Original message:
From: David Stinson
Subject: OT: Open Letter from a Green Beret to John Kerry
(copy of editorial by Don Bendell snipped)

Mr. Stinson, are you employed by, a volunteer at, or otherwise associated
with the Bush for President campaign?

It's interesting to note that when I did a Google search of "Don Bendell"
the first site that comes up is titled "Welcome to Bendell Enterprises": it
has a link to Mr. Bendell's agent prominently displayed on the page. The
fact that Mr. Bendell is, as a Republican spokesman, so obviously (you'll
excuse the pun) "bush league" is indicative of how desperately the
Republican National Spin Meisters are trying to find anything or anyone who
will denigrate Senator Kerry's war record.

No matter: Mr. Bendell was there, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
I doubt that his recollection is the only valid one of that place or time,
and I also doubt that he has the one true account of Vietnam. Loyal service,
even as part of an A team, does not grant an old soldier the right to
rewrite history.

I was there, too: and everything John Kerry said is true.

That Mr. Bendell didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen: he is entitled
to support and protect the memory of his comrades, as am I - but not at the
expense of whitewashing what others have documented. Yes, some soldiers
_did_ cut the ears off VC dead. Yes, some soldiers did other unspeakable
things: just ask Rusty Calley if you don't believe me. Some of it, I saw
with my own eyes, some I read in the courts-martial and/or arrest reports I
saw as a Military Policeman.

Mr. Bendell is entitled to be proud of his relatives who are in the National
Guard, especially in peacetime when there's little chance they'll be put in
harm's way - and I am entitled to hold someone who is standing for election
to a higher standard. The rich and powerful have a greater obligation to
the ideal of service than do ordinary men and women, and Shrub wasn't there.

Whatever Mr. Bendell's perception of the Vietnam war is, he's not entitled
to shoot the messenger who first brought the ugly, sad truth to America's
attention in a way that could not be denied or swept under the rug. That
John Kerry chose to leave the war zone early is no shame: nobody who's been
shot at blames another for taking advantage of the "three strikes" rule,
which spelled out early return for a sailor who was wounded three times.
Only an former General Officer like President Eisenhower could tell the
military brass "I will not send one American boy into that elephant grass",
and for the same reasons, only a decorated commander like John Kerry could
have founded Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

At a time in our nation's history when the rich and well connected were
scurrying to park their sons' yachts in safe backwaters, a well connected
young man raised his hand, took an oath, and took everything that came with
it. You can't fake that kind of courage, and you can't spin his opponent's
kind of cowardice. John Kerry was there.

Bill Warren

P.S. Readers are invited to cross-post this to any newsgroup where Mr.
Bendell's editorials are appearing.

P.P.S. FWIW, some soldiers did kill dogs: the unfortunate animals couldn't
read signs, and those that were lucky enough to wander through a minefield
unscathed would, sad to say, leaves tracks that Viet Minh sappers could
follow. I did, too: in my case, as a courtesy to our Vietnamese workers, who
wanted them for food but were unable to participate in butchery because of
their religeous beliefs.

(William Warren is a pseudonym I use to protect my privacy. I will respond
with my actual name to anyone who asks offline: modify the return address in
an obvious way to email me directly. I don't work for the Kerry campaign, or
the government, or the Democratic party, and have never even met the
Senator.)

"- - ex - -" wrote in message
...
William Warren wrote:


At a time in our nation's history when the rich and well connected
were scurrying to park their sons' yachts in safe backwaters, a well
connected young man raised his hand, took an oath, and took
everything that came with it. You can't fake that kind of courage,
and you can't spin his opponent's kind of cowardice. John Kerry was
there.

Bill Warren


THE FOLLOWING ITEM APPEARED IN A NON-PARTISAN (BUT EXTREMELY
CYNICAL) NEWSLETTER FOR INVESTORS. THE NEWSLETTER HAS BEEN RELENTLESSLY
CRITICAL OF BUSH ADMINISTRATION ECONOMIC POLICIES.

(unatributed rant snipped)

They really ought to give you GOP PR types a quick course in Netiquette
before they set you loose on the world: your ALL CAPS post shows you haven't
been associating with the hoi poloi for a long time.

Let's see, where can I start:

"Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com. "

Nice one! No inconvenient IP address to trip you up. Win 98, too, at least
according to your headers. You guys _do_ occasionally learn from your
mistakes, don't you?

"Non partison (but extremely cynical) newsletter for investors..."

Wow, I'm impressed. In terms of FUD and intimidation, that's at least a 5
out of 10. I can't question your honesty because I'm not an "investor", and
I'm ashamed to admit that I don't hang around with non-partisan and cynical
newletter types. Way to go, GOP PR man!

"The newsletter has been relentlessly critical of Bush administration
economic policies".

Oh, of course, and that's -so- easily verifiable, given your thorough
coverage of the "newsletter" and it's background. I'm just brimming with
patriotic left-wing fervor now that I know your "newletter" is "critical" -
nea, "relentlessly critical" - of shrub and his let-them-eat-dog-food
economic policies. I'm all warm and fuzzy, you've won me over, I trust you
without reservation. With the issue of your background, credentials, agenda,
and employer settled, let's get to the good part.

"...from a source we`re not sure we can reveal, said to be a retired Rear
Admiral..."

Ah, jeez, Mom, can't I meet the Real (sorry, "Rear") Admiral? Can I? Huh?
Puhleeze?

I can't reveal *my* source, but (s)he said that it was really a retired
corporate huckster collecting corporate welfare from the big island in
Hawai, who dusts off his traveling salesman cap and majik elixar bottles
every four years when the oil boys throw enough money at him. Trust me: my
source is just as unimpeachable as yours!

"1) Kerry was in-country less than four months and collected, a Bronze Star,
a Silver Star and three purple hearts. I never heard of anybody with any
outfit I worked with (including SEAL One, the Sea Wolves, Riverines and the
River Patrol Force) collecting that much hardware so fast, and for such
pedestrian actions. "

Hmmm - "collecting" is a nice choice he it infers that Kerry didn't
deserve that "hardware", but leaves me a little flat on the impedimenta of
how he "collected" that "hardware" without his commander and (IIRC) four
other senior offices certifying that he deserved it. Oh, well, let's not get
bogged down in details like exactly which Admiral's rear this came from.

BTW, that use of "pedestrian" is first rate FUD: it infers that nobody was
really shooting at anybody, nobody got wounded, nobody killed, nothing much
except the usual humdrum routine of having men in black pajamas shoot at you
with - heaven forfend! - real 7.63 mm ammunition - instead of the deadly
innuendo and poisonous slander that Kerry's own countrymen would shoot at
him 30+ years later.

Of course, in the world of big oil, big banks, big "investors", and big
lies, only the ungrateful and unapreciative working man - like me - would be
so rude as to ask why this "Rear Admiral" didn't come forward way back when.
Only someone who didn't understand the winks and nods that those-in-the-know
trade during $5,000 per plate dinners could possibly be so impertinent as to
ask how an arrogant, rich, drunk daddy's boy could have the gall to hire you
to slander a reputation built on blood and deeds, when his was built on
daddy's money and a PR firm's expertise.

It's a great country: only in America could someone type out bald-faced lies
and not mention that Shrub was, depending on which version is currently
being floated, either in Alabama, Arkansas, or Georgia - but not Texas,
where he was supposedly assigned. Only in America could an unnamed,
unavailable, unattributed "Real (sorry, 'Rear') Admiral" be created out of
whole cloth so that the oilmen could grasp for another four years of
let-them-eat-dog-food.

Shrub was drunk, although the details are, uh, foggy.

John Kerry was there.

And that, Mr. PR expert, is for attribution.

Bill Warren.

(Email address contains anti-spam measure)

William Warren wrote:

(unatributed rant snipped)

They really ought to give you GOP PR types a quick course in Netiquette
before they set you loose on the world: your ALL CAPS post shows you haven't
been associating with the hoi poloi for a long time.

Not my post. It was copied and pasted from elsewhere. You're correct,
I should have attributed the writer but he was anonymous.

Let's see, where can I start:

"Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com. "

Nice one! No inconvenient IP address to trip you up. Win 98, too, at least
according to your headers. You guys _do_ occasionally learn from your
mistakes, don't you?

email address is exray at coqui dot net if you need to know. and its
Win98 Second Edition, I'll have you know!

"Non partison (but extremely cynical) newsletter for investors..."

Wow, I'm impressed. In terms of FUD and intimidation, that's at least a 5
out of 10. I can't question your honesty

I'll try to locate the source so that you can rant to the original
writer. You're not real fond of opposing opinions are you?

-Bill M

- - ex - - wrote:
William Warren wrote:

(unatributed rant snipped)



This explains the source of the article, FWIW. Drop them a line and
maybe they can direct you how to locate the person who wrote it so that
you can personally assess his credibility.
http://frontpagemagazine.com/article...e.asp?ID=12272

-BM

William Warren wrote:
( a bunch of Kerry-loving crap)

All your blather and blah in support of Kerry
goes right out the window in this one passage, quote:

...Sure, there were a couple
bad-apples, but I saw none, and I saw it all, and if I did,
as an army officer, it was my obligation to stop it,
or at the very least report it. Why is there not a
single record anywhere of you (Kerry) ever reporting
any incidents like this or having the perpetrators arrested?
The answer is simple. You are a liar...

Democrats have shown who they really are by their
choice of this despicable man; a fine decendent of
the Clinton tradition. You are a sick, twisted
and evil party and the sooner you are stamped out,
the better for our poor nation.
D.S.

"- - ex - -" wrote in message
...
- - ex - - wrote:
William Warren wrote:

(unatributed rant snipped)


This explains the source of the article, FWIW. Drop them a line and
maybe they can direct you how to locate the person who wrote it so that
you can personally assess his credibility.
http://frontpagemagazine.com/article...e.asp?ID=12272

-BM

I've never read "Front Page Magazine", and it's qualifications as an "Non
partison (but extremely cynical) newsletter for investors..." remain open to
question. The appeals for money on the splash page leave me to wonder which
investors it's appealing to, but for the sake of argument, let's assume they
really are an actual magazine with a meaningful readership.

The story you cite begins with the line

"The following was sent to a Marine chat net by a retired Marine Master
Sergeant
who was in S-2, 3rd Bn, 1st Marines, Korea in 1954."

But, from there, it is a copy of the smear attributed to a "Rear Admiral" in
your original post. I don't believe it was actually posted by a Marine,
either: there's too much wrong with it.

1. The gratuitous reference to Korea, and the way in backfires on the PR
man:

I don't know if being in the "3rd Bn., 1st Marines" has some cachet amoung
Marines, but it smells like FUD put in to catch the eye of a key swing
vote - older veterans. Anyone in Korea in 1954 would have to be at least 68
years old now, and I have never seen anyone of that age group participating
in something as new as a "chat net".

2. "I know the tactics and the doctrine used, and I know the equipment. ".

This doesn't make sense: why would a Marine be trained in small boat
tactics? What "doctrine" is he talking about? How would a Marine learn about
Swift boats or PBR's, when the Marines pride themselves on being combat
infantrymen and not "Rust pickers"? Don't forget, he'd have been an Sergeant
at the time of Vietnam, only ~30 years old: hardly an age or rank that would
be expected to cross-train with Navy boat crews. More to the point, how many
Marine Corps Master Sergeants would write like that?

3. Finally, the coup-de-grace that reveals this to be just more
disinformation: "The details of the event for which he was given the Silver
Star make no sense at all."

If whoever wrote that was actually a Marine, and had actually been in
combat, he'd know that nothing ever goes according to the book. When the
shooting starts, men revert to their most basic capabilities, and if Kerry
chose to confront an attacher directly, instead of running away ("put your
stern to the action and go balls to the wall") that speaks volumes about the
fact that he put himself first in the line of fire. I don't doubt for a
second that it wasn't the correct "Standard procedure", but procedures are
designed by statisticians who want commanders to do what will give the
greatest probability of success in an average encounter. Kerry threw away
the book and did it himself instead of risking his men's lives: that's why
he got the medal.

This all smells: second and third-hand slander, without a name attached,
without confirmation (something a real "magazine" would be expected to do
routinely). I don't believe it.

Of course, the Republicans hope it doesn't matter: having thrown the manure
in front of the fan, they're hoping that it will stick to Senator Kerry and
he'll be too busy cleaning it off for anyone to trace it back to the source
before the election.

Concerning your earlier post:

You're not real fond of opposing opinions are you?

I welcome opinions of all sorts, whether or not they support my viewpoint.
So long as the sources are available, I'll accept quotes without prejudice,
too.

Mostly, I'm "not fond of" Shrub's attitude that not being caught in a lie is
the same thing as telling the truth. What I am especially "not fond of" is
unattributed slander, quotes-out-of-context (as you did to me), nameless and
unverifiable attacks, or the attitude some people take that it's OK to
question Senator Kerry's courage while forgetting George Bush, Junior's
cowardice.

Bill Warren

(My email address must be modified in an obvious way for direct replies)

"David Stinson" wrote in message
...

William Warren wrote:
( a bunch of Kerry-loving crap)

All your blather and blah in support of Kerry
goes right out the window in this one passage, quote:

[From Don Bendell's editorial -bw]
...Sure, there were a couple
bad-apples, but I saw none, and I saw it all, and if I did,
as an army officer, it was my obligation to stop it,
or at the very least report it. Why is there not a
single record anywhere of you (Kerry) ever reporting
any incidents like this or having the perpetrators arrested?
The answer is simple. You are a liar...

The answer IS simple, and it is that Kerry was a young, impressionable,
idealistic junior officer with a boat and crew to care for, and with a
dangerous and thankless job to do, and what were undoubtedly "Latrine
Lawyer" fables at the time he heard them got lost in the noise until they
were later verified by those who participated or those who apprehended the
participants. I don't care when Kerry realized that the stories were true: I
care that he had the guts to act on those truths.

As I said before, Mr. Bendell is not the guardian of the "one true version"
of Vietnam history. His stipulating that he "saw none" just before bragging
that he "saw it all" is understandable: old veterans, both he and I, each
have our own version of the truth as we saw it, or (more accurately) as we
remember it.

It happened. You don't need to take my word for it: look up the
courts-martial records and interview the convicts who did it. Of course, the
"30 old white men" who run America are counting on the likelihood that
nobody will bother.

Democrats have shown who they really are by their
choice of this despicable man; a fine decendent of
the Clinton tradition. You are a sick, twisted
and evil party and the sooner you are stamped out,
the better for our poor nation.
D.S.

Oh, sorry, I thought we were having a discussion about politics: you appear
to be reciting a speech by Juan Peron.

Call me back in ten or twenty years: if your "friends" stay in power, you'll
be living in a tent, choosing between buying food or medicine, and you'll
own nothing but the TV set your masters will use to tell you what to think.

I pity you.

Bill Warren.

David Stinson wrote:
William Warren wrote:
( a bunch of Kerry-loving crap)

All your blather and blah in support of Kerry
goes right out the window in this one passage, quote:

...Sure, there were a couple
bad-apples, but I saw none, and I saw it all, and if I did,
as an army officer, it was my obligation to stop it,
or at the very least report it. Why is there not a
single record anywhere of you (Kerry) ever reporting
any incidents like this or having the perpetrators arrested?
The answer is simple. You are a liar...

Democrats have shown who they really are by their
choice of this despicable man; a fine decendent of
the Clinton tradition. You are a sick, twisted
and evil party and the sooner you are stamped out,
the better for our poor nation.
D.S.

Good God, David. Are you so blind, or senile as to deny that atrocities
occured in Vietnam? Do you also deny the Holocaust ever happened?

Our nation would not be so poor, if....

jak

William Warren wrote:


Mostly, I'm "not fond of" Shrub's attitude that not being caught in a lie is
the same thing as telling the truth. What I am especially "not fond of" is
unattributed slander, quotes-out-of-context (as you did to me), nameless and
unverifiable attacks, or the attitude some people take that it's OK to
question Senator Kerry's courage while forgetting George Bush, Junior's
cowardice.

Ok, then, take Kerry's own quotes and ask why he refuses to release his
military medical records to the pundits to 'prove' the PHs that got him
out of Nam in four months.

And while you're at it, see if you can find a copy of his book - you
know, the one with the upside-down American flag on the cover.

What we don't need in the White House is another liar or hypocrite and
his self-proclaimed "war hero" status raises some serious concerns about
his integrity.

You're having way too much fun with this topic and clearly you have the
ability to rant much better than I so I'm going to bow out now. Maybe
Stinson will continue to give you more rant opportunities. I think
you're a nut and I'm going back to messing with radios.

-Adios,
Bill M

David Stinson wrote:



William Warren wrote:
( a bunch of Kerry-loving crap)

All your blather and blah in support of Kerry
goes right out the window in this one passage, quote:

...Sure, there were a couple
bad-apples, but I saw none, and I saw it all, and if I did,
as an army officer, it was my obligation to stop it,
or at the very least report it. Why is there not a
single record anywhere of you (Kerry) ever reporting
any incidents like this or having the perpetrators arrested?
The answer is simple. You are a liar...

Democrats have shown who they really are by their
choice of this despicable man; a fine decendent of
the Clinton tradition. You are a sick, twisted
and evil party and the sooner you are stamped out,
the better for our poor nation.
D.S.


If Kerry should be elected president (God forbid!!!), and we have
another 9/11 type attack, Kerry will be leading the anti-war protest.