The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center brought down the airline
industry and made airline travel far more difficult and inconvenient for the
traveling public. The U.S. was nearly shut down, consumers did not buy,
businesses did not order, and nobody traveled. There were huge insurance
losses and oil prices shot up, all due to terrorist activity.

The office of the President of the United States can not be a position
filled by an individual with little or no leadership experience. The office
of the President of the United States can not be filled by a person who both
Senator Joe Biden and Senator Hillary Clinton have stated "he was not ready
to be President yet" and "He can be ready but he is not yet." We can't
afford to wait for someone "to be ready" to function as the President of the
United States. We, the voters, need to weigh the resumes of both candidates.
One candidate has 46 years of leadership experience in the U.S. Navy and the
congress of the U.S., while the other candidate has 10 years in the Illinois
legislature where he voted "present" over 100 times on various bills. We
don't need a president who is "present", we need a president who is not afraid to
make decisions.

I served with John McCain in the US Navy and I was with him as a POW in
North Vietnam. While having been a POW does not qualify him to be President
of the United States, it does demonstrate and test his strength of character
under extreme mental and physical duress. He knows what it is like to lose
his freedom at the hands of an enemy, and while held prisoner for 5 ½ years
he showed courage and integrity in the face of fear. He understands all to
well the very real threat of Islamic terrorism to our country. John McCain
wants to protect us from another World Trade Center disaster. National
security is a priority with McCain because without it, all other issues will
not matter. This is the time for a leader who has strong foreign policy
experience and not a time for a individual who has no military or foreign
service experience and whose presidency could weaken the U.S. national
defense.

John McCain said it best during his acceptance speech at the Republican
convention, "I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone
else's."

John McCain is his own man. He votes for what is right for you and right for
our country. Under the recent proposed G.I. Bill authored by Senator Webb,
McCain was opposed to it as written because 1) the bill gave the greatest
educational benefits to the most junior enlisted personnel thereby
discouraging retention in the service, 2) the bill would not transfer
educational benefits to family members if the service member was unable to
use them, and 3) other congressmen attached too many "pork-barrel" bills
which translates to greater taxpayer burdens. When the final G.I. Bill was
passed, educational benefits were on a graduated scale according to length
of service thereby encouraging retention, and educational benefits are
transferable to family members, all thanks to John McCain and his concern to
do what's right for our military. In May of 2007, Obama voted against a bill
which provided 165,000 combat troops in Iraq the continuing support they
needed.

John McCain has been and always will be a strong supporter of the military.
John and Cindy have one son serving in the US Marine Corps who recently
completed a tour in Iraq and is scheduled for a second tour. Their other son
is in his senior year at the U.S. Naval Academy and will soon be serving our
country as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy. Sarah Palin's son, recently deployed
to Iraq with an Army unit. John and the Palin families are very familiar
with the military and know first hand the needs of their families.

Regarding the so-called "100 year war": A perfect example of people hearing
only what they want to hear. The United States has had troops in Japan for
60 years, S. Korea for 50 years, Europe for 60 years, Kuwait for 17 years.
Do you hear any complaints? No! Our presence in these countries projects
power and stability for vulnerable U.S. allies. The same would be true for
Iraq. McCain's response to the opposition claim that he supported a 100 year
war: "That would be fine with me, as long as Americans are not being injured
or harmed or wounded or killed."

Now it's up to us, the voter, to weigh the resumes of both candidates. John
McCain has the experience, leadership and dedication to do what's right for
this country by curbing unnecessary and wasteful spending and supporting our
military in the fight against terrorism. Consider the current world
situation and you will see that there is not a more qualified candidate for
the office of the President of the United States than John McCain.

David Wheat
CDR USN Ret.
Duluth, MN