Serve your country – then get swiftboated?

Well here they go again.  Political extremists who work behind the scenes in both national political parties have dusted off their old playbook by attacking the military record of both vice presidential candidates. Such attacks even have a name. It’s called swift boating.

The name comes from the vicious assaults against former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry back in 2004.  Kerry had been a highly decorated Naval officer during the Vietnam war where he received numerous combat medals along with three purple hearts for being wounded.  He was certainly an American hero and was in charge of a patrol vessel called a swift boat. The leadership of both political parties should have condemned the vicious campaign attacking his brave service to America. I visited at length with Kerry a few years back when he told me that the outrageous false charges against him were preposterous and devastating at the time.
Fast-forward to the current presidential campaign, and the swift boaters are raising their ugly heads again. The charges come from those who never served a day in the military, and rather than support and praise the military record of the two vice presidential candidates, have chosen to get down in the slime of un-American cowardness.  
JD Vance, the current Republican vice presidential nominee, volunteered to join the Marine Corps and served for four years in Iraq. He’s been accused of not actually being involved in combat, but actually holding down a desk job. But look, the Senator from Ohio voluntarily went to Iraq, and served in a war zone for four years. The vast majority of his contemporaries enjoyed the freedom to do as they wished while soldiers like Vance protected their right to do so.
The same goes for Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz.  His military record is extensive and quite laudable.  Walz served in the military national guard for 24 years, retiring as a Master Sergeant in 2005.  As part of his extensive service during his time on active duty, Walsh and his battalion served throughout Europe and Turkey.  Yet today, he is being “swift boated” for leaving the National Guard to run for Congress. So let me get this straight. The guy serves for 24 years in a uniform, but he’s been criticized because he didn’t stay long enough to go to Iraq when his guard unit was deployed several months after he retired?  What a lame criticism.
I know something about being swift boated.  After finishing law school, my draft board told me I was exempt from military service. I was 26 years old, and had passed the draft age. I volunteered anyway to go into the Army and the Army National Guard, then spent 12 years in the National Guard, and retired as a captain. Yet when I ran for the Louisiana State Senate back in 1971, one of my opponents accused me of dodging the draft. I found out he never served a day in the military, yet he had the nerve to attack my record.
I certainly understand that while running for public office, charges are thrown around that are often slanted or inaccurate. I was an elected official in Louisiana for 28 years, so I can share many stories of political charges that were distorted, deceptive, or even completely untrue. Such political attacks against those who choose to serve and defend their country should be completely off the table.
Less than one percent of Americans actually volunteer and serve their country in the military. That means that over 99% of the population enjoys the freedoms and protections that those handful of men and women actually provide. False political attacks that we are witnessing presently taking place in both parties should be off-limits.  We have way too many chicken hawks attacking the record of those who actually serve, and want to continue such service in public office.  It’s way past time to stamp out the cheap shots of swift boating.
Peace and Justice
Jim Brown