I Hope This Isn't The Start of a Trend

[Guest MikeSC]

Veteran gets rude welcome on Bainbridge

 

By ROBERT L. JAMIESON Jr.

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST

 

Think about the Seattle area -- Bainbridge Island to be exact -- and you think scenic views and liberal-minded tolerance.

 

At least the killer views are still there.

 

The bucolic island's deep reputation for civility got a gut check this week during the annual Grand Old Fourth of July celebration.

 

That's when Jason Gilson, a 23-year-old military veteran who served in Iraq, marched in the local event. He wore his medals with pride and carried a sign that said "Veterans for Bush."

 

Walking the parade route with his mom, younger siblings and politically conservative friends, Jason heard words from the crowd that felt like a thousand daggers to the heart.

 

"Baby killer!"

 

"Murderer!"

 

"Boooo!"

 

To understand why the reaction of strangers hurt so much, you must read what the young man had written in a letter from Iraq before he was disabled in an ambush:

 

"I really miss being in the states. Some of the American public have no idea how much freedom costs and who the people are that pay that awful price. I think sometimes people just see us as nameless and faceless and not really as humans. ... A good portion of us are actually scared that when we come home, for those of us who make it back, that there will be protesters waiting for us and that is scary."

 

On the Fourth, Jason faced his worst fear.

 

It was such a public humiliation -- home front insult after battlefield injury.

 

It really shouldn't have happened for two principal reasons.

 

Reason No. 1? History.

 

The past informs us that the men and women who fight our wars are not just following orders.

 

They are risking life and limb.

 

When they return from the battlefield they should be embraced regardless of the public popularity about the conflict, regardless of the politics.

 

Have we so quickly forgotten the painful lessons of Vietnam?

 

Frederick Scheffler, whose daughter and son-in-law marched with Jason on Sunday, hasn't.

 

Scheffler -- an Army veteran of two tours in Southeast Asia -- was shot in the leg during that long-ago conflict.

 

He came home with a cane, only to discover the American public was either indifferent to his sacrifice or downright hostile.

 

"I didn't think in this day and age combat veterans would be treated in this manner," Scheffler, 60, tells me, reflecting on Jason. "I saw it happen to veterans in Vietnam. I'm not going to let it happen today, not to these kids."

 

Reason No. 2? The rules.

 

The Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce, which put on the community celebration, permits freedom of expression at the event but asks that parade announcers not act in a manner that is partisan or prejudicial.

 

Jason's mother, Tamar, says a female parade announcer locked eyes on her son who was walking behind a pro-Republican group called Women in Red, White and Blue. The group supports President Bush and the troops in the fight against terrorism.

 

According to Tamar, the female announcer sarcastically asked Jason: "And what exactly are you a veteran of?"

 

The perceived mocking, the mother adds, set off some people in the crowd, loosing a flood of negative comments, "like a wave... a mob-style degrading."

 

Kevin Dwyer, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, spoke with the announcer after the allegations reached him this week.

 

He says the woman denies using sarcasm; she just wanted to know which war Jason was a veteran of so that she could "honor him" in public.

 

"It wasn't her intention to incite anything -- that's what she told me," Dwyer said. "But if she acted out of school, that's not what we're about."

 

Dwyer added: "I believe (Jason's) mom when she said her son was called 'a murderer.' But I'm sure it wasn't so much directed at the kid as it was the president. A soldier with a sign represents that."

 

The female announcer told Dwyer that some in the Bush-Cheney contingent in the parade seemed "militant."

 

And so, battle lines are drawn.

 

From the outside looking in, the fuel for this conflict seems obvious.

 

The left-leaning island hosted a group of people who support Bush's controversial war. (On the same parade route, people bearing pro-Kerry signs were cheered and applauded for, among other things, tooling around in an environmentally responsible car.)

 

Against such a roiling backdrop, an unfortunate tone of voice or the wording on a sign can spark, well, something -- something unconscionable it appears.

 

But less obvious factors are undoubtedly at work here, too.

 

The female announcer at the parade had a father who fought for America in a previous U.S. conflict. He never made it back home.

 

Jason's mother -- unbeknownst to many observers along the parade route -- is a tireless activist behind the pro-troops movement in the Puget Sound region.

 

Such a combo on a day of red, white and blue can only lead to fireworks -- snap, crackle and popping off during what locals call the "best small-town parade in America."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/181422_robert09.html

I hope this doesn't become the norm for vets of this war. Vietnam vets got shit on when they returned and NOBODY deserves that.

-=Mike

[Dr. Tom 0]

It disgusts me how recent veterans get treated in this country. Vietnam was unpopular, but that was no excuse for Americans shitting all over their brothers and sisters who came home from there having done their time. The war in Iraq is no different. Be against the war and the President all you want, but show some love for the men and women who are doing the fighting.

[C Dubya 04 0]

This poor kid was disabled in the war too. He gave up so much to support and defend this country and this is the thanks he gets? It is perfectly fine to not support the war, or the President (I in fact don't support either), but to turn your back on a kid defending this country is not right. Someone needs to start kicking some ass the next time this happens.

[Highland 0]

This is why you don't show the idiots at home everything that happens in the warzone. Also, there's a definate view in many places that those veterans of wars after WWII or possibly Korea are not real veterans and therefore undeserving of the same level of respect accorded to those that fought in earlier conflicts.

Edited July 9, 2004 by Highland

[Guest Smues]

What happened to this guy is terrible, but it's no shock to me. Seattle is an ultra-liberal protest everything area. Having spent a year at the University of Washington I about went crazy having to deal with it. It's disgusting.

[NoCalMike 0]

Protest and Boo the policy makers if you wish, but the leave the troops the fuck alone, I say.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

He didn't deserve it, but sort of asked for it by making a political statement in the town parade.

[2GOLD 0]

Anyone who does this to troops who have returned home or are returning home should have their legs hooked to a 18 wheeler and their head hooked to the back of a bus and ripped in half very very slowly.

 

Then their corpse should be urinated and spit on before being tossed in a swamp where gators can finish off the remains.

 

Seriously, I would be willing to hit someone in the back of the legs with a baseball bat for this. You don't like the war or Bush, fine. You start blaming the ones sent to do the job that they couldn't reject then you need to burn in hell.

 

That is all.

[MrRant 0]

What happened to this guy is terrible, but it's no shock to me. Seattle is an ultra-liberal protest everything area. Having spent a year at the University of Washington I about went crazy having to deal with it. It's disgusting.

That's because there are too many goddamn hippies and yuppies around here.

[Guest Cerebus]

He didn't deserve it, but sort of asked for it by making a political statement in the town parade.

No.

 

Fuck these people and fuck you for suggesting he deserved it.

 

On the streets some people were declaring their support for Kerry. They got cheered.

 

A veteran fights and risks his life in Iraq. He gets home to engage in the same freedoms he fought for and gets booed while fucktards whose most dangerous action was drinking too much during thier college days get cheered. This is what America is becoming.

 

It makes me sick.

[Vyce 0]

He didn't deserve it, but sort of asked for it by making a political statement in the town parade.

Wow.

 

I knew someone was going to go down that rather nasty and spiteful little road, but I'm kind of surprised & disappointed it was you.

[Guest MikeSC]

He didn't deserve it, but sort of asked for it by making a political statement in the town parade.

Compassion, thy name is Jobber.

-=Mike

[Jobber of the Week 0]

My first sentence was that I think he didn't deserve it. It was wrong.

 

 

But, it's not like he wasn't opening himself up for those kinds of comments from those kinds of people by using the parade to make a political statement. While it wasn't a nice thing to do, I assume he was preparing himself for some of that, since it was kind of predictible something like that would happen.

 

 

If some guy went through YOUR town parade with a Fahrenheit 9/11 banner, he'd probably get some flak, right? Even if he did serve. That's all.

[2GOLD 0]

If some guy went through YOUR town parade with a Fahrenheit 9/11 banner, he'd probably get some flak, right? Even if he did serve. That's all.

 

Comparing a person with a F 9/11 banner to a solider returning home from Iraq getting called "babykiller"?

Come on, that is beyond reaching.

 

Maybe we should have a damn day where people act, I don't know, like civilized towards each other instead of like a bunch of rich high school kids at a pep rally. Calling someone who just went through a hell they didn't choose a "babykiller" is beyond sick.

 

That's not protesting, that's being an asshole. If they had just booed the Bush thing, fine. But the "murderer" and "babykiller" stuff went across the line into "someone needs to find out what a real murderer looks like" territory.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Maybe we should have a damn day where people act, I don't know, like civilized towards each other instead of like a bunch of rich high school kids at a pep rally.

Interesting that the guy that just endorsed a baseball bat to the knees said that.

 

Oh yeah, this is shooting the messanger to the worst degree, but I'm just speculating at the chances of this happening if he hadn't tried to make a statement out of it.

 

 

In other words, it's not his fault this happened, but he helped. Shame on those who did, anyway.

[MrRant 0]

He didn't deserve it, but sort of asked for it by making a political statement in the town parade.

Compassion, thy name is Jobber.

-=Mike

Compared to you he is a Saint.

[bob_barron 0]

Has Rant ever actually added anything to the CE folder?

 

Didn't think so

[MrRant 0]

Shouldn't you be waiting in line for SNL tickets or something?

 

Edit: Plus there isn't too much to contribute to the same shit being said over and over again. Mike says the same thing, JOTW says the same thing, KKK pops in with a comment, Tyler says something, someone else says something stupid.

 

Rinse and repeat.

[bob_barron 0]

Shouldn't you be waiting in line for SNL tickets or something?

The season ended two months ago!

[Guest MikeSC]

My first sentence was that I think he didn't deserve it. It was wrong.

 

 

But, it's not like he wasn't opening himself up for those kinds of comments from those kinds of people by using the parade to make a political statement. While it wasn't a nice thing to do, I assume he was preparing himself for some of that, since it was kind of predictible something like that would happen.

 

 

If some guy went through YOUR town parade with a Fahrenheit 9/11 banner, he'd probably get some flak, right? Even if he did serve. That's all.

Let's say a guy carrying a "F 9/11" banner got flak.

 

Would you, for a moment, even IMPLY that he had it coming because of it?

Shouldn't you be waiting in line for SNL tickets or something?

 

Edit: Plus there isn't too much to contribute to the same shit being said over and over again. Mike says the same thing, JOTW says the same thing, KKK pops in with a comment, Tyler says something, someone else says something stupid.

 

Rinse and repeat.

You know, you don't HAVE to "contribute" if you have nothing to add. Nobody is begging for your one cent to be added.

-=Mike

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Well I like his anti-hippie comments.

 

And Rant's "non-contributions" are no worse than most of ours anyway...

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

Calling the man a "babykiller" and a "murderer" is ridiculous, and the people who said it are juvenile and ignorant as to where they should direct their displeasure with the war and the administration behind the war. That being said, the soldier himself is ignorant if he expected to march in a 4th of July parade, holding a pro-Bush sign, in such a historicly and fiercely liberal town. Despite the comments that were flung like so much monkey shit in the man's direction, I'm sure the protestors were far more concerned with the 'For Bush' part of the sign than they were with the 'veterans.'

[Guest Cerebus]

For the record I would ignore the F9/11 supporter for the political gutter trash they are. I wouldn't call them a terrorist sympathizer or anti-american shit for brains that they most likely are either. Maybe I'm being too light.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Let's say a guy carrying a "F 9/11" banner got flak.

 

Would you, for a moment, even IMPLY that he had it coming because of it?

Let's re-read this again:

 

The Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce, which put on the community celebration, permits freedom of expression at the event but asks that parade announcers not act in a manner that is partisan or prejudicial.

 

If we're asking the announcers not to be partisan, shouldn't we ask the same of the marchers?

 

I'm not going to say either way. However, being political in the town square during a community event is the same as wearing a Kick Me sign IMHO. Unfortunately for him, the people who saw it kicked him pretty low.

[Guest BDC]

The fact that people have absolutely no sense of decency is what kills me about this.

 

So much pisses me off, I sometimes wonder what of it would be acceptable in exchange for an assault charge.

[Guest Cerebus]

If we're asking the announcers not to be partisan, shouldn't we ask the same of the marchers?

(On the same parade route, people bearing pro-Kerry signs were cheered and applauded for, among other things, tooling around in an environmentally responsible car.)

 

Apparently not.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Let it go on the record that I find that equally as stupid.

 

 

Playing politics at the town parade is like making political commentary at the Oscars or Super Bowl. Sure, it can be done, but it's such a bad move that it's a shock anyone does it

[EricMM 0]

Whats wrong with tooling around in a Prius?

 

EVERYONE should. It's just good for America

[Guest Bad Brad Jacobs]

Fucking Bullshit is all I have to say.

 

People couldn't see through it after Nam and apparently you all can't see through it now. Not one Vietnam Vet ever claimed they had been spit on. NOT ONE. No one got spit on.

 

Truthfully, there has not been ONE proven account (by a Vet or Bystander) EVER that anyone ever got spit on by liberals after the Soldiers returned home.

 

 

It's all bullshit.

 

I, for one, trust the facts found in the book The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam by Jerry Lembcke. He interviewed hundreds of Vets and investigated hundreds more articles about the so called "abuse," but every time he pushed for more evidence or elaboration from a witness, the story collapsed--the actual person who was spat on turned out to be a friend of a friend. Or somebody's uncle. At the very most, it is an urban myth.

 

 

This quote from collumnist Jack Schafer (MSN.com) sums it up quite nicely:

 

 

The myth persists because: 1) Those who didn't go to Vietnam--that being most of us--don't dare contradict the "experience" of those who did; 2) the story helps maintain the perfect sense of shame many of us feel about the way we ignored our Vietvets; 3) the press keeps the story in play by uncritically repeating it, as the Times and U.S. News did; and 4) because any fool with 33 cents and the gumption to repeat the myth in his letter to the editor can keep it in circulation.

 

 

It's all lies, people. Maybe next time you should do some fact checking before you begin your all american protest of someone supposedly "spitting" on someone when, in fact, it quite possibly never happened.

[Highland 0]

Fucking Bullshit is all I have to say.

 

People couldn't see through it after Nam and apparently you all can't see through it now. Not one Vietnam Vet ever claimed they had been spit on. NOT ONE. No one got spit on.

 

Truthfully, there has not been ONE proven account (by a Vet or Bystander) EVER that anyone ever got spit on by liberals after the Soldiers returned home.

 

 

It's all bullshit.

 

I, for one, trust the facts found in the book The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam by Jerry Lembcke. He interviewed hundreds of Vets and investigated hundreds more articles about the so called "abuse,"  but every time he pushed for more evidence or elaboration from a witness, the story collapsed--the actual person who was spat on turned out to be a friend of a friend. Or somebody's uncle. At the very most, it is an urban myth.

 

 

This quote from collumnist Jack Schafer (MSN.com) sums it up quite nicely:

 

 

The myth persists because: 1) Those who didn't go to Vietnam--that being most of us--don't dare contradict the "experience" of those who did; 2) the story helps maintain the perfect sense of shame many of us feel about the way we ignored our Vietvets; 3) the press keeps the story in play by uncritically repeating it, as the Times and U.S. News did; and 4) because any fool with 33 cents and the gumption to repeat the myth in his letter to the editor can keep it in circulation.

 

 

It's all lies, people. Maybe next time you should do some fact checking before you begin your all american protest of someone supposedly "spitting" on someone when, in fact, it quite possibly never happened.

I think that Hollywood, especially the first Rambo movie, may have played a significant role in that as well.

That being said, I have to admit to being one of those that had the image of the Vietnam veteran being spat on and called babykiller in my head, but this thread has given me food for thought. Interesting.

Edited July 12, 2004 by Highland