WHERE WERE YOU, MR. CLINTON?
David Hackworth
3/18/98 Various***** ***** *****
"Bill, where were you when I landed at DaNang Air Base and we began taking casualties from rocket fire 10 minutes after arriving in South Vietnam? Where were you when my best friend triggered a landmine and died in my arms, while I was covered with body parts, bone fragments, and several ounces of white hot shrapnel in my legs and arms? Where were you when I crawled on my belly through a rice paddy, scared and angry, clearing a mine field with a k-bar knife so our Marine corpsman could help a Marine who had just had his legs and his manhood blown off by a landmine, and was screaming for his mother? Where were you when we arrived back on American soil, only to be cursed and have rotten eggs thrown at us? Where are you now on the issue of banning land mines? And, finally, where are you on the MIA/POW issue?"
-- Gordon Boswell, III USMC, Vietnam Veteran
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"Where were you, Mr. Clinton, in 1967, when I was 18 years old in a war torn land doing what my government asked me to do and what my fellow Americans expected me to do? Where were you when young men were laying down their lives for a freedom which you now enjoy? Where were you when our own were being taken Prisoner Of War and tortured? Where were you when our men turned up missing? Where ARE you NOW Mr. Clinton while our men are STILL missing. I wonder how many of them wonder where you are NOW also. Many may not even know WHO you are."
-- Doc Stewart http://www.flash.net/~azgecko/dedication.htm
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"Where were You, Mr. Clinton, in 1967? while I, a Canadian, who volunteered in the USMC was serving in Vietnam and affording you the luxury of "not inhaling"!
-- Vic http://www.marzone.com/7thMarines/Veterans.html
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"Where were You, Mr. Clinton, when I was helping to load my people aboard medevac helicopters?"
-- Michael W. Rodriguez http://www.express-news.net/mikerod/
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"Where were you, Mr. President, on May 9 1967, when I lost my best friend to a landmine in the Republic of Vietnam, and where are you now when we need your support to ban these devices that cripple innocent victims for generations to come?"
-- Harry Morris http://apocalypse.berkshire.net/~hmorris/
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"Where were you, Mr. Clinton, when I held my Brother's hand to comfort him as he died? Where were you, Bill, when my country called? Where are you now that my Brother calls? My Brother is still held in the Hell Hole we called Nam. Where are you, Bill, that he needs you now? What are you doing now to bring him home? I will tell you what you are doing now. The same as you did before, NOTHING at all."
-- John Adams http://yatahey.home.mindspring.com/index.html
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"President Clinton, where were you during the three days of Dai Do? Where are you now when we have all of the MIA's still unaccounted for, from Vietnam?"
-- Tom Williams http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/5791/
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"Bill … you don't deserve to be called Mr. Clinton . . so I'll call you Bill. Where were you when the rest of us were doing our patriot service to "our" country? Where were you when I was picking up pieces of my friends and putting them on choppers? Where were you those long, dark, and frightening nights that we sat in the mud and the rain waiting for the enemy to come? But more importantly where are you now?! Where are you as they close down services at VA hospitals? I don't notice you at any of the funerals that I go to for my comrades who continue to fall from the effects of Agent Orange and PTSD. Where are you as Veterans' rights are threatened each and every day. Where are you while the VA Administration denies veterans benefits and claims? I don't mind you not being there with us then, as I do you not being behind us now. We need you now more than we did then. Abandoning us seems to be a trait of yours."
-- Chuck http://www.concentric.net/~Kilo3one/
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"Where were you, Bill, in Picadilly Square, in some little pub, looking for your "Jennifer Flowers" while I was protecting your family ???"
-- Al Varelas http://members.tripod.com/~vet2
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"Where were you, Mr. Clinton, when I was attempting -- with actions, not hollow rhetoric, and having voluntarily put myself in harm's way -- to help an allied people secure the blessings of liberty for themselves and their posterity?"
-- Benjamin W. Hartley, 1LT/FA, MAAG Vietnam/USARV, 1963-4
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"Hey Slick! Where were you when I was in Vietnam? Sleeping with Jane Fonda?"
-- Corporal William R. Snyder, 2nd Amphibious Assault Battalion Landing Team, 26th Marine Regiment, Khe Sanh, Vietnam 1966-1967
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"Where were you, Mr. Clinton, when one of my men with only two days in-country was killed on his 18th Birthday."
-- Bill Gardiner
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"Hey, Bill! Where were you on Christmas Eve 1970 while I was flying Night Medevac?!"
-- John D. (J.D.) Barber HMM-263, MAG-16 MMAF 1970 - 1971 Crewchief EG-11
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"I won't ask where you were when I was in Vietnam or the myriad of other places I served. I know the faces and yours is not among the living or the dead. But I will ask you where you are now when Veterans (at home and missing) are neglected while money is spent on putting human feces in a jar as artistic expression? And I can't help but wonder why Marines have to raise their own money to memorialize our history of defending this country for all who live in it each day. It seems those who give the most receive the least. And I wonder why?"
-- Dan/Mary
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"Where were you Bill Clinton, when I was on a seven man patrol that had only two survivors? Where are you today as we try to piece our lives back together knowing we have abandoned our own...perhaps some still alive? Where will you be when my son or daughter is put in harm's way? Yes, we are still here...ever watching, ever trusting, ever giving and sometimes dying so that you and others like you can go on living the good life. You see, we are United States Marines! Thank God that still means something to some of us. P.S. I didn't inhale either...cordite tends to burn the nostrils and throat!"
-- Jim Rooth, SSgt USMC http://www.geocities.com/pentagon/3516
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"To Bill: Where were you when the first man died? Where were you when his family cried? Where were you when the women warriors died? Where were you when their families cried? Where did you write your letter of "loathe"? In fact, Mr. President . . . Where were you?" Your pal,
-- Don, Vietnam Veteran http://www.csnsys.com/vietvet/
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"Mr. Bill: Where were you when my comrades were fighting and dying in Southeast Asia? Where were you when those fortunate enough to come home to an ungrateful country were spat upon and called "baby killers?" Where were you when those who came home, only came home partially, mentally anguished, trying to understand why they were asked to fight a war that their country did not understand? Where were you when the POW's were being brought home, broken and tired, asking their country's leaders "why?" And now, Mr. Bill, where are you now when we still have comrades that are POW/MIA in Southeast Asia? President of the United States, Mr. Bill? Surely you jest!!!"
-- Dennis (e8mc) http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/2493/
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"Bill: I will not address you as commander and chief. Where were you between 7/68 and 9/69 when I called the KIA medevacs for 26 of my fellow Marines.????????? Where were you? You sure as hell were not with me and those 26!!!!"
-- gene'o http://www.diac.com/~golf28/home.htm
***** ***** ***** "Where were you "Slick Willy" when several million American men and women answered their country's call? Where were you, "Slick Willy," when 58,000+ American men and women gave their lives because their country called? Well, where were you "Slick Willy?"
-- Ed Yates, USMC, Charlie Company, 1/1/1, RVN 1967-68
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"Where were you, Hillary, while I was lying awake listening to Illinois Central's 2:00 AM train on its way to New Orleans, wondering what my husband was doing on the other side of the world, in a place he called 'the Nam'; wondering if he would come home to me safe and sound? Every time I hear a train whistle blow late at night, those old fears wrap softly around me like a shroud, and the memories of a young man I once knew and loved run though my mind like shadows in moonlight. There is no other sound so lonesome as that whistle calling softly from a train still on its way to New Orleans."
-- Cheryl Boswell
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"Mr. Clinton, where were you when Donald died in Vietnam. You know, his mama still cries till this day. How about when Eddie died crawling down into a tunnel into a nest of the enemy? You didn't know Bobby, did you? He never came home to his bride. What about Mike? He was my cousin. So full of life till he went back for a second tour and a mine blew him into our memories. Where were you when our boys came home to a country that turned their backs on them and for 30 years, and have had only each other to turn to? Where are you now when their questions and needs still go unanswered? Oh, and one more question. Do Draft Dodgers have a brotherhood like the Vietnam Vets do?"
-- Lois Adams
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"Dear Bill, Where were you in 1964, when I obviously didn't want to become President, and you obviously didn't want to become a soldier? However, I did want to serve in the finest military service in the world, and you wanted to avoid serving in any military service. I was 21 when I went to Viet Nam, in April 1966. The following December, I celebrated my 22nd birthday (and Christmas) in a rain soaked, mud-filled sandbag bunker, peering over a perimeter of barbed wire and Claymore mines at the end of the Dong Ha air strip, wondering if I was going to see my next birthday. Where were you for your 22nd birthday, while my Marine Brothers were getting shot up and dying, and those of us lucky enough to get home, suffered humiliation and indignities for our courageous Viet Nam service? Just where the f@#% were you?"
-- Buzz Nichols, Sgt. USMC, Viet Nam Service 4/66-11/67
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"Where were you when Charlie came home on one leg and a pair of crutches. Or when Mike came home not quite a whole man, or Dean with a metal plate in his head. Where were you when I was 19 and had to watch so many families bury there young sons? I didn't go to Viet Nam either, but I didn't hide when MY COUNTRY called for me, I at least answered that call."
-- Virgil "Butch" Roach
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"Where were you, Mr. Clinton, when Mike took three machine-gun rounds through his legs and ended up loosing one of them? Where were you, Mr. Clinton, when he died shortly after in a field hospital? Where were you, sir, when we got the news that a dear friend was listed as MIA? Where were you, Billy Bob, when we asked why he has not been found YET? Where were you, Mr. Morals, when I was spending every night in a snake infested bunker and praying for the sun to come up?"
-- Higgy http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/2890/index.htm
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"Where were you, Mr. Clinton, when I was listening to President John F. Kennedy: 'Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country?' Where were you when the word HONOR was taught in school? Because it obviously wasn't taught at home! Where were you while brave men died in the field? Smoking dope and protesting the war on foreign soil like so many other COWARDS! Where were you on your first day in the Oval Office, while our nation looked to you? You were trying to undermind the good order of our PROUD & HONORABLE service by trying to push gays into our ranks. Keep your sexual preferences to yourself; we Marines enjoy our heterosexuality. Where were you when my platoon was cut to pieces on OPERATION ALLEN BROOK in May of 1968? It doesn't matter where you were as long as you never again gaze upon our WALL! That's right, our wall. You are a disgrace to everything they died for and the rest of us fought for. Our God, Country and Corps; and we did it with HONOR!! That leaves you out, Billy boy."
-- GySgt. Jack Parsons
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"Where were you, Mr. Clinton, in September of 1968, when my company raced an enemy battalion to the top of a hill, sustaining 55 casualties (11 KIA, 44 wounded) along the way? What were you doing while we were fighting for our lives to hold that hill? But that's history! The real question is what are you doing NOW to ensure the strength of our military and proper treatment of our veterans of all conflicts. I pray that we never have to endure another Vietnam. I pray for you, sir, and may God grant you knowledge of His will as you make decisions affecting the lives of so many."
-- AJdoc
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"Where were you Mr. Clinton, when I was an 18 year old Marine and trying to stuff my buddy's guts back inside him and reassuring him that it was ok . . when I knew he was going to die. WHERE ARE YOU NOW?"
-- Terry Dixon http://washington.xtn.net/~grunt/
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"Mr. Clinton, I notice how many veterans are upset with your not wanting to help fight for the right to be free years ago. I tend to agree, but I do believe that you have made up for it somewhat by your performance as President of these United States. I would like for you to give every effort to make sure that another Vietnam never happens again. I should hope that you will do everything in your power to insure the proper treatment of all this county's veterans of foreign wars. You owe them that! Mr. Clinton, this is your best chance to make amends for not going to fight for your country during those Vietnam war days."
-- Thomas W. Peterson http://www.voicenet.com/~peterst/index.html
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"Where were you Mr. President, my Commander in Chief, while my friends suffered and died? Although I was only 7 when the war ended, as a Marine, I have to refer to you as the Honorable Mr. Clinton. As an American, I find that disgusting. As a Marine, I choke it down. You will be pleased to know I still do not tolerate gays in the Marines, and the hazing they get would make you throw up. Please sir, wake up. We are Marines, we have policed our own for 222 years. We will continue to do so! It is too late to redo the past, the future (MIA/POW) is yet to be seen. Semper Fi, Marines!"
-- Cpl. D USMC
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"Well, that is pretty obvious as you were not where the majority of us and probably most of your high school male classmates were. I am glad that I am retired now, so I don't have to call you sir because of your position as Commander-in Chief--just the idea makes me want to vomit. Where were you when myself and another couple of Marines were ordered to dig up a grave in a B-52 bomb crater to verify a kill in 1966/67? Where were you when we had to go without food for 3 days because we couldn't get re-supplied due to the monsoons rain? And where were you when my buddies and myself had to live in holes in the ground on a hill called Con Thien overlooking the DMZ and North Vietnam? I echo the others on this page: Where were you then, but even more, WHERE in the hell are you now when you are in a position to help those that you deserted thirty some years ago? Abandoning them again? Remember, they served their country and fought for you to be able to make the choice that you made. Mr. President, I want you to remember this when you try to sleep at night. There are veterans out there beyond the White House walls that are going without food, shelter, and medical care that they should be getting, because they fought and bled for their country, while you a politician, sleep warm, eat good, and get free medical care just because of their sacrifices. Do something for our veterans; and more importantly, bring home our POW/MIA's! You have the power, or are you still a COWARD? "
-- Steven (Stick) Stickley
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"I sense a lot of hate.
"I learned to smoke pot in Vietnam. In reflecting back, it seems to me that experience could have been better. I gave up a LOT. I was too young and stupid to realize that I COULD have been a Rhodes scholar, too. I COULD have followed the money trail. I remember following blood trails instead, (to each his own?). Did I have the choices YOU did? Probably not, but I understood that if I fought for America, right or wrong, that America would fight for me. Instead, it seems like they sucked what they could out of me and then kinda hoped I'd just go home somewhere and shut up. I lost a lot, a lot I didn't even know I had, fighting for America. In retrospect, I guess I SHOULD have done it your way, then I could be President and you could be a lonely, hurting frightened GRUNT in Vietnam, fighting for America. Because isn't that what you still espouse? Fight FOR America and she'll fight for you? Yep, I guess YOU had it figured out and I didn't. But, know what? I like the company I keep. Know why? 'Cause it makes me feel just like a real, true, honest-to-God PATRIOT! And you can't BUY that . . and you can't STUDY that. You got to BE that. Nope, no gettin' around it. You chumped out, according to me. So, when I die, to God I can say: 'Another Marine reporting, sir; I've SERVED my time in hell.'
"I sense a lot of hate."
-- Dan Sea
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"Where were you, Mr. President, when I was 4 years old, a Canadian, watching my mother cry in front of the T.V as she watched the young men come home from Vietnam just to be treated like criminals by their fellow man? Where were you when I cried myself to sleep at night, when I was old enough to understand the horror they had to face day in and day out during their tour? Where are you now when they need you most to bring them home?"
-- Emily Dennison, London Ontario Canada.
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Well, Mr. Bill, we know where you were, don't want to know what you were doing. Honor, Duty, Country, Corp's, Words that mean nothing to you . . still mean the world to us all. Support veterans' rights, help resolve the POW/MIA issues, and NEVER..NEVER..NEVER let a combat veteran be treated the way we were. Mr. Clinton, WE know where you are now. WE as veterans form one of the largest voting blocks in the country.
"DO WHAT'S RIGHT OR FEEL OUR MIGHT"
-- George Beckerman, 100% Disabled Marine Vietnam Veteran
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"Hello, Bill. What I would like to know, Bill, is where were you when they taught Love of God and Country? I remember when I was a boy and went to church with my Grandfather; the pastor of the church called me and another boy to the front of the church and gave me the flag of these United States of America, and gave the other boy the church flag. We then marched down the aisle and outside all around the church before services, and that, Bill, was a very proud moment in my young life. I remember riding in my father's car with a 03 rifle on the seat, going to a Military funeral for one of his fallen comrades. That's love of your Brother, Bill. By the way, Bill, my father was a POW in WW2 and they brought him home. When are you going to bring ours home?"
-- Howard Vaught USMC 60-65
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"Where were you, Bill, when an 18 year old boy left for Vietnam and returned with eyes at least 10 years older than his 19 year old body? I don't know if you will understand what those eyes reveal about places and things those of us who are protected never have to know. Where are you Bill and Hillary when sometimes a sound or smell or picture can touch that part of him that he keeps buried inside him and causes him to wake at night? I hold him and let him talk in that way that he has of talking around it, because that is what he needs and I cry with him and for him and for all the others (the living and the dead and those who are missing) who keep the wolf so far from our door that you and others can pretend that the wolf never existed. Wherever you were and wherever you are remember that you should not hold up your head in the presence of this Band of Brothers who risked their lives and their future for something THEY held higher than themselves."
-- Mary, Proud Marine Wife
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"Where were you, Slickster, when I arrived at Bien Hoa in Dec. 1968? Where were you when I was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division at Cu Chi? Where were you when Cu Chi was hit in Feb. 1969? Where were you when in the midst of this attack I was calming down someone who was more afraid than I? Where were you when I was sent to the summit of Nui Ba Den in Apr. 1969? Where were you in June 1969 when we were visited by sappers? Where were you when I came home and "friends" told me how smart they were and how dumb I was? Where were you when I went back to work and was greeted by laughter? Where were you when I tried to fit in and was shunned? Where are you now? Getting us into another Vietnam in a place called Bosnia? Heading the most corrupt administration since Richard Nixon? If you had any balls back then you would have quit school, refused induction, turned yourself in to the authorities and faced the music! Yes, Slick, I was scared too, but when I was called I went! I, unlike you, will never wonder about what happened to the guy who took my place. I have more respect for the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese than for you and your ilk, at least they were men!! Slick, you are not good enough to be a pimple on a Vietnam Vet's ass!"
-- Jim Murphy, 25th Signal Bn., 25th Inf. Div., 12/68 - 12/69
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"Where were you, Slick Willy, when I was a 19-year-old Marine in Vietnam, in May 1968, on Operation ALLEN BROOK, when the temp. was 120, and we had no water; and my Co. of Marines went in and only 47 came out? But as we all know, it don't matter to you where I was, but just where the hell were You?"
-- Jack Boone U.S.M.C 1967 - 1975
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"Where were you, Mr. Clinton, when my best friend, Curtis C. Crow, died in Guang Tri? Protesting, smoking a joint? Oh, yes, you don't inhale!"
-- John Warkentin
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"Where were you back when it really counted, Clinton? How about Da Nang, Namo, Chu Lai, Tam Ky, Hiep Duc, Marble Mountain, Mon Khe, Khe Lon Sohn, Phu Bai, Hue, Qung Tri, Dong Ha, Cam Lo, Con Thien, Khe Sahn, Au Shau valley, Laos and the DMZ? Well, as hard as it may be to believe, I was there. As well as all points between. Where in Moscow did you learn your socialistic/pinko commie ways and practices? Is that another place you 'did not inhale?' Tell us, who supports who the most, Hanoi Jane and her 'proud to be an atheist' husband Turner for you, or perhaps the opposite? Why are you and Congress so uninterested about help for our POW/MIA'S? You feel it is right to recognize and do business with a nation of slope headed, yalla skinned, buck toothed, pickle sucking, dope smoking, murderers. You, who hates the military, deserve absolutely zero respect in spite of the fact you were put into the highest, most influential office of leadership this world has ever known. PT Barnum spoke the absolute truth when he stated, 'there's a sucker born every minute.' And you found enough of them to get you into that office. I spent 4 years as a part of the BEST, US Marine Corps. I have always been and am now a Patriot who believes in our Constitution, Bill of Rights and my country. What about you? You made an oath upon swearing in to assume the office of the Presidency. Try following that oath, the Bill of Rights and the law. By doing so, you just might learn something important."
-- Robert Kennison USMC
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"Where were you, Mister President, when untold thousands of Americans fought and died in a foreign land? Did you weep for them? Did you think of their families? Did you care? God knows you didn't. You know and I know that you laughed. You laughed at their idealism. You laughed at their values. You laughed at their patriotism. Well the joke's on you, Bill. Your years of dope smoking and panty chasing have secured you your place in history. Your time in office will soon end, but your legend will live on. The Clinton Administration is the most corrupt in the history of these United States, and it all started with a man who never found honor and who sold his soul for popularity. Prom night's over, Billy Boy. Hope you had fun."
-- Chad R. Speer http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/lobby/3678
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"Where were you, Bill Clinton, when I was trying to give The Nam veterans the respect we Korean War veterans were given? Where were you in your golden youth, Bill Clinton, when your youthful fellow socialist-junkie liberals partied, protested, and sought relevance in the streets, gutters, and legislatures of this great country? (Their youthful activities brought us a variety of social diseases, cancerous conditions still with us, conditions that are increasing in severity.) Where were you when tens of thousands of differently committed youngsters became men and women through the fire and fury of combat, tens of thousands of whom became one with the earth, their bleeding a sacred act of selfless sacrifice to the political gods of the moment? Those youngsters gave up their youth while you enjoyed yours. When history considers this period of time, Bill Clinton, it will not be kind and it will ask, 'Where were you, Bill Clinton, when those thousands of men and women became youngsters forever, without the opportunity to grow old?' "
-- Charles Guatney, Central Washington University
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"Where were you when Ellis E. Austin was shot down over North Vietnam, 21 April 1966, two weeks before he was to retire? This three war veteran didn't have to serve in Vietnam but he did because he felt it was his duty. He left behind three children and a wife. His wife never remarried and died of a broken heart in 1990, never knowing if he was dead or alive. His oldest daughter managed to put herself through college, with no help from the government because of his MIA status. His other daughter died of cancer, most likely from all the stress the family went through. His son is still a lost soul till this day. Please, bring Austin home so that he once again can be on the American soil that he fought so dearly to protect.
"Where are you NOW? You need for once in your life take a stand. Stand up for the men that fought battles for your freedom, stand up for the men that you are now sending to foreign shores. Lord, if you had inhaled, at least you would have done something!"
-- A Proud Vietnam Marine Wife - Kelly Jo Williams -
http://www.mvcc.com/user/amgrunt/
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"Bill, I won't ask where you were when I was pulling my good friends body parts from out of the rubbish that was once a hut to sleep in. Nor need I ask what you were doing all those nights I was buried in the mud and saw grass, covered with a poncho to try and keep out the mosquitoes in 100+ degree weather. As your past has caught up with you, 'now we know the rest of the story,' so no need to ask where you were when our Great Country called its true patriots to go in harms way. We went, we didn't ask why, we were proud! We are Patriots and proud of that, too !!! The only thing you can do to feel that pride is use your position to see to the health and welfare of the Veterans that kept that position free for you, by keeping a Hitler or some commie from taking it.
"I know it will be impossible for you to do this as your appointees, i.e., Sara E. Lister, Assistant Secretary of the Army, speaking with your authority, says the Marines are people who wear those 'checkerboard fancy uniforms and stuff' and are 'extremists' and 'a little dangerous. 'A little dangerous, hell, if you can find one alive, ask any enemy of this country who ever met a Marine how dangerous they really are.
"It's good for you that you can't run for another term, as vets vote, and this time the homos wouldn't be able to keep you in!"
-- Jim Lamb, USAF, Ret
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