I respect everyone's military service, and I think that most of us feel the same way. We respect our brothers and sisters in arms, whether or not we agree with them. We all respect the service of the families left behind when a service member deploys. Although this is a different type of service, it is service none the less and should be respected. Even though I disagree with Sen. McCain's policies, I respect his service. He stood up and took the oath and went to combat, he spent 5 and a half miserable years as a prisoner of war. It is important as vets and supporter of vets to respect each other's service.
Thats not the message we are getting today from the McCain family.
This morning Meghan McCain sat down for an interview as a McCain surrogate on the today show. While making her way through an answer about her father she stated: "No one knows what war is like other than my family. Period."
There are 4155 families that lost a loved one in Iraq, 584 that have lost a loved one in Afghanistan. There are tens of thousands of injured soldiers like myself, who not only deal with their injuries but have families that deal with the injuries too. Does Meghan McCain think that those 4,739 families that are grieving the loss of their loved ones don't know about war. Does she think that the tens of thousands of us wounded soldiers don't know about war. Yes, she does.
This is not a simple mistake or a gaffe, this is a freudian slip and it gives us an insight into how Sen. McCain feels about the service of those of are not him. Sen. McCain has shown us by his voting record that we don't matter.
Sen. McCain was publicly against the bi-patisan Webb/Hagel GI Bill. He tried to introduce his own watered down version because the Webb/Hagel bill was "too generous". If you did 3 tours in Iraq and want to get out and go to school...Sen. McCain thinks you don't matter.
Sen. McCain voted against the bipartisan Webb/Hagel Dwell time amendment. This amendment would have required troops to be home for the same amount of time as they are deployed. If you are going on your third tour to Iraq just 90 days after you returned from your last one...Sen. McCain thinks you don't matter. Even if that means that your propensity for PTSD is now much higher.
Sen. McCain has voted against increasing veterans and military health care 29 times. These bills would have fully staffed the va and dod hospitals, money that could have been used to clean up Walter Reed before it became a national disgrace. If you have to wait in line for an increasing amount of time because they are an increasing amount of veterans and not enough staff...Sen. McCain doesn't care.
These are just 3 examples of the myriad of times that Sen. McCain has used his vote to say "your service doesn't matter". Now we have Sen. McCain's daughter acting as an agent for the campaign saying your service doesn't matter.
This isn't the first time we have heard claims like this from the Republican side of the house. When asked about Iraq on the Today Show, Laura Bush said "no one suffers more than their President and I do."
Your service does matter, to me and thousands of veterans like me. There is one veteran that your service does not matter too, and he is running for President.
Crossposted at www.vetvoice.com
Edit: Let us not forget our POW/MIA brothers and sisters.
This is an old list, but let us not forget.
Update: I made it to the rec list. Please keep the comments coming. Your support is important to me.
Update 2:In full disclosure, my name is Brian McGough and I work with VoteVets.org.
UPDATE #3! Meghan McCain apologizes, well not really....
From her Blog:
Well, it was quite a day to say the least. Being interviewed on the Today Show and The View this morning were very humbling experiences.
As a regular viewer, I know how many people watch these shows and are curious about some of the answers given by the guests. Well, having experienced the "hot seat" for myself, I can tell you it can be a bewildering and overwhelming experience.
I want to clarify my comments about my family "understanding war unlike any other". My family understands the demands of war, in reference to our family's generations of service to the nation, including that of my grandfather, father and brothers. But obviously, there are many American families that have made, and are making, the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of defending freedom. And those families and those sacrifices should be honored above all else. I regret my comments as they were delivered. I certainly did not mean to diminish the sobering fact of these families' sacrifices in any way.
If nothing else, I hope this brings greater attention to the suffering these families endure when the unthinkable happens. I will certainly work to do a better job of calming my own nerves while being a newcomer on the media circuit. And thanks to everyones' kind words of support throughout the day.
I'm not sure about what kind of apology that is. I don't even think it is an apology. But it is a good example of how to try to apologize for something without being sorry about what you did.
Last Update/Closing Comment It has come to my attention that there are people speaking badly of Sen. McCain's service in the comment section. I do not agree with speaking ill or downplaying Sen. McCain's service. Let's keep it classy everyone.