Local Vietnam Veteran Recall Kerry's Painful Words

Thirty active duty years in the U.S. Army, including three years in Southeast Asia, qualify Tony Scibilia to talk about Vietnam and John Kerry.

Scibilia, retired with the rank of colonel, lives in east Cobb. He was at Marietta Square on Friday for "Operation Streetcorner," speaking out against Kerry's postwar charges that Americans committed atrocities wholesale in Vietnam.

"In the three years I was in Southeast Asia," Scibilia said Saturday, "I was able to go from one end of Vietnam to another, and I never saw any atrocities, never heard of any. I saw a lot of good things being done."

Scibilia was working at the Pentagon in 1971 when Kerry gave his atrocities testimony before a Senate committee.

Driving by himself, wearing his Army uniform, Scibilia stopped at a stop sign. A gang of antiwar thugs dragged a sidewalk mailbox into the street and started beating on his car.

"They were calling me warmonger," he said. He pulled out a tire iron, his only weapon. Police arrived before he had to use it.

"That afternoon, I was directed not to wear my uniform to work any more," he said.

"In 1966 when I got back, I was a hero. Three or four years later, I was a piece of dirt. It really gnawed on me."

What a contrast when people at Marietta Square drove by and said, "Thank you very much for what you did." Scibilia said for the first time it made him feel good about being in Vietnam.

As for John Kerry, the Army veteran said, "He hurt us. We didn't deserve that." And Kerry "never said I'm sorry. At least Jane Fonda said she was sorry."

Scibilia supports President Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq, as do most American military and their families.

A poll by the National Annenberg Election Survey of the University of Pennsylvania found 67 percent of American military men and women said they approved of Bush's handling of his job. Sixty-nine percent viewed Bush favorably versus only 29 percent with a favorable opinion of Kerry. Bush was rated as a strong leader by 72 percent, Kerry by 20 percent.

Among military family members, Bush was viewed favorably by 77 percent versus Kerry's 17 percent.

Of those in uniform, 64 percent said it was worth going to war in Iraq compared to 45 percent of the general public.

Although 47 percent of the military think the president has a clear plan for success in Iraq, a scant 18 percent feel that Kerry does. Seventy-two percent say he does not.

An overwhelming 69 percent of the military men and women said they trust Bush to handle the responsibilities of commander-in-chief. Only 24 percent said that about Kerry.

Tony Scibilia wasn't in the poll, but he agrees. He keeps thinking about Kerry's antiwar activities 35 years ago.

Ten or so years ago I worked as a computer technician at TXU, a Texas-based utility company. While working on a plant manager's computer at a power plant I noticed he had a photograph of himself (much younger) in uniform in front a UH1 helipcopter. It looked like a Vietnam era picture: the gear, the color and size of the photograph, etc.

I stood up from the desk and turned to the plant manager and said: "You were in Vietnam?" He looked at me for a moment, then an extra moment, and said "Yes". I said "Thank you for your service to our country." He looked at me hard for a second, then his eyes began to fill up with tears. He said "No one has ever said that to me." Since then I make it a point to tell the vets how much I appreciate them.

Thanks for that entry -- it brought tears to my eyes. I think one of the reasons John Kerry, the "war hero" is running is to open up the wound that never heals and bring some healing to it. The Vietnam Vets that were so terribly wounded by Kerry's betrayal now have an opportunity to be welcomed back properly - the way they should have been back in the '70's.
Welcome Back From Vietnam, all you brave and courageous soldiers and Thank You for Your Service!!
My son, Joel, has joined the Air Force, and I am hecka proud to have him be serving our Great Country. God bless you all!

I would love to have someone do research into the anti-war movement to see when the tide turned from anti-war to anti-veteran.

I was a child of that era, and hated the war for a reason that to me seemed logical: it was killing lots of guys my age for reasons that seemed very unclear. I grew up watching WWII shows and movies--that war killed a lot of young guys, not to mention a whole bunch of other people, but I clearly understood the reasons for that war.

Vietnam seemed very different, to me, but I NEVER felt any anger toward the troops who fought in it--only toward the Government for "forcing" them to fight--and die--for what seemed a "lost cause."

I now know I was given a lot of bogus info about Vietnam--and Kerry makes me sick with his "how dare you criticize me cuz I served in the Nam but don't blame me for smearing other Nam vets who are critical of me" stance. I also totally support our President for going into Iraq. My son is serving in the Army, and tho selfishly I don't want him to go there, I would be very proud of him if he did go. And woe to ANYONE if I caught them doing what you described happened to you.

Which brings me back to my question: at what point did the American public's anti-war sentiment shift its focus from the government's action to the actions of the troops fighting in that war? My guess is that it was AFTER Kerry's '71 testimony--but would like more than just a gut feeling to back this up.

And--BTW--God bless you for your service to our nation and forgive those who hurt you so deeply--and unjustly!!!

Here's another one from more recently: I was in Baumholder, Germany with my family about two years ago. Baumholder was (and is, I suppose) one of the homes of the 1st Armored Division, US Army. My brother is a company commander there. His unit was M1 tanks, and Paladin howitzers.

I learned this one thing very clearly: sargeants run the Army. My brother asked a sargeant if we could visit the unit. He wrangled a visit to the maintenance area where I saw 36 tanks lined up (an awesome sight if ever there was one...) and I got to climb into one of the tanks and ride alnong as they moved the monster from one end of the yard to the other. The tanks were being painted in a long building - going in forest green, coming out desert brown.

After being treated very well, I asked the sargeant if I could speak to the men - about 10 crews were there, maybe 40 men, working on their individual tanks. I hadn't't planned what to say because I didn't know I was going to be in that spot.

Sarge called them together and I faced a bunch of kids mostly. The oldest was probably 25 or 26 - most were under 21. I said the same thing as in my previous note: "Thank you for your service" and "I am intensely proud of you." During my impromptu, I could see that they spent a lot of time looking at the ground and swallowing. There was some nervous "Aw shucks, we don't know what to say" kinds of reactions, and we went on our way. The sargeant told me later that the guys talked about that incident for couple of days, and that it meant something to them coming from a fat, soft civilian like me. They were the good guys, good kids really, they certainly weren't baby killers...

May God bless them all.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.