This is a response to a comment Daniel Sacco made on my earlier post. Facebook wouldnt work for this as a comment; but it is directly related to his attacks on President George W. Bush, Vice-President Cheney, and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld in my post about Sen. Diane Feinsteins betrayal of the intelligence community and accusing the U. S. falsely of torture. To Daniel Sacco, it is very difficult for me to even imagine how your reasoning for your contempt for President Bush could have been developed; but I believe your comments against him and his Cabinet members are so twisted that they defy any true grasp of history and are motivated by an unreasonable political bias. You said that you respect me and appreciate my service. Well, based upon what you believe about President Bush, you had better reconsider how you feel about me. I was a 20 year old enlisted soldier when I went to war against the Communists in Vietnam. I questioned our reasons for being there, but came to realize the importance of our mission to stop the Communist drive through South East Asia (which we actually accomplished because of our time in Vietnam--we lost Vietnam but effectively wore out the Communist push). I was too young then to understand the history and the politics that drove events of the day. Sadly, because of the take-over of the Democrat Party in 1968 by those promoting the Communist agenda (SDS, Weather Underground, Teacher Colleges, et al.) we ultimately quit Vietnam and gave it to the Communist North. My South Vietnamese friends lost their country--and many lost their lives--because they believed that we would not betray them. That continues to plague me today because I feel like I was a part of that betrayal. After a stint in the peacetime Army as a non-commissioned officer with the 1st Cavalry Division I got married and got out and went to college. But my heart was still bent toward loving and serving the country so when the Iranians took hostages I became an Army cadet at the University of Texas at Arlington. Commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant (Infantry) in 1981, I was assigned to duty with the 4th Infantry Division (8th U.S. 8th Infantry Regiment) upon graduation in 1983. Torn between protecting the country in the Army or in government, I left active duty to pursue a seat in the Texas House of Representatives. My campaign was lost before I even made it home from Colorado; but I remained a soldier with the U. S. Army Reserve (95th Division) until the country did something I never believed they would do--elect a traitor to be president. After the election of Bill Clinton in November 1992, I was devastated. When I had gone to fight the Communists in Vietnam, Bill Clinton, an SDS anti-war organizer, had done everything he could to bring about my defeat in the field! Not only did he write to the Professor of Military Science at the University of Arkansas to justify why he should be excused from military service based upon his loath[ing of] the military ... he also went to Oxford and organized demonstrations against what I was properly doing in Vietnam and later went to Moscow where he had meetings with known KGB and Communist Party officials. I was a mid-grade infantry captain; and I couldnt salute the inbound Commander In Chief! I had to do something; so I resigned the day before he assumed office (19 Jan 1993). My career was over at that point. Because I had spent time in the Individual Ready Reserve while attending seminary and working as a civilian I could not retire at that time from the Army. My career was over. I served as the pastor of churches in Colorado and Louisiana and did other ministry work and raised my children. But on September 11, 2001, everything changed--and this is where you need to pay attention, Daniel Sacco. I was 50 years old when the terrorists attacked our nation in no less a terrible and bloodthirsty way as when the Japanese had attacked us at Pearl Harbor in 1941. No one was going to attack our nation and me not do something about it. And I had a president that loved America and would fight for her--and my family--in George W. Bush. It was almost impossible to overcome the objections of the Army (who continued to tell me all the reasons I couldnt return to service), but by May 2002, at 51 years of age, I was returned to duty as a sergeant. Nothing could stop me. By February 2003 I was mobilized to active duty as a military policeman performing port security for the 1192nd USA Transportation Terminal Brigade. Over the next year and a half I worked just about every port from Philadelphia to Jacksonville to Corpus Christi to Los Angeles to Tacoma and was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant--but it became clear that I was not going to get back in the fight if I didnt change units. So in August 2004 I transferred to a training battalion in Lafayette, Louisiana, in a Division I had previously served as a captain as the Assistant G-1 for Plans and Mobilization. This time, though, I was a staff sergeant getting ready to go to the drill sergeant school at Fort Benning, Georgia. As before, the Army told me that I couldnt go to drill sergeant school. They said I was too old! But I wouldnt quit and by May 2005--at 54--I did 70 push ups, 70 sit ups and ran my 2-mile run in 15 minutes and 15 seconds. The Army finally agreed to send me to drill sergeant school. This is where I think that I really scared the Army. I think that The Infantry School realized that they were starting to once again have a Vietnam veteran under a drill sergeant cover pushing young troops just out of high school. Thats enough to scare anyone! But instead of sending me to the drill sergeant school, the Army took me in a different direction. At the time had also submitted a packet requesting reappointment as an infantry captain with duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Army had a mission for me--but I would have to pass my commissioning physical. Blood pressure had been a problem, but eventually I got it right and was recommissioned an infantry captain in January 2006. I got new orders to Fort Bragg shortly thereafter. Note: My brigade commander told me he could get me out of the mission to Iraq or Afghanistan, but I flatly told him no! I believed in the mission and I was going to do my part! The Army put me through the U.S. Army Civil Affairs & Psychological Operations Command... , U.S. Army Special Operations Command Center and assigned me to duty with Provincial Reconstruction Team, Farah, Afghanistan. I graduated from the Civil Affairs school at 55 and in the top 20% of my class. I went to Afghanistan for the same reasons that I went to Vietnam--just a different enemy; and I would just as quickly have fought to go to Iraq as I did to go to Afghanistan. My boots hit the ground in Afghanistan at the age of 55. I think I was the oldest captain in the United States Army. So, why did I tell you all of that, Mr. Sacco? I told you because I was motivated by the same things President George W. Bush was motivated by. Bad guys attacked our nation--and it didnt just involve bad guys in Afghanistan. You can make up all the make believe attacks on George Bush you want to, and Vice President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld; but I know the difference. I know that President Bush agonized over the risk of every member of the armed services! Neither he, nor the Vice-President, nor the Secretary of Defense wanted to go to war--we were attacked! They did the right thing! And I will tell you that I hate the lies you posted on my page about them and why we went to war in Afghanistan or Iraq! I have served a number of presidents, Mr. Sacco; but I will tell you that I have never served a president more committed to peace and the members of the military than President George W. Bush!--and I absolutely decided that I wanted to serve with him as my president at that time. So, you can see why I am so extremely offended by your attacks on President Bush. They are all rooted in the lies of the Left and the lies of the Anarchists, and the lies of the Libertarians! So understand this; if you dont respect George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld, you cant respect me! You say thank you for your service? Forget it! We have a saying in the Army. Dont piss down my back and tell me its raining! If you smear what we have been trying to do to protect our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan--if you disrespect the damn hard and costly price we pay so America can be free--if you take up the false charge that we were guilty of torture and side with those who hold our nation in contempt--then you cant be my friend--not now--not ever. And, by the way, only a fool thinks that secrets are not necessary in our fallen world. Im not trying to be mean, Mr. Sacco; but I want people to understand that I wont tolerate the kind of lies you wrote to stay on my posts. You need to go post that crap on Ron Pauls page--or Hillary Clintons. But not mine. And, oh yes, ... there is another message I have for others who have dreams and commitments ... dont let anyone tell you you cant do what you know you can do ... not even the Army! ~CPT (Ret.) Terry M. Hestilow, USA.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 06:02:05 +0000
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