Some people still don't understand why military personnel do what they do for a living. This exchange Between Senators John Glenn and Sen. Howard Metzenbaum is worth reading. Not only is it a pretty impressive and 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.
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Senator Metzenbaum to Senator Glenn: "How can you run for Senate when you've never held a "real job?"
Senator Glenn: "I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps. I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by antiaircraft 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 asked you to go with me . as I went the other day... to a
Veterans 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?
I'll tell you, Howard Metzenbaum, you should be on your knees every day of your life thanking God that there were some men - SOME MEN - who held a REAL job. And they required a dedication to a purpose - and a love of country and a dedication to duty - that was more important than life itself. And their self-sacrifice is what made this country possible.
I HAVE held a job, Howard! ---What about you?"
For those who don't remember - During WWII, Howard Metzenbaum was an attorney representing the Communist Party in the USA. Now he is a Senator!
If you can read this, thank a teacher.... If you are reading it in English, thank a Veteran.......
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THE FOUR SEASONS- ALMOST SUMMER, SUMMER, STILL SUMMER & DEER SEASON
The item quoted above is indeed a relatively faithful transcript of candidate John Glenn's remarks during a 1974 debate with Howard Metzenbaum for the Democratic nomination to a U.S. Senate seat, but the circumstances that prompted Glenn's words were not quite as they're made out to be here.
The 1970 Democratic primary in Ohio for a U.S. Senate seat pitted two men who were just embarking on long careers in national politics: businessman Howard Metzenbaum vs. former Marine pilot and astronaut John Glenn. Although Glenn "” a hero since his Mercury 6 flight eight years earlier had made him the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth "” was the favorite, he lost the nomination to Metzenbaum following a campaign remarkable for its rancor, and Glenn came away from the experience bitter over a false rumor, attributed to a Metzenbaum aide, that he and his wife were on the verge of a divorce. Metzenbaum lost the general election to Republican Robert Taft, Jr., but he was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1974 when Ohio's other senator, William B. Saxbe, resigned to accept a nomination as U.S. Attorney General, setting the stage for Glenn to challenge Metzenbaum once again in the 1974 Democratic primary.
The candidates in the 1974 race were even more contentious than they had been four years earlier. Metzenbaum took to referring to Glenn disdainfully as "Colonel Glenn" to emphasize his military background (Glenn was a World War II and Korean War veteran and had retired as a colonel from the Marine Corps in 1965 after twenty-two years of service) "” today military service is generally considered a positive attribute in a politician, but in 1974 America had just ended its long and controversial involvement in Vietnam, and the military was viewed with suspicion and distrust, especially by the large portion of the "baby boom" generation that had reached voting age.
A few days before a May 3 debate between the candidates at the Cleveland City Club, Metzenbaum (an entrepreneur who had created the Sun Newspapers chain in the 1960s and had co-founded APCOA, one of the nation's largest parking companies) charged that "Colonel Glenn" had never "met a payroll," implying that Glenn's background as a career military man meant he was lacking in the real-world business experience a U.S. Senator should possess. (Metzenbaum's claim wasn't quite accurate: After his retirement from the Marine Corps, Glenn had held a position as a business executive with Royal Crown Cola and had served both as a member of the board of directors and as president of Royal Crown International.)
Metzenbaum's comment was widely publicized and interpreted by many "” including Glenn himself "” as a slam that Glenn had "never held a (real) job (even though Metzenbaum hadn't actually used those words), and Glenn went into the Cleveland debate a few days later well-prepared to answer the charges. Although Metzenbaum didn't raise the "job" issue during the debate, Glenn nonetheless seized the opportunity to launch into his carefully-crafted "I have held a job" retort, invoking stirring images of motherhood, sacrifice, and patriotism. Although it was a rehearsed speech rather than the impromptu response legend has since made it out to be, Glenn's stinging rebuke to Metzenbaum was a masterful stroke that swung momentum in his favor. He bested Metzenbaum by 8 percentage points in the primary and was elected to the U.S. Senate in the general election, carrying all 88 counties in Ohio in the process.
Both men went on to enjoy long political careers, Glenn serving four consecutive terms in the U.S. Senate before retiring in 1998 and Metzenbaum winning election to the U.S. Senate three times himself, but the timeless lesson of that 1974 campaign will outlive them both: You impugn the reputation of a national hero at your own peril "” especially when he has better speechwriters than you do.
Last updated: 15 March 2002
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Caution - Some posts may contain sarcasim
service personel
Metzenbaum is just another Yankee liberal fool!!
