Ken, this is powerful. This old cavalry trooper is saying what a lot of us feel bout the Swift Vets and he's right on target about the mainstream media. Those stupid elitist bastards just don't understand how they just ad to our anger every time they denigrate the Swiftees while they try to prop up that traitor's rapidly deteriorating campaign.

Russ

This is an official communication from Thomas C. Wyld, Communications Coordinator, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. If you wish to opt-out of future email communiques, please read the intructions at the close of this letter.

Ladies and Gents:

The following message was sent to SwiftVet Dr. Louis Letson from a friend of his. Doc thought everyone would benefit from reading it, so I thought I'd share it with you. Fair warning, though. It is as powerful as it is heartfelt.

With best wishes,

Tom

- - - - -
September 15, 2004

Dear Lou,

Keep the faith, Lou. You have some pretty big names supporting you, and you also have most of the 2.5 million Vietnam Vets behind you as well. It is these same media personalities (and outlets) that created the lies and stereotypes that have become the image of the Vietnam veteran. Those of us who served know they are lies, but until now we had no credible voice to speak our anger. In the 60's and early 70's there was no internet, no FOX News, no Swiftboat Veterans for Truth. All the country had was ABC, NBC and CBS, along with the NY Times and the Washington Post, all of whom lied aboutus.

You and the Swifties have given us a voice, and we are grateful beyond words. Lou, ou know that I lost my closest brother in Quang Ngai Province in September 1966. He was a Marine Staff Sergeant who died DEFENDING a village with a squad of Marines. Yes, defending the village, not burning it or killing and raping the villagers. His story was told in a book, "The Village," by F. J. West. He was 25 years old and left a wife and two children.

Multiply his story by 58,000, and you have 58,000 families who have been quietly seething for 30 years over the lies and negative stereotypes that were created by the likes of John Kerry, Fonda, Ramsay Clark, and the (then) national media. They still don't get it. They still don't understand that even after all this time we are as angry as ever, because those lies cut very deep and the wounds never healed.

If John Kerry hasn't done anything else, his posturing and chest pounding about his Vietnam War heroics have finally brought about the forum for us, the men who served our nation when asked in Vietnam, to be heard. It is you, the Swift Boat Veterans, who are representing us in this fight for our history and our dignity. All I can say, as one who served in the jungles of III and IV Corps as an infantryman in the First Cavalry Division, and as a brother who lost a brother and more friends than I want to count, is thank you for taking on this fight for us. Thank you and I salute you all.

I would be honored if you would share my thoughts, and support, with the brave men who have stepped forward, at great risk, to speak the truth about Vietnam Veterans. If I had been on a swift boat in Vietnam, I would be right there with you. I did my time carrying a ruck sack and an M-16, and to this day I am proud of what I did over there, and I am proud of what my brother did when he gave his life defending that village 28 years ago today.

Yes, by coincidence, today is the 28th anniversary of his death in a little village in I-Corps. People who wonder why, after 30 plus years we are still angry about the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and their proponents, just don't get it.

Mike Sullivan
Knoxville, Tennessee
D/1/7 Cav
1st Cavalry Division, Vietnam