obamesqueBosnian Vet on Hillary’s “Theft” of Valor
Tammi Hetherington wrote from her perspective as an Army veteran of Bosnia who was at the now infamous event in Tuzla where then First Lady Hillary Clinton wasn’t dodging sniper fire. She’s angry as a Communications Specialist who did go out to the ZOS (Zone of Separation) once under “Full battle rattle” rules, noting, “I would never in any way compare my experience with those who daily risked their lives.”
I urge you to read the entirety of her letter, as published at the Pennsylvania Progressive. [Permalink to Theft of Valor letter]
Let us reject and denounce attempts to cheapen or diminish the real and actual valor of the men and women who don uniforms and take up arms in service to our country. It is particularly troubling when a member of the U.S. Senate practices such self-aggrandizement; perhaps that body will consider a resolution censuring Senator Clinton for her egregious, repeated lie.
Filed under: 2008 Election, Democratic nomination, presidential campaign | Tagged: Bosnia, censure, Hillary Clinton, misspeak, ready on day one, red phone, sniper fire, Theft of Valor, Tuzla
Excellent blog. Thank you for your insights and the links.
Hillary has no sense of what a statement like that does to soldiers,” fumed retired Major. Gen. Walter Stewart, the former head of the Pennsylvania National Guard. “She is insulting the command in its entirety,” he stated.
Stewart, who was assigned to the Army’s European headquarters at the time of Clinton’s visit in 1996, called her statements “really astonishing.” “Believe me, heads would have rolled all over” if the military put the then-first lady at “unacceptable risk,” added Stewart, who is supporting Barack Obama.
Colonel David Hunt summarized that it’s an insult to the military and its leadership to even suggest that they would not provide adequate protection or even attempt to land someone with such a high profile and importance as the First Lady into such a dangerous situation as sniper fire. He added, “Being shot out is not something you forget about. People remember in detail the first time they are shot at. This further brings to point that Hillary out-right lied.”
Source: Yahoo! News
The story is hard to resist, even for one who admires Obama’s high-road approach, because it speaks to our understanding of a person we may well elect as the next President of the USA. I make no pretense of being totally objective, I named the blog out of respect for Barack Obama’s vision, and the more I learn about him the greater my confidence in him grows.
I’ve come to have a great many new friends and acquaintances around the country (and in fact, around the globe) as we participate in the effort to help voters learn about Obama. Like most of my peers, I think issues should trump name recognition. One of them, Kiku Botura, has just begun blogging at the Daily Kos site, starting with this very topic. I invite you to ponder it further by reading: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/1/145417/2798