Troop support

edited to make it a little clearer who said what, added some links/quotes

"Gah. That was powerful. I have nothing else to say." - Erik at Whiskey Bar

Unforgettable piece by Nevada City's own Bill Larsen in last Sunday's S.F. Chronicle here - "I'm no pacifist, but I do have a rigorous standard for sending human beings to war. I call it the "Mike McParlane Taste Test..." **

Also essential - in Whiskey Bar, Billmon's post The Old Bloody Shirt:

...Terry Holt, the chief spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign was quoted saying in the Washington Post today:

"John Kerry's campaign seems to be summed up this way: I went to Vietnam, yadda, yadda, yadda, I want to be president."

...I have this image of some GOP flack in the year 2032, talking to some smart-ass reporter from the Washington Post, and bashing his guy's opponent for running on his Iraq war resume: "His whole campaign is: I went to Iraq, yadda, yadda, yadda. I want to be president."

Powerful post, powerful commentary from readers. Read their stories. Make sure you don't miss the posts by Jack ("Something I forgot about Nam", March 23 10:58) and Julia (March 24, 2004 12:16 AM).

"Those who deny weakness and have no compassion for others because they fear that very weakness are wretched beyond words. And they sure as hell should never be in power. " - Stoy

"The way the Right treats soldiers and vets is sickening. We owe them better than to let them bleed and die for a pack of lies. We owe them better than "yadda, yadda, yadda."" - alsafi

"Vietnam remains a tragedy in large measure because we apparently didn't learn a f_cking thing from it." - ?

"I'd ask my cousin Jack whether "Yadda, Yadda, Yadda" described *his* Nam experience, except there's a small problem. Jack ... doesn't do *any* talking these days. "

Remembering Bob Zangas, who died earlier this month in an ambush in Iraq. Here's his weblog

Previously-linked-to interview with a medic


**In Larsen's article, Mike's name was printed as Mike MacParlane, which is incorrect, it's McParlane. "Had a guy call who checked his name against the listings on the Vietnam vets memorial, and questioned my authenticity. But his name is there--June 3, 1969..."


It does put the "woe is me we have an imperfect county newspaper" handwringing in perspective.