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WHAT
SENATOR JOHN GLENN SAID
JOHN
GLENN (ON THE SENATE FLOOR)
Mon,
26 Jan 2004 11:13
Some
people still don't understand why military personnel
do
what they do for a living. This exchange between
Senators
John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum
is
worth reading. Not only is it a pretty impressive
impromptu
speech, but it's also a good example of one
man's
explanation of why men and women in the armed
services
do what they do for a living.
This
IS
a
typical, though sad, example of what
some
who have never served think of the military.
Senator
Metzenbaum (speaking to Senator Glenn):
"How
can you run for Senate
when
you've never held a real job?"
Senator
Glenn (D-Ohio):
"I
served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps.
I
served through two wars. I flew 149 missions.
My
plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different
occasions.
I was in the space program. It wasn't my
checkbook,
Howard; it was my life on the line. It was
not
a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take the
daily
cash receipts to the bank."
"I
ask you to go with me ... as I went the other day...
to
a veteran's hospital and look those men ...
with
their mangled bodies . in the eye, and tell THEM
they
didn't hold a job!
You
go with me to the Space Program at NASA
and
go, as I have gone, to the widows and Orphans
of
Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee...
and
you look those kids in the eye and tell them
that
their DADS didn't hold a job.
You
go with me on Memorial Day and you stand in
Arlington
National Cemetery, where I have more friends
buried
than I'd like to remember, and you watch
those
waving flags.
You
stand there, and you think about this nation,
and
you tell ME that those people didn't have a job?
What
about you?"
For
those who don't remember ..
During
W.W.II, Howard Metzenbaum was an attorney
representing
the Communist Party in the USA.
Now
he's a Senator!
If
you can read this, thank a teacher.
If
you are reading it in English thank a Veteran.
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