A SECOND OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR JOHN KERRY
I'd list Mike's email address, etc. but decided against it.
Dear Senator Kerry:
On February 14, 2004 I wrote a letter to you dealing my family’s proud
military history and expressing my concern about your qualifications to lead
my sons who are currently serving. You and your campaign chose to respond to
my letter by sending me a form e-mail asking me for a campaign contribution.
The letter to you was also sent by e-mail to some friends who ultimately
passed it on. I have no idea how many people have read it, but I have
received several thousand replies.
Since you chose not to respond to the letter I thought I would share with
you the thoughts of those who have responded. Of course, I didn’t hear from
the Hollywood elite, those entertainers who you praised as representing the
values of America after they had launched vicious and obscene attacks
against President Bush during a fund raiser for you in New York. I heard
from the real America and Senator you are totally out of touch with it.
I received e-mails and phone calls from hundreds of veterans of World War
II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and everything in between. It’s ironic
that some of them list the medals they earned in combat. Some have the
Distinguished Service Cross, Silver and Bronze Stars and multiple Purple
Hearts, yet they refuse to call themselves heroes. Yet, they will tell me
that all of the men in their squad, platoon, or company were heroes.
On the other hand, you have based your campaign for the Presidency on your
supposed heroics in Vietnam. Yet, you continue to be proud of the fact that
you called your fellow soldiers and sailors rapists and murderers. Is it any
wonder that I’m having a tough time finding veterans who support you.
I've spoken or heard from many of your fellow Vietnam veterans and in some
cases their widows and families. Their comments have touched me deeply. Some
have called me in tears, their voices breaking as they thank me for coming
forward to defend them against the vicious attacks you made on their
character and sacrifices. They don’t owe me any thanks, the American people
owe them gratitude, but you and your cohorts like Jane Fonda attempted to
deny it to them.
However Senator the most heart wrenching responses have come from the men
and women currently serving in the war on terror, and their families. There
was the phone call from the young Army infantryman about to leave with his
unit for Iraq. He called to thank me for my letter and I’m the one who got
choked up. Why should an American soldier going into harm’s way be thanking
me? Then there was the call from a retired Air Force Master Sergeant who had
recently been to a military hospital in San Antonio.
He had met with some of the wounded coming back from Iraq and was amazed at
their courage. He mentioned one young soldier in particular whose hands had
been severely burned when some ordinance he was working on had exploded. He
couldn’t understand why the army was going to give him a Purple Heart since
he hadn’t actually been under enemy fire at the time. He didn’t believe he
deserved such an honor. Can you possibly relate to that Senator, after your
three scratches and three Purple Hearts?
Then there are the letters from the parents or spouses who have a loved one
in the war. They can’t believe that you are willing yet again to undermine
the efforts of our military for your own personal political gain. Of course
some of what I have received has been eloquent in its simplicity. The
Marines say “Semper Fi” , the soldiers Hoorah or Airborne, and some just say
thanks.
Maybe that’s why none of the brave American warriors I heard from are
supporting you. None. In fact Senator, they fear being led by you. Maybe you
don’t mind that, but I do. We need a Commander in Chief our troops can
believe in, not one who they believe will ultimately lead them, and the
country they are fighting to defend, to disaster.
Now to be fair Senator, I did hear from some of your supporters, in fact
about five percent of the e-mails and phone calls came from people loyal to
you, although none were active military. They were interesting, to say the
least. Not one attempted to directly refute anything I said in the letter.
They would bring up President Bush’s service record or try to tell me that
you didn’t really mean what you had said about your fellow soldiers in 1971.
However, many were just vicious attacks on me and my family.
The favorite trick was to call me between midnight and 6:00 a.m. and scream
obscenities at me. They would use the same phrases in e-mails, but obviously
many thought it would be more fun to wake me and my wife up. After all, they
surely know that when you have children in harm’s way serving their country
you’ll answer the phone no matter when it rings. One recent caller knew that
for sure. He informed me that he was an ardent supporter of yours and hoped
that if George Bush were re-elected President, all of my sons would be
killed in the war.
So there you have it Senator Kerry: an informal and totally unscientific
poll generated by a single e-mail sent by a someone of no significance to
you. In fact, I guess that’s why I never got a reply from you. After all,
I’m just a nobody, but unfortunately for you the people I heard from are not
as insignificant. They are the average American citizens and they come from
every segment of the population. They are the veterans who have protected
our freedom in the past and the men and women who are laying their lives on
the ground to protect it now.
They are the best of the best and I suggest that you don’t even know who
they are. However, I think you’ll hear from them soon, because based on what
I’ve heard, their response to your candidacy on election day is going to be
not just no, but Hell No!
Sincerely,
Michael Connelly
October 1, 2004
TO READ THE FIRST LETTER AND SEE A VIDEO BASED ON IT CLICK THE FOLLOWING
LINK:
pointsandviews.com |
