The last two presidential election cycles have generated a lot of heat (and precious little light) on how past military service relates to this year's presidential prospects.
First, the duty disclaimers. I spent 22 years as a Navy Light Attack pilot aboard various East-Coast aircraft carriers, and my last flying job was commanding one. I flew 100+ missions over North & South Vietnam in 1972-73. I am not conscience-racked over the experience. "Fox" Fallon was a colleague in our Vietnam’s carrier’s A-6 squadron, and Leighton "Snuffy" Smith was my Department Head . John McCain was my CO at the A-7 replacement squadron I passed thru in 1976 enroute back to the fleet. Those who’ve paid attention over the years will recognize the names; those that haven’t won’t care.
I can’t speak for any of the above personalities. But in speaking for myself, I have no problem in suggesting posters here look for higher value targets. I assert the following:
- John Kerry’s service in the U.S. Navy’s Vietnam Riverine force was fine, as best I can decipher. Truth to tell, most non-aviator Naval Officers in those days thought that Zumwalt’s brown-water navy was the "next big thing" . When his critics started to parse his performance, I got queasy, because things got very existential, very fast. There were plenty of reasons to vote against him in situ. But it became a longest dick contest, and the Winter Soldier stuff struck a much stronger chord than the Purple Heart/Vietnam stuff. To some, the former was righteous. To others the response was "Fuck you, John. We lost, but we don’t need you to rub it in".
- Fast Forward to 2008. I graduated I-don’t-know-where in my NROTC class (let alone my graduating class), but what one finds out quickly as an carrier pilot is that class standing doesn’t keep you alive. The stick and throttle do, and having a daddy Admiral is no help in that endeavor. If McCain didn’t know that prior to flight school, he sure knew it afterwards. McCain’s aviation ability got critiqued in real time, as Kerry’s service did. They let both keep keeping on..
- POWs in North Vietnam were considered heros, no matter what uniform they wore. In fact, the most revered fellows among Navy folk was not McCain (though he was up there), but Doug Hegdahl, Everett Alverez, and John Stockdale. You would be wise to read about them. In fact, had the Perot/Stockdale ticket been reversed, I probably would have voted for them. Aside from George Washington, heros have a short shelf-life in the U.S. Even Lincoln is getting slammed these days.
- McCain has not represented his wartime experience as a Presidential trump card, and every time I’ve challenged a poster who claimed otherwise, the response has been that it’s been its been an emanation from a penumbra of various unspecified speeches. Likewise, John Kerry didn’t either,. Trouble was, he decided to try and play a hand at the next table over that he wasn’t dealing, and got hammered.
- Being a former military member (much less a POW) is not a qualifier for anything. Many expect nothing more than a retirement check, a hearty pat on the ass the day they retire, the occasional tear on Memorial Day, and the good health of the United States. If you give them anything beyond that, it’s on you, not them.
- At a fundamental level, John McCain doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks about his military record; John Kerry doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks about his military record; Wes Clark doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks about his military record. In fact, none of "us" do. Why? You weren’t there. That’s why they all look so strange when that’s the topic: they’re looking at some news dweeb, thinking, "Can you please ask me about Mars exploration?" (OK, I broke my promise to not speak for them. Diarist license).
- From the above, if you’re all fired up to see any of the above military records, you prove to me you know what the fuck you’re looking at, Mr NYT guy, Mr WAPO guy, Mr Blogger guy, then let’s talk. In the mean time, you can take your DD-180 and shove it up your ass. Not only that, you lazy fucks, go look for JAG investigations of the aforementioned malfactors. They’re public record.
- The sooner feather merchants from both parties stop trying to sell pillows, the sooner we'll be able to judge issues.