In the Navy, John McCain Served America Proudly

McCain's Navy record

As a Navy veteran who served in the same era as John McCain, I feel compelled to write about this fellow sailor, who served his country with pride and honor during the Vietnam War and made tremendous personal sacrifices in the service of his country. John McCain was nearly killed on July 29th 1967 while sitting in the cockpit of his jet plane on the deck of the aircraft carrier the USS Forrestal, when a rogue missile from another plane accidentally ignited and shot across the deck, directly hitting McCain’s plane and causing a chain reaction of multiple explosions from the many bomb-loaded fighter jets lined up on the carrier’s flight deck. Miraculously, John McCain escaped injury, thanks to the efforts of his fellow sailors who fought the horrific fires; tragically, 134 sailors were killed and hundreds more burned and disfigured that day, in the Gulf of Tonkin, in Vietnam.

I will never forget those brave men who made the ultimate sacrifice on the USS Forrestal on July 29th, 1967, nor any of the brave men and women who have lost their lives, at any time and in any era, in military service to their country!

Less than two months later, McCain’s fighter jet was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft guns over North Vietnam. After surviving a violent ejection from his jet and suffering bone fractures in both arms and one leg, he was captured by the North Vietnamese and placed in a prisoner-of-war camp. There he endured a grueling five-and-a-half years of hardship and torture meted out by the North Vietnamese military, while many of his comrades didn’t survive - an incredible feat of heroism and sacrifice, for which all Americans should hold him in the highest esteem.

Another brother sailor serving his country in the same era, who volunteered for the small river patrol boats (PBR - Patrol Boats River, one of the most dangerous Navy assignments in Vietnam) was Senator John Kerry, whose war record was subsequently trashed by outright lies from the Republican smear-and-fear machine - the Swift Boat Veterans - masterminded by Karl Rove, a member of the Bush/Cheney team. This reprehensible tactic was an unconscionable act committed by the Republicans, who had the audacity to use dirty politics to destroy an American war veteran’s reputation solely for the purpose of winning the White House for their candidate, George W. Bush. The Democrats, or ANY people of conscience, would never stoop that low!

Many Local 1445 members served, and are serving, in the US armed forces and deserve the respect of all of us, regardless of our viewpoint on any wars or military actions, past or present; Local 1445’s leadership and staff are proud of all of you.

McCain's civilian record

McCain, as a civilian, has chosen to serve America in the political arena. His values have become evident as he consistently votes to support the rights of powerful corporations while voting to confound and weaken the interests and well being of not only working people but of his fellow veterans as well.

This is very disappointing. For instance, he voted against the GI Bill, which benefited both him and me, and which would have continued to benefit all veterans by giving them the opportunity to gain an education or skill upon return from duty, enabling them to support their families. He claims the GI Bill would hurt retention of current soldiers and sailors when in reality it will help in recruiting more young people.

John McCain supports privatizing and dismantling the Veterans Administration health system, moving veterans out of the VA hospital system and sending them to private hospitals that may not be equipped to deal with combat-related injuries and illnesses, such as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and traumatic brain injury, and to offer treatment and rehabilitation.

We need to remind Senator McCain, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, that caring for our brother and sister veterans is our government’s responsibility, not the responsibility of private enterprise!

McCain should fight for full funding for the VA hospital system and against privatizing veterans’ care. The system that has helped thousands of injured service men and women has suffered from government neglect and a lack of proper funding for much too long. Dismantling the system and handing it over to profit-making businesses, whose only concern is the bottom line, is not the answer.

For society at large, McCain’s healthcare proposal is similar to Bush’s failed plan. It undermines existing employer–based healthcare and pushes workers into the private market to fight big insurance companies on their own. McCain’s plan would shift the burden of supplying health insurance from employers to workers and would then tax the insurance premiums, thus creating a new additional tax on workin

McCain continues to support the free trade agreements NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) which allow corporations to send American jobs overseas, even after other enlightened politicians have witnessed the total devastation these misguided trade pacts have wreaked on our economy and no longer support these cheap labor initiatives.

McCain supports privatizing Social Security, which would destroy the most successful government social program in history for all Americans. The only group who would benefit from privatization would be the large insurance companies.

McCain’s workers’ rights record

McCain has consistently and unfortunately voted against bills promoting workers’ rights:

• He did not co-sponsor the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, legislation to grant firefighters and police officers minimum collective bargaining rights.
• He voted against collective bargaining rights for Transportation Security Administration airport screeners.
• He voted to allow employers to hire permanent replacements during a strike.
• He voted against the Employee Free Choice Act which would stop companies from waging vicious union-busting campaigns against workers trying to unionize.
• He has continuously attacked the Teachers’ Union, stating, “It’s time to break the grip of the education monopoly that serves the union bosses at the expense of our children.” (NY Times, 2/11/2000).
• He has supported and voted for President Bush’s agenda 95% of the time, including extending Bush’s tax breaks for the very wealthy. This extension would include Mobile/Exxon getting a $2.5 million tax break, at a time they are making record profits and gouging American families with astronomical gas and oil prices.
• McCain crossed the Writer’s Guild picket line, during their recent strike, to appear on TV. (Even the late Bob Hope, a staunch Republican, refused to cross a union picket line.)

To all my brother and sister veterans and my union family, please take a look at the facts. John McCain’s military record is exemplary and distinguished, and we commend him for that. His record in the US senate, however, has been and continues to be very one-sided in favor of large corporations and against everyday hardworking families and fellow veterans.

The economic policies of the last two decades have chipped away at the rights and incomes of the working people of America. The conservative Republican agenda has benefited the corporate class in America at the expense of the rest of us. Wage earners are sacrificing more now than at any time since the Great Depression, and the forecast is even gloomier. While gas and oil prices are skyrocketing and forcing up the price of food and utilities, working families are seeing shrinking incomes. Wages are not keeping up with the rate of inflation. Bank foreclosures on working people’s homes are at an all time high, along with the number of families falling below the poverty level.

We need to change the direction America is heading and stop the race to the bottom for the middle class. Our children and veterans need the opportunity to attain the American Dream. We need to turn America around in November by voting for the Democratic ticket, and EVERY SINGLE VOTE COUNTS!

In solidarity,

Jeff Bollen
Secretary-Treasurer, Local 1445

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