Jon Soltz's introduction of General Wesley Clark at Yearly Kos 2007
Jon Soltz: ...an Iraq war veteran.
(applause)
(laughs) I find that so funny, because whenever you go to a Republican event, they don't seem to cheer for the troops. So, I (laughs) I, I thank you guys for that applause. I'm also the Chairman of VoteVets.org a group that (cheering) y'all have been so supportive of that without, without the support of the Kos community we would never've been where we are today. We obviously penetrated the political system from the outside much like everybody in this room, and for your support I, I thank you.
It's obviously an honor to be here. I'm here this morning to introduce General Wesley Clark who, who sits on the board of, of VoteVets.
(applause and cheering)
And then we, we have a second panel after this to talk about how the military is full of progressive ideals with General Clark at 9:15.
When they asked me to come and, and talk about General Clark, I, you know, it took me a couple seconds to think about what I wanted to say, because, you know, I think you guys all know that General Clark was right about the war. I think that you guys- (applause) -before it ever started -There are people out here that were right about the war before we went in - and that General Clark is pro-military, that General Clark supports the troops, that you know, he knows that this administration has destroyed our, our volunteer force.
But I actually wanted to talk to you about who General Clark is, because sometimes I think in politics we talk a lot about the policies, but not about the leaders and who the leaders are. And what General Clark has done, not just to bring veterans into the Party and Generals who served in Iraq into the Party and helping VoteVets, but who he is as, as a person.
When I, when I was in Germany, I was a brand new Second Lieutenant in 1999, and I went on a base, and the Supreme Allied Commander at the time who was in charge of all U.S. Forces in Europe was General Clark. And I was just absolutely upset that I got stuck in German class the day - it was one of my first days in the country - and THE General Wesley Clark, who won the war in Kosovo was at my base, and I didn't get to meet him. Because to us in the Army, you know, to be the Supreme Allied Commander Europe is one of the premier jobs that, that you could ever get, and to be (laughs) frankly honest before I started working with General Clark, I was afraid of him. People used to say to me, 'Hey Jon, call General Clark.' I said, "I'm not, I don't have anything to say to a Four-Star General." (laughter) And they said, 'But call him up.' And I said, "But no, no, no, no, no. I don't speak to Generals unless they speak to me. And- (laughter) It's true. I was afraid, I sw- I, it's true. I was so afraid, because in the Army, if you talk to a General, well your Lieutenant Colonel's going to have a problem with it, and you're Captain might have a problem with it, and your full-bird Colonel might ha-... So, it's a big no-no, but through my work in, in politics I've, I've been lucky.
And I was down in Dallas about two weeks ago, and I don't know of you guys ever had those experiences, you know, where you, you sit on an airplane and you got to like get all your bags and you got to go through the airplane. And people are mean to me always. You know, I always feel like people are mean, and I sat down next to this, next to this woman and she's like, "Oh, no problem, sit right in here and with all your bags." And I said, "You are, you're a nice woman. You are so nice. Like what do you do?" And she says, "Oh, I'm a baptist minister." And she proceeded to tell me how she didn't like George Bush, and I just couldn't believe it.
(laughter and applause)
HA! I said, I said, "Well, I'm an Iraq war veteran, and I don't like him either." And so then, I said, "But why were you so nice to me?" And she says, she says, "Jon, because I'm a Baptist minister, and everybody in this world has private burdens. Everybody in this world has problems, and I figure I should be nice to everybody that I meet, because you don't know the secrets that they carry."
And I started thinking about when I came back from Iraq and how I felt about going to the VA and finding out they were closing the VA hospital that I went to. And I started thinking about what it was like to go to war without the right equipment and what it was like to live with the guilt of survival in war. And I started thinking about burdens that all, everybody in our life carries, and I thought about who helped me with my burdens.
And when I got my hands on General Clark's new book that hasn't come out yet, there's, there's a great clip in there about him in Vietnam and how ten years later in Germany, he was shaving, and he, he was thinking about what he was mad about and his anger. And it took him a long time to look in the mirror and know that he was mad because he never saw the guy who shot him four times. He never killed the guy that shot him four times. But finally, twelve years later at a time when the Army was absolutely decimated after Vietnam, much like we're seeing today, not only did General Clark beat his burdens, but he helped fix the Army's burdens and lead us to a war of victory in 1999.
And I thought about all of my burdens and the burdens that I personally carry, and leaders are people that help people with their problems and their burdens. And I, I had a decision to make with VoteVets, and I, I was a nobody. I mean, I was a no, I was just a kid who served in Iraq, and I needed one person to sign on to this concept that we could take veterans to help run for office, and we could take veterans who served in this war and use them for credibility, challenge this administration. And the one person who gave me their name was General Clark, and for me-
(applause)
-for me all of my burdens that I carried from Iraq I, I work out sort of through VoteVets, and I had a decision was I going to go into the woods and disappear like so many veterans do, or do you come into the world and do you try to change it. And nobody has helped me as much in the last year as General Clark as a person, and I know that politicians come up here and they're going to tell you about their policies, but we need leaders in this country to help people. That's what they do. Leaders help people.
(applause)
And General Clark, as a role model who beat his own burdens, General Clark is someone who helped my burdens. General Clark is someone who can help you with your burdens and your burdens are our burdens and American's burdens, and I hope we have more leaders like General Clark that can help America fix the burdens that we see.
Ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause for General Wesley Clark.
(enthusiastic cheering and applause)