e-mail   murphy@murphymartin.com

Murphy Martin Commentary
November 15, 2007

"Veteran's Day 2007"

The thoughts were all running together as we fought back tears while listening to Elvis sing America The Beautiful on Monday afternoon of this week. As we grow older the misty eyes seem to come quicker on days set aside as special reminders about how America has been built on Freedoms and the heavy prices we have had to pay to remain free.

We had already recalled that lone soldier's statue on the court-house square in my east Texas hometown that was a reminder of World War One. Many more remembrances crossed our minds about the Big War in the 40's. Those were Wars that had clear lines of demarcation. You knew who the enemy was and WHERE he was too. Even the Vietnam War, fought for the most part on THEIR terms, we knew the enemy and where he was even in the unknown jungles. None of these Wars, nor the Korean War, no war has been quite like the present middle East conflict where there are no enemy lines and you cannot tell which vehicle is driven by the suicide bomber who dies immediately along with maybe dozens more killed and hundreds injured.

We saw the picture of Col. Bud Day and his wife Dori. He was the featured speaker at the Dallas celebration on Saturday. Col. Day won the Medal of Honor for his work and surviving as a POW held in North Vietnam. He now practices law in the Fort Walton Beach area of Florida. His wife worked closely with our POW-MIA efforts in the late sixties and early 70's.

Many names from that time period come to mind. Sam Johnson, now the Congressman from Plano and Bud Day, and Admiral Stockdale, Jim Mulligan, Robbie Risner, George Coker, Jeremiah Denton and John McCain. Names among hundreds of thousands we learned to love and respect and appreciate because of their commitments to serving America and teaching all that would listen that Freedom is NOT free. It comes at a high price.

We never would have learned as much about service to country had my wife Joyce and me not have made a trip to Paris in September 1969, accompanying four wives who had appeared on a WFAA--TV program along with Mrs. Tincy Powell of Gatesville, Texas who wanted to know more about their missing loved ones who were United States pilots. As a result of our meeting with the North Vietnamese, we produced a television documentary and Ross Perot came down to the Channel 8 studios, looked at the rough cut and sponsored the program on air. After two more trips to check with the North Vietnamese as a Channel 8 project,

Perot asked if I would bring one of the four ladies, Mrs. Bonnie Singleton and her son Rick who was four-years old and had never seen his father, to Perot's office. I took them there and Perot was hooked on the POW-MIA issue. I suggested flying a planeload of medicines, food and clothing into Hanoi at Christmastime of 1969. They refused to let us into Hanoi but the spotlight of worldwide news was now focused on North Vietnam's POW attitudes.

Perot talked me into leaving Channel eight and heading up his United we Stand organization he form to help the POW-MIAs in America.

While watching Interviews of Col. Day in Dallas, We heard him say he can't understand how Americans claim they support our men and women in battle, yet will not support those same men and women with proper funding to supply proper weapons, materials and other necessary items which would provide better protection and help us do the job at hand better. Col. Day said, "We stop the terrorists over there, or we will have to stop them here."

On this Veteran's Day, Col. Day makes a good point.

That's my time, I thank you for yours.

Murphy Martin

Your thoughts and comments forwarded to my website will be appreciated.

e-mail   murphy@murphymartin.com

Previous commentaries: 
"Bobby Bragan Still Helping Young People Attend College"
"Romo Runs the Table"
"Murphy's Law"
"Political Pot Heats Up"
"Bribery, Fraud, Conspiracy, Among Federal Charges in Dallas!"
"Up Close and Personal"
"It's All About the Money"
"Six Years of Change"
"Couric and Zahn Facing Attacks"
"Thompson Mapping Plans"
"Rove Retires - Returns to Range"
"A Champion Bares His Soul"
"Birthday Time"
"Candidates, Storms, Murders, Wars and Paris Hilton is Loose Again!"
"Strange Political Twists"
"What Happened to Common Sense"
"Early Predictions"
"Cell Users Have More"
"It's Called Infotainment"
"Fact or Fiction"
"Legends Live"
"Massacre in Blacksburg"
"Post-Easter Parade"
"Gone But Not Forgotten"
"Early Predictions"
"2008 Could Be Different"
"The Bug and Nostalgia"
"A Night to Remember"
"President's Week"
"Two Different Wars"
"Dungy Leaves Indelible Mark"
"All Kinds of Smiles!"
"Humbled, Not Bowed!"
"Free at Last!"
"Three Vastly Different Lives"
"America at Her Best"
"Holiday Surprises"
"Christmas 2006"
"Is the Fat Lady Singing?"
"Sixty Five Years Later"
"Make It Merry Christmas"
"Voices from History"
"Dreams - Reality?"
"Democrats Dominate"
"Honored and Humbled"
"Last Minute Sparring"
"Cheyenne Memories"
"How Much Will It Hold?"
"FOX Controls on Tenth Birthday"
"Clinton Points Finger Again"
"U.N. Nuclear Sparring"
"SRO for Latest Hall of Famer"
"Katie's Back, Legs and All!"
"Will T.O. Ride Bicycle Or Tricycle?"
"Couric News Carousel Approaching"
"George Was Not First"
"Cowboy's Control Canton"
"Despite Unfinished Business, Congress Takes a Vacation"
"Reality Television Rolls on Sunday"
"The President Speaks His Mind"
"The World Around Us"
"Birthday Time Again"
"Presidents -- Past and Present"
"Expensive Babies"
"Change of Pace"
"Yesterday Katie Said Goodbye to Today"
"Musical Chairs Continue at ABC-TV"
"No Quick Support for Bush Plan"
"Moussaoui Meeting with Virgins Delayed"
"What the Hell Happened?"
"His Name is Still Magic"
"The Tallest Pine is Gone"
"Keeping America Free"
"Remembering"
"Christians vs Muslims"
"Bush Bucks Bashing"
"Early Look at 2008"
"Contrasting Memories"
"Reporter's Rough Roads"
"Another Cowboys Loss"
"People, Places and Things"
"Super Bowl Wasn't So Super"
"State of the Union"
"Is God Dead in Europe?"
"Remembering Dr. King"
"This Week in Review"
"New Year, New Challenges"
"The Party's Over"
"Democracy in the Middle East"
"Unfinished Business"
"Merry Christmas Rules"
"Bush Unveils Plans"
"Today is Special"
"Border Security Now!!!"
"Stupidity Loses Financing"
"Crisis Christians"
"They Led the Way"
"Sadistic Saddam Hussein"
"Bourbon Street Bashing"
"Hurricane Aftermath"
"Standing Tall"
"Never a Dull Moment"
"Another Hero Laid to Rest"
"Blame Game"
"Senior Thoughts For the Young"
"Role Model Challenge"
August 18 - "Network News Anchors"
August 11 - "Now All Three Are Gone"
August 4 - "Trust in the Media"
July 28 - "Television Then and Now"
July 21 -  "The Mick"
July 14 - "Forty Years and Counting"