Today, Chief Warrant Officer (4th class) Michael J. Durant (Ret.) issued the following statement on Barack Obama's canceled visit to Ramstein and Landstuhl:
"Over the last week, Barack Obama made time in his busy schedule to hold a rally with 200,000 Germans in Berlin, hold a press conference with French President Nicholas Sarkozy in Paris, and hold a solo press conference in front of 10 Downing Street in London. The Obama campaign had also scheduled a visit with wounded U.S. troops at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, but this stop was canceled after it became clear that campaign staff, and the traveling press corps, would not be allowed to accompany Senator Obama.
"I've spent time at Ramstein recovering from wounds received in the service of my country, and I'm sure that Senator Obama could have made no better use of his time than to meet with our men and women in uniform there. That Barack Obama believes otherwise casts serious doubt on his judgment and calls into question his priorities."
Michael Durant, CW4 (Retired), US Army; born July 23, 1961 in Berlin, NH. He entered the United States Army in August 1979. Following basic training he attended the Defense Language Institute, and was then assigned to the 470th Military Intelligence Group, Fort Clayton, Panama as a Spanish voice intercept operator. He then completed helicopter flight training at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Upon appointment to Warrant Officer 1 in November 1983, he completed the UH60 Black Hawk Qualification Course and was assigned to the 377th Medical Evacuation Company, Seoul Korea. His next assignment was with the 101st Aviation Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he performed duties as an instructor pilot.
Michael joined the 160th Special Operations Group on August 1, 1988. Assigned to D company, he performed duties as Flight Lead and Standardization Instructor Pilot. He participated in combat operations Prime Chance (Persian Gulf in 1989), Just Cause (Panama invasion in 1989), Desert Storm (Liberation of Kuwait in 1991), and Gothic Serpent (Somalia in 1993).
On October 3, 1993, while piloting an MH60 Black Hawk in Mogadishu, Somalia, he was shot down and held captive by hostile forces. He was released eleven days later.
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2 comments:
Why didn't Officer Durant (ret.) ask why Sen. McCain didn't even bother to schedule a visit to Lundstahl when he visit Britain and France earlier in the summer.
Sen. McCain was in Britain and France on an official Senate visit (even though he also attended a fundraiser for his campaign in London).
London and Paris are almost as close to Lundstahl's military hospital as Berlin and since he was there on an official Senate visit it shouldn't have been a problem to visit since, according to Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell the candidates are not allowed to visit military facilities as candidates but only as Senators.
It's odd that he would claim "this stop was canceled after it became clear that campaign staff, and the traveling press corps, would not be allowed to accompany Senator Obama."
It was canceled because the Pentagon told the Senator's campaign the trip would be considered a campaign visit and such visits are explicitly barred under military protocol. And despite the McCain campagin's best attempts at spin, facts are facts: the press never was invited to the hospital. They were going to be kept waiting, literally, at the tarmac's terminal.
And, finally, why didn't Officer Durant (ret.) even mention Sen. Obama's visit to wounded troops in the Green Zone in Iraq? Of course, the media was barred by the Senator from attending that visit also, so perhaps Mr. Durant did not know of it.
Keep trying John, but don't let yourself get too dizzy as you and your friends spin away from the facts.
I noted this on the Pittsburgh Review post but it bears repeating since so many McCain supporters blindly jumped on the talking point express...
The McCain campaign has now admitted their ad was false.
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