Army Times - November 13, 2006
Worth a thousand wurds
Guardsmen sign off on Kerry’s comments
It’s true.
That picture flying around the Internet showing soldiers mocking comments by Sen. John Kerry wasn’t doctored.
It really is soldiers of the Minnesota National Guard holding a banner that reads “Halp us Jon Carry — We R Stuck Hear N Irak.”
Capt. J. Elaine Hunnicutt, a spokeswoman in the Joint Operations Center in Iraq, confirmed in an e-mail that the soldiers in the photo were from the Minnesota Guard. “The soldiers’ intent in taking this photo was meant as a humorous response to the current debate in the media and the command recognizes it as such,” she wrote.
On Oct. 30, Kerry, D-Mass., told a group of college students that people who don’t study and don’t their homework were likely to “get stuck in Iraq.” He later apologized, saying he botched a joke meant to be about President Bush.But while the soldiers in Iraq appeared to get the joke, several Army Times readers didn’t find Kerry’s comments so funny.
Here’s a sampling of what they had to say:
“I understand Sen. Kerry may have intended to say something entirely different,” wrote 2nd Lt. Jon Wymer from Springfield, Neb. “But he said what he said, and it doesn’t match the Army I know.
“There are many fine soldiers, both enlisted and officer, who left their college degrees and high-paying jobs behind to serve their country,” he added.
Holly Hulse, an Army wife from Fort Bragg, N.C., called Kerry “an absolute disgrace. Not everyone is blessed with the opportunity to go to college right out of high school.
“If his remark was to be a jab at out our president, than that should have been mentioned,” she wrote.
“Kerry’s comments demeaning the military follow a pattern he started in the Vietnam era,” wrote an Air Force retiree, Col. Robert Swaney.
“Joke? That brave Americans are fighting and dying is not a subject for a joke,” he said, adding, “Kerry will be quoted long and far throughout the Arab world in a propaganda blitz.
“Thanks a lot, senator. You did it to my generation, and you’ve done it again to another generation.”
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OIF CHRONOLOGY
Mar. 20, 2003
The war against Iraq begins 5:30 AM Baghdad time (9:30 PM EST, March 19), when the U.S. launches Operation Iraqi Freedom. Called a "decapitation attack," the initial air strike of the war attempted to target Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi leaders in Baghdad.
Apr. 9, 2003
The fall of Baghdad: U.S. forces take control the city, but sporadic fighting continues throughout the capital.
On May 1, 2003, President Bush staged a dramatic visit to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln while the ship was a few miles west of San Diego. The Lincoln was on its way home to Everett, Washington from a long deployment which had included service in the Persian Gulf. The visit climaxed at sunset with his now well-known "Mission Accomplished" speech. In this nationally-televised speech, delivered before the sailors and airmen on the flight deck, Bush effectively declared victory due to the defeat of Iraq's conventional forces. However, Saddam Hussein remained at large and significant pockets of resistance remained.
Dec. 13, 2003
Iraq's deposed leader Saddam Hussein is captured by American troops. The former dictator was found hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit and surrendered without a fight.
