James Stockdale, Ross Perot's running mate in the 1992 Presidential election, died Tuesday.
Many Americans probably remember Stockdale as the confused, awkward man whose "Who am I? Why am I here?" turned him into fodder for late night comedians. In his own words:
- It was terribly frustrating because I remember I started with, "Who am I? Why am I here?" and I never got back to that because there was never an opportunity for me to explain my life to people. It was so different from Quayle and Gore. The four years in solitary confinement in Vietnam, 7½ years in prisons, drop the first bomb that started the ... American bombing raid in the North Vietnam. We blew the oil storage tanks of then off the map. And I never - I couldn't approach -- I don't say it just to brag, but, I mean, my sensitivities are completely different.
One might wonder what Admiral Stockdale would think of the laundry list of polticians who now claim to be tough on terror, to support the troops. Would he agree with the way our veterans are treated? Would he have supported what we have done in Iraq? Here was a man whose eardrums were punctured, who slit his scalp so that he could not be used for propaganda. He knew the true sacrifice that comes from war. He was a hero. And whatever we think of his political views, or of Ross Perot, I hope that we take a moment to remember what so many men and women went through and continue to go through.
And I hope he's having a good laugh with Phil Hartman right about now.
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