Bifurcating military service

This blogger has a big problem with the Left's proclamation that Senator Kerry's Vietnam service is so much vastly more valuable than President Bush's National Guard service. There are several reasons why it is a dangerous path to tread.

First, President Bush flew F-102s, gas-guzzling rockets with a little pilot compartment on top. Anyone who touched those planes risked their lives. Instead of guarding them, President bush careened through the skies in defense of his nation at a time when he was hardly in a position to plot a run for the Presidency.

In a similar manner, John Kerry risked his neck for four months. On swift-boats in Vietnam, he was subject to enemy fire; even one bullet fired in his direction and he's a hero.

I cannot abide the Left's proud attachment to the idea that Senator Kerry's risks were of greater value than the President's, and it is for a reason near and dear to my heart. I served six years in Intelligence: active-duty work suffering only the dangers of long-term exposure to fluorescent lighting. The greatest risk I took was living in Korea during the Clinton Presidency -- essentially under a regime where we paid of North Korea not to roll right over my comrades-in-arms and me.

If a John Kerry equivalent arises, survives combat in Iraq for a few months before retiring Stateside, utters charges before Congress about GIs cutting off children's ears in Iraq that are later proven false, and then were to be my political opponent in a race, we would face a similar quandary under the Left's current position. The exact same reasoning would completely invalidate any full enlistment which never saw combat in favor of war medals. The legions of folks repairing warplanes, battling logistics (i.e., accounting), or sifting through intelligence are instantly categorized out of importance.

Predictably, the only people (other than the pompous Senator Kerry) who undervalue the President's service in favor of Kerry's are those who never served. Their first charge to a Kerry detractor, however, runs something like this, "Have you served in Vietnam in combat? Have you had people shoot at you (which would be interestingly answered if the subject hailed from war-torn Compton)? Well if you haven't then you have nothing to say about a hero like Senator Kerry!" These statements are bandied about, revealing their distaste for veterans as a whole. In other words, the Left still hates vets... all but one. Anyone else just isn't a hero.