Cowards, soldiers and trash talk

By Terry Kindlon  |  Times Union, Albany, NY  |  View story in the original context
PUBLISHED: October 01, 2007

An AM radio demagogue named Rush Limbaugh recently attacked John Soltz, the American soldier and Iraq combat veteran who's gained prominence for his reasoned and persuasive opposition to the Bush administration's unprovoked invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Mr. Limbaugh, who fancies himself an apologist for the President, disrespectfully responded by claiming that Mr. Soltz -- like a growing number of active duty members of the military who do not support the Iraq war -- is not a "real soldier."

This worn-out right wing rhetorical trick of attacking an opponent's strength has become increasingly preposterous over time, especially when practiced by a gentlemen such as Mr. Limbaugh, a coward who evaded military service during the Vietnam War. Mr. Limbaugh does not and could not actually know any more about being a soldier than he knows about how it feels to give birth.

In America, there is a Brotherhood of Arms. It spans generations and consists of a diverse group of brave men and women-active duty, reservists and veterans-combat survivors who've put their lives on the line because they love our country. Mr. Limbaugh does not belong to this group of real patriots. He is not eligible to join, and he should realize that does not speak for it.

Moreover, when he attacks one soldier, he attacks them all. He attacks my grandfather, Lee Bartlett, the most patriotic American I've ever known. Grandpa Lee joined the U.S. Army in 1914, right after his 14th birthday, so he had to lie about his age to get in. He was a "muleskinner" with the American Expeditionary Force of General "Black Jack" Pershing and fought in the trenches of World War I.

Mr. Limbaugh -- whose sole military credential is coward -- attacks my father, Tech. Sgt. Ed Kindlon, a World War II vet who told me, when I was a little boy, that he was "cook" in the Army as it fought its way through Africa and Italy. Beyond sharing that information, like others in the Greatest Generation, he would always grow silent when the subject of the war came up. It was only after he died, at the very young age of 49, that I discovered my father -- the "cook" -- had been awarded the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and four Purple Hearts in combat. When I asked my Uncle Joe, also a WWII vet, how Dad got all those medals, all he would say was "You don't want to know, kid."

Mr. Limbaugh, the coward, insults the members of Echo Company, Second Battalion, Third Marines, the brave grunts I was privileged to serve with in Vietnam. We suffered 135 KIA (killed in action) and countless WIA (wounded in action) while Mr. Limbaugh was home in the States, doing what? Dreaming up clever ways to insult "real soldiers?"

And Mr. Limbaugh, the coward, also insults my son, Marine Capt. Lee Kindlon, a military lawyer who proudly served our country with a Marine Corps infantry battalion in Fallujah during 2005 and 2006. As Sen. James Webb, former Marine officer and decorated Vietnam veteran, points out, there is a wide diversity of opinion within our military just as there is throughout American society.

There are Republican corporals and Democratic sergeants. There are liberal generals and conservative captains. The difference, of course, is that military men and women always set their opinions aside in order to attend to their mission, whatever it may be.

If Mr. Limbaugh hadn't been a coward, if he had ever actually been in the military, he would know about this diversity of opinion. If Mr. Limbaugh had ever actually been in the military, he would also know better than to insult those of us who've earned our place in the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Arms.

Mr. Limbaugh should realize that, when he insults any one of us, those are fighting words. He should be careful because, unlike Mr. Limbaugh, we know how to fight.

But when the cowardly Mr. Limbaugh heard the sound of gunfire as a young man, he ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction that it comes to knowing what a soldier is, he doesn't have a clue.

Terry Kindlon is an Albany lawyer. His e-mail address is tkindlon@aol.com.