John Murtha served his time in the Marines. When I read the report of his death, I checked his Wiki entry.
Murtha joined the Marines in 1952, and later became a Drill Instructor. He was later selected for OCS. Murtha was discharged in 1955, remaining in the Marine Reserves. He later volunteered for duty in Vietnam, "receiving the Bronze Star with Valor device, two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry." (Wiki)
In other words: no matter what we think of his politics, he was no chickenhawk or Limousine Liberal. The man without a doubt got his hands dirty, and his blood spent.
That said, in this writer's opinion he sacrificed his moral authority when he slandered the Haditha Marines before the official inquiry was finished.
In short: while we should honor John Murtha's service, we should also recognize his abdication of loyalty. Hence we should accord former Congressman John Murtha the title of EX-Marine.
Comments (1)
No. Once a Marine, always a Marine. Marines have the same options as the rest of us and can be every bit as stupid and narrowminded as the next guy.
Read a bit more about Turkey after the great extermination of the Armenians. Ataturk was very nearly unique yet he alone was able to craft the only secular islamic state. Pahlavi tried but we know what happened there.
Posted by Curtis | February 12, 2010 1:47 AM
Posted on February 12, 2010 01:47