Don't Forget to Hug a Veteran Today!

Many Vietnam veterans that were wounded in combat will tell you that it was the women of the war that helped pull them through. That it was the women of the war that comforted them and made them feel special when they were most lonely and needed a caring soul.

No, I do not mean some Vietnamese girl selling her wares for a chocolate bar either! The women of war I am talking about are all heros in their own right - combat nurses!

Below is a story about Vietnam - that shows how the compassion of one combat nurse touched & saved the life of a local soldier....

From the PD --

A rocket-propelled grenade streaked from the hillside, blasting the Jeep ahead of Hank Vasil's M-113 armored personnel carrier. As a second grenade slammed into his own vehicle, Vasil brought his M-60 machine gun to bear on the enemy's position near Ban Loboy, South Vietnam.

Rounds cranked from his gun just as a third grenade hit his 300-pound gun shield, tossing it 100 feet in the air. The blast ripped into Vasil's face and upper torso. Two fellow soldiers on either side of him were killed.

Veteran's Day, 1969.

Since that day, among the flashbacks of war's horrors that Vasil, 61, of Brook Park, has lived with was a glimmer of kindness.

A glimpse of a hospital nurse's nameplate, "Rice," flashing through the mist of pain and fog of anesthesia. Then, a simple act of compassion that this former member of an Army Armored Cavalry Recon Unit never forgot. More....

Don't forget to thank & hug a veteran today! It is because of their sacrifices and the ultimate sacrifice of our fallen soldiers and their fallen brothers - that we have the freedom we do!

More Hollywood Bias Against John McCain

This does not surprise me one bit.

H/T to Interested Participant --

Until after the November election, Warner Brothers has blocked the release of a film about the Hanoi Hilton, featuring an interview with John McCain discussing his imprisonment. The film is a favorable portrayal.

Warner Brothers spokesman Ronnee Sass said, "It's just us trying to be cautious and not affect the election one way or the other."Of course, the desire to not affect the election doesn't impact the release of any anti-Republican or anti-American Hollywood productions.

Hollywood producers obviously sense no shame nor hypocrisy as Machiavellian operatives for the leftists. Like the mainstream media, Hollywood is merely another group of useful idiots, united to make America into a socialist utopia.

Hanoi Hilton Director Lionel Chetwynd is pissed. "Finding someone in Hollywood who says they don't want to affect the election is like finding a virgin in a brothel," he complained.

During the 2004 election Sinclair Broadcasting and many other media outlets refused to air the documentary - Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal. This documentary showed how John Kerry turned on his fellow Vietnam vets and the added suffering he caused POW's.

During that election, I had the opportunity to meet and have dinner with Ken Cordier, USAF Col.(ret.). Cordier (Phantom Flyer), a Canton, OH native, flying his 175th mission was shot down flying his F4 over North Vietnam on Dec. 2, 1966. Cordier was a POW for 2,284 days - many of them at the famed Hanoi Hilton.

Listening to Cordier speak about his time as a POW and watching the Stolen Honor documentary was truly riveting. I am sure the above movie is not being played for many of the same reasons - MSM and Hollywood bias against anything that shows conservatives in a good light.

Vietnam Veterans Classic Car Show

Vietnam Veterans Classic Car Show

Chapter 15

Sunday

October 5, 2008

John Lance Ford

23775 Center Ridge Rd.

Westlake, OH

Time: 9:00AM – 3:00PM

(Judging starts at 11:00AM)

Trophies

Dash Plaques First 100 Cars

Music by D.J. Al Piniecki

General Admission is Free

Participant Admission: $10.00

ALL PROCEEDS BENEFIT

THE VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA

For more info call

Bill (216)251-2437

Rich (216)749-8520

The Reason We Were Attacked On 9/11

From Politically Incorrect Gazette

Happy Memorial Day

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920).

While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

In 1915, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields," Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

We cherish too, the Poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led,

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies.

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms. Michael and when she returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children's League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans' organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their "Buddy" Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it.

Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.

There are a few notable exceptions. Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years. More...

John McCain - Character Born in the Crucible of Adversity

I wanted to post on the 35th anniversary of Sen. John McCain and our POW's coming home from the Vietnam WAR. The below letter from POW's that served with McCain, pretty much sums it up....

From GOP.com --

Dear Friend,

March is a memorable time for the Americans who were released from captivity in North Vietnam during the month back in 1973. The pathway to freedom began in February, as the war in Vietnam was concluding for America. Click pic to see video

John McCain, one of those American heroes, returned to freedom on March 15th, 1973, released from Hanoi that day along with other very happy American Prisoners of War. His journey home was the continuation of a remarkable story with chapters yet to be written. Having survived life-threatening and disabling injuries, along with the brutality of the POW experience, John had steadfastly resisted communist efforts to exploit him and his fellow POWs. John's homecoming began a new phase of his life. His courageous service and his political career are well known today, and now he is the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party to be the next President of the United States.

We are but representatives of over eighty former POWs who shared those heady days of freedom and those years of captivity and suffering with John McCain. Collectively, we are proudly doing all we can to help our dear friend, John McCain, become our next commander in chief. We are campaigning with him, helping him raise money, speaking on his behalf and, in constant conversations, promoting his candidacy among our friends and family all over the country. We are doing so because we believe in John McCain.

Our convictions about John's character were born in the crucible of adversity. We have witnessed his courage, integrity, character and intellect. We know and respect his sense of honor and his tenacity in the face of grave danger and prolonged hardship. These qualities, combined with his life experiences, make John ready for the enormous challenges facing the leader of our country. No one -- no one -- is more qualified to be president, to lead our country, to protect our nation and our children and grandchildren. We know him. We know his strengths, his love of country and his commitment to serve it. He has been severely tested, and we have witnessed him under pressure. We trust his judgment and his ability to lead our country in these difficult times.

We are joined in that trust by over 130 retired Flag and General officers who are members of Senator McCain's Military Advisory Council. They know and have worked with John McCain over the past three decades dealing with major national security challenges. They know leadership and they know danger and challenges. They know experience. They know quality. And they chose John McCain for president.

We must elect a leader who is ready on day one for these difficult and dangerous times. We need a leader who will insist that we win in the struggle against radical Islam. John is committed to let our troops win! We need a leader who will take on the big problems that most politicians seek to avoid. Leaders take on the tough issues. John McCain is that sort of leader. He knows the American spirit -- he has lived it like no other candidate. He knows we can do better and that America's best days are ahead.

Sincerely,

Commander Everett Alvarez, USN (Ret.)

POW for 8 1/2 years

Colonel Bud Day, USAF (Ret.) Medal of Honor

POW Over 5 Years

Rear Admiral Robert Shumaker, USN (Ret.)

POW for 8 years

Colonel Leo Thorsness, USAF (Ret.) Medal of Honor

POW for 6 years

Commander Paul Galanti, USN (Ret.)

POW for over 6 1/2 Years

Captain Mike Cronin, USN (Ret.)

POW for over 6 years

Major General John Borling, USAF (Ret.)

POW for over 6 1/2 years

Captain Richard Stratton, USN (Ret.)

POW for over 6 years

Lt Colonel Orson Swindle, USMC (Ret.)

POW for over 6 years.

--McCain spent 5 ½ years as a POW in Vietnam. He commanded the U.S. Navy's largest squadron. His Naval honors include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross.--

U.S. Airmen Coming Home from Vietnam

The remains of two U.S. airmen serving in the Vietnam War, have been identified and are coming home to their families.

Lt. Col. James H. Ayres, of Pampa, Texas, and Lt. Col. Charles W. Stratton

, of Dallas, Texas, will be receiving the full military burial they rightly earned & deserve.

From Conservative Voice --

On Jan. 3, 1971, these men crewed an F-4E Phantom II aircraft departing Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base on a nighttime strike mission of enemy targets in Savannakhet Province, Laos.

Shortly after Ayres initiated a target run, the crew of other aircraft in the flight observed a large explosion. No one witnessed an ejection or heard beeper signals, and communication was lost with the aircraft. Hostile activity in the area prevented search and rescue attempts.

In 2001, a joint U.S./Lao People's Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), traveled to Savannakhet Province and interviewed Laotian citizens about their knowledge of aircraft crash sites. More....

You have continued to serve our country in spirit for many years. Your mission is complete, you are home, you can rest. You have paid the ultimate price, thank you for serving our country proudly!

Your brothers have not forgotten you, and they will continue to search until all of you are home!

Tribute on Vietnam Wall & 25th Anniversary

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is the on;ly war memorial dedicated to the soldiers and not the war in which they fought. The "Wall" is a solemn and an awe inspiring sight.

From Conservative Voice --

About 2,000 veterans, former and current military personnel, families and other spectators marked the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial here today during the annual Memorial Day Observance.

For a quarter of a century, family members, friends and cohorts have solemnly filed past the memorial commonly known as "The Wall," seeking their loved ones among the 58,000 names of the fallen etched on the black granite panels.

"I think this is place where people feel very comfortable and they really become a part of the memorial by getting closer to it," said Jan C. Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, More.....

MSM distorts truth about US troops feelings on torture

After reading the piece on alleged abuse of Iraqi's by American soldiers in the Columbus Discourse, I had to ask myself the question of, "Why is this news?"

Is this news?

No, this is propaganda! War is not clean, nice, or absent of collateral damage. This is further proof that the MSM will distort the positive and report on the negative.

The liberal anti-war MSM, as they did with Vietnam, again tries to create news out of our soldiers trying to protect themselves and complete their mission.

Instead of portraying this story in a positive way of, " Study shows there is no systematic abuse of Iraqi's by American troops", the MSM attempts to capitalize on a backwards presenting of the numbers to further pave the "Road to Defeat" being charted by the dems.

Abuse?

As in Vietnam, our soldiers are fighting an invisible enemy, an enemy that USES civilians as their camouflage. An enemy that transforms Mosques and schools into fire bases. An enemy from within the very people we are protecting.

So is it abuse to shoot someone who appears to be a threat if they are wearing civilian clothes? Is it abuse to rough up people in a home where the previous night our troops were taking fire from? I think not!

I believe our soldiers and information agencies SHOULD be allowed to use ANY MEANS necessary to extract information if it results in the saving of innocent Iraqi's lives and especially U.S. Troops.

From the Columbus Dispatch.....

More than one-third of U.S. soldiers in Iraq surveyed by the Army said they believe torture should be allowed if it helps gather important information about insurgents, the Pentagon disclosed yesterday. Four in 10 said they approve of such illegal abuse if it would save the life of a fellow soldier.

In addition, about two-thirds of Marines and half the Army troops surveyed said they would not report a team member for mistreating a civilian or for destroying civilian property unnecessarily. "Less than half of soldiers and Marines believed that noncombatants should be treated with dignity and respect," the Army report stated.

About 10 percent of the 1,767 troops in the official survey, conducted in Iraq in the fall, reported that they had mistreated civilians in Iraq, such as kicking them or needlessly damaging their possessions.

"They looked under every rock, and what they found was not always easy to look at," S. Ward Casscells, the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said of Army researchers who conducted the survey......

Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock, the acting Army surgeon general, cast the report as positive news. "What it speaks to is the leadership that the military is providing, because they're not acting on those thoughts," she said. "They're not torturing the people."

But human-rights activists said the report lends support to their view that the abuse of Iraqi civilians by U.S. military personnel was not isolated to some bad apples at Abu Ghraib and a few other detention facilities but instead was more widespread. More.....

I like to use the justified, WW II Bombing of Tokyo in 1942, as an example of how the media's negative portrayal of today's War on Terror has an adverse effect and weakens our ability to be successful.

I could just imagine the MSM reaction should a Burning of Tokyo operation be carried out today in Iraq. I would bet many of our enemies would "rethink" their positions if we did!

Motorcycles roll into Cleveland for troop rally

From the PD

Bill Curran, post commander of the Viet Nam Veterans Association of Chagrin Falls, tapes photos of local soldiers killed or missing in the Iraq war. Hundreds attended the fifth annual Support Our Troops rally in Public Square this morning. Motorcyclists from across the region converged on Public Square and met with veterans, military families and supporters.

Eagles, bats and rats

March 21, 2007
By Tom Kovach

World Net Daily

On Saturday, I was privileged to participate in the Gathering of Eagles in our nation's capital. The gathering was arranged on short notice, mostly via the Internet, as a way for American military veterans to stand and defend our national memorials against any efforts at vandalism by anti-war (and anti-America) protesters from the group ANSWER (Act Now to Stop the War and End Racism). Members of that group had defaced the U.S. Capitol Building with spray-paint in January.

The Gathering of Eagles was designed to assist the United States Park Police in defending the Vietnam Wall and other monuments against similar vandalism.

In short, the gathering could be called the "So Brave" versus "So Confused" event.

Statue in D.C. of the "Lone Sailor," defaced in January by the group Code Pink.

(Photo from Liberty Post message board)

While this column is simply one man's opinion, the viewpoints expressed herein seem to have resonated throughout the National Mall on this year's recent Saint Patrick's Day. And, it is significant to note that the established "lamestream" news media have either ignored or minimized the presence of America's military veterans and their families at the event.

Any of those media stories, however, can be easily countered by the information in this column, and by this Michelle Malkin video. More....

Vietnam Veteran Hero Billy Walkabout, Laid to rest

From USA Today:

MONTVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Billy Walkabout, a native Cherokee whose actions in Vietnam made him among most decorated soldiers of the war, died March 7 in Connecticut. He was 57.

Walkabout received the Distinguished Service Cross, Purple Heart, five Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars. He was believed to be the most decorated Native American soldier of the Vietnam War, according to U.S. Department of Defense reports.

Walkabout was born in Cherokee County, Okla., on March 31, 1949, and lived much of his life in Oklahoma.

At the time of his death, Walkabout and his wife, Juanita Medbury-Walkabout, lived in a portion of eastern Connecticut that is home to many Mashantucket Pequot, Mohegan and other Native American tribal members. More....

Vietnam helicopter pilot awarded Medal of Honor

President Bush will be pinning our countries highest honor on a Vietnam Veterans chest today.

While there are many reasons this is a very special honor, more incredible is that he will be one of the few that were not awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.

Vietnam Veteran, Bruce Crandall, will be awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions, as a helicopter pilot, in combat during the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965.

The Battle of the Ia Drang Valley was a first in many ways for the Vietnam War and in how our Army operates today. The Army, looking for a way to become faster and more agile on the battlefield started up the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, once again.

This was the same unit being led by George Armstrong Custer at the Little Bighorn, now to be run by Lt. Col. Hal Moore.

Now the horses would be helicopters to transport men, weapons and supplies in and out of the battle field. Crandall and his wingman Ed "Too Tall to Fly" Freeman, would be the workhorses!Freeman was previously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic action in battle.

This was notably the first large engagement between American's and the North Vietnamese.

Being flown in to make contact with the enemy, little did Moore and his men know that they were just dropped in the middle of the operating base for 9th Bn /66th Regiment of the Peoples Army of Vietnam - North Vietnamese Regulars. Run by none other than Uncle Ho's best buddy - Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap.

What ensued, was nothing short of miraculous! Surrounded and cut off, the 7th Cav was outnumbered 450 to about 2000 highly trained and motivated ARVN troops. Shortly after being dropped off, and the helicopters continuing to bring troops and supplies, all hell broke loose.

A three day battle took place in which after the dust-off (medivac) helicopters refused to fly in and get wounded, and the troops running extremely low on ammunition, Crandall and wing man Freeman, refused to leave the wounded or the troops low on ammo.

Crandall and Freeman continued flying their helicopters into harms way showing no fear for their own lives. Crandall is credited with flying in 22 times to LZ X-Ray under heavy enemy fire and no-fly orders to deliver supplies and fly out at least 70 wounded soldiers.

Moore and Joe Galloway, an embedded reporter during the battle, retell their story in the form of a movie and a book - "We Were Soldiers Once... And Young".

The movie, portrays the events at LZ X-Ray at the battle of the Ia Drang Valley. While the book goes into much more detail about the battle, LZ Albany, LZ Victor and the battles fought there.

While the Medal of Honor is well earned, I am sure it will be bittersweet.

KING

Just another war lost at home?

Thought this was very interesting and right on point. I am a firm believer that the only country that can beat the United States is - The United States!

Reposted from World Net Daily -

February 13, 2007
Joseph Farrah World Net Daily

Is it that too many Americans learned all the wrong lessons from Vietnam?

Is it that our woefully broken educational system and immoral mass media have left Americans in state of self-hating denial?

Is it that we are simply incapable of remembering what happened 30 years ago?

Or is it that America's enemies have learned all the lessons exceptionally well and remembered how to apply them under new circumstances – in a war that actually means far more to the future of the U.S. and everything it means to be an American?

Or maybe it's an indication we as Americans just don't have the intestinal fortitude – or the moral courage – to stand up to people willing to fight and die for something bigger than themselves, no matter how evil that cause may be. More....

The Kissinger effect on Bush's Iran strategy

The Bush administration’s approach to Iran tracks the advice of a certain secretary of State with Vietnam experience. Can the Kissinger model work?

WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY

By Michael Hirsh Newsweek
Feb. 1, 2007 - He is 83 now, very gray and a bit saggy around the edges. But nearly 40 years after he first convened the Paris Peace Talks, Henry Kissinger is still playing the globe like a three-dimensional chessboard.

Judging from the moves George W. Bush has been making lately, the president appears to be following the old meister’s advice on Iran. Kissinger’s bottom line: don't negotiate with Tehran until you've realigned the forces in the Middle East so that you're negotiating from a position of strength.

Fed up with Iran’s recalcitrance in talks to curb its nuclear program, and reports of Iran’s alleged complicity in attacks inside Iraq, the Bush administration is engaged in diplomacy of truly Kissingerian complexity.

One big difference remains between Bush and Kissinger. The president is unlikely to segue into serious negotiations with either Iran and Syria even if he gets the upper hand. More...

--------------------------------------

Traitor Backs Out

Kerry decides against 2008 presidential run

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, announced Wednesday that he will skip a second run for the White House to concentrate on bringing the war in Iraq to an end.

"As someone who made the mistake of voting for the resolution that gave the president the authority to go to war, I feel the weight of personal responsibility to act to devote time and energy to the national dialogue and an effort to limit this war and bring our participation to a conclusion," he said in a speech on the Senate floor. More....


Senator Kerry to Skip 2008 Presidential Race
January 24, 2007 Fox News

WASHINGTON — Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, announced Wednesday that he won't make a run for the White House in 2008.

"I’ve concluded this isn’t the time for me to mount a presidential campaign," Kerry said on the Senate floor. "It is the time to put my energy to work as part of the majority in the Senate to do all I can to end this war and strengthen our security and our ability to fight the real War on Terror." Click here to watch the full video.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., took to the Senate floor after Kerry's announcement to thank him for his work in the Senate.

"He is one of those people that has meant so much to me. And being a role model for the things that I do and for the things that I think the American people should focus on," Reid said. More...

----------------------------------------------------------------

Thank God, this traitor pulled out of the race. I am quite sure mine and Ron L's buddies with the Swift Boat Veterans and POW's for Truth were waiting to get going again about Kerry's traitorous actions during the Vietnam War.

King

Welcome Home Solider

Last salute to long-ago war hero
Vietnam vets travel from across region to honor soldier
Sunday, December 31, 2006

They began arriving at 6:30 a.m., nearly three hours before the funeral that would honor a man they had never met.

They pulled up, saluted and quietly prayed for the family of Army Master Sgt. Norman Payne in a way that only they could. Vietnam veterans from across Northeast Ohio and Pennsylvania remembered a fellow soldier who returned home Saturday in a way they never wanted.

"We don't look at this as a funeral," said Richard Pennybaker of Alliance. "We look at this as a welcome home and the honoring of a war hero. For nearly 40 years, he lay in a rice paddy somewhere. Today, he's here for us to thank."

More than 200 people attended services to remember Payne, a humble man with a broad smile who was reported missing in Laos on Dec. 18, 1968. He was 27 at the time. Military officials identified the remains of the Special Forces soldier earlier this year.

......... Payne epitomized the greatness of the Army's Special Forces, where he served in the Studies and Operation Group. The unit handled clandestine work during the war in Vietnam.

Thirty minutes later, at Cleveland Memorial Gardens, 20 veterans ringed Payne's casket with U.S. flags. As winds whipped across the muddy field, Army Master Sgt. Larry Brooks presented a folded American flag that had covered Payne's casket to his wife. He called it a small gift of appreciation for her husband.

Minutes later, Vietnam veterans mingled with Payne's family, each thanking the other for their gifts to the country.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Norman Payne, Sergeant, reconnaissance patrol member, Command and Control North, MACV-SOG. Born on 14 July 1939 in Greenville, Alabama. Entered service on 8 July 1957 at Cleveland, Ohio.

Missing in action since 19 December 1968, when his reconnaissance team was attacked 6 miles inside Laos west of the A Shau Valley just before nightfall; last seen by the team leader, Sp. 4th Class Donald C. Sheppard, as Payne left the team to join another group, which had slid down an embankment; Sheppard later followed this route along a creek bed, but efforts to locate Payne failed.

During extraction, Sheppard heard garbled emergency radio transmission, the last word of which sounded like "bison' (the code name for Payne), but a later ground search was blocked by hostile activity.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Sgt. Payne,

Welcome home brave soldier, you have been away for quite sometime. You don't know me, I was only 2 yrs old on that fateful day in December 1968. I want to thank you for proudly serving your country.

Your family has missed you. From the Mekong Delta to the DMZ, in Laos and Cambodia you and your veteran brothers served proudly with honor and valor. The war is over now, you may rest in peace now that you are home.

Please know that your veteran brothers never forgot you. They had Rally's, Tiger Cage walks, car shows, motorcycle runs, etc..... all to remember and work towards the return of soldiers like you that still need to come home.

You were welcomed home like the Hero that you are. Your fellow veteran brothers were welcomed home to crowds of protesters calling them horrible names, being spit on, being shunned by WWII veterans and were not allowed to join the VFW.

Many sold or removed their uniforms before coming back to the states. Unfortunately for some, in their minds, they are still fighting the war. I am sorry for the way our country treated you guys.

Our country failed all who served in country and when they came home. To help heal the scars of the war for our country and the veterans, in 1982 they made a 493.5' long, cold, black granite wall to remember you and your veteran brothers who paid the ultimate price.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated to the soldiers and not the war in which they fought. The "Wall" is a solemn and an awe inspiring sight. The sight of your fellow veteran brothers making peace with their ghosts and talking with fallen comrades is enough to make the hardest man weep.

You are now with your veteran brothers again, please let them know we are proud of them!

Thank You

Ralph King

527's & FEC Rulings

Having worked with the Swift Boat Veterans and POW's for Truth during the '04 elections, this is very upsetting to me. I was introduced to these groups by Paul Schiffer of The Schiffer Report and my friend, Ron Lisy. For the record, it was Paul Schiffer, who was instrumental in getting these groups thier initial exposure.

We worked together putting on several showings of the famously censored movie "Stolon Honor" here in the Cuyahoga County area. Never once at these showings did any of these veterans tell anybody to "Vote for George Bush". These groups simply existed to make sure the American public was aware of the truth about John Kerry's traitorous actions against our soldiers and country during the Vietnam War. Evidence of this is the disgusting and fabricated lies of the "Winter Soldier Meeting" hosted by John Kerry in 1971.

Once again, these Swift Boat Veterans, Steve Gardner (PCF-44 Gunner / Sampan Incident), Dick Pease (PCF-3 Driver/ Rassmenn Incident - Bronze Star & Purple Heart No. 3), Mike Salburg (PCF-99 & PCF-57) and Ken Cordier (POW 12/2/66 - 3/4/73) from POW's for Truth, served thier country proudly! Thanks for coming to Cleveland!

FEC fines Swift Boat, MoveOn groups - UPI
Dec. 14, 2006 at 1:00PM

The Swift Boat Veterans and the MoveOn.org Voter Fund have settled with the Federal Election Commission for political activities during the 2004 U.S. elections. In its ruling that the two organizations failed to register as political committees -- which have stricter fundraising rules -- the FEC fined the Swift Boat group $299,500 and MoveOn.org Voter Fund $150,000.

The commission, in a release Wednesday, said the organizations violated election finance rules because they advocated the defeat of Democratic challenger John Kerry and Republican incumbent U.S. President George Bush, respectively. The organizations had 527 tax status, which limits contributions directed to political parties but allows unlimited contributions to groups that advocated issues.

Campaign finance watchdog organizations said the FEC's actions were not enough. "Effective enforcement of the campaign finance laws cannot be established through a case-by-case approach that resolves massive violations of campaign finance laws more than two years after a presidential election," officials of Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center said in a statement. The commission also fined two groups affiliated with the League of Conservation Voters for failing to register as political committees. Those fines totaled $180,000.