Letter from Michael Connelly to John Kerry

I know this is older but I have seen it on bulletin boards with comments that people do not believe that a person wrote this. They seem to think it was a political hack. This is a well thought letter to John Kerry and you can verify it at Connelly’s web site or call or write him at:

Michael Connelly
3440 Timberglen Road
Dallas, TX 75287-3490
Phone: 972-306-4717

Dear Senator Kerry:

Since it has become clear that you will probably be
the Democratic nominee for President, I have spent a
great deal of time researching your war record and
your record as a professional politician. The reason
is simple, you aspire to be the Commander in Chief who
would lead my sons and their fellow soldiers in time
of war. I simply wanted to know if you possess the
necessary qualifications to be trusted in that
respect.

You see, I belong to a family of proud US veterans. I
was a Captain in the Army Reserve, my father was a
decorated Lieutenant in World War II; and I have four
sons who have either served, or are currently serving
in the military. The oldest is an Army Lieutenant
still on active duty in Afghanistan after already
being honored for his service in Iraq.

The youngest is an E-4 with the military police. His
National Guard unit just finished their second tour of
active duty, including six months in Guantanamo Bay.
My two other sons have served in the national guard
and the navy.

In looking at your record I found myself comparing it
not only to that of my father and my sons, but to the
people they served with. My father served with the
87th Chemical Mortar Battalion in Europe. They landed
on Utah Beach and fought for 317 straight days
including the Cherbourg Peninsula, Aachen, the Hurtgen
Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge.

You earned a Silver Star in Vietnam for chasing down
and finishing off a wounded and retreating enemy
soldier. My father won a Bronze Star for single
handily charging and knocking out a German machine gun
nest that had his men pinned down. You received
three purple hearts for what appears to be three minor
scratches. In fact you only missed a combined total of
two days of duty for these wounds. The men of my
father’s unit, the 87th, had to be admonished by their
commanding officer because: “It has been brought to
our attention that some men are covering up
wounds and refusing medical attention for fear of
being evacuated and permanently separated from this
organization…” It was also a common problem for
seriously wounded soldiers to go AWOL from hospitals
in order to rejoin their units.

You used your three purple hearts to leave Vietnam
early. My oldest boy came home from Iraq with numerous
commendations and then proceeded to volunteer to go to
Afghanistan and from there back to Iraq again. My sons
and father have never had anything but the highest
regard and respect for their fellow soldiers. Yet, you
came home to publicly charge your fellow fighting men
with being war criminals and to urge their defeat by
the enemy. You even wrote a book that had a cover
which mocked the heroism of the US Marines who raised
the flag on Iwo Jima.

Our current crop of soldiers has a philosophy that no
one gets left behind; and they have practiced that
from Somalia to the battlefields of the Middle East.
Yet as chairman of a Senate committee looking into
allegations that many of your fellow servicemen had
been left behind as prisoners in Vietnam, you chose to
defend the brutal Vietnamese regime. You even went so
far as to refer to the families of the POWs and MIAs
as Professional malcontents, conspiracy mongers, con
artists, and dime-store Rambos.

As a Senator you voted against the 1991 Gulf War, and
have repeatedly voted against funds to supply our
troops with the best equipment, and against money to
improve our intelligence cap-ability. I find this
particularly ironic since as a Presidential candidate
you are highly critical of our pre-war intelligence in
Iraq. However, you did vote to authorize the President
to go to war, but have since proceeded to do
everything you can to undermine the efforts of our
government and our troops to win. Is this what our
fighting men and women can expect of you if you are
their Commander in Chief? Will you gladly send them to
war, only to then aid the enemy by undermining the
morale of our troops and cutting off the weapons they
need to win?

Our country is at war Senator, and as has been the
case in every war since the American Revolution, a
member of my family is serving their country during
the war. Now you want me to trust you to lead my sons
in this fight. Sorry Senator, but when I compare your
record to those who have fought and died for this
nation, and are currently fighting and dying,
the answer is not just no, but Hell No!

Sincerely,

Michael Connelly February 14, 2004 Dallas, Texas

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