Well said Bill,
Bruce
MVPA 23824
USMC 1972967
"William R. Benson" wrote:
> My fellow listers:
>
> One of our List members, Janet Blohm, stated that when she finally had a chance
> to gauge the reaction of this community to the attack on New York and Washington
> D.C. that she was shocked and saddened to see that, instead of the incident
> homogenizing the membership in solidarity behind the country and our president,
> instead there was the usual finger-pointing, flaming, and petty little sniping
> that always seems to rear it ugly head from time to time.
>
> She's Canadian, and really doesn't have a stake in this. We could tell her and
> all those who don't reside in the United States to flake off and mind their own
> business.
>
> Of course, I'm not going to do that, because she is absolutely right. You
> Monday morning quarterbacks with the 20/20 hindsight and your petty little
> arguements really offend me. We just received casualties possibly coming damned
> close to the same number killed in the entire Viet Nam war, and you're talking
> GUN control and how you would "out-Rambo" the guys who make their living at the
> controls of a jumbo-jet...
>
> "I'll fight the commies when they come boiling over our borders!" There AIN'T
> no commies, maybe some Canadians, but they are good guys... Nobody is going to
> ask us, with our antiquated, out of TOE gear to fight off the Mongolian Hoarde.
> The Department of Defense is still in business, as are the Armed Forces of a lot
> of our friends (the Special Air Service, Mossad, and Her Majesty's Royal Marines
> pop instantly to mind).
>
> OUR responsibilities, if you really want to push it, is to use our vehicles in
> patroitic, constructive ways. Use them, as suggested, as attention getters at
> blood drives, or in just rallying citizens around the flag and assuring them
> (especially the kids) that it's okay to be patriotic, and that, in light of our
> great American Melting pot, that they shouldn't be chucking rocks at the local
> AMERICAN Muslim Mosque, because even if the terrorist turn out to be Islamic,
> that doesn't mean all Muslims are bad, just like not all Southerners belong to
> the KKK.
>
> Our vehicles shouldn't be presented as the local answer to "Red Dawn", but as
> another symbol of our support for our communities, our country, and all that it
> stands for, and without breaking out the shotguns and scaring the hell out of
> the kids or the cops, or the little old ladies. There's nothing to shoot at,
> there won't be anything to shoot at, and if there is, you'll know well in
> advance when to swap out the replica machineguns for the real things.
>
> Veterans especially have the responsibility to calm the American public. We
> have been there and done that, and even though we are more pissed off than
> usual, we have to settle things down, reorient the anger, and counsel patience
> as the investigative agencies of our country and her allies find the right
> targets, and then we can cheer on our Armed Forces as they mete out that sweet
> version of righteous fury that we want to see.
>
> So cut the petty crap, folks, it's embarrassing the rest of us.
>
> You folks in Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, Russia, and the rest of the
> civilized word: Thank you. Thanks for the words of support, and we will take
> what help we can get. In the meantime, the famous mule-headed American Yankee
> (or Rebel) consititution WILL prevail, and we aren't going to fold up anytime
> soon. We will see this through, we will prevail, and we will recover, and those
> of us who are stewards of history will lead our country in welcoming her
> warriors home when all this is done. That's our promise to the rest of the
> world, that we won't let some pissant terrorist effect our freedom, and we will
> keep faith with the rest of you.
>
> In the meantime, we'll be showing the flag in Orange County, letting our engines
> do the talking, and send our best wishes and prayers to the folks back east.
>
> God Bless America and Her Allies, Keep 'em Rolling,
>
> Semper Fidelis,
>
> Bill Benson
> MVOOC # 1
> MVPA # 20603
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 08 2001 - 10:58:58 PDT