Pissed off Old Guy

[Robert Thomas]

95 year old hero!

Letter T o Obama at Whitehouse Sent from 95 year Old Pearl Harbor Survivor !! Fantastic!!





WW II Battleship sailor tells Obama to shape up or ship out !





This venerable and much honored WW II vet is well known in Hawaii

for his seventy-plus years of service to patriotic organizations and causes all over the country. A humble man without a political bone in his body, he has never spoken out before about a government official, until now. He dictated this letter to a friend, signed it and mailed it to the president.





Dear President Obama,



My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don't believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.



I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos'n Mate. Now I live in a "rest home" located on the western end of Pearl Harbor , allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.



One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.



So here goes.



I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.



I can't figure out what country you are the president of.

You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:

" We're no longer a Christian nation"

" America is arrogant" - (Your wife even

announced to the world," America is mean-

spirited. " Please tell her to try preaching

that nonsense to 23 generations of our

war dead buried all over the globe who

died for no other reason than to free a

whole lot of strangers from tyranny and

hopelessness.)

I'd say shame on the both of you, but I don't think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.



After 9/11 you said," America hasn't lived up to her ideals."



Which ones did you mean? Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British? Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War? I hope you didn't mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom.



I don't think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected.



Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man.



Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don't, I'll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue . You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.



And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don't want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts , who

was putting up a fight? You don't mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don't want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.



One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you're the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you're not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you're thinking of.



You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president.

You're not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That's not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now.

And I sure as hell don't want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle...



Sincerely,

Harold B. Estes

Snopes confirms as true:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/haroldestes.asp

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Nice.



Oh, and Redfish, thank you for verifying with snopes.



TJR

 

[Kevin Lang]

Very nice.



In regards to the closing, Patton did remark that Congress was the greatest enemy to the American Soldier, and all other politicians followed in line. More than he ever knew.



Though I do have to point out, a minor aside, that 500,000 men did not die to stop slavery in the Civil War. First, the Civil War was not fought over slavery. Sigh. Also, 500,000 troops seems a bit high for Union casualties. Wikipedia states that 260,000 Union troops died.





Where did he get this number, and his history lesson?



Glad that Snopes verifies it, though Snopes is not the be-all, end-all verifier.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

KL, I agree that snopes isn't the be-all, end-all verifier. Is there even such a thing?



In the absence of "the true authority" I feel it's infinitely better than nothing. If consulted by more people before forwarding the gems that get sent to them I believe it would drastically cut down on the electronic chain-letter trash sent over the interweb.



If there is a better authority than snopes please let us know and do us all a solid.



Thanks,

TJR

 

[Robert Thomas]

A lots of people get mixed up between Deaths and Casualties. The most consist number I have seen is 619,000 casualties. The numbers in history records varies 100,000 to 150,000. This is due to deaths of those in prison camps weren't counted and those that die of wounds, injury, sickness. When you were injured in battle you were sent home to get treatment. If you died no one knew and it was not recorded as a battle death.



History is changing on why the Civil War was fought. In Virginia, in the 50's and 60's the only history was Civil War history. My Grandparents had strong feeling about the War of Yankee Aggression, but, I never grew up thinking or learning that the Civil War was about race. Now it is only about race.



Let it be known that I did not verify this on Snopes, it came to me with the attachment.

Thought it was interesting from the fact that WWII veterans tend not to speak out much.

 

[Bud Williams]

Thought it was interesting from the fact that WWII veterans tend not to speak out much.

That generation was/is not that vocal, as far as getting in the streets and protesting etc,

catch one of these old guys eating his morning breakfast at Hardees and that's a different story. Talk to this generation, learn from these guys, they have alot to offer, maybe they need to be writing the history books that teach our kids these days. Heck, they lived it!

 

[Don Pertz]

Snopes verified that the letter was written and sent.... Why in the hell are the same 2 or 3 people on here always trying to find holes in everything? The old man was right in his assessment and thats all thet matters. Accept it. If you don't like the way this country is being run, voice your opinion, VOTE and don't make excuses for the political BS.



Sorry about the Rant , but I spent 15 Hours at the Polls and the Election headquarters yesterday, TRYING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE the only way that will work short of armed insurrection...I'm sick of it just like that Honorable Veteran is.





As you can tell , I'm a pissed off old guy too.

 

[Jose Santana]

We did vote and it seems some people can't accept they lost!

 

[Les]

We did vote and it seems some people can't accept they lost!

We all lost...

 

[Jose Santana]

That's too bad Les sorry to hear that. Persoannly I am doing pretty good. My 401k is good, wife just became an RN after years of school. Looking to buy another piece of property while things are low. I was a bit nervous around the time Obama came in but he did what many financial experts agreed was the thing to do to pull us out of the recession we were in and worsening, like it or not I feel things are better. By the way I was against the bailouts.



The problem is the anger in this country is directed at poor people but it should be directed to the rich bankers who got the do over,,,, Isn't this the Rupublican way. Who care about the little guy everyman for himself!!!!

 

[Les]

Joseymack, glad to hear you are doing well on a personal level. I also have no complaints in that area. But you have to look at the big picture and the condition our country is at this time. Up to our armpits with out-of-control spending by the very people you voted for. Anger is not directed at the poor people, it is directed at those that continuously suck from the tit of an oversized government and an administration that seems to think we can keep writing checks we can't cash. This isn't a "rupublican" talking, just someone tired of paying for everyone else's lack of motivation and stupidity.

 

[Jose Santana]

Les there is lots of motivation out there, and lots of smart people at the trough... It isn't all lazy welfare people causing this mess.....

 

[Bill V]

Snopes confirms as true:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/haroldestes.asp

Technically, Snopes does not confirm that it's "true". Snopes merely is confirming that it is correctly attributed to Harold Estes. But they do not (at least in the link you provided) say anything about the many pieces of data, quotes, etc., that Mr. Estes claims in his writing. And frankly, IMHO, on something like this, I really think they should be doing so as part of their evalution.



(And because I suspect someone will want to call me on this--I realize that he likely has a different military title which should be used instead of "Mr." However, I am not familiar with what that title would properly be, so I am only using "Mr." as a fully respectful interim substitute.)

 

[Kevin Lang]

Bill V, that is an interesting point, though honestly the most important thing to ascertain is whether or not the man did author that letter.



If not, it'd be like all the other good, but false, things like the Australian general on gun control



Though I suppose you mention this for different reasons than I, sadly. The bogus statement on the War of Northern Aggression needs to be contested. When you include bogus facts in an otherwise sound argument, the argument looses some of its power.

Les there is lots of motivation out there, and lots of smart people at the trough

Yeah, lots of motivation to get free handouts...and smart people who realize "Why should I work my butt off and pay taxes to go to welfare when I can just get the welfare checks for free?" :banana:

The problem is the anger in this country is directed at poor people but it should be directed to the rich bankers who got the do over

Wait, so in America we're supposed to be angry at poor people? I missed that memo. You didn't send it to me, along with the one where you believe that every non-white person on the street will be branded an "illegal mexican" until proven otherwise.



Oh, and isn't "rich banker" redundant? I sure as Hell don't want a poor banker...

 

[Robert Thomas]

This original post was edited because I could not find the curly, /quote or anything resembling a square bracket. I surrender to the god of quotes and promise never to try a quote again.



At least I learned how to "Edit"



"God Bless America"



Think I just found a square bracket and /. Cool



"This Edit Verified by Snoops"

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Friends don't let friends quote drunk. :banana:



Adding a stray end-quote tag to help Redfish out...he missed one.



[/quote]

 

[Robert Thomas]

I'm really confused now. How did I get a quote inside my orginal quote? How did I quote myself? Anybody ever had a bad reaction to Aricept? How did TJR get inside my post? Is the dancing guy laughing at me? In my defense to whatever I did it was after Noon so drinking was ok. Thanks TJR, I guess.



:haveabeer:

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Redfish,



Your post had a quote left open. I suspect if you edit the offending post above THEN you will see one of your quotes ended with a {quote} and not a {/quote} (replace curly with square brackets).



Take a look at your post above...fix it, and mine will then stand on its own...



TJR