Thank you.
Carl Musson
US Army '67-69
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Phil Ethier [SMTP:pethier@isd.net]
> Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2000 11:38 PM
> To: Michael D. Porter; triumphs@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: Nathan Aldous, and history
>
>
> From: Michael D. Porter <mporter@zianet.com>
>
> >One of the things I like least in life is a phony war hero. I have lived
> >my life with a man who was, indeed, a war hero, and never took the title
> >to heart, my father.
>
> Indeed. I never served in the active forces. I opposed the war in Asia.
> I
> never blamed the people who served for the foolishness of the government.
> I
> could never understand why anti-war believers would disrespect honest
> people
> who followed their beliefs and went to Asia, much less draftees who felt
> they had no choice. I didn't need to make the choice. Although my
> birthday
> is in December, and the first lottery was top-heavy with low numbers in
> December, I drew a number over 300. Nevertheless, I resolved to volunteer
> when Congress declared war.
>
> My father served. He was there, on the Ward, when the first shot was
> fired
> at Pearl Harbor. It was perceived that we were under attack by submarine,
> and the skipper, on the first day of his first command, gave the order to
> fire. It's easy to remember this here in Saint Paul, since the historic
> gun
> sits near the state capitol building. Dad served on the Ward along with
> others from our town (they were a naval reserve unit formed here) until
> she
> was struck by a crippled Japanese airplane three years to the day after
> Pearl. She ended her career, started in 1918, when she was scuttled by
> fire
> from the cruiser which had picked up the Ward's crew. Irony again. The
> skipper of that cruiser was the same man who had commanded her at the
> literal start of the war three years earlier. He had the odd task of
> ordering the destruction of his first command.
>
> There is a strange bit of Triumph content here. When I first stated
> attending meetings of Minnesota Triumphs at the Fort Snelling Officer's
> club, I noted that there was a familiar picture of the Ward in a place of
> honor there. Looking closer, I saw that the picture had been autographed
> by
> my father and four others.
>
> My father's younger brother joined the Navy after war was declared. He
> was
> lost in action. His name appears sandblasted into a marble column on the
> first floor of Memorial Hall at the court house.
>
> Dad returned to active duty in the China Sea on the Chevalier. The Navy
> said that if he'd come back, they'd make him a Chief. In the same Korean
> conflict, a war like the other more recent wars that our Congress never
> declared in accordance with our Constitution, my mother's brother-in-law
> was
> killed. His name appears on the third floor of Memorial Hall.
>
> My brother served for a time as an officer in the U. S. Air force. Never
> saw any more exotic locale than Arizona and Texas.
>
> I think about the commitment made by thousands of people to the defense of
> our nation. Whether you agree with the ways that our government has used
> or
> abused them at various times, there is no excuse for dishonoring them.
> Put
> the blame where it belongs.
>
> Lying about your service record is an action which dishonors them. Thank
> you, Michael, for exposing a perpetrator of this undeserved dishonor.
>
> Phil Ethier Saint Paul Minnesota USA
> 1970 Lotus Europa, 1992 Saturn SL2, 1986 Suburban, 1962 Triumph TR4
> CT2846L
> LOON, MAC pethier@isd.net http://www.mnautox.com/
> "It makes a nice noise when it goes faster"
> - 4-year-old Adam, upon seeing a bitmap of Grandma Susie's TR4.
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