Centerfield

One For The Skipper

I thought one of the most powerful speeches last night was by the Reverend David Alston:

Manning the deck guns, most of us got wounded sooner or later, including Lieutenant Kerry. It would have been easiest, in an ambush, to simply rake the shore with return fire and roar on down the river to safety. But Lieutenant Kerry was known for taking the fight straight to the enemy. I can still see him now, standing in the doorway of the pilothouse, firing his M-16, shouting orders through the smoke and chaos.

Once, he even directed the helmsman to beach the boat, right into the teeth of an ambush, and pursued our attackers on foot, into the jungle. In the toughest of situations, Lieutenant Kerry showed judgment, loyalty and courage. Even wounded, or confronting sights no man should ever have to see, he never lost his cool.

And when the shooting stopped, he was always there too, with a caring hand on my shoulder asking, "Gunner, are you OK?" I was only 21, running on fear and adrenaline. Lieutenant Kerry always took the time to calm us down, to bring us back to reality, to give us hope, to show us what we truly had within ourselves. I came to love and respect him as a man I could trust with life itself.

I am a man of faith, and I did not come here tonight to glorify what we did. I came here to share my personal knowledge of a young naval officer who rose to the challenges and responsibilities of leadership, and who has always shown the courage to speak truth to power.

The full text:

The Reverend David Alston

Democratic National Convention

Monday, July 26, 2004

BOSTON, July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a transcript of a
speech by David Alston at the Democratic National Convention on Monday,
July 26, 2004:

Good evening.

My name is David Alston, and I am a minister from Columbia, South
Carolina. I join you here tonight in Boston-birthplace of the American
Revolution-to celebrate the bedrock ideals on which our nation was founded-
freedom, equality, and democracy.

I also come here tonight to honor a friend of mine, a man of courage
and conviction who has fought for these ideals his entire life: John
Kerry. Many of you in this hall already know John Kerry well. Others across
this land are still learning about his long and distinguished record of
public service.

I know him from a small boat in Vietnam, where we fought and bled
together, serving our country. There were six of us aboard PCF-94, a
50-foot, twin-engine craft known as a "Swift Boat." We all came from different
walks of life, but all of us-including our skipper, John
Kerry-volunteered for combat duty. And combat is what we got.

We usually patrolled the narrow waterways of the Mekong delta, flanked
on both sides by thick jungle. As our crewmate Gene Thorson put it, we
were a traveling bulls-eye. And we often came under sudden attack from
the enemy, hidden in the shadows. Machine-gun fire, rocket-propelled
grenades, it all came fast and furious, and Lieutenant Kerry had to make
quick, life-or-death decisions for the entire boat.

You have to realize, a Swift Boat isn't armored. The hull is aluminum,
about as thick as two nickels. And in the middle of a narrow river or
canal, with no cover at all, even small-caliber bullets could punch
right through it -- and often did.

Manning the deck guns, most of us got wounded sooner or later,
including Lieutenant Kerry. It would have been easiest, in an ambush, to simply
rake the shore with return fire and roar on down the river to safety.
But Lieutenant Kerry was known for taking the fight straight to the
enemy. I can still see him now, standing in the doorway of the pilothouse,
firing his M-16, shouting orders through the smoke and chaos.

Once, he even directed the helmsman to beach the boat, right into the
teeth of an ambush, and pursued our attackers on foot, into the jungle.
In the toughest of situations, Lieutenant Kerry showed judgment,
loyalty and courage. Even wounded, or confronting sights no man should ever
have to see, he never lost his cool.

And when the shooting stopped, he was always there too, with a caring
hand on my shoulder asking, "Gunner, are you OK?" I was only 21, running
on fear and adrenaline. Lieutenant Kerry always took the time to calm
us down, to bring us back to reality, to give us hope, to show us what
we truly had within ourselves. I came to love and respect him as a man I
could trust with life itself.

I am a man of faith, and I did not come here tonight to glorify what we
did. I came here to share my personal knowledge of a young naval
officer who rose to the challenges and responsibilities of leadership, and
who has always shown the courage to speak truth to power.

The 27th Psalm tells us, "Though an army besiege me, my heart will not
fear. Though war break out against me, even then I will be confident"
I stand before you tonight alive, while many of our brothers never made
it home. I am grateful to have lived to enjoy my children, to see them
grow up. But I stand here before you only because almighty God saw our
boat safely through those rivers of death and destruction, by giving us
a brave, wise, and decisive leader named John Kerry.

Today, 30 years after Vietnam, American soldiers are once again
fighting and dying on distant battlefields, at war with an elusive enemy. We
pray for these brave men and women. They are our friends, our
neighbors, our loved ones. Their loss brings all of us sadness beyond measure.

In a few short months, we will choose our next President. I believe we
need to elect a man of faith, experience, and wisdom. A man who knows
that defending America means defending our most fundamental rights. A
man who knows that leadership is not just about telling others what to
do, but inspiring them to do it. A man who knows the true meaning of
freedom, equality, and democracy. And that man is my former skipper, my
friend, and our next commander-in-chief, John Kerry.

Friends, here in this city more than two centuries ago, patriots
launched a revolution that changed history. Generations since have marched,
fought, and died to defend the sacred ideals of life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness-and to make these ideals a reality for every
American.

It is now our turn to defend these ideals. It is our time to speak out.
It is our duty to exercise our most precious right as Americans: the
right to vote.

So come November 2nd, join me in casting your ballot for a new,
principled, and courageous leader-America's next president-John Kerry.

Thank you.

Posted by rickheller at July 27, 2004 05:47 PM