It's not one's medals that count

by David Grand
February 26, 2003

I swear, if I hear much more about Kerry's heroics and Bush's attendance record in the National Guard during the Vietnam War, I'm gonna throw all my medals, along with my dad's from WW 1, in the Monocacy river. But only because it's closer to where I live than the Liberty reservoir. On second thought, I'll just throw away my Good Conduct medal, which I never deserved in the first place.

And while I'm letting off steam, if Bush tries to make a "wedge" issue out of Kerry changing from a warrior to a protester of that war, or if Kerry tries to paint Bush with a coward's brush, I might not vote for either one of 'em. But I'd never be irked enough to vote for that eccentric, egomaniac Ralph Nader, who reminds me of a mongoose circling a cobra waiting for an opening to dart in for the kill.

Now, the first I even knew of the National Guard was when I was sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for basic training, along with over 11,000 recruits and draftees from the north, who were to fill up the ranks of the recently activated 31st Infantry Division (a k a "Dixie" Division), composed of Alabama and Mississippi guard units. And more than once "us damn Yankees" (as they referred to us as) came close to staging a reenactment of a Civil War battle with those rebels, especially when they'd wake us up for reveille by playing "Dixie" on the loudspeaker, and having to view each morning the Stars and Bars flying alongside the American flag. 

However, I don't mean to denigrate the National Guard, or accuse all those who join it as being nothing but "weekend warriors," seeking a refuge from having to risk their lives in real, not make believe, combat situations. For many guard divisions served meritoriously in WW 11, just as they're now doing in ever-increasing numbers in Iraq . Though it was a safe haven during the wars in Korea and Vietnam.

I'm also not one who looks down his nose at Bush for choosing to become a flyboy in what was known as the "champaign unit" of the Texas Air National Guard, or believe that he did so for the purpose of "helping Texas defend itself from Oklahoma," as one columnist wickedly wrote at the time.

And to me, Bush was a man of courage by risking his life each time he climbed into the cockpit of a supersonic jet, especially when compared to those who got college deferments, to the 10,000 or more who fled to Canada; and to Dan Quayle, who went into Indiana's Army National Guard (thanks to his megabucks dad penning a letter to the commanding general), where he spent most of his time on the links and chasing girlies on and off the golf course. (But Danny boy gave me a real good laugh when I read how he'd used the affirmative-action program to gain admission to a nighttime law school.)

Plus, it's important to note, that the attitudes about fighting in that war were quite different when Kerry graduated in 1966, with the best and brightest being expected to serve in keeping with the school song "for God, for Country and for Yale;" than when Bush graduated two years later as the war was rapidly escalating and turning into a quagmire, with virtually no graduates of Yale going into the military if they could possibly avoid it. As one of Kerry's classmates later put it, "we might not have been as gung-ho if we'd been in the class of '68."

In my view, it was largely a matter of happenstance as to where and how they served their country during the war. And while Kerry's uniform may have been bloodied, Bush did not disgrace the one he wore.

So, it looks like we can only cross our fingers that the presidential campaign will focus on the serious issues facing the country, rather than dredging up the bitter memories of an ill-fated war fought over 30 years ago; and that the election will, hopefully, be decided, not by the medals each did or didn't receive, but by who shows the most promise of being a leader for peace.