Fort Campbell soldier says they're ALL voting for Kerry. 17,000 of them!

[kerry-is-my-prez]

Just received this encouraging information from one of our Sarasota-Manatee for Clark folks:

One of our Memphis Flyer writers is up at Fort Campbell (not far; 150 miles, and he's from there, Clarksville, TN) this week doing a story on the 101st Airborne, just home from Iraq, and mentioned by phone this am how he'd met a GI in a coffee shop yesterday who told him everyone in "my unit" is voting for Kerry. The reporter said, you mean your company? He replied: "No sir, I mean the 101st Airborne. All 17,000 of us."

[Beetwasher]

1. LOL! Man I Hope That's True!

That would be awesome!

[ptsmknhipy]

23. Everyone?????

Come on man, everyone in a DIVISION? I'd run this through the reality filter, thats a lot of hard-core people. How would this cat know how EVERYONE is going to vote. Gimmea break, would be nice to believe this but these are some hard dudes and they lean way to the right. I might buy 50%. These aren't the type to get upset over prision abuse pics.

Doc

[HuskerDem]

31. I'll address that

I think it's safe to say that this fellow, being in the mix and all has a good grasp on how his fellow soldiers feel. Why should we not believe that the vast majority of the people who are actually getting their arms, legs and eyes blown off and watching their buddies get killed might not understand that they are being USED as pawns and may tend to want to vote for someone other than the asshole who put them there?

I'm not saying every last one of them will vote for Kerry............. I'm saying this is an encouraging indicator.

[DulceDecorum]

2. HAH!!

My contacts at Diebold say otherwise.

All 74,000 votes from Fort Campbell belong to Bush.

[JohnnyFianna1]

5. That's a nice quote

[sweetladybug]

13. I live about 35 miles from Fort Campbell and I work for the Tennessean

newspaper. I talk to soldiers daily and this is what I am hearing from them. They are not happy about the war in Iraq (they feel like they were conned by Bush) and they said the Iraq people do not want them there.
ELECT KERRY 2004!!!!

[LiberalFighter]

34. Can you find out what precincts the soldiers lived in generally..

during the 2000 election?

What voting precincts are located on the base?
What areas do the soldiers generally live off base and the precinct they would vote?

If this info can be determined a comparison could be made between the 2000 and 2004 election to see any differences.

This site has precinct level results from 2000

http://www.american.edu/academic.depts/spa/ccps/fepstates.html

[RobertSeattle]

3. Air Assualt!

I'm a little dubious, but the Chickenhawks are coming home to roost...

[TNOE]

That is awesome

and I don't doubt it, Bushco totally screwed these guys and they know it. Can't wait for the Freeps to hear about this - they are deluded into believing most all of the military will vote for the bush* dumbass.

[cclark401]

4. Should not say that

too loudly or else all those generals will have their butts back in Iraq so they can "fix" those votes.

Man I'm glad to hear it though. May(be) the NC servicemen/women and their families will vote this way as well. Then NC will surely go Dem.

GO Kerry!

fixed on edit

[Wind Dancer]

26. That would be a miracle!

But, you never know!

[StephNW4Clark]

6. I love the 101st Airborne.

And that's why the prison scandal is so horrible. Because I do believe that most soldiers believe in duty and honor and country, and the leadership tells them how and when their actions interpret that motto.

That's why the prison scandal should rest on the shoulders of the White House and Pentagon officials, and while individual culpability shouldn't be eliminated, it's only a small piece.

I can't wait to see what the 4th Infantry and Calvalry say about voting. General Clark was their CO and trained most of them for the first Gulf War and he's a well known and respected figure in Ft. Hood.

[kentuck]

7. Fort Campbell....

Basic training in winter of '66.... I hope they do vote against the little dictator.

[PretzelWarrior]

8. that would be sweet. close election. waiting for absentee overseas ballots

and then all of a sudden Kerry takes a 3 point lead over Bush.

SEE YA!

[Leilani]

Wow, that is terrific!!!!

I think they are finding out that this group of neocon chickenhawks thinks of them as cannon fodder.

[fryguy]

9. but alas....

The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.

- Josef Stalin

[aquart]

37. State orgs count the votes.

And a whole lot of states are hating Georgie's guts, too.

He just isn't going to have the minions this time that he had last time, money or no money.

[lovedems]

10. I would like to think all 135,000 troops in Iraq are voting for Kerry

This administration has screwed the troops repeatedly. I sense karma. The troops are going to vote dem and screw the chimp out of the WH.

[bluestateguy]

11. That's probably an exaggeration

All Kerry needs is to cut into the military vote, with say 40-45%. For a Democrat that would be a victory. I expect Kerry to poll even better among the "inner circle" of military personnel: their parents, wives and girlfriends. These are the people whose enthusiasm for war has waned and they just want their loved ones to come home.

[bluestateguy]

12. Message Deleted

Please Delete

[riverwalker]

14. Jimi Hendrix was paratrooper with the 101st Airborne

just remembered.
Good for them. Hope they start speaking out, America wants to hear what they have to say.

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

29. Heard this song last night and thought

how incredibly approriate it is right now. I think Dylan wrote the lyrics? Anyway, Hendrix's version is kick-ass.


"There must be some way out of here," said the joker to the thief,
"There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."

"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too.

Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl."

[jmowreader]

15. Let's strike up a rousing chorus

of "Rendezvous with Destiny"

We've got a Rendezvous with Destiny
Our strength and courage strike the spark
That will always make men free
Jump right out into the sky of blue
Keep your eyes on the job to be done
We are the men of the one-oh-first
We'll fight till routin' Bush is done!

Eyes of the Eagle, sir! Air assault!

[demnan]

16. Too bad Karl Rove is listening

watch, they'll "lose" all the absentee ballots this time or "additional processing" - i.e. vote changing will fix it.

[damnraddem]

20. And when 17000 101st Airborne members find that they've been ...

recorded to go for Dubya 17000-0, how are they going to react? Voters will be watching, this time around.

[trof]

17. Here's why:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-na-ready15may15,1,1835321.story?coll=la-home-headlines
THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ
Far From Ready for More War
With battered gear and nerves, a third of the Army is 'unfit to fight' but preparing to return.
By Esther Schrader
Times Staff Writer

May 15, 2004

FT. CAMPBELL, Ky. — From their first days as "Screaming Eagles," the 18,000 soldiers of the Army's 101st Airborne Division are taught to be ready for anything. As the force's proud creed goes: "First in, last out."

But at its sprawling home base — after a long year in Iraq that wreaked havoc with the blades of its helicopters, the sights of its guns and the nerves of its soldiers — the 101st is as far from ready as it has ever been.

Outside a gun locker the other day, a soldier used a bristled brush to scrape out Iraqi sand lodged in the seams of his rucksack. In the motor pool, mechanics pulled the transmission from a bomb-battered Humvee. At a social worker's office, a soldier ticked off the names of buddies he had watched die and mourned the breakup of his romance back home.

The 101st has no choice but to fix itself. And fast. With Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld saying this week that the U.S. military presence in Iraq will stand at 135,000 troops for the foreseeable future, the Pentagon must prepare these soldiers to return to the fight.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

[Moderator]

22. trof

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
news source.


Thank you.

DU Moderator

[trof]

24. woops

my bad
So much good stuff. I already cut 2/3.

[BrotherBuzz]

18. They can't vote if....

they're not registered to vote. Ask all troops you encounter if they've registered (my observation was a lot don't bother to do so). Tell a friend, tell a soldier Register to vote! and Get the word out.

[RedEagle]

36. Tell the troops to see what they can do about getting ballots in their sta

Sometimes they can get an early blank ballot. Won't have all the races but they will certainly know the big ones.

FVAP ballots are supposed to be available from the military or embassies. Same deal, just the big races, but they can send it in if they think they won't get a ballot from home in time. If the main ballot makes it back, then they count that one.

Wouldn't put it past the "fixers" to delay the mail on this one, since they didn't get to institute the SERVE project for Internet voting- manipulation made simple.

[BrotherBuzz]

38. The Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) appears to be...

the universal application to connect with their home county if troops don't have other means or connections to register. A lot of information about it is answered here. www.fvap.gov/pubs/faq.html

I may be off the mark on this one but I believe there shouldn't be any problem in casting their vote if they register early, request absentee ballot early, and return it promptly. The troops need to make the effort and we need to encourage them to do so. They need to start making that effort that now.

[damnraddem]

19. Way to go, Screamin' Eagles!

Now don't forget to vote.

[CoonDawg]

21. Living nearby and having friends there...

I can tell you that, for the most part, you can believe this. My friends both active and retired that live in the area were not really for the war in iraq. The Afghanistan thing was different, but without exception, all my friends at fort campbell were opposed to the war and most predicted what would happen, which they happened to be right about.

I'm glad that so many of them will be putting their vote to good use, and I am also glad that most of them are back from deployment.

ErnieB

[Karenina]

25. Would that an INCONTROVERTIBLE 15,000

STAND UP AND BE COUNTED FOR TRUTH, JUSTICE, and honesty... one of those deeply held Girl Scout core values I have (born und raised inAmurika as I was), GW vs Cherry Tree- "I cannot tell a LIE."

GWB LIES LIKE :wtf: USING THEM for PHOTO OPS while administering the good ol' boys' "Golden Shower" IN THEIR FACES! The 101st and their loved ones have been and are being SCREWED by the *dauphin's *MIC. I do not for a moment believe that "fact on the ground" eludes them. THEY have "up close and personal" experience so even if they were "stupid" before, given an ounce of grey matter THEY ARE CERTAINLY NOT NOW.

Screaming Eagles. How PERFECT.

Bring this SHIT to a SCREECHING HALT. This parading peacock of a *pansyass does NOT get to press the "BIG BUTTON." Anyone who doubts the PNAC clique would pull that string is SERIOUSLY DELUDED. See: Film at 11. What you WON'T SEE is the horrific toll of "your own" being extracted by this folly. I'm certain the 101st is QUITE AWARE of it. I DARE ANYONE QUESTION THEIR PATRIOTISM. :evilgrin:

Screaming Eagles. How PERFECT.

[opihimoimoi]

27. My son was in 101 in the DS1. He and all his buddies are voting Kerry

[UrbScotty]

33. Salute!

...to your son!

:hi:

[Fla Dem]

28. God Bless them....whoooha

[HuskerDem]

30. My dad was with the 101st in WWII -

God bless you all.

The most fantastic thing about a democracy is you can do your duty with PRIDE.................. and then vote out of office the sonovabitch who put you in that hell hole.

[UrbScotty]

32. I salute your dad!

...as well as all of the 101st Airborne Division!

:thumbsup:

[chaska]

35. kick