Who was the head of the American Legion who fell off the stage?

[ruggerson]

That was pretty damn satisfying. :)

Anyone got video?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. The head guy who says the constitution he fought for is meaningless?

The head guy who says the constitution he fought for is meaningless? That is, he says that protesting the war is un-American because it might harm troop morale?

[Greeby]

2. Umm, American Legion is for stateside veterans

Whereas combat veterans are in the Veterans Of Foreign Wars

[DancingBear]

4. That's not true

My dad fought in WWII- Battle Of The Bulge and D-Day - and was a Legion member. Many of his friends were Euopean combat vets, and they were Legion members as well.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. That has been their take since Nam

and they will be left behind again

[DarbyUSMC]

3. A combat Veteran can belong to both but a Veteran who has not

been involved in a war can't be part of the VFW. One unit of the VFW, that I know of personally, did not welcome Nam Vets when they came back from that horrific war. It hurt many of them and they declined to join when the VFW finally came to its senses.

This is a piece by Marine Major General Smedley D. Butler that you might find interesting:

War is a Racket:

http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm

[Greeby]

6. Speaking of Smedley Butler

Here's some fightin words from him I've liked since I saw them:

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler

"My interest is, my one hobby is, maintaining a democracy. If you get these 500,000 soldiers advocating anything smelling of Fascism, I am going to get 500,000 more and lick the hell out of you, and we will have a real war right at home."

Reply to Gerald MacGuire, after being asked to organize WWI veterans to help "protect" FDR, as related by Butler in testimory before Congress, 1934


:patriot:

[I Have A Dream]

7. Are you serious? Are you saying that even the VFW rejected Vietnam...

veterans? (At least some units of the VFW.) This really surprises me, if so. I always thought that it was just the non-military people who gave the Vietnam veterans a hard time when they came home.