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Politics : WHO IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (10372)	2/23/2004 12:29:37 PM
From: PROLIFE	Respond to of 10965

CROCK of Dem lies. But here is some truth: JOHN KERRY AIN'T MY BROTHER By FRED C. GARDNER February 23, 2004 -- THE talking heads claim that Sen. John Kerry "owns" the Vietnam- veteran vote - because he's one of us. Evoking Shakespeare, he refers to us as his "Band of Brothers." Well, he's one of us, but he doesn't own us, or our vote. Not mine, anyway. I don't know which John Kerry to believe: John Kerry the war hero - or John Kerry the war protester. The more I learn about Kerry, the more he puzzles me; the more he scares me. He served in river-patrol craft, the Swift boats - as did I, briefly, in 1967. So I know first-hand how dangerous the missions were. By most accounts he performed admirably - bravely. Then he came home, denounced his service and spread tales of atrocities that never happened. In doing so, he smeared good men who deserved much better. Now he's running for president, again claiming hero status. Hero. Protestor. He stands for everything, which means that he stands for nothing. He voted for the war in Iraq; now he's against it. It seems he will be whatever he needs to be - to be elected. Past mistakes can be valuable lesson - if one chooses to learn. Those of us who went to Vietnam quickly discovered that you learn from the other guy's mistakes; that, or die - and someone will be learning from your mistakes. I keep waiting to see what John Kerry learned, and it seems the only thing is how to get re-elected. I live in Michigan. Kerry made only brief appearances here during the recent primary campaign. He had the election sewn up, so we were no longer important to him. He rode in, got his committed delegates, his ticket punched, and rode out to the next caucus. Did he win the "hearts and minds" of the people in Michigan? Hard to say. Did he win mine? No. Does it matter to me that he is a Vietnam Veteran? Not in the least, because he hasn't shown me that he has taken that experience and turned it into any meaningful commitment to the things that are important to the people of my state and, more importantly, our country. Sen. Kerry and I come from different backgrounds. Even though we both served in Vietnam while in the U.S. Navy, that's where the similarity stops: An officer, he served mostly on Swift boats. I was an Navy corpsman with the Marine Corps; I made a Swift-boat run, and it was an exciting mission. But I am in no way an expert on them. In fact, I'm not an expert in much of anything, except how to cope in an uncertain world.That much I did learn from Vietnam. And until John Kerry demonstrates that he has a positive vision for America's future, he won't have my vote. Vietnam veteran or not, he hasn't earned it. Fred C. Gardner served as a combat medical corpsman with the 1st Marine Division at Chu Lai, Vietnam. He resides in West Bloomfield, Mich. nypost.com