"Several of us were in the lobby of the hospital, waiting for the shuttle to arrive to take us to our separate destinations. It appeared it was going to be a long wait, maybe several hours. There was a wide assortment of military types in the room, from Navy Seals, Marines, Airmen and Vietnam Vets, all in uniform. There were many medals hanging neatly on all of the chests, as evidence of previous encounters with the enemy. As the only civilian in the room, it was a little intimidating to be surrounded by all these soldiers, marines, navy and airmen who were no stranger to combat. Yes, I did three years with the Air Force, but that was a long time ago."

"Everyone sat silent for a while, immersed in their own thoughts, that is until one of the Marines asked the Navy Seals if they knew anything about the Benghazi attack on 911 last year. There are so many unanswered questions about Benghazi that many Americans want to know what we were doing in Benghazi in the first place, why there wasn't adequate security leading up to the terrorist attack, why there was no military response to save the Ambassador and three other brave Americans, why was there such a significant CIA presence in the Annex located about a mile from the Consulate, why has only one of the many survivors of the attack testified before Congress and finally, why the President, Hillary Clinton and UN Ambassador Susan Rice offered up the outrageous story (lie) that the attack was spontaneous, resulting from an anti-Muslim video made here in the U. S.? But the real question in everyone's mind today was, where were Barack and Hillary on the night of the attack?"

"One of the two Navy Seals in the room straightened up in his seat and responded with "I know damn well where they were!" Everyone could tell that his outburst was laced with both rage and disgust. I and the other men in the room sat upright in our chairs with this revelation and his elevated voice. We listened intently to see if there was going to be an explanation for how he knew where Barack and Hillary were on the night Ambassador Stevens, Sean Smith and Navy Seals Glen A. Doherty and Tyron S. Woods were killed. The Seal, sporting at least one bronze star on his tunic and whole bunch of other medals I did not recognize, started to unwind. His brow furled, his eyes glared and his mouth tightened as he began to speak."

"He exclaimed, 'This whole damn thing is a cover up from start to finish. Barack and Hillary both hurried to the situation room in the White House when the alarm came in across the secured wires that the attack was underway. They both sat and watched the whole thing as it was unfolding in real time. The obvious call from the top brass in the room was to immediately send in military help but Obama told them to stand down. OBAMA TOLD THEM TO STAND DOWN!'"

"The Seal sat back for a minute, as if to collect his thoughts. His next statement was a little more calm and measured, as if he was trying to regain his composure. He said he was in Benghazi that night and also had a friend and high-ranking military officer in the White House. He said this officer was the source of what he knew.

He went on to tell of a different operation he was on where the top brass changed the official record of what the operation was and the Seals were told to keep silent, or else. He was very angry about Benghazi and what the brass did to him in the other operation he was on. He wasn't very specific about the second operation he talked about. Maybe he wasn't able to be specific because of orders. In any event, it was testament to his perception of how the government and the military lie all the time and use and abuse servicemen for their own ends."

The above story was told to us by a trusted source but it is, nevertheless, hearsay. We have no way to determine if the Seal's story is true other than being just more rhetoric by someone with passion about the subject, who thinks he knows the truth. The question still remains, where were Barack and Hillary on the night of the Benghazi attack? Those that know the facts are sworn to, or intimidated into secrecy. Congressional investigations are stonewalled, or evidence is covered up by the administration with the hopes the story will die down over time. The mainstream press ignores the issue or obfuscates and clouds the story. The rest of us can only speculate.

How many of us would know about the NSA's massive intrusion into our private lives by collecting every telephone call, e-mail, tweet, or website content, if Edward Snowden hadn't blown the whistle on them? Now Obama and others high up in the government are scrambling to convince us that it is all on the up-and-up and they are scrupulously adhering to the Constitution. Sure they are! Unfortunately ladies and gentlemen, truth and government are mutually exclusive. However, they wouldn't be mutually exclusive if the press was doing the job it was designed to do and that is exposing corruption and holding government accountable.

This leads us to another story from a Vietnam Vet about what the military does to our service men in war under the rules of engagement. This story is in his own words. We received the story surreptitiously and have purposely deleted all references to his name and any locations that might identify him or the theater in which he operated. What he expresses are his opinions alone and not necessarily shared by this author. As you will be able to tell, he is angry, like so many in the military are angry over being exploited by government for political purposes. The general disgust in the military over President Obama knows no bounds.

Our Vet begins with:

America doesn't care now. When I came home from Vietnam in full dress uniform ... I was alone. There were protesters but they didn't do anything but yell. One said something to me and I stepped forward towards him and he backed up like the cowardly dog that he was. Now those people are running the government.

The Rules of Engagement (ROE) created by top-level civilians and military brass, are nothing more than treasonous, made up by traitors of America. The Vietnam war had the worst ROE we ever had, compared to all past wars. We could not return fire EVEN when fired upon, without permission.

The following is a true story that took place In Vietnam in 1968 on my 2nd combat tour. During TET 1968 (the TET Offensive) I was a door gunner on a helicopter gun ship. We often hunted at night. Our job was to seek out and destroy enemy boats (Sampans) bringing supplies to the 70,000 Viet Cong fighters in the Saigon Area. We had a Fire Fly helicopter with us. It was a "Huey Slick" with a very bright Xeon Light. The pilot would turn on the light on portions of the river. If nothing was there he would turn it off. If he lighted an enemy boat he would gain attitude and we flew in under him taking out the enemy target. That was the plan.

We came around a corner one night and there were 5 enemy sampans, armed and carrying supplies. We had a new pilot and he called in for "permission to fire" over our demands not to do so. Regiment said "Do not fire, you are in a No Fire Zone. This is Tuesday and you cannot fire on Tuesdays in this zone." What?????????

Can you imagine that. We could not engage the enemy in the open because on Tuesdays this was their safe zone. When we got back I was outraged. The other pilots took the new pilot aside and told him how we DO THINGS.

I went to the Briefing Shack and told the S2 Officer to show me the no fire zones so we don't waste our time there. He pulled out the map and marked them for me. From that night on...we only hunted the no fire zones!!! (American initiative)

When we found the enemy Sampans the Fire Fly would immediately gain altitude to get out of the hail storm of bullets from the enemy's 51 caliber anti-aircraft heavy machine guns they had on each boat.

We sent all 5 sampans to the bottom of the river, and then hovered until their crews came up for air. We sent them to the bottom as well. For months the supply boats kept coming but no one was was left alive to tell them one of the American Gunships was not obeying the No Fire Zones. We did our job and then went back to base and quietly refueled and rearmed the Aircraft. No one talked.

When we attacked and invaded Iraq and Afghanistan we sent our soldiers into battle with Humvees not "battle rated". The majority of US troops killed there were killed by IED's. The Humvee is a JEEP replacement and not built as an attack vehicle.

What the American people do not know is after Vietnam we took back our M-113 Armored Calvary Assault Vehicles. They M-113 is a box-shaped, tracked vehicle that serves as a weapons platform. It can take all but the biggest IED's, goes 50 mph, 350 miles on a tank of diesel, and is highly armored. 1,200 were already in use in Iraq. They could have towed trailers and if attacked, just dumped the trailers and attacked the insurgents. Normal IED's would just chip the paint.

We had 60,000+ of these M-113 (selling them to foreign countries) totally reconditioned and rebuilt after the Vietnam war. The M-113's would have saved the majority of those US troops killed in Humvee's hit by IED's.

Three (3) senators challenged the governement and the President for not deploying the M-113's as convey escorts in place of the fragile Humvee's. The government refused. WHY? Because the US government had a contract to purchase 200,000 Humvees and everybody was getting a piece of the pie.

We have lost control of our government. The poor, the minorities, and yes the illegal aliens vote for whomever gives them the most entitlements. The wellbeing and safety of our fighting men and women be damned.

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So what do these two stories have in common? The answer is obvious. Our brave service men and women are used as pawns by politicians and high-ranking military officers for purely political reasons, or to cover some so-called important person's precious behind while our service men are thrown to the wolves. Government fights wars it can't or doesn't intend to win, making the lives that were lost for naught. 58,000 men were sacrificed and a huge number wounded in Vietnam and we pulled out with our tail between our legs.

Government provides in-adequate equipment to use in combat that costs precious lives. (i.e. un-armored Humvees) Government makes ludicrous rules about when our soldiers can shoot and when they can't shoot, even when they are under attack. We encourage our readers to see the movie "Rules of Engagement" with Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel Jackson, if they are interested in what we are talking about.

Government and the top brass are more interested in being "fair" to the enemy and the civilian population than protecting the sacred lives of those who put everything on the line to protect our freedom. When they come home from battle, they have to fight the Veteran's Administration and wait sometimes for years to get needed medical attention or disability benefits. We give better treatment to common criminals than we do to those who wear America's uniforms.

Meanwhile, President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who probably were in the situation room the night of the Benghazi attack, remain protected by underlings and un-scathed by the scandal. If they are somehow exposed or implicated, they throw some subordinate under the buss, like some poor slob serviceman. The iron cocoon they are surrounded by is impenetrable by normal means. Stonewalling and diversion strategies are the norm rather than the exception. The mainstream darling press, eager to always be in the good graces of the President, shirk their responsibility to hold the President and his administration accountable.

Ladies and gentlemen, President Obama and the members of his cabinet, including U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder, are the essence of pure tyranny, choosing which laws they will enforce, which laws they will ignore and covering up their misdeeds or illegal acts, like Fast and Furious, Benghazi, IRS corruption, illegal data gathering by IRS< DHS, ATF and all state and local police forces in what has become an overt police state. Any unconstitutional act, like the President extending the deadline for the Obama Care business mandate for a year, goes unchallenged, thereby increasing the President's power. Executive Orders issued by the President without any legal authority are also ignored.

The truth is, the tyranny of big money, big guns, arrogant political power and the potential for extended incarceration without due process always win, that is unless the people rise up and resist that tyranny en masse. So far, we have seen no such resistance. Mostly what we see is embarrassing subdued compliance and fear. Mostly what we see are the "gimmee!" crowd crowing for their "free stuff" and stripping America of its wealth, resources, productivity, creativity and generosity with the government egging them on ..... for votes. And we call ourselves Americans?

Ron Ewart, a nationally known author and speaker on freedom and property issues and author of his weekly column, "In Defense of Rural America", is the President of the National Association of Rural Landowners, (NARLO) (http://www.narlo.org) a non-profit corporation headquartered in Washington State and dedicated to restoring, maintaining and defending property rights for urban and rural landowners. Mr. Ewart can be reached for comment at ron@narlo.org, or by phone at 1 800 682-7848.