Sharing

The Denton Democratic Club held a Chili Supper saturday night.. The Visual
Arts Center was crowded with a buffet line of some of the best chili, anyone
could ever find.. Candidates for office in various parts of our state
attended .. State and National candidates addressed the enthusiastic crowd
and explained their positions and platforms..Various organizations were
there and I was sadly disappointed to not see ABATE or TMRA II represented..
Texas Democrat Veterans had a table and was soliciting membership.. I manned
that table for a period of time and was impressed with the number of old
vets in my age group who dropped by.. One, in particular had quite an impact
on me.. He was there with his lovely wife.. As we talked, we shared some
experience about our times of service and the branch that we were in.. He
indicated his service in the Mekong Delta was during the same period of time
of John Kerry.. Although it was a different branch..This man obviously has
dealt with this traumatic period in his life and successfully put it in
perspective.. I must emphasize that he was reluctant to talk about any of
it.. After much urging by his attentive wife, he began to share with me some
of the details of his experience in that area.. By this time, a crowd was
gathering and listening to our conversation, some contributed with comments
of their own.. These men were in our age group and had shared some of those
same experiences.. This old warrior and I.. talked about our lives before,
during and after the tradegies of Viet Nam.. The general agreement for all
of us was that our lives had been changed forever, by what we had seen and
experienced.. True understanding and respect for these men outside the
circle, who have been there and done that.. As we talked, I observed the
impression we made on those who had gathered.. In those weathered faces,
there were displays of rage, disbelief and pride.. Not many dry eyes,
either.. We talked for more than a half hour.. At the conclusion.. I saw
those men shake hands, and embrace their brothers in arms.. I saw those
courageous women, stare in pride, as their mates shared with each other, the
burdens they will carry for the rest of their lives.. A couple of those
brave women told me that they heard things for the first time in this
conversation.. Generations to come will be indebted to these courageous
warriors and heroes.. No staged heroics or fabricated illusions will ever
diminish, the real valor, integrity and honor of these dignified veterans of
our past conflicts and wars.. There was also our current generation of
leadership that is equally sharing the love and concern for our Nation..
Some are running for political office..They represent our hope for the
future of this Nation.. Some will face defeat as this election year
progresses.. Some will experience the victory of service to our Nation..
Make no mistake, they are here and amongst us.. They will prevail and lead
our American People with integrity and courage.. There may have been a
potential future presidential prospect in that large crowd.. I carried my
impressions with me last night and all day today.. Somehow, these feelings
must be shared by all of us.. especially during the traumatic times that are
occuring in or present.. Hopefully.. my posting today, is articulate enough
to give everyone a little more understanding of what we represent to each
other and the world.. With that understanding must entail a responsibility
to each other and to the world outside our national borders.. Our monuments
to the past and our contributions to our future, as a Nation, must be
honorable, true and courageous..Misrepresentation, deceit and lies for
personal, financial, and political gain, must not prevail..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

There was also our current generation of

Independant, undeclaired, and Libetarian candidates were invited? Very
cool!

 

I was suppose to be there, I got sick, so it didn't get done. My bust.....

 

First of all.. I am a Democrat.. no doubt about it..I am nobody's
mouthpiece.. keep that in mind.. I am an advocate for all veterans and make
no distinction of their party.. I have not supported any of the candidates
in this race.. John Kerry does appear to be the frontrunner..

How does it wash out with

prisoners.

My understanding is that Lt. John F. Kerry served for four months in Viet
Nam.. He was in one of the most explosive areas of the entire country.. I
believe that the reason for his tour of duty being only four months, was due
to the fact that he was wounded so many times in such a short period of time
... I seem to recall some sort of unwritten rule or "reg".. that required the
man be taken from the arena, after being wounded so many times.. I'm not
sure about the details of this.. It is doubtful that any General officer
from either side would have known or been aware of Lt. Kerry.. Officers and
the men who served with him would have been closest to him, but with the
tens of thousands of soldiers, sailors, marines and air force personnel in
the country, one lowly Lt. would not have been a name and number.. There is
no doubt that Kerry served bravely and conducted himself as a warrior.. I'm
not familiar with John McCains' remarks concerning John Kerry.. It is
doubtful, again.. that he would have recognized Kerry in any of the protest
films they were shown.. Remember.. John Kerry was still a name and number at
the time.. I've spent a good deal of time with many of the veterans who were
in Viet Nam.. A couple were held prisoner.. They recall that the NVA did
show them films of the protests .. The recognizable celebrities were pointed
out and reviewed over and over.. John Kerry served his country well and
bravely.. He saw things that most men cannot imagine in their worst
nightmares.. He came home and he shared some of what he and others endured..
He had strong opinions of the right and wrongs of that war.. He believed it
was his duty to serve his to serve his country and he strongly believed it
was his duty to speak out against the war.. He did both very well.. Notice
that the men who knew him and served with him during that time, stand by him
and support his effort to lead our country.. I have no idea about the
credibility of your Vietnamese friend.. Again, he is one in tens of
thousands.. The critics of John Kerry, who, for the most part have never
served and know very little, other than reading about it.. I dismiss as
unqualified.. to persuade my own opinions.. Again.. I point to the men who
served with Kerry and shared those traumatic days in the Mekong Delta with
him.. I respect and have defended John McCain many times when his courage
and integrity was questioned.. I only wish our Nation had more leaders of
this calibre in our government.. Notice McCain is a Republican.. I hope I
have answered your questions.. Thanks for asking

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

A few months ago, when it was announced that the VA was being forced to
close the hospital facility in Waco.. Four biker friends and I went down
there to participate in the protest ride to Crawford.. We went early enough
to visit in the hospital.. A group of patients were on the lawn and we rode
our bikes amongst them because they requested us to do so.. As they admired
the motorcycles, we visited, chatted and smoked.. The staff brought some of
the more seriously injured patients out to join us.. Wheechairs and gurney's
surrounded us while we chatted with the group .. One member of our group is
about my age and the other three are in their late twenties and early
thirties.. While we were with those old warriors, I noticed that our younger
companions were more than a little edgy and seemed uncomfortable at times..
Later that week, after we returned home, I talked with one of my young
friends and the subject came up.. I asked him about it.. I could tell by the
change in his tone that my impression had been correct about his
nervousness.. He was still uneasy to even discuss his discomfort.. However,
as we talked, he tried to share his feelings with me. He said that while we
were in that company, it occured to him, that these were genuine heroes and
they are indeed the warriors that have historically made the sacrifices to
ensure that we will live as a free (reasonably) nation.. These are the men
who have made the sacrifices for which we owe an insurmountable debt of
gratitude.. He became aware that these are exactly the calibre of men who
founded this nation and we became a republic of democracy.. He had discussed
these sentiments and feelings with the other men in his age group, they
shared those same feelings with him.. That, he said , caused the feelings of
unease in the presence of those warriors with the scars of horrible wounds..
How could we ever repay these debts to those brave men.. Regardless of
political party, I am forever outraged by the disrespect and deceit upon
those monuments to our existence.. My efforts to enlighten our people are so
feeble, considering the monumental task necessary to afford those heroes,
all the respect and benefits available from this affluent society.. That
facility in Waco is in disrepair and very old.. It is also the only home
many that we visited with have known for many years.. Willing hands and a
few of the bucks that Bush is handing out to his wealthy supporters could
restore that hospital to state of the art.. Many of those veterans made the
choice to come to that hospital, from as far away as Washington state,
because it was near Killen, Texas.. where they spent time as rookies in the
army.. There were no less than three of them that no longer had families..
This hospital is the last family that they will know.. I believe the wealthy
patrons of this administration could afford a few of their taxpayer refunds
to re-habilitate that facility..I don't attempt to justify any action for
any war, although I know in my heart, our nation must defend itself and the
weaker nations of our world.. I'll fight in a heartbeat, to defend the
courage, honor and integrity of these veterans who have so nobly, given us
our very existence.. That's my statement and I will stand behind it in any
forum and under any circumstances, feeble as it may be..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

When I left Korea in 1954, we were dispatched to French Indo China.. That
was when the French commenced to withdraw from the country and we began to
know it as North and South Viet Nam.. Our job was to evacuate the refugees
from the country .. I am vaguely familiar with the area known as Mekong
Delta and some of the rivers that make up that region..We DID leave our
boats, when required, as we did in on the beaches of Korea.. Many of the old
and helpless needed help to board.. We did what was necessary to load and
leave as quickly as possible.. Many of the Marines and Soldiers we took off
the beaches in Korea would not be with us today, if we had remained on the
boats and not assisted them.. Beach evacuations and landings are the most
critical in any action.. The boats and crews are the most exposed when so
engaged.. The poster is correct, our most basic instructions while training
were specific about staying on board.. When you are engaged in such an
operation, escape is the last idea going through your mind and the actions
you take cannot be dictated from any manual or textbook.. That is also part
of the training.. Our original group of 78 men returned to Long Beach,
Calif. with only 11 of us surviving.. Many of us had deviated so many times
from the textbook academics.. it would have been unthinkable to consider
disciplinary action against them.. Without being unduly critical of the
author of this piece, I will only say that the men who served with Kerry,
would be the best judges as to his bravery and conduct.. No man knows, until
he has been under that fire, himself.. Each engagement is different and
requires different acts, in order to survive and/or win the engagement.. I
believe I will go with the ones who were there.. They have come forward and
supported John Kerry, both as comrades in arms as well as his bid for the
presidency..Although I have not been a Kerry supporter for president, I do
support and respect his courage and bravery under fire.. The extent of his
wounds and the scars which remain is not known to that writer, yet he
questions them.. hmmmm.. Lt. John Kerry was decorated by his commander and
the Congress of the United States.. Being marginally involved in one
conflict for most of the duration and marginally involved in the beginnings
of another, I can attest that those medals of Lt. Kerry are not awarded
lightly and with no research.. Contrary to the writer's opinion, Purple
Hearts are not awarded for bumping one's head.. Without disrespect to that
writer, I will only say that he is probably talking outside his
qualifications.. Having been known to do that frequently, I can offer that
opinion.. BTW.. my experience with you over the past months, I appreciate
your respect and thank you for this post..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

Some do seem to have a problem making the connection of what we talk about..
Little as anyone thinks, politics affect all our lives.. I try to choose
motorcycle friendly candidates that will be reasonably sympathetic to the
bikers in our state.. and nation.. We all suffer to pay the costs of fuel,
utilities, insurance and taxes.. When we levy to reduce those costs, each of
us will benefit..We all live in this nation .. when one liberty is
threatened, we all will pay that cost, as well.. When one of us is
mistreated or abused, we will all feel the pain, because we may be the next
one on the block.. Keep on Motorcycling..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

The Viet Nam era was filled with tragedy and outrageous acts. The
highest prices were paid by the men in women killed in this conflict,
followed by those who loved them.

Scars still run pretty deep and are still pretty sensitive for a lot
of people across a wide spectrum of our society. Those scars take
different forms for different folks. It ain't an easy time to talk
about for a lot of the people who lived it.

That is a pretty good example of why it is so important to listen to
folks we haven't listened to before.

I'm not Mr. Walker and would not dream of speaking for either of them.
This portion of your post was directed to Mr. Walker, but it IS a
public conversation and I would like to join in.

The world can be a very ugly place. It seems the best of both God and
man can always be appropriated for contrary purposes. The fact that
the North Viet Namese army benefited from conflict within the US
regarding the war is clear, and not surprising. This, however, is just
one of the perils of an open society.

The open society is always going to be vulnerable because so much of
it's laundry is out for everyone to see. But that is also its
greatest strength. I think our open society would benefit more by
finding out just how much was kept from us regarding that war (both
then and now), how much we were lied to (both then and now), and who
keeps undermining that open society with their "protective" secrecy.

Oma

 

Hope you're feeling better.

Oma
Walk with many, follow The One.
(to email, change nospam to w000023)

 

From what I have seen, the US track record for taking care of our
allies' and even our own veterans is not pretty.

Oma
Walk with many, follow The One.
(to email, change nospam to w000023)

 

Sorry about the long quote and such a short reply, but I just did not
want to snip any of this.

Bill, I appreciate your active compassion for our Veterans. I hope it
proves to be highly contagious.

I do not apologize for the top post, I think it is more convenient for
those who have already read Bill's remarks.

Oma

Walk with many, follow The One.
(to email, change nospam to w000023)

 

Bill, I am sure glad there are people who know when to throw the rule
book overboard. Thank you . . . again.

Oma
Walk with many, follow The One.
(to email, change nospam to w000023)

 

I don't know about the $10,000 reward. Care to enlighten me.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure a LOT of folks don't remember me being in
certain places. On the other hand, I suspect a few won't forget for
quite a while STILL.

Funny thing about riding with ear plugs. I just recently tried this
because I had been having problems with my ears. It takes getting
used to, but I would never have guessed the difference it makes in the
ride. I took off the windshield that was on the bike when I got it
because it caused quite a bit of wobble at highway speeds. There was
a lot less wobble at speed, but of course then the wind was right
there in my face and chest. The ear plugs make a MUCH more pleasant
ride.

Oh, my. I made direct references to motorcycles as well! I'm sure
somebody out there is disappointed.

Oma

Walk with many, follow The One.
(to email, change nospam to w000023)