<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: = Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7> <DIV> <DIV>        Conrad= </DIV> <DIV>  Thanks for the unusually political post. It's alw= ays more personal when you & others especially Military folks  are on t= he recieving end of the kinds of actions & words  being discussed here= in regards to J.F.Kerry.</DIV> <DIV>   I've been hearing that his picture is in th= e Vietnamese Museum as a hero so I guess they like him for being a patriot the= re as well as some do here.</DIV> <DIV>  Thanks for your service to this country.</= DIV> <DIV>  Dale</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><= FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size= =2>At 17:38 10/28/2004, you wrote: >If you know something about John Kerry being= a traitor you should report >him--and soon.  He may be elected President.  It is a crime, afterall, >and I'm sure Mr. Ashcroft= would want to look at your hard evidence. >Don't hold back, Carl, do= your duty.  Withholding evidence of capital >crime might just b= e a crime itself--especially one as serious as >treason. > >David Love >davidlovepianos@comcast.net David, Speaking = out politically is WAY different than my norm, and the way this eternal campaign has polarised the country will probably lose me some friends = on this list, but I feel I must - please indulge me this last time. I'= m not Carl, but _I_ do not need to check websites to determine Kerry's culpability, but I may dig into my old seabag, pull out my Bluejacket'= s Manual and rely on my first hand experience of the effects of Kerry. If you really still trust websites at this point, perhaps yo= u should re-read Kerry's own words during his Senate testimony, and also= afterwards, where he admits participating in the same atrocities which= he said were happening.  Or... did he say he was just reporting what= other vets had told him.  Oh... that's right... he said both.&nbs= p; Which version was purgery? Since I was in the area at the time (Ton= kin Gulf) and in the same organization (US Navy '67-'73) and trying to liv= e under the same rules (UCMJ) [Uniform Code of Military Justice], let me= try to help you with you some of the military rules with regard to his traitorous activities. Whilst Kerry was still a commissioned office= r and ostensibly bound by the UCMJ, he visited with members of the Viet = Cong in Paris.  How a Lieutenant (Paygrade O-2or3 -- i.e. next to the bottom of officer ranks since Ensign was routinely skipped)  thou= ght he could effect peace, who knows? However, there is a term called "consorting with the enemy".  In a war, the idea generally is tha= t, if you meet an enemy, you do all you can to kill him. It's brutal, but= that IS what war IS. {Note to Bill Clinton - there's that word again}  As an officer, it is your sworn DUTY to do that and lead others to do the same. You don't generally sit down to croissants and caviar with the enemy unless you are a general, admiral or head of state.  Money talks, I suppose, as Saddam knew in his dealings wi= th the same multiple UN members which Kerry thinks he'd get as allies. I recall several times in my military career having these things drilled into my head, so I don't need to consult a website to t= ell me that, if I as a 2nd class petty officer (only E-5 or middle of non-commissioned officers, having turned down E-6 opportunities to ret= urn to civilian life) had done the same thing, I would still be in Fort Leavenworth for it, if not in an unmarked grave. How good was h= e for the morale of troops/sailors in those years?  He certainly di= dn't make any points with me or my shipmates.  In the spring of 1970, = when my ship got back from it's tour of duty in the war zone - with _IT'S_ current mission accomplished and signs celebrating that fact - I did a= lot of traveling around southern and, later, northern California.  I went= to concerts at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (free or at a discount), hitchhiked, went to movies and church and got invited into strangers h= omes for home cooked meals, even got some dates after those meals.  AL= L WHILE IN UNIFORM. In the fall of 1972, when I got back from my second WestPac "cruise", sailors were, by that time, again allowed to = grow beards and have (even encouraged to have) civilian clothes onboard and= allowed (even encouraged) to go on "liberty" in civvies.    WHY?  Because, by then, people were shouting the "baby killer' an= d other phrases which Kerry had made so popular in 1971. Being IN= DANGER while wearing your uniform IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY is NOT good for morale!  Having a long hair wig to escape military haircut detection,= and getting spat upon for defending your country is NOT good for moral= e (I did and I was)!   _Trust me_,   not some New York Times/CBS fabrifacts.  It took me 20 years before I felt comforta= ble even joining the VFW.  I lay that sputum in my face directly on Kerry's doorstep. His statements were not a little over the top. = They were slanderous and self-incriminating, if you could believe any = of them.  They were certainly demoralising, and a comfort to the ene= my, whether true or not. The soldiers/sailors/marines in Iraq do NOT wa= nt a POTUS/CIC (President of the US /Commander in Chief) who is against wha= t they are doing in the first place.  Kerry would have the same ben= efit to military morale in 2005 as he did in 1971. Voting to approve= military action and then voting against support for the same action do= es not instill a feeling of comfort among those who depend on that suppor= t for their lives, either. My 10¢. Conrad Hoffsommer -For= mer Machinist's Mate 2nd Class - USN -Nuclear power plant operator aboard U= SS Long Beach (CGN-9) 1970-73 Yup, it's personal. over and out.</BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>