McCain’s POW Defense: Devaluing Our Service and His Own
By Lt. Gen Robert G. Gard Jr., USA (Ret.)
The McCain campaign has spent weeks trying to portray Obama as out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Americans. Today, an interviewer at Politico.com asked McCain how many homes he and his wife owned, to which he responded that he was not sure but would get someone from his staff to answer.
Contrary to what many will tell you, this does not make McCain out of touch with ordinary Americans, as many families today are in trouble with their banks and trying to figure out how many homes they have - zero or one.
Still, it’s the campaign’s defense we find deeply troubling:
“This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years — in prison.”
We obviously honor and respect McCain’s service and the five-and-a-half years of horror that he went through at the hands of the North Vietnamese; but it’s not an excuse for everything. He has already used it to explain away his infidelities in his first marriage. He’s used it to defend his healthcare plan. He just the other day used it to deflect accusations of having skirted the rules of the Saddleback forum.
It’s time for the Senator to stop cheapening the war experiences of thousands of vets and his fellow POWs, and his own as well, by stretching the boundaries of logic to make his POW status a wild-card rebuttal to all accusations or an answer to all difficult questions.
We are veterans who like John McCain, who served honorably, but and we continue to serve our country honorably by not using our military experiences as unjustifiable necessary shields or stepping stones. John McCain has faced and will continue to face many difficult questions that he does not have an answer for, and problems to which that he will provide no solutions to, in the 70 days between now and the election. When he uses his status as a veteran to deflect legitimate questions and concerns, it devalues not just his service to our country but ours as well.
So today, we ask not as Veterans for Obama, but as Veterans of America that Sen. McCain respect the service of his fellow POWs and combat veterans, and stop cheapening their service by hiding behind his own.
General Gard,
Thank you for pointing out something that a lot of news outlets wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole. I value and respect all veterans and their honorable service. I am proud of my service as all past and present members of our military. However, that service does NOT give me any special right or privilege. I served my country, I was fortunate to have never had to deal with a life changing experience as Senator McCain. I do not want or need anything other than what I earned. My retirement pay, my benefits earned and the gratitude of a grateful nation. Where fate has put some of my fellow veterans in special situations that required great valor and sacrifice, I gladly acknowledge that. However, I think that using that valor and sacrifice as a springboard for political gain is a trait I would not wish to see in our next Commander in Chief.
“problems to which that he will provides no solutions to”
bad, bad sentence, please please edit
Dear General Gard,
Thank you for saying what many dare not say. I for one am troubled at how Mr. McCain has used his POW survivor experience as a scapegoat. Are the men and women who served our nation in battle day after day, month after month, and year after year who never experienced capture less qualified to be president or less heroic? It takes more than courage to continue on foot, sea, and air, and never doubt your country’s love. May the men and women in Iraq know we at home pray for and end to this war and their safe return home. McCain is no more a hero than everyone one of our enlisted men and women. The military is a very special family and deserves respect by all former veterans. Dealing the war card everytime he’s confronted with a difficult question is inexcusable.
General Gard puts more eloquently what I have felt and told other’s regarding Senator McCain for some time. Senator McCains use of his POW/military experience for political gain is addressed here as other places, with resect and dignity. However, If Senator McCain’s behavior continue’s to be used in this degrading manner to our country and all veterans,
then the respect he deserves must end. As a veteran supporting Senator Obama, I will no longer continue to be respectful, but canvass and speak out about his shallowness as a leader.
Well said.
I never used ANY of my trials and tribulations in the Army to further my career or for bluster, or for any recognition. If I got a promotion or something that benifited me personally, then it was on the merits, not out of pity.
I’m involved in a great project to produce a video that is geared towards getting the public out to vote this year. It’s completely non-partisan, we aren’t trying to endorse a particular canidate.
Here’s a link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4kg514DcTA
I have replied twice to comments. Where are they?
Also, I can’t find my name on the list of signatures. I checked all three pages. What’s up? Am I I blacklisted? If so, why?
I see that my comment got posted.
The comment I posted two days ago is still gone, but all I wanted to say was I thought the comment by SFC Keene was spot on.
I could never use any part of my service experience for personal glory, especially if it involved seeking the PITY of the entire populace for being captured. McCain is only proving his shallowness.
Thank you Lt.Gen Card for your comments I heard re Senator McCain’s cheapening of the many other vets and POWs.
I grew up during WWII in Nazi-occupied Holland and at age 5-10 as a little girl saw many attrocities many adults never get to see in their lives. Most of those who suffered these attrocities ever spoke about them and when they did, it generally was near the end of life.
A few weeks ago I sent a nastygram to Senator McCain expressing my displeasure over his consistent leaning on his decades-old POW status and thereby insulting all vets right back to those of The Greatest Generation which were those who liberated us in The Netherlands.
However, you, Lt. Gen. Card, had a much larger audience to hear your words and said it so much better than I did.
Since 1960 I have voted straight Republican but never made political contributions. The year 2008 will be different, I not only have contributed to his campaign but I am voting for Obama.
Still grateful after 63 years!
McCain denigrates no one’s service but his own. It is his personal choice to reply to any difficult question or situation with “I was a POW”.
His inability to defend himself is his alone. He could, if he chose, refuse to allow this defense by his camlaign staff and refuse to use it himself. The simple fact is that McCain has no defense. His policies and politacal stance is without merit, based on misinformation and outright lies; thus he feels he has no other option.
Nothing shows more clearly that McCain is not and will never be ready to lead this country. At best, if the republicans steal another election, he will oversee the nation’s final destruction.
Tell us general, why is talking about something you actually accomplished , hiding behind it? What issues /questions specifically has McCain hid behind using his military service? And if you can’t specify these questions how can he be disrespecting other vets? By the way, how in the wide world could any mention of his service disrespect any other vet?
Maybe you are confusing Obamas’ ACTION of not visiting our troops during his recent tour with any TALK about his actual service attributed rightly or wrongly to McCain?
Or perhaps you are one who believes words speak louder than actions???
The comments I see are not from Veterans…..Play fair or dont play at all….Dont pretend that you can put yourself in someones shoes until you have walked in them.
When will Mainstream meida pick this up and run with it instead of discussing how well or not well Clinton’s supporters want Obama to kiss their ass?
Greetings!
How are you all? I am here to inform you of a insipiring video a colleague of mine has created to inspire more people to vote. I believe the issue is important, so I would like to share this video with you today.
Here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4kg514DcTA
Tell me what you think!
Now Sen. McCain has done it again. During, by his own account, his 13th appearance on The Tonight Show (and yet he still continues to bash Sen Obama with being a “celebrity”), he tossed out the POW card once more. In what was supposed to be a funny moment, Jay Leno asked “For one million dollars, how many homes do you own?”. Sen McCain went immediately into POW story mode, with this response:
“Could I just mention to you Jay, that in a moment of seriousness, I spent five and a half years in a prison cell, I didn’t have a house, I didn’t have a kitchen table, I didn’t have a table, I didn’t have a chair,” said McCain, citing his history as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. “I spent those five and half years not because I wanted to get a house when I got back home.”
Playing that card incessantly must be working, or at least his staff believes it is. Personally, it’s grown old for me. As an active duty Marine with 19 years of service, I understand the military, sacrifice, and duty. I understand what Sen McCain has done in those areas for his country. But, I’m quite surprised that a man who for the longest time wouldn’t discuss his time in captivity suddenly goes to that well consistently and constantly, even during a taping of the Tonight Show. The Tonight Show, for crying out loud! It’s one thing to pander to the Christian right at Rick Warren’s church by opening with the POW story, but please - Senator - you need to know your audience. It was your chance to be affable, and you dropped the ball.
While you’re at it - lose the NAVY hat. We get it. You’re qualified to be Commander in Chief.
The thing that really gauls me (and I am a vet) is that he and his campaign play the POW card carte blanche and he’s never revealed his service records.
He even led the fight in the senate to keep POW records sealed after a 401-0 housse vote ton release them. For the love of God…WHY? Are you hiding something John?
I think there should be a hue and cry from all service members, past and present, for McCain to release his unredacted and complete service records.
RELEASE YOUR RECORDS JOHN MCCAIN OR TELL US WHAT YOU’RE HIDING!
Why did McCain, given all his rhetoric with being a POW, not mention the fact that he was a songbird about classified information when he was questioned? To quote a Fox News lead-in, “It has been said, that he gave up at least 37 classified missions and intel on their targets.” Who can run with that, because I am just reporting, not stating facts… a la Fox “news”
Why did McCain, given all his rhetoric with being a POW, not mention the fact that he was a songbird about classified information when he was questioned? To quote a Fox News lead-in, “‘It has been said’, that he gave up intel on at least 37 classified missions and intel on their targets.” Who can run with that? Because, I am just reporting, not stating facts… a la Fox “news”
Dear General and Company:
Sir, You ended your “speech” with, “So today, we ask not as Veterans for Obama, but as Veterans of America that Sen. McCain respect the service of his fellow POWs and combat veterans, and stop cheapening their service by hiding behind his own.”
What a disgrace! And I’m talking about this so-called retired leader writing the above baloney. Sir, please tell me you’re retired Air Force - I’ll sleep better at night knowing that one with such an inept opinion of a Great American didn’t command in My Army.
Oh, please - Let’s talk instead about the Democrat Party Messiah, Obama-America. Hey, that’s what Sen. “Fighting Joe” Biden, with family of his in a possible scandal, called the good senator. I’m HAPPY that Joe was chosen over Hillary - - I believe that will cost them dearly. Seeing evidence of that already. Guess you have to go look for more lies from your buddies, Sir - - like the one used to downplay McCain’s whooping of Obama at the Saddleback Forum. By the way, do you know Wesley Clark? Not surprised, if you do - see how the Dems love him…
Let’s talk about guns, and God, and ignorance of people in Pennsylvania. Let’s talk about Marxism and Socialism, and just how BAD the U.S. is. Let’s talk Barry’s friendships with bigoted pastors and terrorists, then listen to him say, “That’s not the person I knew.” Oh yeah, Obama’s ready to lead our Nation - God help us if that comes true. I trust and PRAY that it will not. Again, thanks for choosing “Fighting Joe”, Senator.
I’m a PROUD Veteran of Operation Desert Shield-Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, AND yes, PROUD to have been a part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I will NOT waste a vote on Barrack Obama, because I do NOT trust this man with the security of my Family, let alone my Nation.
By the way, were you Vets bothered by John F. Kerry’s constant reference to “I served in Vietnam” half as much as Sen McCain’s statements - due to his service and sacrifice. By the way, I disagree with some of his policies, beliefs (Global Climate Change, Campaign Finance Reform, Amnesty for Aliens), but Sen McCain is a FAR better choice than a man who constantly makes cutting remarks against his country.
Germany loves Barry - let him go run for President over there.
We can agree to disagree, and I do respect you Veterans for your service.
I am an Illinois veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq and now belong to Vets For Freedom. VFF traveled to Capitol Hill in April ‘08 to meet with our Senators, publicize our case for victory in Iraq (not Surrender), and discuss the success of the surge. Our delegation of Illinois veterans stood outside the office of B.Hussein Obama and requested a meeting with our elected representative. B. Hussein Obama refused to come out and meet with his own contituents and veterans from his own state. This is the same Obama who offered to meet with terrorist dictators anytime without preconditions. But couldn’t spare a minute to meet with vets from Illinois.
This is the same Obama who refuses to acknowlege the success of the surge. And, like you, refuses to acknowledge that Iraq has made significant political progress, such as achieving 15 of the 18 benchmarks set forth by the US, The Great Awakening Movement, the Reconciliation of the Sunni and Shia, and the success of the Sons Of Iraq (formerly known as the Concernded Citizens militias).
I will never forgive the Democrats (& Republicans like Chuck Hagel) for stabbing us in the back as we serve overseas and their treasonous speech and activities while we are at war. American has been the greatest force for good in this world for the last 200 years; and I am so proud of my country, my Commander in Chief, my fellow troops and our missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. McCain has my vote. And he can talk all he wants about being a POW. The North Vietnamese couldn’t beat out of him the same stuff that John Kerry handed them for free to dis the USA.
Obama is an empty suit, a career legislator who has never even been a mayor or military officer; a freshman senator who has spent most of his four years campaigning for President; never even chairing a single committee in the Senate. Obama’s only legislative achievement is his championing an Illinois bill that would permit babies who somehow survived the abortion process to be murdered, rather than treated as a human born alive.
The vile venom coming out of the Democratic camp is: “Any black who doesn’t vote for Obama is an Uncle Tom, and any white who votes against Obama is a racist.” Nice stuff.
Shauna Springer says:
August 23rd, 2008 at 4:02 pm. “I never saw a wild thing [feel]sorry for itself.” COMMENT: Your quotatioin referenced above apparently tries to equate animals and Man or form some parallel between the two. Don’t forget that Man has a soul that birds and other animals don’t. Thus they are missing the outrage of being brutalized by others, tortured, or missed treated in even lighter ways. (Scientific study says now that fish don’t even feel the hook. Sorry I do not know the reference for that.) You and I have that sense of justice and rightness. To them, being abused is just the way things are in their society. The big guy calls the shots.
We Earthlings want to have justice, fairness, and such as that. When we can’t have it we yearn for it in our souls. That’s the way it is in prison. The big guy calls the shots. It’s only tempered by the rules of conduct that the wardens enforce. To the animal, it’s just another bump in life to live with or overcome. There is no moral outrage. (Thus we know the Democrats are human, not animals as they are always outraged at s.th. They are never uncomfortable with, bothered by, or anxious about; it’s always outrage. Go figure. Remember with the Democrats it’s all about winning. The party will do anything—really anything—to win!)
It’s indicative of the political climate when a retired General posts a cohesive, thoughtful criticism of a fellow veteran’s politics and is then attacked for his service. Is an Army General more qualified to have an opinion than an Air Force General? Ridiculous- I served as a SGT in the Army and can tell you that military service does not exclude anyone from criticism. Being a POW doesn’t make a human being a good politician or a gifted leader- there were over 600 POWs in Vietnam. Are they all qualified to be President as well?
No one asked any of you who you will be voting for. This speech has nothing to do with Barack Obama, yet of course instead of focusing on the discussion at hand, personal attacks are flung at the drop of a hat. This is what American politics has devolved into, and you should be ashamed of yourselves for disgracing the legacy of legitimate political discourse left to us by our founding fathers.