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H. Thomas Hayden
recently concluded over 35 years of service,
which included the Agency for International
Development, the Marine Corps, defense industry
and the Pentagon. His specialties are Intelligence,
Counterinsurgency Operations, Counter-terrorism,
and Joint Concepts Development and Experimentation.
His Marine Corps assignments have included
command of two separate battalions; AC/S G-2,
4th MARDIV & AC/S G-2 FMFEurope; Branch Head,
HQMC, Special Operations and Low Intensity
Conflict (SO/LIC); Special Assistant to the
Assistant Secretary of Defense for SO/LIC;
and, Senior Program Analysts at HQMC with
the Joint Staff and DoD at the Pentagon. Overseas
assignments included Vietnam, Japan & Okinawa,
Europe, Central America, Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait, Somalia, Singapore, Philippines, and
Colombia. He has an MBA (Pepperdine) and an
MA in International Relations (University
of Southern California). He has written two
books and is working on a third.
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November 3, 2004
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All will have to agree, it was close run thing. However, I will never understand how John Kerry could have confused so many people across America on his Vietnam record. Many of us who served in Vietnam remembered what John Kerry did in Vietnam when he bugged out on his shipmates after only four months in a combat zone and especially what he did when he came home and his tirades against those who served honorably.
Over 2.7 million American Armed Forces men and women served in Vietnam. This does not include the thousands of Foreign Service and volunteer agency personnel. According to a Harris Poll in 1980, 91% of Vietnam Vets were "glad they served their country," 74% "enjoyed their time in the Service," and 72% thought that they were "forced to fight a war the politicians in Washington, DC, would not let them win." Two-thirds of those who served in Vietnam were volunteers, compared to two-thirds who were drafted in World War II.
I served two years in Vietnam -- 1967-1969. I spent one and half years of this in the Mekong Delta, in the very same area of Vietnam where Kerry spent 120 days. I worked with the Swift Boats and the PBRs almost daily. Kerry's story of his total service, his alleged wounds and his questionable decorations just do not make sense. We have the Swift Boat and POW Vets and the Vietnam Vets to thank for raising the questions that many of the pro-Kerry national news media avoided. John Kerry's character was in serious doubt. He has never released all his military records and he has never fully answered the charges by the Swift Boat & POW Vets.
If Kerry personally witnessed atrocities, why did he not try to stop them or why did he not report them when he saw it -- serious dereliction of duty. Or was he just lying? How could a Navy officer get a medal for beaching his boat -- against all rules and regulations - abandon his position as skipper of the boat, chase down a wounded Viet Cong and then kill him. Killing a wounded enemy soldier who had no means to resist is against the Geneva Conventions.
Then there is Kerry's record in the Senate -- somewhat undistinguished. He says he would stand up for our Armed Forces but his record shows something very different. He has voted against almost every major defense appropriation that was before the Senate in the last ten years. Remember his great confusing statement of the Iraqi War; "I voted for the war before I voted against it." Kerry blasted the rationale for going to war in Iraq but offered no alternative on what he would have chosen. All he said was, "I would have done it different."
Now we know that the French, Germans and Russians were in cahoots with the UN on obtaining kickbacks from the sale of Iraqi oil from Saddam Hussein in the Food for Peace Program. Kerry never condemned this outrageous activity. Kerry has said he would consult with the UN before acting in some American foreign policy interest.
Before the current difficulties in Iraq, many Democrats, including John Kerry, repeatedly said that Saddam Hussein was a danger and a threat to world peace and should be removed.
Just last week I met a mother who said her son was a Marine and was in Iraq. She blamed George Bush so she was voting against Bush. It is hard to reason against the deep concerns from mothers, wives, and other relatives, but no one ever forced anybody to join the Marine Corps. A couple of recruiters were recently charged with fraud. However, anyone who has been found to be a victim of fraudulent recruiting can easily get a free ticket home.
Today there are three kinds of members of our Armed Forces. Those who are in Iraq, Afghanistan, Djibouti, or a dozen other hot spots, those who are preparing to go or those who have already gone once or twice and will be preparing to go again.
Hats off and a salute to all the men and women in our Armed Services, the Reserves and the National Guard who serve their country and do their duty. They may not like it, but they are not getting paid to like it.
My local news paper, The Florida Times-Union, said it best: "Integrity tops intellect and steadfast courage trumps falsified bravery." The paper went on to say that Bush may not be able to articulate his vision as well as Ronal Reagan, but his deeds surpass his words.
The better of the two won.
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© 2004 H. Thomas Hayden. All opinions
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