I Love Anonymous Emails
Overnight I received the following email that I think begs for an answer:
“If this decorated veteran of a war that most rich white guys managed to avoid were a Republican, I suspect you'd be whistling another tune. Politics: the enemy of the truth”
Disregarding the “Decorated Veteran” part, there are two points in this that are just plain wrong.
The first point comes under the heading of an urban legend – “a war that most rich white guys managed to avoid”. The breakdown of those who served in Viet Nam is as follows:
White 86.3%
Black 12.5%
Other 1.2%
As for combat deaths in Viet Nam, the percentages are:
White 86.0%
Black 12.6%
Other 1.4%
I’m sick and tired about how “Viet Nam was a Black Man’s War”. BULLSHIT! Get off your ass and look it up – it really isn’t that hard.
As for the second part of that email – that if Kerry was a Republican I’d be whistling a different tune, let’s take two examples:
Senator Joseph Robert “Bob” Kerrey(D). Bob Kerrey was a U. S. Navy SEAL in Viet Nam and earned our Nation’s Highest Award, the Medal of Honor, for his actions. I have nothing but the highest respect for this man. He proved himself to be courageous and calm under fire, even when suffering from massive injuries. Does this mean that I have to like his politics or anything else he’s done since the war? Of course not! But that wouldn’t take anything away from my respect for what he did.
Senator John McCain III(R). John McCain was seated in his aircraft on the deck of the USS Forestall when a missile from another aircraft misfired and started a chain reaction that left over 160 sailors dead and the rear half of the carrier in a shambles. He managed to get out of his aircraft and clear of the flames engulfing it just before it went up in smoke. Only weeks after that, he was shot down by the NVA and spent about 5 years in the Hanoi Hilton.
John McCain and Bob Kerrey don’t have to prove a damn thing to anyone. Do I respect both of these men? You damn skippy!! Do I agree with either of their politics – not likely.
I am an Independent. Not Republican. Not Democrat. I don’t give two shits in Hell what party a man is in – if he’s a liar and a fraud, I’m going to call it.
Any more anonymous emails??
2 Comments:
Dear Hothead:
Isnt' it exciting when someone reads what you wrote and is interested enough to comment on it? I know it pleases me. But I am a bit concerned that I wasn't clear enough in my post, so let me try again.
1. Anonymous email
I didn't send an anonymous email. I posted a comment to your site and signed it with my blogger name (GCS, sort of like your handle, GOC) which, of course, is standard netiquette. Here's a tip: if you click on my e-signature, you can reach me.)
2. White Guy
In my post "Guy" had TWO qualifers: "rich" AND "white." It's not my position that Vietnam was a "black man's war," certainly not by sheer numbers. (By sheer numbers, you might consider it a "yellow man's war" but that's not the way I look at it.)
In the years 1965-66, blacks made up about 11% of the forces in Vietnam, but 20% of the casualties. Then-President Johnson ordered that black participation should be cut back in combat units and by 1969, the black casuality rate was about 11.5%. Around that time (66-71), Johnson and the MacNamara introduced "Project 100,000" which was a program to provide remedial education and training to draftees and volunteers who didn't pass the AFQT. The result was more poor southerners (mostly) both black and white were allowed to serve. Of course, during Vietnam, most officers were white and educated. My point, however, is that most men who were eligible for college got deferments and most men who were eligible for college were white and above middle class. My family couldn't afford college and my brother was drafted. Kerry could has avoided the war and didn't. Considering the way the world looked at the time, I find that was admirable.
3. Political independence
I probably should have said "if he wasn't running for President." I read about McCain's military service when I supported him for President in 2000. Good thing I did, rather than listening to the attacks against him that candidate Bush sponsored, which also called McCain a "liar and a fraud. Senator McCain has denounced these attacks on Kerry, as has John Glenn, another veteran who would probably eat ground glass for this country.
All of this quibbling pales in comparision to the effrontery of attacking the guy who took bullets for his country just to support the guy who took a powder.
4. Liar? Fraud?
I guess you're cheesed off because Kerry said he was in Cambodia and hasn't proven it to your satisfication. Here's my take on it: we know he served two terms, we know he was decorated, we know he was in a swift boat near the Cambodian border in December 1968 and we know he was a 24-year-old who was scared to death on Christmas Eve.
I've spent far too many evenings at my Dad's VFW post, listening to veterans argue about service details to consider those men "liars and frauds" because their accounts differ.
I've looked up enough records regarding Kerry's service to give him (and McCain and Kerrey and Glenn and Clelland) the benefit of the doubt. If you're still looking for yours, try www.archives.gov.
I still think the reason you haven't concluded the same is that you don't like Kerry. Or maybe you're more concerned with heat than light.
It really chaps my hide when people use military service as just another chance to smear a political opponent. Like claiming McMain had a black child to smear him, it uses someone's attempt to be honorable against them. And it's shameful.
And while I'm not willing to give you my phone number, I am NOT anonymous.
Dear Hothead:
Isn't it exciting when someone reads what you wrote and is interested enough to comment on it? I know it pleases me. But I am a bit concerned that I wasn't clear enough in my post, so let me try again.
1. Anonymous email
I didn't send an anonymous email. I posted a comment to your site and signed it with my blogger name (GCS, sort of like your handle, GOC) which, of course, is standard netiquette. Here's a tip: if you click on my e-signature, you can reach me.)
2. White Guy
In my post "Guy" had TWO qualifers: "rich" AND "white." It's not my position that Vietnam was a "black man's war," certainly not by sheer numbers. (By sheer numbers, you might consider it a "yellow man's war" but that's not the way I look at it.)
In the years 1965-66, blacks made up about 11% of the forces in Vietnam, but 20% of the casualties. Then-President Johnson ordered that black participation should be cut back in combat units and by 1969, the black casuality rate was about 11.5%. Around that time (66-71), Johnson and the MacNamara introduced "Project 100,000" which was a program to provide remedial education and training to draftees and volunteers who didn't pass the AFQT. The result was more poor southerners (mostly) both black and white were allowed to serve. Of course, during Vietnam, most officers were white and educated. My point, however, is that most men who were eligible for college got deferments and most men who were eligible for college were white and above middle class. My family couldn't afford college and my brother was drafted. Kerry could has avoided the war and didn't. Considering the way the world looked at the time, I find that admirable.
3. Political independence
I probably should have said "if he wasn't running for President." I read about McCain's military service when I supported him for President in 2000. Good thing I did, rather than listening to the attacks against him that candidate Bush sponsored, which also called McCain a "liar and a fraud." Senator McCain has denounced these attacks on Kerry, as has John Glenn, another veteran who would probably eat ground glass for this country.
All of this quibbling pales in comparision to the effrontery of attacking the guy who took bullets for his country just to support the guy who took a powder.
4. Liar? Fraud?
I guess you're cheesed off because Kerry said he was in Cambodia and hasn't proven it to your satisfaction. Here's my take on it: we know he served two terms, we know he was decorated, we know he was in a swift boat near the Cambodian border in December 1968 and we know he was a 24-year-old who was scared to death on Christmas Eve.
I've spent far too many evenings at my Dad's VFW post, listening to veterans argue about service details to consider those men "liars and frauds" because their accounts differ.
I've looked up enough records regarding Kerry's service to give him (and McCain and Kerrey and Glenn and Clelland) the benefit of the doubt. If you're still looking for yours, try www.archives.gov.
I still think the reason you haven't concluded the same is that you don't like Kerry. Or maybe you're more concerned with heat than light.
It really chaps my hide when people use military service as just another chance to smear a political opponent. Like claiming McMain had a black child to smear him, it uses someone's attempt to be honorable against them. And it's shameful.
And while I'm not willing to give you my phone number, I am NOT anonymous.
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