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Military past on center stage in McCain run
John McCain's captivity in a Vietnam prison is the defining narrative of his life. Now, as he prepares to accept the Republican presidential nomination here this week, it is an increasingly prominent part of his presidential campaign.
No biography of the former Navy pilot would be complete without an account of his harrowing years as a prisoner of war, the permanent physical damage he suffered from torture and inadequate medical care after his plane was shot down in 1967. The only question is whether it is possible to overplay such a dramatic episode.
In recent weeks, McCain and his aides have invoked his POW years to undercut Democratic nominee Barack Obama's national security credentials, fight back after McCain appeared uncertain about how many houses his family owns, and crush the idea that he cheated by getting questions in advance at a religious forum.
In the Twin Cities this week, the South Carolina GOP is sponsoring a cable TV ad that describes the "home" where McCain was "starved, beaten, tortured and maimed for life" from 1967 to 1973. "So the next time Barack Obama talks about one of John McCain's homes, remember this one."
Yet military service has little impact on most voters, and a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll last month suggests a POW ordeal is even less likely to affect their decisions. Three in five people said military service would make no difference in their choice of a candidate. Four in five said the same about a POW experience.
When he ran in 2000, McCain's captivity was part of his stump speech and a video shown at fundraisers and other events. It is even more central now.
"They were formative experiences," McCain said this week on Fox News Sunday. "We don't know what's around the corner of history, and we have to judge people's character. And my character, a great part of the formation of that character took place in a prison camp."
Sometimes McCain brings up his POW years to devastating effect. In April, after Elizabeth Edwards criticized McCain's health-care plan and said he'd had government health care all his life, the permanently disabled candidate, who walks stiffly and cannot raise his arms, shot back on ABC's This Week: "I did have a period of time where I didn't have very good health care. I had it from another government."
The POW experience also figures in several McCain TV ads. The script for one: "Summer of love — half a world away, another kind of love. Of country. Shot down, bayoneted, tortured. Offered early release, he said no. He had sworn an oath."
Democrats are trying, with care, to hammer home two points about McCain and his POW past. One is that you can respect him without voting for him. The other is that McCain's military career doesn't necessarily qualify him for the White House.
"It's fair to claim that heroic military service shows character. It's another thing to then leap to the idea that you have better judgment about national security," says retired general Wesley Clark, a former NATO commander who made a brief run for the Democratic nomination in 2004.
Political scientist John Mueller, a military affairs expert at Ohio State University, is more blunt. "Exactly how much he learned about national policy while sitting in a prison in Hanoi is terribly limited," he says of McCain. Furthermore, he says, the "grueling experience … might lead to questions about how healthy he is. The Hanoi Hilton logically could be expected to decrease your life expectancy." John McCain's captivity in a Vietnam prison is the defining narrative of his life. Now, as he prepares to accept the Republican p... more -
Carter: McCain 'milking' POW time
Former president Jimmy Carter called Republican presidential candidate John McCain a "distinguished naval officer," but he said the Arizona senator has been "milking every possible drop of advantage" from his time served as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Former president Jimmy Carter called Republican presidential candidate John McCain a "distinguished naval officer," but he s... more
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Remnants of War
Around the world, thousands of innocent civilians are killed each year by landmines and unexploded ordnance. None-profit organizations like Golden West Humanitarian Foundation tackle the problem head on by educating local populations about landmine safety and by providing technological solutions for the removal of landmines and unexploded ordnance. Around the world, thousands of innocent civilians are killed each year by landmines and unexploded ordnance. None-profit organizations... more
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Secret Angel of Death and Injury: Agent Orange
Approximately 20 million gallons of herbicides were used in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971 to remove unwanted plant life and leaves which otherwise provided cover for enemy forces during the Vietnam Conflict. Shortly following their military service in Vietnam, some veterans reported. Approximately 20 million gallons of herbicides were used in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971 to remove unwanted plant life and leaves whi... more
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Will Your Vote Be Counted in 2008? Electronic Voting Machines and the Privatizatio...
With less than a month before Super Tuesday, every vote counts. But will every vote actually be counted? One-by-one, states across the country are finding critical flaws in the accuracy and security of electronic voting machines. We speak with Clive Thompson, the author of a New York Times Magazine cover story titled ?Can You Count on Voting Machines?? With less than a month before Super Tuesday, every vote counts. But will every vote actually be counted? One-by-one, states across the... more
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Missing Airman's Remains May Be Identified After 36 Years
Christine Jones was baking brownies for the National Guard when the military called to tell her they might have found her son's remains nearly four decades after the flight surgeon went missing during the Vietnam War.
Maj. Bobby M. Jones' F4 jet disappeared from radar near Danang in South Vietnam on Nov. 28, 1972. Since then, the assumption was that he had died, but his family could never be sure because his remains were never recovered.
"We know that two people in that plane, an F4 is a two-seater, did not survive, and that Bobby was one of those," his sister, Jo Anne Shirley, told the Dalton Daily Citizen for a Thursday story.
But last week, Air Force Casualty Office personnel told her that someone had found a "blood chit," a military identification marker containing a number specific to her brother, who was born in Macon. A forensic anthropologist discovered it in June while evaluating the site where a plane that could've been her brother's had been excavated 11 years ago. Christine Jones was baking brownies for the National Guard when the military called to tell her they might have found her son's r... more -
Agent Orange Used in the U.S.A
Proof that Agent Orange was tested in the US and veterans exposed to it here were and still are being denied VA benefits. In this video one soldier exposed to Agent Orange tells his story. This is an outrage and a travesty.This is what the government thinks about our veterans, as well as what they think of the environment and the people who live here to test this toxic crap here. Monsanto, Dow, and all other companies that perpetuated the suffering caused by this for profit, may you rot. Proof that Agent Orange was tested in the US and veterans exposed to it here were and still are being denied VA benefits. In this vide... more
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Vietnam war - Images of female soldiers
Vietnam war, I bet a lot of people on this world know about it... And yes here are some pictures about those beautiful but tough female soldiers, who contributed to our victory Vietnam war, I bet a lot of people on this world know about it... And yes here are some pictures about those beautiful but tough femal... more
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Victims of Agent Orange - Vietnam war
Agent Orange is the code name for a powerful herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, an estimated 20 million gallons of Agent Orange were deployed in South Vietnam.[1]
Agent Orange's usage from 1961 to 1971 was by far the most used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" utilized during the program. Degradation of Agent Orange (as well as Agents Purple, Pink, and Green) released dioxins, which have caused health problems for those exposed during the Vietnam War. Agents Blue and White were part of the same program but did not contain dioxins.
Studies of populations highly exposed to dioxin, though not necessarily Agent Orange, indicate increased risk of various types of cancer and genetic defects; the effect of long-term low-level exposure has not been established.
Since the 1980s, several lawsuits have been filed against the companies which produced Agent Orange, among them; Dow Chemical, Monsanto, and Diamond Shamrock (which produced 5%[2]). U.S. veterans obtained a $180 million settlement in 1984, with most affected veterans receiving a one-time lump sum payment of $1,200.
American veterans of the Vietnam War were seeking recognition of Agent Orange syndrome, compensation and treatment for diseases that they and their children suffered from; many exposed to Agent Orange have not been able to receive promised medical care through the Veterans Administration medical system, and only with rare exception have their affected children received healthcare assistance from the government.
Vietnam veterans and their families who brought the original Agent Orange lawsuit stated 25 years ago that the government "is just waiting for us all to die". They alleged that most of those still alive would succumb to the effects of toxic exposure before the age of 65.
In Australia, Canada and New Zealand, veterans obtained compensation in settlements that same year. In 1999, South Korean veterans filed a lawsuit in the Korean courts. In January 2006, the Korean Appeal Court ordered Monsanto and Dow to pay US$62 million in compensation. However, no Vietnamese have received compensation, and on March 10, 2006, Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange against the chemical companies which produced the defoliants and herbicides. Agent Orange is the code name for a powerful herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program durin... more -
When the Farm Boy Goes to War
A veteran of the Vietnam War tells of his experiences and his reflections on the War in Iraq.
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Advice from the Enemy
I took this picture in 1966 as we past this place on patrol. It was outside of Danang Vietnam. I was a US Marine with India Company, Third Battalion, Third Marine Regiment (I-3/3).
The words in English read:
- South Vietnam affairs must be settled by the South Vietnamese people themselves.
- The Vietanamese people struggling for a just cause will certainly win U.S. imperialists and their lackeys shall be defeated!
- 470,000 American soldiers lost their lives in South Korea. Don't let Mac Namara act the same play in South Vietnam. I took this picture in 1966 as we past this place on patrol. It was outside of Danang Vietnam. I was a US Marine with India Company, T... more -
"Killing Fields" survivor Dith Pran dies
Dith Pran, the Cambodian-born journalist whose harrowing tale of enslavement and eventual escape from that country's murderous Khmer Rouge revolutionaries in 1979 became the subject of the award-winning film "The Killing Fields," died Sunday, his former colleague said.
Dith, 65, died at a New Jersey hospital Sunday morning of pancreatic cancer, according to Sydney Schanberg, his former colleague at The New York Times. Dith had been diagnosed almost three months ago.
Dith was working as an interpreter and assistant for Schanberg in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, when the Vietnam War reached its chaotic end in April 1975 and both countries were taken over by Communist forces.
Schanberg helped Dith's family get out but was forced to leave his friend behind after the capital fell; they were not reunited until Dith escaped four and a half years later. Eventually, Dith resettled in the United States and went to work as a photographer for the Times.
It was Dith himself who coined the term "killing fields" for the horrifying clusters of corpses and skeletal remains of victims he encountered on his desperate journey to freedom.
The regime of Pol Pot, bent on turning Cambodia back into a strictly agrarian society, and his Communist zealots were blamed for the deaths of nearly 2 million of Cambodia's 7 million people.
"That was the phrase he used from the very first day, during our wondrous reunion in the refugee camp," Schanberg said later.
end.
This man was a hero. Dith Pran, the Cambodian-born journalist whose harrowing tale of enslavement and eventual escape from that country's murderous Kh... more -
Gulf of Tonkin=Persian Gulf?
With news today that Iranian ships allegedly had an "incident" with the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf, I was reminded of the Gulf of Tonkin 'incident" and how it turned out to be a false flag that led to the loss of 58,000 lives not to mention over a million Vietnamese lives. I am also reminded of a recent report that claimed there was no intelligence to support Iran putting together a nuclear weapon. So, will we have another Gulf of Tonkin incident to give them their pretext to expand their war? After all they aren't going to be impeached as they should be, so they have another entire year to escalate this and get fundng from Congress for it since they never do anything but back down concerning war. Do they think that the American people forget the past? All I know is, we better learn to learn from it. With news today that Iranian ships allegedly had an "incident" with the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf, I was reminded of the... more
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Post Traumatic Delusions
A distraught war vet with post traumatic stress harbors anger and resentment to this day. In this video, he is fighting soldiers that are not there in a delusional setting. A distraught war vet with post traumatic stress harbors anger and resentment to this day. In this video, he is fighting soldiers that ... more
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McCarthy v. Bush on Iraq video
Gene McCarthy proved that ordinary Americans could de-rail a war, President Johnson's Vietnam war policies.
In announcing that he would challenge President Johnson for renomination in 1968, Sen. McCarthy said, "I am concerned that this Administration seems to have set no limit to the price it is willing to pay for a military victory." McCarthy continued, "I am not for peace at any price...but for an honorable, rational and political solution" to this war.
The McCarthy v. Bush on Iraq video shows change is possible, despite the odds.
Great footage. Good tunes. Links to action. Gene McCarthy proved that ordinary Americans could de-rail a war, President Johnson's Vietnam war policies. ... more -
Beneath The Shelter - to help bring awareness to the homeless veteran situation in...
this clip was taken from vietnam combat veteran - vincent gabriels 11 bravo vietnam - a soldiers story documentary - the music was written and performed by vincent gabriel (blind albert) - the art work was created by derek gundy - it is with great hope that this video will help in some small way bring awareness to the homeless veteran situation here in america - website at www.myspace.com/blindalbert this clip was taken from vietnam combat veteran - vincent gabriels 11 bravo vietnam - a soldiers story documentary - the music was wri... more
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DANIEL & THE DECIDER
The night of September 29, Daniel Ellsberg ("The Pentagon Papers") appeared on The Colbert Report, I had a chance to chat with Dan about King George The Decider and our Constitutional crisis! PLEASE VOTE! The night of September 29, Daniel Ellsberg ("The Pentagon Papers") appeared on The Colbert Report, I had a chance to chat wi... more
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More Cold War "how it could have all gotten effed up" Stories
This guy left a top secret message in a bank when he had been working without sleep.
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Vietnam War
