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 WW.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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