by Lynn Mandaville
Tonight I am looking at a relic of the Vietnam War.
No, it’s not my husband.
It’s a nickel-plated bracelet inscribed with the name of a POW from that war, Sgt. James Harwood, gone missing 1-15-71.
You might remember these POW bracelets. Beginning in 1970, they were sold for $2.50 to $3 each, and were inscribed with the names of all 761 POWs. More than 5 million were sold or distributed.
The idea was to raise awareness of POWs and MIAs, to make sure they were not forgotten. Those who bought them vowed to wear them until the serviceman or his remains were returned to the United States. There were 661 of them returned after the war ended. (Interesting trivia: new bracelets can still be ordered today, and old ones are available for sale online on Ebay as collectibles.)
My bracelet caused a rash on my arm, so early on it was relegated, reluctantly, to my jewelry box. My husband’s bracelet wound up there, too, while he was in the service.
Then Dave’s POW came home when the bulk of prisoners were repatriated in the ’70s. I can still remember watching as the soldiers disembarked the big planes, their names read to the TV audience. We were thrilled when Dave’s POW stepped foot on American soil. We were sad when my POW was not among them. To this day, Sgt. James Harwood is still MIA.
In studying up on the POW bracelets I learned that there has been an ongoing program to return bracelets to the families of POW/MIA servicemen or the servicemen themselves through the Defense POW/Missing Persons Office in Washington. Many others choose to leave their bracelets at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., or other war memorials.
It’s interesting to me that these bracelets are still alive and well in America 45 years later.
What prompted me to look into this was, of course, the news saturation about President Trump’s alleged disparagement of our military dead during his term in office. I’m not surprised that we have yet another instance of scandalous disregard for a demographic of our social fabric. This is simply Trump’s M.O.
It was Will Rogers who said, “I never met a man that I didn’t like.”
I’m guessing a similar quote from Trump would be, “I hardly ever met a man I did like.”
Be that as it may, I doubt that this outrage will have any more effect on voters than has any other outrageous statement or act in Trump’s resume’.
Most Trump supporters seem to be able to make excuses for any horrible thing The Donald does. They will rationalize it away, claim the press is lying, or simply say they don’t care. Donald is their man, no matter how much excrement is attached to him.
So, all of this being said, I would just like to comment that Donald John Trump will never be able to hold a candle to any of America’s veterans.
He will never be of such depth of character as was my uncle Bruce Weimer (US Navy, WWII), and my father-in-law Jack Mandaville (US Army, WWII), and as are my husband Dave Mandaville (US Navy, Vietnam War), my cousins Bill and Fred Weimer (US Navy, Vietnam War), and my son Randy Mandaville (US Navy, Gulf War 1998).
And he will never be a man of honor as were any of you readers who served, or your family members who gave a portion of their lives, or, literally, their actual lives, for democracy and freedom.
American servicemen and women are not losers. American servicewomen and men are not suckers. They are honorable. They are courageous. Their strength lies in the very prefix of their designation: SERVICE.
We refer to our American president as the commander in chief, the person who stands at the head of our valued military.
It stands to reason that that person must feel authentic esteem toward members of these valued branches of defense, and never disparage them in word or deed.
Otherwise, that person is not worthy to wear the title of commander in chief, and he should not be allowed to stand in that role for four more years.
Ms Mandaville,
Your insightful analysis is inspiring for Democrats. They’ve tried for years to lie, cheat, spy, and lie some more to derail the President’s effectiveness and his presidential campaign. Is it any wonder the left of left Atlantic Monthly comes out with unsubstantiated, unsourced blather and we are to totally accept it?
While I am a veteran, I also feel our servicemen and women received a raw deal in Vietnam. They weren’t allowed to do what was needed to win, all the strings were pulled by Washington. I feel many were sacrificed for NOTHING. And I bet most participants in that war feel the same. I’m sure the president feels likewise.
Democrats will believe the claptrap, but life will go on. More vile and evil things will be said up to election day. But I’ll make one observation of your candidate Joe Biden. Look very closely at his facial expressions, especially when he’s angry. Doesn’t he look like “Walter” of comedian Jeff Dunham fame with his comical dummies? Spitting image!
Ten people who were with Trump at the time said he never said it, including John Bolton who hates his former boss. In fact, Bolton said if Trump had said such, he (Bolton) would have written a chapter on it in his book. The Atlantic is owned by Steve Jobs’ widow, Laurene, who is owned by China.
Many supporters have reminded us of the many times Trump reached out to veterans, but “one convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”
Thank you for your service. My dad and his brothers all served, one giving the ultimate sacrifice in Korea.
Seen in a meme: If Joe Biden knew how to fix all of America’s problems, why didn’t he tell Obama???
Remember the barriers?
“Now let’s talk about Biden. Obama/Biden disrespected ALL Veterans by closing our war memorials including Iwo Jima (my Dad fought there). They even tried to lock out Honor Flight Veterans for pure political games. It didn’t work. Eternal shame on Biden”
–Lt. Col. (Ret) W.H.Szych on Twitter
Thanks, Lynn. I don’t think of myself as a sucker and a loser. My family valued military service. The disparagement of Trump angers me, perhaps even more for some of the others that served. I know my friend in Alabama, a lifelong Republican, who served in the South Carolina state senate, will be deeply hurt by the President’s position on servicemen/women, and veterans. I fully expect that he will vote dem this Nov.
What I find very ironic is those saying veterans they know, relatives or themselves (as Republicans) will not vote for the President since he allegedly called them “losers and suckers.”
Yet many of these same persons defend the disrespect to our country’s flag, anthem and history.
Oops! I forgot… they have a right to do all this because that’s why veterans of wars died to protect our freedoms, one being speech.
By now, most veterans who fought wars when they had little choice due to the draft. They seem to be very conditioned to being referred to in derogatory language. Since the military is now a free choice, it’s easy to understand why many are so emotional about being called names. It was an occupation choice to join and no one likes to think of themselves as “suckers and losers” for doing so.
“Toughen up Buttercup” two adjectives describing any political candidates supposedly reference to veterans of previous wars is enough for you to not vote for them. Well, that says a lot on how you define those most qualified to run your government. Just remember it was those who heard what they were afraid to say publicly (because of political correctness) that got us where we are today.
Picking the lesser of two evils to run our Country seems to be the norm today in all levels of government. This has to stop… But will it?