Is this an impressive military record? Is the person who bears this record worthy of respect, even if you disagree with him?
(He was) a raw recruit when he left Washington and Jefferson College in 1952 to join the Marines out of a growing sense of obligation to his country during the Korean War. There he earned the American Spirit Honor Medal, awarded to fewer than one in 10,000 recruits. He rose through the ranks to become a drill instructor at Parris Island and was selected for Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia. He then was assigned to the Second Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In 1959, he took command of the 34th Special Infantry Company, Marine Corps Reserves, in Johnstown. He remained in the Reserves after his discharge from active duty until he volunteered for Vietnam in 1966-67, receiving the Bronze Star with Combat "V", two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. He remained in the Reserves until his retirement. ... He was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal by the Marine Corps Commandant when he retired from the Marines.
That record, of course, belongs to Rep. Jack Murtha, whom Charlie Sykes slimed yet again on his show Monday. The schtick inflicted upon listeners: juxtaposing snippets of a Murtha interview over the weekend with audio clips of Grandpa Simpson (Charlie clearly trying to channel Jonah Goldberg here). Get it? Murtha thinks we should get out of Iraq -- he must be a senile old coot. Ha ha ha!
Murtha knows first hand what it means to fight, to kill and to know people who have been killed. Murtha clearly has demonstrated he's a man of honor, a concept totally foreign to lying Charlie.
Murtha's stand came after a lot of soulsearching, a lot of visits to wounded soldiers and their families, a lot of officers who know what is going on on the ground.
I doubt Murtha would be bothered much if he heard Sykes' grade school exercise. He's encountered much worse. One wonders if Charlie will ever acquire the decency to be bothered by doing it.
(Bio material from Murtha's House site.)
Cheap Shot Chuck can never resist getting one off, even if it means smearing someone who has been so dedicated to serving his country.
The question to Charlie is, why should anyone serve their country when you have people like him years later ready to knife you when you say something they don't like?
But if you are Charley, the fact that you did not sign up when you were certainly of age during Nam does not bother you at tall.
Posted by: kr | June 20, 2006 at 06:03 AM