I can not verify whether or not this really happened either but
like the others it is worth a minute whether or not it is true... It's
a good example of one man's explanation of why men and women in the Uniformed
Services do what they do for a living. And an example of what those who
have never served think of the Military
.
Senator Metzenbaum to Senator Glenn: "How can you run for Senate when
you've never held a real "job"?"
Senator Glenn: "I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps.
I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by anti-aircraft
fire on 12 different occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn't my
checkbook; it was my Life on the line. It was not a nine to five job where
I took time off to take the daily cash receipts to the bank. I ask you
to go with me ... as I went the other day to a Veterans Hospital and look
at those men with their mangled bodies in the eye and tell them they didn't
hold a job. You go with me to the space program and go as I have gone to
the widows and orphans of Ed White and Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee and
you look those kids in the eye and tell them that their dad didn't hold
a job. You go with me on Memorial Day coming up and you stand in Arlington
National Cemetery, where I have more friends than I'd like to remember
and you watch those waving flags. You stand there, and you think about
this nation and you tell me that those people didn't have a job. I'll tell
you, Howard Metzenbaum, you should be on your knees everyday of your life
thanking God that there were some men - SOME MEN - who held a job. And
they required a dedication to purpose and a love of country and a dedication
to duty that was more important than life itself. And their self-sacrifice
is what made this country possible... I HAVE HELD A JOB, HOWARD! What about
you?"