Monday, February 8th, 2010...12:56 pm
John Murtha
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Just coming over the wires is the news that John Murtha has died. He was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in a special election in 1974, which made him the first Vietnam Veteran to do so.
I am not going to pretend that I was a huge fan of everything he did in public office (although his vocal opposition to the Iraq War warmed the hearts of many progressives), but he served his country as both a Marine and a Congressman, and that deserves a measure of respect.
4 Comments
February 8th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Rep. Murtha volunteered for Vietnam in 1966. He won the Bronze Star with “V” for Valor, 2 Purple Hearts, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.
Rest easy, Marine.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
good riddance Murtha
February 8th, 2010 at 11:52 pm
never earned respect: Neither have you.
February 9th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
What is noteworthy about Murtha is that he was anything but a dove. He had long championed the military, worked hard fighting against attempts to cut military budgets, and supported every President in every military action. So not at all surprisingly in 2002 Murtha loudly and proudly supported President Bush in voting for the Iraq war.
By 2004 the war had been bungled so badly that he came out against remaining there.
This action therefore made him anathema to conservatives. But for Murtha to turn against the war was the equivalent of Cronkite’s Vietnam report– it changed the dynamic of how the war was viewed.