June l9,2021
Rep.Madison Cawthorn,
102 Canon House Bldg.
Washington, DC, 20515
Sir,
I find it rather difficult to find a starting place for this letter. I was brought up to respect this country.
You see, I was born in spring of 1939. I grew up through the formative years during WWII. Most of us were quite concerned with young men in harm’s way. That was doubly so the winter of 1944 and ’45. You see, my mother’s younger brother was transported to Belgium Dec. 19th with the 84th ID; 5 days later, on Christmas Day, he lost his entire company. But he came through, he came out of it alive. He was a tenor, sang like a bird at church singing conventions. He passed away in the late ‘60’s of a heart attack. You see, sir, you made a reference a while back about how a militia could conquer our country. These men fought that winter in waist deep snow, fighting Fascism.
You see, sir, the children of those men went to Viet Nam, and they may not have all been as passionate about their foe there as my uncle was. That foe wasn’t trying to take over America, like the Axis forces were trying to do. I will give you a thumbs up about the fact that a small guerilla force like the Viet Cong can inflict a lot of damage and frustration. I met some of those gentlemen, and ladies too, yes their ladies went into battle too, and they would shoot you dead in a New York Minute. And also remember, sir, these people were fighting in their back yards, in their environment, in the middle of their supply line.
Now, sir, I will give you just a little leeway on perhaps missing some of the history about Viet Nam, seeing as how when you were born. Most of our soldiers fighting there had been home about 20 years then, and by the time you would have been at the age to question them about their service, probably 30 years. They would have been old men to you, and you probably would thought “that old man rattling on about his war stories”, and just drive on by. Yeah, it happened to me – lots. I would try to tell some youngster about a jungle 15,000 miles from home and the horrible things you saw there, and they would just look at you, expressionless, and drive on by. So, sir, I don’t question your knowledge of the subject, or the lack of it, as the case may be. I just rather blame it on experience, and hey, we all need to learn.
But the real subject of this letter is, sir, with a bit of experience, and knowledge about a few military things, I just have to laugh and say Sir, there ain’t no fucking way that a militia force is going to overcome our government troops. So all your lobbying for gun rights, and to make your “Meal Team Six” militia men happy with you trying to keep them liberals from taking their weapons way, that statement just is plain dumb-ass. I am sorry to say that to you. Have you ever watched a Platoon or a Company go into a battle? Well, I tell you, sir, it is a hell of a thing to witness. If it is an equal foe, it gets bloody on both sides. If it is against an untrained foe, a leaderless foe, or a physically unfit foe, well, it would turn out to be a massacre. I am sure you would not want that, that would be a black mark against the whole state of North Carolina.
I love North Carolina, what a beautiful state it is. My fifth great grandfather fought Ferguson at Kings’s Mountain in 1780. My great grandfather stacked his rifle at Guilford Courthouse, I believe it was April 29th 1865, and went home. He was a good man, raised 15 children after fighting in our Civil War for almost 4 years. He was my grandpa Murley’s father, but he was on the wrong side. I care about him though. He, probably, in those terrible battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, etc., must have stood in the company of at least 75,000 men that fell dead around him. His PTSD must have been unbearable.
Mr. Rep., that was an army of hundreds of thousands men that tried to take down the Union. They failed. If we fall, it will not be to a shadow army, but by men in Congress and the Courts who are interested in only greasing their palm with lobby money or trying to make a name for themselves, or out of downright ignorance. So, right up front, sir, the Viet Cong did not ever beat our military in Viet Nam, not ever. Your administration sold the Vietnamese people out, and Kissinger laughed. He told the Chinese Prime Minister that the Chinese people had lived under communism for decades, and it wasn’t hurting them and it wouldn’t hurt the Vietnamese people either. Sir, when I read that, I got so pissed off! What a terrible thing to say, and to sell your soul for 30 pieces of silver. I had lost people in that conflict. It hurt. I hope I have said something that might make you see things a different way. The thing about Kissinger is a declassified document available online. If you can’t find the link, let me know, I will point you to it.
Now, sir, there are a bunch of us vets that are a bit peeved. They asked me if I might write this letter and I told them I would. I have tried to maintain a certain amount of discipline and manners in my remarks to you. I am going to publish this letter so that all the vets can see it, in hopes that some of them might want to express their views as well.
So with that, I will close this narrative, and express my very best wishes as I,
Remain your most humble servant,
Larry Murley,
larry@larrymurley.com