIT OF STEVEN J. PITKIN
STATE OF FLORIDA
COUNTY OF PALM BEACH
[...]
4. During my service in Vietnam, I neither witnessed nor participated in any American war crimes or atrocities against civilians, nor was I ever aware of any such actions. I did witness the results of Vietcong atrocities against Vietnamese civilians, including the murder of tribal leaders.
5. Upon my return to the United States I encountered anti-war protestors who, at various times, threw feces, spit, and screamed obscenities.
6. I joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), at Catonsville Community College in Baltimore in 1970.
7. In January of 1971, I rode in a van with John Kerry, a national leader of the VVAW, and others from Washington D.C. to Detroit to attend the Winter Soldier Investigation, a conference intended to publicize alleged American war crimes in Vietnam. Having no knowledge of such war crimes, I did not intend to speak at the event.
8. During the Winter Soldier Investigation, John Kerry and other leaders of that event pressured me to testify about American war crimes, despite my repeated statements that I could not honestly do so. One event leader strongly implied that I would not be provided transportation back to my home in Baltimore, Maryland, if I failed to comply. Kerry and other leaders of the event instructed me to publicly state that I had witnessed incidents of rape, brutality, atrocities and racism, knowing that such statements would necessarily be untrue.
9. In April 1971, I attended a VVAW protest in Washington D.C. known as “Dewey Canyon III.” During this event I was present when protestors, including John Kerry, threw medals and ribbons over a fence outside the U.S. Capitol. I witnessed a man holding a bag of ribbons and medals and handing them out to other protestors. I saw that many of the ribbons and medals were not those that would be received by veterans of combat in Vietnam.
Please explain this to me, because I'm a right-leaning pro-military simpleton who doesn't understand the concept of apparently gaming the system via three Purple Hearts—despite never spending a single night in the hospital—only to return to the safety of American shores in four months and commence the slander of one's "band of brothers".
Funny thing, I just finished watching the real Band of Brothers, and I gotta tell ya, I didn't see anything remotely like that. They were volunteering to get back into the action. They got Purple Hearts for getting legs blown off and other life threatening injuries. Although ..... there was one little weasel who collected them like trading cards, under his pillow. His character was not presented in a sympathetic manner, to say the least. We can rest assured, I think, that the phrase "Band of Brothers" was not coined to describe that particular behavior.
A real member of a band of brothers would never, in a billion years, do anything like Kerry did upon his early exit from the Vietnam War. Such a bond would outweigh any opportunistic urge to join political movements. Unless, of course, he really did change his mind about the war way back when. Which means he has now changed it again, re-joining his band of brothers, hoping to just erase the VVAW phase of his life. Of course, he could just admit the obvious, that his VVAW phase was a big mistake. But he won't even admit that he did it at all. And he won't appear at a press conference to answer questions about it.
So, let's sum up. Either he has lived his life as an opportunistic serial flip-flopper, OR, he lied before Congress and slandered his band of brothers for political gain. Or, both. Take your time, Johnny.
Via Little Tiny Lies
Posted by JB at 08:14 AM | Comments (0)
September 15, 2004
Consider The Source
Clanging bells make lots of noise, too, but we don't take them seriously, do we?
Some are making the argument that President Bush pulled strings to get into the National Guard, as if this alone proves something important. A good rebuttal to this line of reasoning, by Mike Hendrix of Cold Fury, is found here:
But in the end, it’s like this: all this bitching about Bush’s Guard service sounds awfully lame coming from a bunch of pissants who also bitched not all that long ago about how much sport was being made of Clinton for being a draft-dodger, which he in fact was. It sounds even lamer when you think back to how many of them used to say that draft-dodging was a more honorable choice in an unjust war than doing one’s duty to one’s country was.
Of all the people who have no room to criticize those who volunteered for any type of armed forces during the Vietnam War, Clinton's defenders ("draft dodging is actually honorable") are at the very top of the list.
And of course, to that list we should also add all those who have never flown a fighter jet; that is some dangerous duty there, and if you are an irresponsible idiot they simply won't let you fly, to protect both your own sorry ass and the expensive equipment that they don't want to see augered into the desert floor. Those who seek to avoid challenges and risks don't usually volunteer to fly fighter jets, for a very good reason: it's challenging, and risky.
And finally, to that list we must add all those who are quick to criticize Bush as a pilot, even though by all official accounts he was highly skilled; these are no doubt the same people who pushed for gender quotas in the military over the last twenty years, resulting in unqualified pilots endangering others, killing themselves, and destroying expensive airplanes.
Those who did serve, whether by volunteering or via the draft, might resent Bush's use of such influence, and I'm not going to argue with them. They have the right to feel that way, as would any of us in the same (Swift) boat. However, whether those holding that opinion represent a consensus or not is another question entirely; such a consensus can not, and should not, be assumed. I'd be very surprised if those holding such views were a majority; in any case, we are now discussing people's feelings about a single incident of using influence from 35 years ago, which is not a valid campaign issue for a sitting president, no matter how it is spun.
Posted by JB at 11:38 AM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2004
"The Politicians And Liberals Have No Clue"
Kim du Toit has a letter from a National Guardsman stationed in Afghanistan; it's a must-read. A sample:
I think the media thinks that we are this scared lot of disgruntled idiots forced into some war that takes us away from families etc. Well, of course we all miss our families, but the politicians and liberals have no clue. It's all about teamwork, integrity, loyalty, duty, and respect. This is something that I guarantee to a man, we find sorely lacking in our civilian jobs. This is real, this is good, and it's meaningful. You should see the pride of the troops that strap on 60 pounds of personal gear, weapons, and load into the armored Hummers... ready, willing and able.
I think back to the 9/11 tragedies, and know there are more to come, we all know it, but darned if we aren't gonna do something about it. Remember the pictures of the people on fire jumping out of the windows of the twin towers? I think people forget all about that. Americans, on fire, jumping from towers of financial power, US power.
Think about that for a while when your coworker is whining about someone not filling up the copier paper, or that darned checkout girl, or the bonehead at the fast food restaurant. It all gets really small when you think about 43% of the armed forces walking away from civilian life, families, jobs, etc. to wage hell on earth for those that challenge our way of life, and the freedom we offer the world.
Let me leave you with one of the things that impresses me most about our country. Today 6,400 pounds of mail showed up, probably the third shipment like it. It flew in on two HUGE Marine Corps helicopters. Most of the packages were from people that none of us has ever met. Americans, true blue, dedicated, care about our country Americans. It's not about the care packages filled with food and other great stuff, it's about the spirit of our country. After Vietnam this country led by politicians turned their back on its soldiers. Today, Virginians, and Americans across the country show us what it's all about to send a little bit of patriotism, and spirit across the air waves. It's an incredible feeling.
So thank a WWII vet, a Vietnam vet, a Korean War vet, a Desert Storm/Iraqi Freedom vet. Today, tommorow, or even the next day, take a small daily annoyance, and toss it aside -- it's meaningless. Take at look at your community, your country, and a fellow American, and think of all that is right with our country.
Serious people charged with a serious task; it's no wonder that the politicians and liberals have no clue.
No, we have most definitely not forgotten about Americans jumping out of burning buildings. Those of us who take the threat of terrorism seriously, that is. Which would exclude, most unfortunately, most of the Democratic Party.
Read that last paragraph again. People like this, who are both drawn to, and a product of, the military, are why we win wars. And its precisely why fascists and communists and other tyrants lose them.
Posted by JB at 07:40 AM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2004
Luxembourg Remembers
Some nations in Europe haven't forgotten the sacrifices made by America to help them defeat the Nazis and get their lives back; Luxembourg is one of those countries.
This article, Luxembourg Holds Massive World War II Liberation Celebrations, shows that at least for Luxembourgers, time hasn't dulled the sense of honor and gratitude:
There were bands, speeches, church services, and commemoration medals as this small country looked back to remember the day that its precious freedom was restored from German occupation.
In one ceremony at Luxembourg's American military cemetery, where General George Patton is buried, Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker hailed the American contribution.
"This is a day of thankfulness to these brave American soldiers who from the other side of the ocean came to Europe, and came to this tiny country, to liberate this country," the prime minister said. [...]
Luxembourgers have their own perspectives on the war. For 82-year-old Victor Fischbach, it was unique. He was forced into the German army like many other able-bodied Luxembourg men. But he later escaped, and, with the help of a priest, spent 13 months hiding in a Luxembourg church with several of his countrymen. Mr. Fischbach says liberation will never be forgotten by Luxembourg.
"When an American speaks about Europe he must think that Luxembourg is, maybe, the best friend, the strongest friend," said Mr. Fischbach. "And we'll never forget what we are owing to America. From time to time, I go to the military cemetery, the American cemetery. I go alone and I cry, I cry. I can't help, I cry. And I say, go there. If you don't believe any more in America. Go there, and you will find again, and see again what they have done for us."
He's going to make me cry, talking like that.
Sixty years later, the man still sheds tears for heroes that he didn't know; for the memories they never had; the wives they left widowed, or never married; the kids they left fatherless, or never had; all because they gave their lives in a foreign land, to liberate strangers.
Thank you for remembering, Mr. Fischbach, and thank you to the people of Luxembourg for continuing to pay your respect, all these years later.
Posted by JB at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)
September 09, 2004
Heading To Iraq
Greyhawk, of Mudville Gazette, is heading to Iraq.
Godspeed, Greyhawk, and stay safe. And please kill some bad guys, or support those who do.
UPDATE: Forgot the link- fixed. He also wants more information like that in Austin Bay's column, and less information like that in Kerry's "wrong, wrong, wrong" themed speeches.
Posted by JB at 06:51 AM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2004
Bush-Hater Dan Rather Throws Crap At The Wall, Hopes Some Of It Will Stick
Golly, if I wasn't such a cynical bastard, I'd really wonder why the media is all over a George W. Bush National Guard story, based solely on the undocumented charges of one very partisan Kerry supporter, complete with a Dan Rather interview tonight; while the Swift Vets had to work for two weeks to get a single mention. Luckily for both of us, I'm a cynical bastard, and I don't wonder at all.
According to this article, Bush was accepted into the Texas Air National Guard in 1968, two weeks before graduation from Yale. The accuser, Ben Barnes, claims that a friend of the Bush family pressured him, as Lt. Governor of Texas, to find a spot for young George.
Barnes wasn't Lt. Governor until 1969.
Posted by JB at 04:12 PM | Comments (1)
France: "We Never Met A Murdering Dictator That We Didn't Like"
Bill Gertz reports (part 1 of 3) that Iraq bought gray-market weapons from France during the U.N. sanctions period prohibiting such sales.
Getthefugouttahere!
Iraq's Mirage F-1 fighter jets were made by France's Dassault Aviation. Its Gazelle attack helicopters were made by Aerospatiale, which became part of a consortium of European defense companies.
"It is well-known that the Iraqis use front companies to try to obtain a number of prohibited items," a senior Bush administration official said before the war, refusing to discuss Iraq's purchase of French warplane and helicopter parts.
The State Department confirmed intelligence indicating the French had given support to Iraq's military.
"U.N. sanctions prohibit the transfer to Iraq of arms and materiel of all types, including military aircraft and spare parts," State Department spokeswoman Jo-Anne Prokopowicz said. "We take illicit transfers to Iraq very seriously and work closely with our allies to prevent Iraq from acquiring sensitive equipment."
Jacques Chirac, of course, is at the center of the controversy.
In fact, Chirac helped sell Saddam the two nuclear reactors that started Baghdad on the path to nuclear weapons capability.
France's corrupt dealings with Saddam flourished throughout the 1990s, despite the strict arms embargo against Iraq imposed by the United Nations after the Persian Gulf war.
By 2000, France had become Iraq's largest supplier of military and dual-use equipment, according to a senior member of Congress who declined to be identified.
Saddam developed networks for illegal supplies to get around the U.N. arms embargo and achieve a military buildup in the years before U.S. forces launched a second assault on Iraq.
One spare-parts pipeline flowed from a French company to Al Tamoor Trading Co. in the United Arab Emirates. Tamoor then sent the parts by truck through Turkey, and into Iraq. The Iraqis obtained spare parts for their French-made Mirage F-1 jets and Gazelle attack helicopters through this pipeline.
The illegal sales occurred even during the U.N. arm-twisting sessions in late 2002 and early 2003:
U.S. intelligence would not discover the pipeline until the eve of war last year; sensitive intelligence indicated that parts had been smuggled to Iraq as recently as that January.
"A thriving gray-arms market and porous borders have allowed Baghdad to acquire smaller arms and components for larger arms, such as spare parts for aircraft, air-defense systems and armored vehicles," the CIA said in a report to Congress made public that month.
U.S. intelligence agencies later came under fire over questions about prewar estimates of Iraq's stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. But intelligence on Iraq's hidden procurement networks was confirmed.
An initial accounting by the Pentagon in the months after the fall of Baghdad revealed that Saddam covertly acquired between 650,000 and 1 million tons of conventional weapons from foreign sources. The main suppliers were Russia, China and France.
By contrast, the U.S. arsenal is between 1.6 million and 1.8 million tons.
As of last year, Iraq owed France an estimated $4 billion for arms and infrastructure projects, according to French government estimates. U.S. officials thought this massive debt was one reason France opposed a military operation to oust Saddam.
The fact that illegal deals continued even as war loomed indicated France viewed Saddam's regime as a future source of income.
There's more. Read The Whole Thing.
And France? Yeah, you. The same country we invaded and saved your sorry, Vichy, Nazi-sympathizing asses. The same country that fought us in North Africa, as an ally of the Nazis. The same country whose Gen. DeGaulle, upon the liberation of Paris, requested that FRENCH troops march into the city first, ahead of the U.S. and Brits and others who died capturing their land for them.
Just go straight to hell, will ya?
Posted by JB at 07:41 AM | Comments (0)
August 31, 2004
Vietnam Vet Buries Only Son, Killed in Iraq
Our condolences to Mr. Tom Titus, whose son Brandon was killed in Baghdad on Aug. 17:
"He was a proud man that spoke highly of his father Tom, a veteran himself. Brandon just wanted to live up to the Titus name," SPC Dave Huval, a member of Titus' squad, wrote in a message from Iraq posted to an Internet tribute page.
Before going off to war, Brandon left a computer disk with a message entitled, "My Time has Come," to be read only if he did not return from Iraq. Tom Titus broke down in tears when he read it aloud.
"I learned a lot from my dad and I wanted to be like him. I wanted to do something that would truly make him proud of me," he said in that message.
In many ways, Titus was a typical American kid, a football player and high school wrestler who shared his dad's passion for motorcycles. Resident of a strongly Republican state, he felt the need to give back to his country. "When I was in high school I was against any type of war or occupation of another country and I was ignorant to think the United States government was a bunch of B.S.," Brandon Titus wrote.
"When Sept. 11 happened, my opinion of this country changed very quickly. ... Things hit home when I watched a plane filled with innocent people crash into a building killing them all because of some coward terrorists who live in caves who thought they could divide America by doing this."
Brandon's enlistment two years ago upset his father, who exchanged sharp words with both his son and the army recruiter. Amid his grief, the father has now turned against the war.
"I shouldn't be burying him, he should be burying me," he said in a sometimes tearful interview. "The war is not worth it now. We need to get the hell out of there."
He sounds like a fine young man, wiser at 18 than many an adult in this country. May he rest in eternal peace.
And as for his father ..... burying your son at 20, and knowing that he was driven by the urge to please you and make you proud of him ..... well, burdens just do not come much heavier. He's grieving now, and is allowed to be extremely angry at the world. Parents are not supposed to bury their kids, for any reason, ever. But Brandon sounds like he had a mission in life; it's important to nurture that, too.
Although I support the Iraq war, I can relate to a father worried about a son dying in war; my own first born son James is nearly 16 and could easily be in the same position in a few years, with the current world geo-political climate. He seems interested in the ROTC, and a possible military career to follow, and as his father, I can see many benefits for him in such a choice. But if he was to ship out to some war zone like Iraq is now, I'd of course be very apprehensive and unable to relax until he was home safe. Well, truth be told, I'd be a nervous wreck.
And were he to die young like that, I like to think I'd be able to convince myself that his sacrifice was worth it in the larger fight for freedom. But that is an awfully abstract consolation when your oldest son is gone forever, killed in a foreign country while defending people you never met and never will. Mr. Titus is right, we do need to get out of there, but the political realities will prevent it.
Here's hoping that Mr. Titus is able to find peace within himself. Real people cry real tears for his loss.
Posted by JB at 08:11 AM | Comments (0)
August 28, 2004
Must Read Material: Letter From A Vet
Read, and learn.
There is a reason that some of those veterans turned their backs to Kerry and that many others sat with arms folded, refusing even polite applause. A reason that non veterans can, perhaps, know intellectually but not feel in their guts.
Like all veterans of all wars, regardless of branch of service or duty stations, we all lost friends there. Some of those we lost were closer than brothers. Unlike other wars in our history we didn't go over together and come home together, our individual wars ended individually.
Unlike other wars we came home branded by a large segment of our society as war criminals, by another segment as losers. Then, as most of us were already home, one of our own officers branded us all, including the dead that we were just beginning to mourn, as war criminals, murderers and rapists.
We later discovered that many of those that he was quoting as witnesses to our 'crimes' had not spent one day in uniform. Others had never served in Viet Nam. None of them, not a single one, would testify under oath, even if granted immunity. Yet our 'crimes' became part of the common knowlege. Our children were given that testimony as fact in their history classes. We all knew soldiers, sailors,airmen and Marines that had died, leaving children behind, we know that those children were taught those same lies as fact. Who sat with those children as we did with ours, explaining that those were lies told for political gain?
It's bad enough that we couldn't mourn our dead then. Now we see the same man that stood over the open graves of our brothers and pissed on their bodies is back. This time he's dug up those bodies and is standing on them to give himself the stature for high office.
This was posted as a comment to this post, by a Vietnam vet. A comment. In other words, it was tossed off, with little or no editing, straight from the heart.
This is not politics, folks. It's personal. That's what nearly all the vets are saying, and I see no reason to dispute them, since all veterans of all wars say it isn't about bravery, or heroism; it's about your buddy on your left, and your buddy on your right. The bonds forged there are forever; likewise, anybody who betrays your trust, like Kerry did with his very public anti-war stance and slanderous testimony, is despised with a fever, a fever that burns with the heat of a thousand suns.
But the media, the McGovern wing of the Democratic party, and the moonbats in the "ex-protester and not sorry about it" contingent refuse to open their damn eyes and see, probably because they are incapable of seeing that they were wrong about anything to do with the Love Generation. As a matter of fact, they were wrong about just about everything.
The Kerry campaign has made a fatal miscalculation here, by assuming that Kerry's anti-war activism wouldn't hurt him. They deserve to lose now, for this resaon alone, and they will; perhaps, finally, the public image of the Vietnam vet can be remade by stripping away the lies invented by the likes of Kerry used to tarnish them.
Like Peter says, "It isn't about me. It isn't even about politics. It's about restoring the honor to the 58,000 names carved in black granite."
Via Florida Cracker
Posted by JB at 07:41 AM | Comments (2)
August 26, 2004
"Stolen Honor": Let The Healing Begin
A new documentary called "Stolen Honor" is being released soon, covering John Kerry's anti-war activities upon his return from Vietnam and their impact on the U.S. POWs still in captivity.
From the "About the Producer" page:
"Stolen Honor" is produced by Red, White and Blue Productions, Inc., an independent producer of documentaries based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Carlton Sherwood, president of Red, White and Blue Productions is a life-long newspaper and TV investigative reporter. As a Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award winner, Sherwood has investigated John Kerry's behavior during the Vietnam era and how as a leader of the anti-war movement it impacted America POWs. In addition to his investigation, Sherwood has first hand memories of Vietnam as a decorated, thrice-wounded, former Marine who served on Vietnam's DMZ. Sherwood also covered the anti-war movement as a journalist.
Oh, the media is not going to like this ..... criticism of anti-war activities from one of their own? The scandal!
But, it is important to remember that this is not about politics, or George Bush, or conservatives vs. liberals; it's about Vietnam Vets, and how they've been shit on by lying charlatan pricks like John Kerry for over 30 years. They have a bit of healing to do, as does the country at large, and thanks to Kerry's ridiculous focusing on his abbreviated four months of service 35 years ago--when he could, in theory, focus on his nearly 20 years of Senate accomplishments, if he had any--they finally have their opportunity.
I say, God Bless Them ..... we owe them this much, at least.
Via Mudville Gazette
Posted by JB at 08:27 AM | Comments (3)
August 24, 2004
Rumsfeld And Franks on Same Page; Fun With An F-16
Todays' "Inside The Ring" column in the Washington Times, by the invaluable team of Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough, contains some gems:
The military pundits' rap on Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is that he dictates soldier-lite war plans to his combatant commanders, such as Army Gen. Tommy Franks, who led the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Our sources have said for months that such unsubstantiated charges are untrue. The truth is that Mr. Rumsfeld offers overall guidance and uses catch phrases to send messages during war-planning conferences. But the plan, in the end, is the combatant commander's plan.
For example, Mr. Rumsfeld sent the message on the need for special operations in Iraq by repeatedly telling Gen. Franks to remember the lessons of Afghanistan, where covert warriors won the day. "Speed kills," he would tell Gen. Franks.
Now, Gen. Franks confirms all this in his memoir, "American Soldier."
The retired four-star general writes it was he who thought the off-the-shelf plan for Iraq was "too big, [400,000 troops] too slow and out-of-date." In December 2001, he presented Mr. Rumsfeld with a "Commander's Concept" that began the framework for the lightning-fast conquest of Baghdad.
"I told the secretary that I wanted to develop new options for Iraq, and he agreed," Gen. Franks writes, "From that point on it was clear: Don Rumsfeld was eager to be part of the solution."
And this assessment from Gen. Franks: "Rumsfeld believed in realpolitik. He would fly halfway around the world for a sit-down meeting with Uzbek President Islam Karimov — whose human rights record was tarnished at best — in order to secure the vital K-2 air base for American operations in Afghanistan. He'd probably have shaken hands with the devil if that had furthered our goals in the war on terrorism."
So, all those criticisms of Rumsfeld for going against ALL the Pentagon leadership's conventional bureaucratic wisdom, and for not being flexible enough, are shown to be incorrect in Mr. Franks' book. A book that I need to read, right there.
Then there is this dialogue describing an F-16 taking out a bunch of scumbags in Fallujah:
While the bomb is heading toward the building, suddenly a large group of people appears on a street and they begin running toward a battle.
"I've got numerous individuals on the road. Want me to take those out?" the pilot asks a controller.
"Take them out," comes the quick reply.
Another voice watching the action states: "It's not a good day for them."
The group includes at least 30 Iraqis who are moving as a group rapidly up the street, apparently unaware they have been targeted by the U.S. warplane in the area.
"Ten seconds," says the pilot.
"Impact," the voice says as a huge plume of smoke rises from the bomb blast.
Another voice says: "Oh, dude" as he surveys the destruction.
Raise a toast--okay, coffee works too-- to the beautiful sight of our military fighter jets using the most advanced weaponry ever devised to blast thirty losers into the great beyond! If I can find the video I'll post a link to it.
Via Mudville Gazette, which also details some interesting info from this Washington Post review of Franks' book, American Soldier.
Posted by JB at 08:57 AM | Comments (0)
August 23, 2004
A Little Bit More Critical Self-Examination Would Have Helped
Hitchens on Kerry's 4 months in Vietnam 35 years ago:
The experience of having fought in such a war is absolutely useless to any American today and has no bearing on any thinkable fight in which the United States could now become engaged. Thus, only the "character" issues involved are of any weight, and these are extremely difficult and subjective matters. If Kerry doesn't like people disputing his own version of his own gallantry, then it was highly incautious of him to have made it the centerpiece of his appeal.
Yes--when you pick a strategy, you damn well better make sure it's bulletproof as to matters of fact. Kerry's strange little abbreviated tour, punctuated by what have to be the most embarrassing Purple Hearts in history, and some odd movie-making proclivities, only to be followed upon his return home by his vicious and slanderous statements to Congress regarding his supposed "band of brothers", and his VVAW activities, which served to demoralize the very servicemen he now claims to be proud to have been a part of, and which enshrined him in a Communist museum in Saigon ..... it's all just too bizarre for words.
When you look at the big picture with Kerry, there are too many big and serious questions that have been obfuscated for too long. Real heroes don't have this many question marks, and they don't have upwards of 250 of their "band of brothers" lining up 35 years later to denounce them.
Via Roger L. Simon
UPDATE: Minor edit to change "Hanoi" to "Saigon".
Posted by JB at 08:26 PM | Comments (0)
Send The Marines
In an op-ed that reads more like an essay, Glen Butler, a Marine in Najaf, explains why we're there, why it's important, and why we must finish it. The op-ed is entitled "Over Najaf, Fighting for Des Moines":
The battle has been surreal, focused largely in the cemetery, where families continue burying their dead even as I swoop in low overhead to make sure they aren't sneaking in behind our forces' flanks, or pulling a surface-to-air missile out of the coffin. Children continue playing soccer in the dirt fields next door, and locals wave to us as we fly over their rooftops in preparation for gun runs into the enemy's positions.
Sure, some of those people might be waving just to make sure we don't shoot them, but I think the majority are on our side. I've learned that this enemy is not just a mass of angry Iraqis who want us to leave their country, as some would have you believe. The forces we're fighting around Iraq are a conglomeration of renegade Shiites, former Baathists, Iranians, Syrians, terrorists with ties to Ansar al-Islam and Al Qaeda, petty criminals, destitute citizens looking for excitement or money, and yes, even a few frustrated Iraqis who worry about Wal-Mart culture infringing on their neighborhood.
But I see the others who are on our side, appreciate us risking our lives, and know we're in the right. The Iraqi soldiers who are fighting alongside us are motivated to take their country back. I've not been deluded into thinking that we came here to free the Iraqis. That is indeed the icing on the cake, but I came here to prevent the still active "grave and gathering threat" from congealing into something we wouldn't be able to stop.
Weapons of mass destruction or no, I'm glad that we ended the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. My brother and other American jet pilots risked their lives for years patrolling the "no fly zone" (and occasionally making page A-12 in the newspaper if they dropped a bomb on a threatening missile battery). The former dictator's attempt to assassinate George H. W. Bush, use of chemical weapons on his own people, and invasion of a neighboring country are just a few of the other reasons I believe we should have acted sooner. He eventually would have had the means to cause America great harm - no doubt in my mind.
The pre-emptive doctrine of the current administration will continue to be debated long after I'm gone, but one fact stands for itself: America has not been hit with another catastrophic attack since 9/11. I firmly believe that our actions in Afghanistan and Iraq are major reasons that we've had it so good at home. Building a "fortress America" is not only impractical, it's impossible. Prudent homeland security measures are vital, to be sure, but attacking the source of the threat remains essential.
Now we are on the verge of victory or defeat in Iraq. Success depends not only on battlefield superiority, but also on the trust and confidence of the American people. I've read some articles recently that call for cutting back our military presence in Iraq and moving our troops to the peripheries of most cities. Such advice is well-intentioned but wrong - it would soon lead to a total withdrawal. Our goal needs to be a safe Iraq, free of militias and terrorists; if we simply pull back and run, then the region will pose an even greater threat than it did before the invasion. I also fear if we do not win this battle here and now, my 7-year-old son might find himself here in 10 or 11 years, fighting the same enemies and their sons.
This is Must Reading.
Posted by JB at 04:43 PM | Comments (0)
August 12, 2004
No Further Comment Necessary
Families unite in pride, grief:
Two kids on Big Wheel bikes stopped when they saw a man Tuesday planting small American flags in their Crystal Lake neighborhood.
"Hey mister," one shouted. "Whatcha doin?'"
"Did you know you had an American hero that lived by you?" answered Kirk Morris, carrying an armful of flags.
The kids looked confused.
"Yeah, his name was Jonathan Collins and he died a couple days ago," said Morris, a Gurnee resident.
Morris took the day off work to offer his condolences to the family of the 19-year-old Crystal Lake South High School graduate killed Sunday in Iraq.
Morris knows something about American heroes, and the pain -- and pride -- felt by a parent of a fallen Marine.
Morris' 19-year-old son, Marine Pfc. Geoffrey Morris, died April 4 in Fallujah, Iraq.
Morris and Collins went through boot camp together last year in California, and were members of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment, 1st Marines Division, I Expeditionary Force in Iraq.
"The Marine Corps is a tight family," Kirk Morris said. "We support each other in good times and bad and we all weep the same for a fallen brother."
With their sons so recently together so far away, the support offered by Morris helped the Collins family cope with the loss of their son, who was killed by small arms fire Sunday in Ar Ramadi, Iraq.
"Everybody has just been so great," said Jack Collins, Jonathan's father.
Friends and neighbors all pitched in, bringing homemade and store-bought food to the Collins home. The smell of fresh flowers piled next to pictures of Jon Collins lingers in the air.
"Someone even mowed our lawn today," Jack Collins said. "By the time we came out here to thank him, he was gone."
The phone never seems to stop ringing. The family of Collier Barcus, a 21-year-old soldier from McHenry who was killed in Iraq in July, called to offer comfort.
Jonathan Collins' best friend, Brad Collier, called from Iraq.
[...]
Two weeks after his 19th birthday, Morris' son shipped out to Iraq.
Once there, Geoff called home and after a quick update told his dad about the other Illinois kid in the squad.
"He said he was a pretty cool guy," Morris recalled. "He said his name was Jon."
Morris keeps his son's Marine portrait frozen on his digital camera. An American flag dangles from the antenna on his pickup and Marines stickers adorn the back window.
A red U. S. Marine flag and an American flapped Tuesday from the garage at the Collins home.
"I've seen families get torn apart, but a family like this will draw together," Morris said of the Collinses. "Jonathan will be a part of that family's legacy forever. Someday his sisters will have a child that will say, ‘Uncle Jon would be happy,' or his father will say, ‘Look at little Stevie, doesn't he remind you of Uncle Jon?'
"You remember the Uncle Jons because of what they stood for."
Exactly right. Eventually, that's all that's left, after you're gone; what you stood for.
I'd like to offer my sincere condolences to the Collins, Morris, and Barcus families, and say thank you for raising such fine young men.
People that you don't even know weep at the news of your loss.
Posted by JB at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)
August 11, 2004
I Hope It Was Worth It
This must surely be inconvenient for the Kerry campaign, not to mention a sad and disgusting spectacle: Vietnam POWs Say Kerry's Words and Deeds Were Used by Guards to Torture Them.
"They were always talking about that [antiwar demonstrations], and they picked right up on Kerry's throw-away line, 'Don't be the last man to die in a lost cause, or die for a lost cause,'" said Kenneth Cordier, an Air Force pilot who spent 2,284 days as a prisoner. "They repeated that incessantly. [...]
During a four-hour propaganda and harassment session, Boris pulled papers from his pocket and gave them to Warner to think about, he said. Some were clippings from a leftist newspaper in the United States. The other was a typewritten transcript of Kerry's testimony before a U.S. Senate panel in which he repeated allegations of U.S. troops routinely committing atrocities, attacking the war and saying communism was not a threat in Vietnam.
The atrocity allegations were garnered from the so-called Winter Soldier Investigation in Detroit in early 1971, in which actress and activist Jane Fonda and Kerry, a leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), were involved.
At that event people claiming to have seen combat in Vietnam alleged committing atrocities -- rape, cutting off of ears and heads, murdering women and children -- on a routine basis and with the knowledge of their superiors. Many of the allegations proved false or could not be documented, and the veracity and identities of many witnesses later came into question. [...]
"On our [former POW] listserve there are many people who mention hearing Kerry on Radio Hanoi and how much that infuriated them," Warner said, "but I don't know of anyone else confronted like that."
Cordier, now living in Texas, doesn't recall Kerry's name specifically being used in interrogations, propaganda broadcasts by Hanoi Hannah (Radio Vietnam) or during "attitude checks" -- political indoctrination sessions -- since Kerry was then not a household name. But he said he does remember the North Vietnamese using the so-called Winter Soldier investigations and photographs of war veterans, both real and imposters, throwing military medals over the White House fence.
Kind of embarrassing, for a presidential candidate, is it not?
This is what antiwar protests must necessarily do--feed the enemy propaganda machine. Kerry, Fonda, and their ilk knew that, and did it anyway, so cocksure that the U.S was in the wrong.
So to sum up, Kerry gamed the system by faking injuries to get home early, so he could then protest the war like he had wanted to all along. His false and slanderous testimony, alleging atrocities by himself and others, was then used by the enemy to torture our POWs, who unlike Kerry stayed there to do a job and caught a bad break, while he sat at home with his three Purple Hearts.
Somehow the Dems, who back then were all about slandering our military, now expect us to believe that they are actually prouder of his supposedly heroic four months and three tainted Purple Hearts. Of course!
Opportunists of today, in league with an opportunist of yesterday. Just how stupid do they think the American people are?
Posted by JB at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)
August 10, 2004
Not Much of a Quagmire, Really
Marines educate Iraqis on Iraqi elections:
Unit commanders from Regimental Combat Team 7 and U.S. Embassy representative Keith Kidd, 33, from Dallas, met with local Iraqi leaders to ensure they understood the map for elections, just a few months away.
The daylong meeting mapped the process by which the Iraqis will eventually draft a constitution. Local leaders also learned of new reconstruction projects, which will be built using local contractors. [...]
The interim government presently has 42 delegates from the region according to Col. Brian J. Tucker, a 43-year-old from Oceanside, Calif., and officer-in-charge of the regiment's civil affairs detachment.
He explained some of the future events that will be key to establishing a permanent form of democracy in Iraq. He said in January, the country will have an opportunity to elect a transitional government, which will have until the following August to draft a constitution. That constitution will govern by the new elections in October 2005.
"The constitution will not be passed if the national assemble rejects it by two-thirds vote and if three of the provinces reject it," Tucker explained. "If this happens the country will elect another national assembly to draft another constitution."
A national assembly will be selected by the people of Iraq, Tucker added. Then that assembly will select a president and two deputy presidents. Those deputy presidents will select a prime minister and make appointments to the ministries. [...]
The day ended with a brief overview of upcoming reconstruction projects. Nearly $104 million dollars will be awarded to the region to help purify water, fix roadways, rebuild a variety of school, security and government buildings.
Seems like Iraq is doing pretty well, doesn't it? Good luck reading about any of that in the major media.
Posted by JB at 08:18 AM | Comments (0)
August 08, 2004
Kerry Looks For Trouble, And Finds It
Captain Ed has a copy of the letter sent by the Swift Boat Veterans lawyers addressing the Kerry/Edwards campaign threat that the TV ad must be pulled on threat of legal action; the letter provides voluminous documentation, and it isn't on Kerry's side.
The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, for those who don't know, is comprised of "sixteen of the twenty-three surviving officers who served in Coastal Division 11 with Kerry (the place where Kerry spent most of his time) ... together with most of Kerry's Vietnam commanders and 254 sailors from Coastal Squadron One, ranging from Vice-Admirals to Seamen".
Here's a prediction, and some free advice for those who prefer to believe Kerry over the SwiftVets, and worth every penny: you won't win a battle over supporting facts. A battle over coverage and spin, maybe, but facts, no.
How do I know this? It's simple. Any group of veterans who are this united and this tenacious to fight one of their own have the facts on their side.
(link via SnuggHarbor)
UPDATE: Slight edit for clarity
Posted by JB at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)
August 03, 2004
Most of Us Have Not Lost ALL of Our Marbles
Via NationalCenterBlog I find this post at Mommamontezz, "An Open Letter", which attempts to undo the damage done by that seditious, scum-sucking, baseball-cap-wearing millionaire Michael Moore and his legions of double-digit-IQ fans. See here for the background story.
Our troops overseas need to know we are behind them and that they are doing good things; their sacrifices are not in vain. This open letter makes that clear. Don't listen to the words coming out of the mouths of those too lame to fight for anything worth fighting for. Trust your instincts, and trust your president. And whatever the media says, flip it around 180 degrees to find something close to the truth.
Posted by JB at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)
August 02, 2004
Pfc. Chance Phelps, R.I.P.
Via Snugg Harbor, I'm reminded of a post from Blackfive of a few months ago, called Taking Chance Home. It's about the solemn journey of a Lt. Col. Michael Strobl with the casket containing the remains of Pfc. Chance Phelps, killed in action on April 9 in Iraq. Good Friday, as it happens.
Lt. Col. Strobl's volunteered for the task of providing a "uniformed escort for all casualties to ensure they are delivered safely to the next of kin and are treated with dignity and respect along the way". Not only did Lt. Col. Strobl fulfill that task admirably, he memorialized the memory of a young man he never even met -- Chance was only 19, having just graduated high school in 2003 -- by writing a long, beautiful, respectful, very moving essay about his trip.
Take 15 minutes and pay tribute by reading all about Chance Phelps, and his final journey home. You'll be glad you did.
See also this site dedicated to Chance's memory.
Posted by JB at 01:27 PM | Comments (0)
July 31, 2004
Heroism Getting Short Shrift
Ace of Spades HQ has a great post up, about prominent media coverage when our guys die in Iraq or Afghanistan, but nothing (or next to nothing) when we kill a whole bunch of bad guys, or when acts of heroism are observed.
The original story, from the San Diego Union-Tribune, is here. Here's a quote, but you really must read it all:
More than 50 Marines from Echo Company have been recognized for valor between March 18 and April 26, when they went into Fallujah to root out insurgents after four civilian contract workers were murdered and two of the bodies hanged from a bridge.
The battalion's Fox Company has recommended about 20 Marines for medals.
"My boys are superheroes," said Capt. D.A. Zembiec, the Echo company commander who climbed atop a tank while under fire to guide it to where his men were pinned down. "I got guys with two Purple Hearts still out here working."
Echo Company's role in the battle for Fallujah began April 6, when two platoons – about 80 men – were ordered into the northwest section of the city, launching a month of street-by-street fighting that would claim the lives of several hundred insurgents and an estimated 600 civilians.
As word of the violence spread, the media gathered for a closer look.
"One reporter said, 'It can't be that bad,' " recalled 1st Sgt. William Skiles, Echo Company's top enlisted man.
"Well," Skiles recalled, "the Armored Assault Vehicle had just stopped to let the media off when the first (assault rifle) rounds flew overhead. Then came the (rocket propelled grenades). There weren't a whole lot of stories filed that day because the reporters were face down in the dirt."
During the encounter, journalists often asked Skiles, 43, of San Juan Capistrano, for information for their reports about the fighting, but he thought they were missing something.
"I kept thinking: What about valor? Why weren't any of the reporters interested in the valor of our Marines?
"All anyone wants to write about is our dead and wounded," he said, thumbing through military papers that included nominations for Silver and Bronze stars.
That about says it all. And Ace's closer paragraph is priceless:
It's a sick world where Michael Moore is lauded for having the "courage" to make a film guaranteed to win him praise from his peers and millions in profit, while the guys who actually have courage -- the real kind, not the fakey "artistic bravery" sort -- can't get a single column inch on the front page of any of our very patriotic newspapers.
You got that right, my friend. Read the whole post, and read the whole article. Brave men and women are dying for your right to do so.
Posted by JB at 05:00 PM | Comments (0)
July 15, 2004
Carriers and Subs and MIRVs, Oh My
American Digest has an informative post about our carriers and subs that are currently deployed; plus, if you don't know what a MIRV is, you will learn that too.
Go ye, and read.
Posted by JB at 07:05 AM | Comments (0)
June 08, 2004
Ted Nugent and Toby Keith are Stand Up Guys
From Hugh Hewitt:
After the LZ landed, a figure in a pair of baggy trousers, a t-shirt, and a scruffy beard jumped out of the Blackhawk and wondered out in the general direction. Even though the man wore civilian clothes, I wasn't sure if we had our team... this guy could have been a reporter, or had any number of reasons for his style of clothing. Besides, he seemed to be the only one walking off the bird. Celebrities wouldn't just stroll around in a war zone... would they? It had to be a stagehand or something.
The figure approached me in the dark and pumped my hand; in the shadows, I still couldn't see his face. "Hey man, I'm Toby Keith." Roger that. Welcome to Camp Fallujah, Mr. Keith.
Keith looked over his shoulder and gave a thumbs-up to the rest of the posse, along with the international hand-and-arm signal for "follow me"... clearly he was a driving force in the entire operation. The entourage moved off the bird and over to our escort party. The Nuge was a little further back in the crowd; we shook hands and both he and Toby immediately began engaging the Marines in photo-ops, handshakes, and we're-so-damn-proud-of-yous to the Marines standing by for security. Nobody was here to see this. There was no red carpet, no news reporters, and the Public Affairs Office hadn't started snapping their photos yet. These guys weren't looking for a photo op; they were out here standing around in shorts and t-shirts and jeans high-fiving Marines on a dusty LZ for only one reason: they cared.
Can you imagine the Dixie Chicks doing that? Neither can I.
Posted by JB at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)
June 03, 2004
Good Name, Good Mission
Spirit of America is a good organization, doing good things for good people.
Here is just one more way that the Internet democratizes society -- simple requests can be quickly fulfilled, with a minimum of effort, without requiring a single millionaire. In this case, in just two weeks, $80,000 is raised and spent on TV equipment, which is then packed and shipped to a country halfway around the world, all just based on the good will of those who want to make a difference. See the timeline:
April 8: SoA receives Marines request for television equipment.
April 14: SoA posts the request on our Web site and begins fundraising.
April 29: SoA delivers $82,687 of television and video production equipment to Camp Pendleton. Marines pack donated equipment and prepare for shipment to Iraq.
May 1: Marines fly equipment to Iraq.
Three weeks from request to delivery -- that is some serious Takin' Care of Business. That TV equipment will be "used to equip Iraqi-owned and operated television stations in Al Anbar province".
Other worthwhile efforts: pianos and violins to the children of Kurdistan, who were "forbidden to listen to or play music for years under the Islamist Government of Kurdistan"; toys, soccer balls and jerseys, medical, dental, and school supplies, and more. Read about all that here.
Help Spirit of America help others, if you can. It's worth it.
And now, to wrap a big red bow around it, here's some happy Iraqi kids, in Fallujah of all places; just try to get this image out of your head.
Posted by JB at 10:21 PM | Comments (3)
April 24, 2004
Pat Tillman, 1976-2004
May He Rest In Peace.
All our heroes deserve respect, but especially the fallen heroes.
It's easy to sit over here in our material comfort and expect others to do our dirty work. That's why we do it - it's easy. It takes zero courage to keep doing what you've been doing, which is to say, living life for yourself. We all do it, and we try to pretend we have no choice.
Well of course we have choices. They are just not easy choices.
Mr. Tillman turned down easy money to join a cause that he felt compelled to join - the defense of freedom. On 9/11, he is quoted as saying "The importance of football ranks zero compared to what happened ... When you compare it ... we're worthless. We're actors."
He was 27. Sounds much older.
Just now, the song "Letters From Home" comes on the radio ... the lyrics seem appropriate:
I hold it up and show my buddies
Like we ain't scared and our boots ain't muddy
But no one laughs
Cause there ain't nothin' funny when a soldier cries
And I just wipe my eyes
I fold it up and put it in my shirt
Pick up my gun and get back to work
And it keeps me drivin' on
Waitin' on ...
Letters from home
Now he has left a young widow back at home. Surely she understood who he was; surely she knew what she was getting into. Doesn't make it any easier, I suspect. Widowed is widowed.
Well if it helps any, I admire Mr. Tillman's valor. This is how real men behave. They take risks for causes larger than themselves. Usually they come back home, but sometimes they don't, and we are left with nothing but this: they died for an idea.
Sometimes that is enough. It has to be.
(The Arizona Cardinals website has many fine links and tributes to Mr. Tillman here, including details about a fund in his memory here and an interview with him here. Also see the Armed Forces Information Services press release about his death here, and the announcement of the Arthur Ashe Courage award to the Tillman brothers here.)
Posted by JB at 11:59 PM | Comments (0) |
