Posted on 03/19/2004 8:15:09 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
AUBURN - They get together because they share a past, but the military veterans at the American Legion in Auburn have conflicting views on what the country they served is doing now in Iraq.
The United States went to war against Iraq one year ago today. A year later, Saddam Hussein has been captured and his regime has been defeated.
But Iraq is a violent and volatile place, with some form of terrorist attack taking place almost each day.
At the American Legion Post 1324 on State Street in Auburn, opinions varied about what the United States should do now.
Mark Barrett, a member of the Navy from 1979 to 1985, did not think there was enough of a threat to go to war last year, but with troops there now, the president might as well finish the job of liberating Iraq.
"It's one of those things where we're tied in and say, 'Now we can't leave. Now we got to take care of the business - do what we got to do,'" he said. "After the decision's made, you got to do it."
Barney France's stepson has been to Saudi Arabia three times for the Army in recent years.
"I thinks it's a necessity," he said. "The war on terrorism should be fought. What the president did was very appropriate - get some kind of democratic government in place."
Bill Guy served in the Navy during the Vietnam War. He's against the war in Iraq.
"They shouldn't be over there because there was no immediate threat or danger," he said. "The boys shouldn't be over there. Most of us (at the Post) all think the same way."
Bob Remaley's father was a veteran. Remaley signed up for the service, but he failed the physical.
"I really didn't think it was a bad idea," he said. "It's something that had to be done."
Bob Stoddard, an Army veteran, said the job of defeating terrorism has to continue.
"We don't go in and not finish a job," he said. "We waited too long to go. It should have been done a long time ago. That whole part of the world is bad."
Jim White, past commander of Post 1324 and a Marine Corp. veteran, said it takes an affirmative action to stop another 9-11, so it had to be done.
"Naturally, I don't like to see our boys getting killed over there," he said. "What are you going to do? Sit on your hands while they kill civilians?
"I support the whole thing," he said. "Look what happened over in Spain."
White joined the Marines at the end of the Korean War and as advisors were being introduced into Vietnam. While in Korea, Japan and the Philippines, he said the closest he came to combat was bar fights with "swabbies," as some Navy men were called.
The headline says "Vets: Troops should be home by now." However, the article details vet after vet saying that we were right to go to war, need to finish the job, etc.
You can't really blame the reporter because he or she didn't write the headline. But if you want to complain to the editors you can send a letter here or here.
"They shouldn't be over there because there was no immediate threat or danger," he said. "The boys shouldn't be over there. Most of us (at the Post) all think the same way."
His is the only negative quote.
Guess he was expecting Iraq to send an engraved invitiation.
And now he is ready to sell out, cut and run. Just like the Pols that sold him, the rest of our troops, and the South Vietnamese out in Nam. I think he must have served with Jean Frenchie Kerry.
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