WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- News reports about a large anti-war
rally in Washington this weekend are deeply troubling to the new national
commander of the nation's largest organization of combat veterans, the
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S.
"Our concern isn't with fellow Americans exercising their First Amendment
rights to be heard," said Jim Mueller, the VFW's new commander-in-chief.
"Our concern is how their political protest messages will be perceived by
the 2.2 million American military personnel who protect and defend those
freedoms daily," he explained. "Our concern is for the millions of military
family members who are standing strong at home while their loved ones are in
harm's way. And our concern is that these protests will divide America just
as they did in the 1960s."
Four decades ago, America turned its back on an entire generation of
servicemen and women because the country couldn't disassociate the war from
the warrior. Returning troops from Vietnam were told to change into civilian
clothes before mustering out because "peace" protesters would assault them
verbally and physically. Veterans were made to feel ashamed of their military
service because, in the public's eyes, theirs was an unpopular war.
Mueller, a Vietnam veteran from O'Fallon, Mo., said no war is popular --
most especially to those doing the fighting -- and the decision to commit the
military is not one that's taken lightly by the White House or Congress.
"Our nation was viciously attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, by armed terrorists
who continue to have no political agenda other than to kill as many freedom-
loving people as possible," he said.
"I will leave it to the historians to decide whether our actions in
Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere have made America a safer place," he said,
"but one thing I will say, however, is that ours has never been a country to
turn the other cheek or one that sits idly by while others suffer. History
has proven that America can be your best friend or your worst nightmare; the
choice is yours."
All 2.4 million members of the VFW and its Auxiliaries understand there's
a price to freedom that only those who have worn the uniform understand. And
that America has remained great for 229 years because of the service and
sacrifice of generations of ordinary people who donned the uniform of our
country and performed extraordinary deeds on behalf of all citizens."
The political protesters of the '60s didn't end their war and neither will
this new generation. They will, however, achieve the same result: they will
devastate troop morale," he said.
"Morale means everything on the field of battle, but good morale starts at
home, and that's why the VFW is so concerned with this weekend's protest and
those that are occurring elsewhere, most notably outside Walter Reed Army
Medical Center," he said.
"These protesters need to channel their energies into helping America stay
great and not by driving a wedge back into a country that has provided
phenomenal support to its military since the first Gulf War."
SOURCE Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S.
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Related links:
http://www.vfw.org
CONTACT:
Joe Davis of Veterans of Foreign Wars of the
U.S., +1-202-608-8357
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