Bill Ranney

Today, at age 72 I’m a U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Captain living on a sailboat writing about what interests me, if I believe something needs to be said. Nothing has my attention more, these days, than the Presidential campaign and the consequences of a Trump Presidency. Through my writings, I hope to inform those who do not understand the full threat Donald Trump, as President, would represent to the world. My rebuttals to his almost daily taking his foot out of his mouth only to swap feet will always be easy indisputable reading in the hopes that I will shine a light on those who cannot see Donald Trump for what he really is. I also make no bones about my belief in Hillary Clinton as the most capable person on the planet, right now, to take over the reins of a successful Obama administration- and take it even further. As a former U.S. Marine and lifetime member of the DAV I somehow feel the obligation of writing, this election season, as if I’m still defending the principles, and perhaps even the future of our Democracy. And finally, of course, there is much more to my bio and an insight into my being. As I write about issues that concern me in addition to Politics, such as VA, Reform and Military Pay, Justice System Reform, Race Issues, Prison Reform, to name a few; I will also adjust my bio accordingly and open up to some of my varied experiences that might be reflected in the current topic. Today I’m writing about Trump being unfit to be Commander-in-Chief and I offer my own military experience as standing in taking my position: Military Service: I am a Massachusetts Vietnam Veteran who grew up in Somerville and joined the Marines in 1961 at the age of seventeen. Following boot Camp at Paris Island I was given a Communications MOS and assigned to the 10th Marines as a radio operator. The 10th Marines was an Artillery Battery and deployed to Guantanamo Bay Cuba in the summer of 1962 where I, now, a PFC, turned eighteen on August 11, 1962. When the October Cuban Missile Crisis hit l was already in position as part of a two man F.O. (Forward Observer) team plotting potential enemy targets, among my other duties as a Combat Radio Operator. IL received my first two campaign ribbons and drew combat pay for the first time at the age of eighteen. Immediately following Cuba I was transferred to the 4th Marine Infantry Regiment, as part of the First Marine Brigade at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, where intense training was on-going for what later turned out to be in preparation for the invasion of Vietnam. The training relied heavily on bayonet fighting, Knife fighting, hand to hand combat, and escape and evasion. I saw action as a Line Company Combat Radio Operator of the 3rd Battalion 4th Marine Infantry Regiment, First Marine Brigade. The First Marine Brigade was comprised of a Regiment of Infantry; a Battalion of Artillery; a Recon Company and an Air Wing. The First Marine Brigade was part of the Third Marine Division and the only Brigade in the Marine Corps. The Brigade was the Spearhead of the Marine Corps, highly trained in Jungle Warfare, and led the way for the Marine Corps in April 1965 when the Fourth Marines landed in Vietnam on Red Beach near DaNang. Following the Amphibious Landing, now a Lance Corporal, I continued on with the third Battalion into Hue Phu Bai and participated in Company level Search and Destroy missions working alongside the Company Commanders coordinating Platoon actions and calling-in, when needed, additional fire power. At other times I was part of a two man F.O. Team calling-in fire missions against the enemy. The Fourth Marines, holding true to their Marine Raider roots, became the most decorated Infantry Regiment of the Vietnam War, producing eleven Medal of Honor recipients. And for all of our Valor, the Fourth Marine Regiment received the Presidential Unit Citation with Bronze Stars, the Nation's second highest honor. Today, I’m no longer a Marine Lance Corporal, but,as stated earlier, a Maritime Captain living on my sailboat in South Florida when not with my family in New Hampshire. I am also a lifetime member of the Disabled American Veterans and a valued Supporter of the Vietnam Veterans of Massachusetts.