Weighing in on the Terrorist Trade
The media has been ripe with numerous opinions and analysis of the recent terrorist trade for the release of Bergdahl. When those views and analysis are from the mouths of talking heads that have never served in the military and never been to war – I tend to overlook them. There are many talking heads and members of our government who make decisions for our country, on behalf of the citizens of The United States of America but, the opinions and analysis that should matter to every citizen in the USA are those made by men who have first-hand knowledge of not only our military but also of war.
The men and women we should open our ears to regarding the recent terrorist trade or any other action that puts our military members and innocent civilians working outside of the USA at risk are those that have experience in such matters. When POW’s and former military leaders speak, I tend to put more weight into the words that come out of their mouths than I would ever put in empty words out of the mouths of men who personally know nothing of what they are throwing opinions out about.
I have the unique privilege of knowing some of these amazing former POW’s and was recently made aware of a letter written by Sam Johnson to the Senate and House. I am sharing some excerpts from that letter as well as the thoughts of another great American and POW.
Email from Jim Bedinger:
Hi again,
A number of you have asked me what I thought as a former POW of the N. Vietnamese Communists, what I thought of the recent release of Sgt Bergdahl. Like most, I am glad he is back in U.S. custody and care. I was troubled to hear about those 5 jihad leaders who were released.
Today Representative Sam Johnson, one of my personal heroes from the Hanoi Hilton, wrote a letter to his fellow members of Congress. Some excerpts were passed to the former POWs on our network. Sam is one of the Alcatraz Eleven (Stockdale, Denton, Mulligan were also part of this special group of resistors) whose story was finally published and released to market this Feb 2014. It’s called DEFIANT by Alvin Townley. If you want to know more, I highly recommend this new book about these brave Americans who endured so much and for so long. And their complete story has not been told in full until now.
I also thought that you might be interested in Sam Johnson’s assessment of this POW release.
-Jim Bedinger
Excerpts from Sam Johnson’s letter:
“As you may know, I spent nearly seven years as a Prisoner of War (POW) in Vietnam, more than half of that time in solitary confinement in a place so desolate and isolating it could only be called Alcatraz. I served with many brave Americans. I lived through those filthy, atrocious and inhumane conditions. I know what it is like to pray to God that the enemy will kill you right then and there to end the long periods of torture and excruciating pain. Today, I humbly write this letter as a decorated combat veteran of two wars and as a sitting Member of Congress.
“While U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and I don’t agree on much, we agree that President Obama broke the law when he released the five top terrorists in exchange for a detained American soldier. Our mutual outrage over the President’s destructive and unilateral action proves that this is not a Democrat issue or a Republican issue. It is an American issue.
“Time magazine now reports that the Taliban feels inspired, empowered and emboldened to capture American soldiers. ‘It’s better to kidnap one person like Bergdahl than kidnapping hundreds of useless people. It has encouraged our people. Now everybody will work hard to capture such an important bird.’
“Our worst enemies just confirmed that President Obama’s unilateral decision, in effect, put a price on the head of each soldier, sailor, airmen, coast guardsmen and Marine serving abroad in defense of freedom. From here on out, every single American, both military and civilian, has a right to be fearful. The President failed us miserably with his ill-advised, inappropriate and immature actions. This leaves innocent Americans and our brave men and women in harm’s way to bear the consequences of such failure.”
If we ignore what our President has done and what the possible ramifications of the trade will be – we turn our backs on every member of the military, as well as civilian contractors. These Americans will be the ones to pay the heaviest price, put at an even greater risk by the terrorist trade.
-RJ
Sam Johnson: http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/j/j028.htm
Jim Bedinger: http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/b/b133.htm
DEFIANT the book: http://www.amazon.com/Defiant-Endured-Vietnams-Infamous-Returned-ebook/dp/B00GL3SUZW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1402856873&sr=1-1&keywords=defiant
