Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold - RushOnline.com (Rush Limbaugh)

Over 30 years ago they put away their medals and their uniforms. They buried their anger and bitterness and moved on with their lives--and they waited.

Revisionists are trying to change history, claiming the returning Viet Nam veterans didn’t suffer all that much when they returned home. All that talk of being labeled animals has been exaggerated over the years. But the veterans know better. They were there.

On the radio last week, one man related that he had unpacked the uniform that he wore home from Viet Nam all those years ago. It had not seen the light of day for over 30 years. He showed it to his children and grandchildren and, for the first time, spoke of the day that he returned home from war and was spat on, cursed at, and literally had to run a gauntlet of protesters who threw human waste and rotten fruit on him and his fellow vets. With the words ''baby killers'' ringing in his ears he was warned by laughing policemen not to retaliate or he would be arrested. So he ran. The able-bodied helped the wounded as they do on any battlefield because those on crutches or in wheelchairs were not spared the profanity and bags full of feces that were thrown at them by the raging anti-war protesters.

This now middle-aged vet went on to tell his family that he had hid in the bathroom at the airport for over two hours, bewildered and afraid. He wondered if he had landed in some foreign land where Americans were hated. Finally, he cleaned up the uniform he was still proud to wear as best he could and made his way to his plane, where he suffered more insults from the passengers. When he got home, he packed up his medals and his dirty uniform, just as it was, and he knew that one day, he would take it out again and he would have his say. That day has come.

One POW stated that he had never put a face to the name until he heard the words ''Genghis Khan'' pronounced only as John Kerry does and suffered his first flashback to the time he was being tormented by Kerry’s words in a North Vietnamese prison camp.

They buried their anger and the bitterness--and they waited. Most of them didn’t know who or what would be the signal to make their move, but they knew they would recognize it when it happened.

On July 29, 2004, it happened. John Forbes Kerry came to the podium at the Democratic Convention and uttered three words that made many Viet Nam vets skin crawl: ''Reporting for Duty!'' At last the time had come for these long-suffering veterans.

The past was staring back at these wrongly disgraced vets from their television sets. The face it bore was that of John Kerry, the man who had shredded their honor without a thought and climbed over the bodies of their fallen friends to launch a political career. Kerry had stripped them of their dignity the day he sat before Congress in his fatigues and portrayed them as ''baby killers'' and ''murderers.'' Kerry did the unspeakable. He had publicly turned on his fellow vets while they were still in harm’s way and American prisoners were still in the hands of the enemy. Kerry accused them all of being out-of-control animals, killing, raping, and pillaging Viet Nam at will. The anti-war movement--the protesters--had their hero and he was a Viet Nam War veteran, an officer, a medal winner, a wounded warrior: John Forbes Kerry.

Many Viet Nam vets buried the memories of their less-than-welcome homecoming, and John Kerry moved off the national scene. The feelings of betrayal had faded, but they were never resolved. The unprecedented injustice inflicted on the Viet Nam vets has always lain just under the surface, waiting for a chance to be uncovered. The war had stolen their youth and innocence and John Kerry stole their dignity and rightful place of honor in history.

Like an unlanced boil, the anger festered but there was nothing that could ease the pain. These vets didn’t ask for ''forgiveness'' because they had done nothing wrong in serving their country. They never asked to be treated as heroes, just good soldiers. All they have ever wanted was the respect due all the men and women who have worn the uniform of this country. Being allowed to march in a few parades wasn’t enough. A long over-due memorial was not enough. The Viet Nam Veterans moveable wall only brought back the suffering as they searched for the names of their fallen friends whose memory had been defiled and disgraced by people who considered them rampaging killers instead of men who died with honor for their country.

Now before them stands this man who would be president--this man who holds his service in Viet Nam up as a badge of honor now that it suits his purposes. This man Kerry brags about his medals and his tiny wounds and demands the respect they were denied, yet he offers no apologies for what he did to them. ''I will be a great leader!” Kerry proclaims, because of his brief and self-proclaimed valiant service while wearing a uniform--the very same uniform that they wore and were spat upon because of it.

All across America, soiled uniforms and memories of being shamed and humiliated have resurfaced and Vietnam vets demand their rightful place in history. John Kerry seems bewildered by the reaction of his ''fellow vets.'' He has become defensive and angry because now his service and honor are being questioned. Kerry seems oblivious to the pain he caused three decades ago when he stole all honor and dignity from those same “fellow vets” for personal gain. Now he wants to use them again, for the same reason.

All across America, Viet Nam vets are smiling. At last, perhaps they can bury their demons. These angry vets are demanding that this man who sentenced them to being shunned as criminals, tell the world that he was wrong and that he is sorry for what he did to them. Kerry must admit that he lied about them.

For many, it would still not be enough. Satisfaction and hopefully peace will come when Viet Nam vets see and hear John F. Kerry give his concession speech the night of November 2, 2004 with the knowledge that it was their votes that helped defeat him. There are approximately 2.5 million Viet Nam veterans in America and they have not forgotten.

Kerry denied them their rightful place as heroes and they will deny him his dream of the presidency. Angry Viet Nam veterans, silent for so long, will finally have their say. Payment in full will be delivered to John Kerry on November 2, 2004. Revenge is indeed a dish best served cold.

About the Writer: Barbara is a registered nurse who enjoys writing about politics and current events. She has a website at RepublicanAndProud.com

The following is a true story. I had the privilege of serving with Dexter for many years in the Florida legislature. He has a glass eye as just one of his wounds from his time in Vietnam, and is a fine and very bright man. He is married to Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen from Miami. I thought you would be as moved as I was when reading this...

Wounded Vet Buys Full Page Of Army Times - By Dexter Lehtinen, an Army paratrooper and Ranger, severely wounded in 1971 while a reconnaissance platoon leader in Vietnam. He later graduated first in his class from Stanford Law School and later served as a Florida State Senator and the United States Attorney in Miami. This gentleman felt so strongly about this that he paid for a full page ad in the Sept 6th Edition of the Army Times.

In 1971, I awakened after three days of unconsciousness aboard a hospital ship off the coast of Vietnam. I could not see, my jaws were wired shut, and my left cheekbone was missing, a gaping hole in its place. Later, while still in that condition at St Albans Naval Hospital, one of my earliest recollections was hearing of John Kerrys testimony before Congress. I remember lying there, in disbelief, as I learned how Kerry told the world that I served in an Army reminiscent of Genghis Khan's; that officers like me routinely let their men plunder villages and rape villagers at will; that "war crimes" committed in Vietnam by my fellow soldiers "were not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command."

Then Kerry went to Paris, meeting with the North Vietnamese enemy officials, all while our soldiers still fought in the field. The pain and disbelief I felt listening to his words went deeper than the pain I felt from the enemy fire which seriously wounded my face.

Eighteen months later I was discharged from the hospital, the wounds inflicted by the enemy fully healed But more than 30 years later, the wounds inflicted by John Kerry continue to bring pain to scores of Vietnam veterans. Those wounds--the bearing of false witness against me and a generation of courageous young Americans who fought and died in Vietnam--are much more serious than any wound warranting a Purple Heart. Those wounds go to the heart and soul. Those wounds never go away.

Today, my son is a Marine Corps weapons officer, flying the F/A 18 Hornet. He belongs to the same Marine Corps Kerry ridiculed with his 1971 book cover showing protestors simulating the Iwo Jima Memorial, raising an upside-down American flag. He flies the same F/A 18 fighter jet that Kerry voted against in the U.S. Senate. And today, Kerrys picture hangs in an honored place in Saigons war museum, as a hero to the Vietnamese Communists.

Yet, John Kerry shamelessly drapes himself in the imagery of Vietnam, military service and the support of veterans devoid of any media scrutiny. Meanwhile, the criticism and disapproval of Kerry by scores of veterans continues to fall on deaf ears. Worse yet, any legitimate criticism of Kerrys post-war record is discredited as a "personal" attack or an attack against his service.

John Kerry is quick to surround himself with a handful of veterans and claims overwhelming support from the veteran community. He ignores, however, the wounds he inflicted on millions of veterans, and he refuses to sign a waiver to release his military personal records and medical records. This is the portrait of a man who has failed to comes to terms with his treacherous past.

I, Dexter Lehtinen, paid for this ad personally, without any connection to other individuals or groups, because I want the public to know what John Kerry did to our Vietnam veterans.

Dexter Lehtinen, Miami, FL 33156.