Whether
you support and believe the Swift Boat people or not, one thing is for
certain: from now on, we veterans and our service to country will
forever be in doubt. From this day forward, no matter what is in
your military record or mine can no longer be viewed as the definitive
description of our time in service.
The
relatively insane notion that the Swift Boat people have put forward
concerning Kerry’s service, that what is in his records is all false
and cannot be trusted will now apply to one and all veterans.
All that will be required to wipe out the honor, integrity and value
of your service is for one, ten or two hundred people with an agenda
to step forward and proclaim they, and not the military know the
truth. In the doing, everything you did that was documented will
be null and void.
What
the Swift Boat people would ask us to believe is this: The
glowing fitness reports written by Elliott, of Kerry thirty years ago
are false. That Elliott had no idea what he was writing when he
penned, “In a combat environment often requiring independent,
decisive action LTJG Kerry was unsurpassed….LTJG Kerry emerges as
the acknowledged leader in his peer group.” According to
O’Neill and his Swift Boat buddies, Elliott was such an incompetent
Commanding Officer that he in essence allowed Kerry to write his own
Fitness Reports.
What
is more, according to O’Neill and the Swift Boat people, the Navy
and Elliott were so inept and devoid of honor that they allowed Kerry
to write his own commendations. That is right, there was no
independent verification required when it came to Kerry. He
simply told Elliott what he wanted – silver star this time, purple
heart next and of course a bronze star for good measure - and the
Commanding Officer went about busying himself writing the
commendations on Kerry’s behalf.
Apparently
as it pertained to Kerry, the Navy and Elliott held so little regard
for the services proud traditions of honor, courage and valor that
they gave out the commendations like so much penny bubble-gum.
That is how the United States military works isn’t it? That
was every military person’s experience wasn’t it?
We
all got to write our own reviews, put ourselves in for commendations
and accolades. We all remember our Commanding Officers calling
us into their offices and telling us, “Look, I’ve got this Fitness
Report to do here. Can you tell me what I should write in this
thing? I know if I hadn’t observed you I could simply write or
check ‘not observed’ but heck I am bored and need something to
do.” Isn’t that the way our military and its commanders have
always went about their business?
I
am sure we all have stories of knocking on our CO’s hatch and
informing him that we feel deserving of a medal of valor, and then the
ol’ man getting busy with writing one up for us. Come on, you
all remember these incidents don’t you?
Truth
be told, of the five commendations that I received during my service,
I wasn’t even aware of having been put in for them until after
they were submitted. One time, I was called out of formation
without a clue as to why? I marched forward and placed myself at
attention. The citation was read out loud and someone pinned a
medal to my left breast pocket. Nobody ever asked me whether I
deserved or wanted the medal, or any commendation ever given to me.
I certainly didn’t and can say with the utmost confidence that
nobody in my unit ever put themselves in for recognition.
I
can say too with even greater confidence that had any person put
themselves in for any recognition they would have been laughed out of
the Marine Corps. The same goes for my reviews. Not once
did anybody in my chain of command ask me what they should write, or
if I wanted to write it for myself. Had I or anybody else tried
to tell our CO what our review should be, or what it should include
our standing would have forever been diminished. I am sure too
that the review would have reflected our arrogance and poor judgment.
The
questions concerning the Swift Boat people are these: How many
veterans out there today, can make the Swift Boat accusations
concerning Kerry’s Fitness Reports and Medals fit their experience?
How many veterans out there wrote their-own citations? How many
wrote their-own reviews? How many believe that their branch of
service, or Commanding Officer would have even considered allowing
them to put themselves in for medals of valor? How about writing
their own Fitness Reports or telling their CO what to write in the
Fitness Report?
The Swift Boat people have cheapened
all our service. What our Commanding Officers and branch of
service thought of our performance twenty, thirty, forty and fifty
years ago means nothing today. If Kerry’s military records
cannot be trusted, neither can mine, nor can yours! Thanks, to
the Swift Boat people our honorable service has been denigrated –
and when the folks get back from Iraq and Afghanistan, what will their
service be worth? They had all better hope that they don’t
offend anybody while serving because if they do, nothing their
official military records contain will amount to anything.
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