Mike Heiman, a Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam, says: "I think (Bush) took us to the wrong war and he lied about the reasons we went there."After Bush's Iraq speech, area veterans dispute Vietnam analogyBy Lou Michel - News Staff Reporter
Updated: 08/23/07 7:48 AM
President Bush’s analogy between a withdrawal from Iraq and what happened in Vietnam more than 30 years ago isn’t finding many sympathetic ears among local veterans.
But a Vietnamese man whose family found a home in Buffalo and two local veterans support the president’s position that a hasty departure could lead to deadly consequences. Even veterans who dislike Bush’s unpopular war see a need for caution.
The remarks, some of them harsh, came in response to Bush’s speech Wednesday in Kansas City, Mo., to members of the Veterans of Foreign War.
“I think he took us to the wrong war and he lied about the reasons we went there. He said it was all about al Qaida, and it wasn’t. Now it is, but they weren’t there until he sent us there,” said Mike Heiman, a 58-year-old Lockport resident who began his 13-month stint in Vietnam as a Marine in 1968. “I think we should get out of there.”
~snip~
But those were kind words compared with what other Buffalo Niagara veterans had to say about the speech.
“He makes me throw up. Here’s the thing: All these past comparisons don’t have any relevancy to the situation today,” said Jerry McDonough, a Korean War Army veteran who took aim at Bush’s efforts to use other Asian wars to make a case for staying in Iraq.
more