Missouri Vietnam War Medallion, President Bush, Bass Pro Shops And A Military Funeral In Aurora, MO

Soldiers from the 9th Infantry Division transport a wounded soldier to a dustoff site, somewhere in the Mekong Delta, Republic of Vietnam, 1969. The soldier on the stretcher is my older brother Bob.

Life Of Jason has a recent post on the Missouri Vietnam War Medallion Program Awards ceremony Governor Blunt and the Missouri National Guard are holding next Wednesday. Vietnam era veterans are those who served on active duty in the United States military service during the period of February 28, 1961 to May 7, 1975. (My brothers Bob and Tom and myself fit into this category. I doubt if I could get my paperwork submitted in time to receive the award at the ceremony. My DD Form 214 is in the lockbox at the bank.)

Jason notes on his blog that this was a post alerting Vietnam Vets to a ceremony to honor them. A commentator named "Fred" and a commentator named "Shak El" posted some comments. While they may be speaking in the abstract, a real life example of what they are referring to occurred here in the Ozarks on Monday, February 9, 2004.

President Bush had come to Springfield for a "conversation on the economy" which took place at one of the SRC Automotive holdings here in Springfield. An official White House photo with caption follows. President George W. Bush greets the stage participants at the end a conversation on the economy at SRC Automotive in Springfield, Mo., Monday, Feb. 9, 2004. From left, they are Mike Sadler, President of Custom Manufacturing and Polishing; Tricia Derges, CEO of Mostly Memories; Jack Stack CEO of SRC Automotive; Teresa Noblitt, SRC Automotive accountant; and Gary Brown, SRC Automotive Warehouse Supervisor. (White House photo by Eric Draper.)

After the event ended, President Bush and his motorcade travelled to Bass Pro Shops to buy some fishing worms.I know this not only because it was reported on the national level, but also because I was in Bass Pro Shops at the same time. As Bush walked down the aisle, he greeted shoppers, myself included. He shook my hand and asked how I was doing and then continued his shopping for worms.

That same day,about the same time President Bush was shopping for fishing worms in Bass Pro Shops, a military funeral was taking place in Aurora, MO.

Quite a few people thought it would have been nice if the POTUS could have foregone his visit to Bass Pro Shops that day and gone to Sgt. Mowris' funeral instead. It was the same day as his Springfield visit, Aurora was just 30 minutes away, it would have been a perfect opportunity for Bush to show support for our troops in a physical, demonstrative way instead of just talking about it.

Someone said that if he went to one funeral, he would have to go to them all.