The British, under a white flag, surrender at Yorktown.The Gazette refused to publish the following Letter To The Editor because it was “too negative.”
Subject: Fake Iraq War Vets march in Amherst 4th Parade
Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2008 16:28:24
I am an Iraq war veteran who marched in the 4th of July parade in Amherst. It is my duty to inform the general public that there were people who marched with a group called 'Iraq Veterans Against The War' who were not veterans' of any kind. They portrayed themselves to be yet were not. As a decorated Iraq war vet I found it nauseating. It was despicable tasteless and truly pathetic.
Albert N Sanchez (groups leader): you allowed this. I don't know which non-Infantry, non-Airborne unit you were with in Iraq. But if they knew what kind of improper behavior you have shown marching fake vets for your "Band of Quitters" they would surely like to string you up.
Let me also remind the general public that Mr. Sanchez joined the military of his own free will; as I did after the events of 9/11. If he had a problem ridding the world of terrorists he should have stayed in his cubicle. Not joined the military.
As a former Iraq Airborne LLRP who saw action on a regular basis I must say Mr. Sanchez's actions are totally despicable. And they Do Not represent your United States Military in any way.
Sincerely,
Rob McAllister
5th Core, Team 6, Airborne Long-Range Reconnaissance And Surveillance team. RTLW
Blog Editors Note: John Langford was one of the fake vets Mr. McAllister references. And at age 69 he could hardly pass for “recent veterans and active duty servicemen and women from all branches of military service, National Guard members, and reservists who have served in the United States military since September 11, 2001."
Rob McAllister, an Amherst native, joined this elite branch of the military at age 30, after watching the twin towers fall. He parachuted into Iraq two days after the “Shock and Awe” bombing campaign started in March 2003. Rob was wounded in an ambush a year later and he was awarded a Bronze Star with Valor. “His actions on the .50 caliber machine gun saved the lives of his fellow team members and allowed for the medevac of the wounded."
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Politics on display at Amherst parade
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Springfield Republican
Indeed, a group of a dozen people from two antiwar groups, Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War, marched with their banner and T-shirts proclaiming their opposition to the Iraq War.
"It's a private parade. If there are rules, we're going to abide by them," said Albert N. Sanchez, an Iraq War veteran.
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Vince O’Connor, forever anti-war protester, goes out of his way at the July 28 Select Board meeting to champion a Umass student who is an “Iraq war veteran” (so why do you just know he opposes that war) who may want to run for X-Czar Awad’s Select Board seat. And in the discussion, Weiss--who posed in town center with an upside down American flag to protest our Iraq policy—Awad and Stein echoed the cause.
The nomination papers with 50 signatures were due the next day unless the Select Board postponed the election until November and obviously this particular unnamed Umass “Iraq war veteran” was far, far from Amherst.
The Select Board voted 3-2 (the new malevolent majority) to postpone the original election date, thus disenfranchising two experienced candidates who had done the work.
Hmmm…
I respect Rob Mcallister’s service and at the same time, believe that Bush and Cheney misled the American people into a war in Iraq for reasons that had nothing to do with 9/11.
ReplyDeleteRob Mcallister and one of my good friends put their lives on the line doing their duty in service to their country. Military servicemen do not make policy. They follow orders. My friend did not come home alive. I hold Bush and Cheney accountable for her murder because they fraudulently took this nation to war by concealing evidence that Congress and the American people needed to evaluate the war proposition, the imminent threat. Our invasion of Iraq was not in response to 9/11, which was an act of war, our invasion of Iraq was predicated on a new and illegal premise, preemptive war.
If it unfortunate that people who were not Iraq Veterans Against the War marched as if they were Iraq Veterans (unless of course the group invites people who are not veterans to be members but that’s crazy.)
Rob Mcallister’s objection to their marching seems to be at least as much about their view of the war than their adherence to the parade rules. And this is where I disagree with him. I think people who served their country have as much a right to disagree with the war policy as anyone. Calling members of the group quitters is attacking their character. I thought we could move beyond that.
Larry, I'm glad you published Rob's letter here. You provided an audience for his opinion and that's the least he deserves.
ReplyDeleteIraq had nothing to do with 9/11; and I keep trying to convince our Select Board that flying American flags on 9/11 has nothing to do with the current war in Iraq.
ReplyDeleteI have said many times and will say again that had I been President, we would not have gone into Iraq. But I would hunt down that SOB Osama with whatever troops we sent to Iraq--maybe more.
By "ridding the world of terrorists" I think Rob was talking about Al-Qaeda, who did bring down the Towers and who are in Iraq (as well as lots of other countries).
I’m sorry for the loss of your good friend. She leaves behind an outstanding legacy.
I had thought that all members of that group had actually been to Iraq. According to the groups website that isn't even a requirement to join. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteThe US Government uses the term "Viet Nam era veterans" to refer to those who served during that time frame even if they were stationed in Germany or the USA.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they should change their name to "Iraq Era Veterans Against The War"
The name of the org can refer to Iraq Era and Iraq Combat vets.
ReplyDeleteIf it was all combat vets it would be called "Iraq Combat Vets against the War'.
It looks like this article wasn't published because it made NO sense. First he says there was no vets then he says there was a vet in it who served in Iraq.
If you really want to investigate a group of vets who lie about their membership check out Vets For Freedom.
You don't even have to be a vet to join but they tout they have 25,000 members. What they don't say is that is a list serv made mostly of non-vets. They also say they are the largest group of Iraq/Afghanistan veterans, which is something they have not taken the time to prove.
VFF has had photo ops with Bush and McCain, so you know who pays their bills