a friend from another non-political board gave me permission post this letter from her daughter. her father was killed in viet nam and she's writing to friends and family to ask their support for Kerry who she believes will give her son a better future....Dear friends and family:
For some of you this is the first piece of political mail that you have received from me. I am uneasy (to say the least) in sending it because I am clear that we may have different Presidential preferences. My aim is not to anger or alienate anyone, but rather to ask you to please look from my perspective for just a moment and think about what I have to say before voting if you haven't already.
I love this country and what is possible here. I am honored by my father and grandfathers’ valor in service of it. I am honored by the enormous sacrifices my mother and grandmother made in service of it. I feel a responsibility to use the freedoms afforded me by that service, and this is my way of doing that.
The Bush Campaign has worked very hard to make sure that you have serious questions about Senator Kerry. Please know that I have met Senator Kerry, and I trust him implicitly. I am moved by his integrity, strength and caring. I trust him with our security, economy and environment, perhaps most telling… I trust him with Logan's security, wellbeing and education. I am clear that with John Kerry's leadership, Logan's future will be bright.
Like my dad, John volunteered for service when doing so won him no popularity contests. Volunteering for that war in that time was a courageous and patriotic act. When deployed into Vietnam, he fought with valor like most, and brought his entire crew home safely. Anything you have heard or read to the contrary is just plain not true.
In 1970-71, upon his return he took another patriotic stand and said loudly and clearly what so many other veterans were thinking and saying - it is time to bring our soldiers home. It was time to end what should have been ended in 1968 - what should have been ended when the war’s architect, Robert McNamara and both political parties called for expeditious withdrawal. It was time to bring our soldiers home. Not long after the march on the Capitol, even my dad had serious reservations about the war; while on leave in Hawaii in 1971, he told my mom that he genuinely distrusted the validity of the war. He however, boarded that flight back to Viet Nam to fulfill his duty to his government.
For John Kerry to take that stand he had to stand up to the most powerful men in the world and that took guts. He spoke before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and asked, “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” We don’t know what happened to my dad, but he very well might have been the last man to die there and had President Nixon heeded Kerry’s words at that time and in that place, my dad might very well be here today; that is a difficult pill to swallow.
It has been 33 years, and I fervently believe it is time for this country as a whole to follow John Kerry’s lead and listen to what he has to say.
With regard to the Bush Administration's constant admonitions of John Kerry as a “Flip-flopper” about the war in Iraq – here is an excerpt from the EXACT speech he presented to the Senate BEFORE the vote to give Bush the power to wage war in 2002,
“I will vote yes because I believe it is the best way to hold Saddam Hussein accountable. And the administration, I believe, is now committed to a recognition that war must be the last option to address this threat, not the first, and that we must act in concert with allies around the globe to make the world's case against Saddam Hussein.
As the President made clear earlier this week, "Approving this resolution does not mean that military action is imminent or unavoidable." It means "America speaks with one voice."
Let me be clear, the vote I will give to the President is for one reason and one reason only: To disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, if we cannot accomplish that objective through new, tough weapons inspections in joint concert with our allies.
In giving the President this authority, I expect him to fulfill the commitments he has made to the American people in recent days--to work with the United Nations Security Council to adopt a new resolution setting out tough and immediate inspection requirements, and to act with our allies at our side if we have to disarm Saddam Hussein by force. If he fails to do so, I will be among the first to speak out.”
Senator Kerry has NEVER changed his view on the correct and responsible way to handle Saddam Hussein. I agree that we must be safe, but please look at the possibility that Bush’s management of the war in Iraq has not made us safer at all, and there are soldiers just like my dad who are paying the price.
Before you vote, please, for me, put aside the rhetoric that the Bush administration and others are putting out about John and give him an honest look.
With love and hope,
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