Dear Mr. Romney, I am part of the 47%...

[pinboy3niner]

I receive partial combat disability retirement pay (non-taxable) from the Army, and I receive my health care from the VA.

AK fire in Vietnam blew away half my jaw and teeth and put a hole in my shoulder, and I was peppered with shrapnel. I know that may be hard to grasp for someone who spent that time in the thick of things in France, but bear with me.

I spent 18 months in an Army hospital before being retired for disability. Six years later, with about a year left to go for my undergrad degree, I had to drop out of university in California and relocate across the country so the bone graft to my jaw could be redone--twice--by the Navy's National Medical Center after the Army's original bone graft failed.

Don't worry yourself too much about me (as if I need to tell you that, lol!). I'm doing okay, even though my path didn't earn me hundreds of millions of dollars (believe it or not!). I've been used to living with my physical deficits for a long time now. (And would you believe it--my doctors ordered me not to ride motorcycles? According to them, it's too risky even for me to go skiing!)

I hear that, according to you, the government has made me "dependent," that I've somehow come to believe that I'm a "victim," and that I am wrongly receiving undeserved "entitlements." When I heard that, believe me, some choice words came to mind for you--but I'll spare you that.

It does, however, strike me as incredible that a candidate for the Presidency could be so ignorant and clueless about our progressive tax system, and especially as regards the troops (over whom you hope to serve as Commander-in-Chief) and veterans. It boggles the mind.

By now you can probably tell that I won't be voting for you in November. But I guess that news is pretty much anticlimactic, as it seems you'd already written me off. Believe me, the feeling is mutual.

Peace,
pinboy3niner


This OP was inspired by kpete's post and the responses to my reply in that thread:

A message to Mr. Romney from a Petty Officer in the US Navy
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021396217


And a salute to the troops and to my brother and sister veteranss--47-percenters all.

[panader0]

1. Your response deserved it's own thread.

Now I can K and R.

[pinboy3niner]

9. Thanks, panader0

I get by with the help of my friends.

[marions ghost]

2. send it

[wellstone dem]

3. or use it as a letter to the editor

be sure to send it to the Obama campaign as well.

We must never forget.

Thank you for your service.

And I know my 92-year-old Dad, WWII Staff SGT, would want me to extend his tanks as well.

[sabrina 1]

4. That's a great idea, send it to the newspapers.

An excellent OP, and beautifully written.

[pinboy3niner]

6. Okay, I just sent an LTTE

Didn't change a thing, just fired it off. It went to a major metro daily, so chances of it being published are extremely slim. But then, I never expected things to snowball even that far.

Thanks to you and the other commenters for your support, encouragement and inspiration.

[sabrina 1]

8. Great, it is short enough that it should not be a problem for them to print.

I hope it is published, let us know what happens!

[pinboy3niner]

17. Hell, now I don't care if it's published

I posted it on FB and got a flood of responses--all positive. The kicker for me was my niece. I've never--ever--known her to be political. But she posted:

Well said, Uncle pinboy!

Now I can die and go to heaven...or wherever.

[sabrina 1]

20. Aw, that is wonderful Pinboy.

And thanks for reminding me, I will tweet this OP also.

[pinboy3niner]

5. Thanks

I hadn't thought of doing anything with it. Originally, it was never even intended to be an OP. It was just a reaction to another troop's feelings, an addition of another pissed-off veteran's view.

It's only because of the inspiration and encouragement from you and others who've commented that I'm now preparing an LTTE. It probably won't be published--but DAMN, it'll feel good to send it!

Thanks again.

Oh, and please tell your Dad, the SGT, to call off his tanks. I SURRENDER!

[wellstone dem]

14. I just saw the typo....fortunately, the theme of the thread

made it slightly relevant.

[pinboy3niner]

15. LOL!

It was a lovely typo.

[Cali_Democrat]

7. K&R

Fuck you, Mitt.

[TBF]

10. You write a good letter pinboy3niner,

and I can understand where you're coming from after watching my dad with his disability. He handled defoliants on a ship to Viet Nam (he and another guy handled the same stuff on the same ship and they are 2 of the worst cases of psoriatic arthritis in the country). It was all documented as he started having reactions immediately. He was only in the service for 4 years (he had enlisted but my mom wanted to be at home rather than a military career), so afterwards he worked at a local factory as long as he could. He made it to his 15-year mark with basic retirement pension by driving forklift. It was the only job left he could do after the joints in his fingers dissolved.

My dad doesn't vote for republicans either - he watches as they send young folks off to war and repeatedly try to cut VA benefits/hospitals.

It's disgusting.

((Hugs)) for you.

[pinboy3niner]

12. My love and respect to your dad

And tell him "welcome Home" from a brother.

In the 80s i used to go out to Manassas, VA to pick up a friend and drive him in to his VA appointments in D.C. He'd served as an Air Force 'Air Commando,' doing Ranch Hand spraying ops.

He handled the Agent Orange drums, often splashing it on himself. He had the worst case of chloracne I've seen, and both of his daughters were born with multiple birth defects. He was part of the Ranch Hand study, but every time the VA did tissue biopsies on him they told him they lost them and he had to do it again. I don't know how many times he had to go through that shit--but I know it was a LOT.

That same friend got tired of seeing people with their university decals in their car windows, while we who served were set back and struggling to catch up. So, despite all he and his family were going through, he designed a decal for US:



Hugs to you and your dad, TBF.

[TBF]

13. Thanks -

my dad was in a couple years earlier (mid 60s) so it was chemicals prior to Agent Orange. I don't know what they were using just very thankful he had good local VA counselors looking out for him - he never got the run around the Agent Orange folks did. I guess by the time they got to that group they knew they had screwed up and were fighting it.

I have the arthritis too but wasn't diagnosed until recently and is not nearly so severe ... my siblings so far are ok.

Hugs to you and your friend - Romney has no idea what you guys went through.

[WinkyDink]

11. {{{pinboy3niner }}} I salute your bravery, then and now. And the same to TBF's father.

[pinboy3niner]

16. Thankyou, WinkyDink

[pinboy3niner]

18. Some say if you weren't there, you can't understand. That's total BS.

I remember things that people CAN understand...


I remember...sitting in a coffee shop years after the war, cradling my cup of coffee and feeling the tears suddenly coming to my eyes as I remembered what a comfort a canteen cup of coffee was out in the jungle, during the brief respite after humping all day when we made a perimeter and had chow before going out again on ambush...


I remember...being at a party in Westwood, CA after the war and hearing the sound of a Laugh Box, and discovering tears pouring down my face and being so shocked and scared because I didn't know why.

It was only when I snuck into the bathroom to wash my face that it came back. Joe, on Christmas day on a jungle hill out toward the A Shau, getting a Christmas present from home with chocolate chip cookies, a bottle of whiskey...and a Laugh Box. Sitting around playing poker in a poncho hooch on that Christmas day, and every once in a while somebody hitting the button on the Laugh Box and all of us cracking up.

And, a month later, Joe going down with a sucking chest wound from machine gun fire and my men volunteering unanimously to rappel from choppers into the firefight to try to save Joe. They wouldn't let us do it because we'd lose too many that way, and it wouldn't have helped, anyway. Joe died either on the jungle penetrator as they winched him up to the Medevac chopper or on the floor of the chopper. I'll never forget those good, good men who were willing to lay their lives on the line against very steep odds to try to save a wounded officer..


I remember...my son coming home from the Fourth Grade and me watching as he took my Purple Heart out of his bookbag. The medal had been packed away for years in my old footlocker in the attic, just as I'd packed away my war memories.

What are you doing with my Purple Heart?" I asked.

"We had Show-and-Tell today, Dad, so I took it to show the kids," my son replied excitedly. "I couldn't remember if it was WWI or WWII or WWIII you were in, but I figured it was WWII, and that's what I told them."

I didn't want to burst my son's bubble, but I had to tell him. "No," I said, "it was the Vietnam War."

My son skipped out to play, and that was the end of that--or so I thought. Until my wife told me of the question our son had saved to ask her that night as she tucked him in bed. "Mom,' he'd asked, "was the Vietnam War a good war or a bad war?"

I really felt for my son then, because he'd obviously heard negative things about the war and its soldiers. And I knew that the question he really was struggling with was: "Is my Dad a good man or a bad man?"


I remember...things that people CAN understand...

[sabrina 1]

19. This made me cry. The story about Joe and the laugh box. I guess we can understand

or maybe more accurately, we can empathize when we hear real stories. But I know no matter how empathetic we may be, we can never fully understand what you all went through. That's not to say people can't imagine what it was like, and I'm glad we can do that at least.

'Is my dad a good man or a bad man'. I am sure by now he knows the answer to that question. We do!

[RobertEarl]

21. My heart aches for our country

When someone like Romney can be in a position to almost become the president it bodes ill for the future.

I am a navy brat. Never served myself. Heard too many facts about the navy and grew up during Vietnam. But my heart felt thanks go to each and every person who did serve.

I hope Romney gets your letter and sits down and pees himself thinking of how big of a jerk he is.

[garthranzz]

22. May G-d Bless You

You are a hero. You are richer than Romney will ever be.

Thank you, so much.