thedrifter
10-22-08, 04:24 AM
Article published Oct 21, 2008
Former POW, ND grad Moe on tour to promote McCain
Retired ranking officers stop in South Bend.
By ED RONCO Tribune Staff Writer
http://sbimg.sv.publicus.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SB&Date=20081021&Category=NEWS07&ArtNo=810220297&Ref=AR&MaxW=290&MaxH=240
Tribune Photo/SHAYNA BRESLIN
From left, retired CIA officer Gary Berntsen; retired Marine Lt. Gen. Carol Mutter; retired Marine Col. Jack Jackson, of Indianapolis; and retired Air Force Col. Thomas Moe, all visited South Bend Tuesday while campaigning for GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
SOUTH BEND — Tom Moe knows what he’s talking about when he says Sen. John McCain suffered while a prisoner of war in Hanoi.That’s because Moe, retired Air Force colonel and a University of Notre Dame graduate, was held captive in the same place, captured after a weapons malfunction knocked his plane out of the sky.
“When he’d come back to his room, and the guard was unfastening his lock and was distracted, he’d look over at my door, not 10 feet away,” said Moe, who was a 23-year-old lieutenant back then.
“And no matter what pain he was in — malnutrition, covered with heat rash — he’d put a big smile on his face and just give me a thumbs up.”
Moe, who also ran the ROTC program at Notre Dame and worked for the university’s Kroc Peace Institute, was among four high-ranking veterans who traveled throughout Indiana on Tuesday, promoting McCain’s presidential campaign.
Moe said McCain has the military experience his opponent lacks, and he compared Sen. Barack Obama’s possible election to John F. Kennedy’s administration, which saw a standoff against Soviet nuclear missiles placed in Cuba.
The veterans’ trip comes two days after former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a retired general who served as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, endorsed Obama.
Obama’s campaign pointed to that endorsement as evidence he’s ready to lead.
“He certainly expressed his confidence that Barack Obama has the judgment and the experience to deal with not only the war in Iraq, but also the other challenges that we face around the globe, and to rebuild our alliances,” said Jonathan Swain, spokesman for Obama’s Indiana campaign.
Retired Lt. Gen. Carol Mutter, part of the McCain endorsement group, said she has a lot of respect for Powell and that he has a right to his opinion.
But Mutter, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, has her own reasons for supporting McCain. She said his character is the right kind to handle matters of national security.
“Economy doesn’t really matter a whole lot if you don’t have your basic security at home for starters,” Mutter said.
The group supporting McCain, which also visited Lafayette and Indianapolis on Tuesday, included retired CIA officer Gary Berntsen, who led the intelligence agency’s actions in Afghanistan shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and retired Col. Jack Jackson, who flew combat missions in the Marines from Vietnam to Desert Storm.
Staff writer Ed Ronco:
eronco@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6353
Ellie
Former POW, ND grad Moe on tour to promote McCain
Retired ranking officers stop in South Bend.
By ED RONCO Tribune Staff Writer
http://sbimg.sv.publicus.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SB&Date=20081021&Category=NEWS07&ArtNo=810220297&Ref=AR&MaxW=290&MaxH=240
Tribune Photo/SHAYNA BRESLIN
From left, retired CIA officer Gary Berntsen; retired Marine Lt. Gen. Carol Mutter; retired Marine Col. Jack Jackson, of Indianapolis; and retired Air Force Col. Thomas Moe, all visited South Bend Tuesday while campaigning for GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
SOUTH BEND — Tom Moe knows what he’s talking about when he says Sen. John McCain suffered while a prisoner of war in Hanoi.That’s because Moe, retired Air Force colonel and a University of Notre Dame graduate, was held captive in the same place, captured after a weapons malfunction knocked his plane out of the sky.
“When he’d come back to his room, and the guard was unfastening his lock and was distracted, he’d look over at my door, not 10 feet away,” said Moe, who was a 23-year-old lieutenant back then.
“And no matter what pain he was in — malnutrition, covered with heat rash — he’d put a big smile on his face and just give me a thumbs up.”
Moe, who also ran the ROTC program at Notre Dame and worked for the university’s Kroc Peace Institute, was among four high-ranking veterans who traveled throughout Indiana on Tuesday, promoting McCain’s presidential campaign.
Moe said McCain has the military experience his opponent lacks, and he compared Sen. Barack Obama’s possible election to John F. Kennedy’s administration, which saw a standoff against Soviet nuclear missiles placed in Cuba.
The veterans’ trip comes two days after former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a retired general who served as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, endorsed Obama.
Obama’s campaign pointed to that endorsement as evidence he’s ready to lead.
“He certainly expressed his confidence that Barack Obama has the judgment and the experience to deal with not only the war in Iraq, but also the other challenges that we face around the globe, and to rebuild our alliances,” said Jonathan Swain, spokesman for Obama’s Indiana campaign.
Retired Lt. Gen. Carol Mutter, part of the McCain endorsement group, said she has a lot of respect for Powell and that he has a right to his opinion.
But Mutter, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, has her own reasons for supporting McCain. She said his character is the right kind to handle matters of national security.
“Economy doesn’t really matter a whole lot if you don’t have your basic security at home for starters,” Mutter said.
The group supporting McCain, which also visited Lafayette and Indianapolis on Tuesday, included retired CIA officer Gary Berntsen, who led the intelligence agency’s actions in Afghanistan shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and retired Col. Jack Jackson, who flew combat missions in the Marines from Vietnam to Desert Storm.
Staff writer Ed Ronco:
eronco@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6353
Ellie