As I plan to attend the Principles over Politics breakfast meeting this Saturday to hear invited guest speaker retired Lt. Colonel Robert “Buzz” Patterson I read his book entitled “War Crimes.”
On pages 44 & 45 he writes and I quote:
“At Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California, Marco Martinez is majoring in psychology. But he is not an ordinary student. Marine Sergeant Marco Martinez is a genuine American hero who proudly served his nation in Iraq. A veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, he was awarded the Navy Cross–second only to the Congressional Medal of Honor as the nation’s most distinguished honor–for gallantry and courage under fire during the Battle of al Tarmiya.”
Without getting into the details of his exploits, which you will have to read for yourselves, let me skip ahead.
“Sergeant Martinez personifies the American dream. He”ll be the first male in his family to graduate from college and is the first Hispanic since the Vietnam to earn the Navy Cross. In the United States, Sergeant Martinez’s accomplishments should engender public adulation and gratitude particularly from the Left, which pretends to champion minority rights and accomplishments.
In the netherworld of American academia, however, there is no appreciation for the dream of the uniform–only vitriol and condemnation. Martinez explained the reception he received to National Review OnLine: “A woman on campus had apparently learned I might be a Marine, When I told here I was, she said, ‘you’re a disgusting human being and I hope you rot in hell!”‘
I’ll close with this personal opinion. It is an uphill battle when our military fights on “four” fronts every day. Behind your back you are attacked by Hollywood, major print media, university professors and the enemy you face thousands of miles from home.
In spite of it all, they are all hero’s.
Funny how conservatives always confuse being pro-war with supporting the troops.Nothing could be further from the truth.Supporting the troops means valuing their service and sacrifice by using the military judiciously, something conservatives seem to have forgotten.Your President started an unnecessary war and didn’t even bother to prepare for it. Just ONE example of his TOTAL disregard for the troops has been the lack of equipment [body armor, up armored humvees etc.]when President Roosevelt entered into WWll this country was not prepared militarily but he put the country on a war footing and commandeered our industries to produce what we needed. What pray tell has Bush done? NOTHING! It’s been the democrats who have pushed for legislation that actually benefits the troops. Conservatives love war but could care less about the soldier, all rhetoric and no money! Sorry but one anecdotal story does not make your case.
anon 7:16 p.m.
Perhaps you might re-read what the student said to Marco Martinez when she found out he was a Marine.
Are we to swallow your argument that she supports the troops when stating “you’re a disgusting human being and I hope you rot in hell!”
There was no reference in the post relating to equipment. I do appreciate your lame attempt at the “spin” machine. You can do better than that.
Larry, you have smeared Hollywood,the print media and university professors all based on the comments of one anonymous woman. How do you know that she doesn’t prescribe to the ultra-right wing Baptist teachings of the reverend Fred Phelps? Again ignore the facts and realities of conservatives behavior and embrace the rhetoric. Rush said it, I believe it. That attitude may be good enough for you, sadly it has left our troops undermanned, under equipped and over-extended.
anon 5:56 p.m.
Hollywood has smeared itself. Are you joking. Hollywood supports the troops? Perhaps you didn’t see Fahrenheit 9-11, Dr. Strangelove, Seven Days in May, Coming Home or the Deer Hunter to name a few examples of how Hollywood demeans our troops and our Nation.
Knowing most of the Board of Trustees and the Chancellor at Saddleback College I was surprised to learn of Sgt. Martinez and his campus experience. SOCCCD’s leadership is one of the few conservative based in CA.
Have you read the writings of Noam Chompsky, Ward Churchill, Howard Zinn (Boston Univ)or Nicholas De Genova and their anti-American propaganda on our campuses?
No, I am not basing this post on a single comment in Mission Viejo but the story needs be told. We must get out heads out of the sand before it’s too late.
And lastly the majority of the media is no fan of our military as demonstrated by their biased reporting.
My turn. A question for you. Who won the Tet offensive in Vietnam?? Please check it out and respond.
Apparently free speech has no place in Larry’s world. Voice an opinion different from Larry and guess what, your anti-american. Do you really believe that flag waving, parades and magnetic yellow bumper stickers make-up for a flawed and failed policy. The damage to our military and our country that George W. Bush’s reckless war mongering has caused is enormous,but keep your lips zipped folks because talking or writing about is far, far worse. Isn’t it about time for conservatives to stop their infantile rants about the big bad liberal media and face facts. The repercussions of this war are real, lives have been lost and destroyed and all you conservatives want to do is play a game of gotcha. Forget about the Tet offensive, one dirty little war at a time.
anon 10:31 p.m.
Want to compare facts and figures? No problem. The Vietnam War was on LBJ’s watch commencing in 1964 and lasting until 1973 resulting in the death of 58,151 Americans.
Johnson chose not to run for re-election realizing that his administration carries that burden.
US casualties in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflict are 3,963 and 483. The war in Iraq commenced on March 19, 2003, roughly five years ago.
Therefore the Vietnam war took the lives of ten times the number of the current conflict and lasted almost twice as long thru today.
Before throwing rocks at president Bush let us not forget the past under a Democratic president.
William Westmoreland began his tour with 16,000 troops in Vietnam. When he became Army Chief of Staff in 1968 he had 535,000 troops in that war. I won’t share his judgement of the Tet Offensive or his leadership but will stay with the raw data provided above.
Think about LBJ’s handling of that war before you trash this administration.
Gee, let’s see, a Democratic president was responsible for starting a wasteful, destructive and shameful war so the Republicans should get a pass on this one. Just how does this fit in with your ‘conservatives support the troops’ crap? Unfortunately, we can not undo our past mistakes but our current one continues unabated. It is hard to believe that ANYONE could support the complete and total disaster that is the Iraq war. Bush deserves to be trashed in fact he deserves to be tried for war crimes!