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Dear Ms. Griner

34K views 40 replies 15 participants last post by  Gary_Hungerford 
#1 ·
Folks:
A fellow veteran E-mailed this to me, this morning. I thought some of you might enjoy it.
Gary

To Brittney Griner

Dear Mrs. Griner:
We hope this letter finds you in good health and we understand you are having some rough times in your life.
We are a group of old, Vietnam combat veterans, from North Carolina. Our average age is over seventy. We call ourselves The Bunker Boys. We spent a lot of time living in rat- and snake-infested holes in the ground, known as bunkers, within compounds known, affectionately, as fire bases.
When we were not in the bunkers, we were crawling through the jungle, being shot at and shooting back, at little people, wearing black pajamas.
We must be honest and tell you that, the only thing we may have in common, with you, is that, we, too, were drafted. We noticed you were drafted, number one, in the WNBA draft, a few years ago. Since we all were drafted, we thought we might let you know what it was like, when we were drafted. Unlike you, most of us had no college education. The people of the United States drafted us. We consisted of all colors, religions and personal beliefs. We had no choice, on the team for which we played for: Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines.
We were sent, halfway around the world, to fight, then kill, people we didn’t know, in a place many of us had never heard of. We were paid, we know you can relate to this, an average of $3, per day, sometimes required to work 24 hours a day, if needed.
When we returned home, many or most of us were treated very badly, by our fellow Americans. We were spit on, hit by bottles and rocks, as the police stood by, just watching. We did not complain; each of us just continued our lives, then made the best of it.
We fought for god, family, country and, of course, the flag and the National Anthem; a poem, which was written by, of all people, a lawyer. He wrote the poem, as he watched bombs fall on, then kill, fellow Americans.
Ever since that night, our nation has played that little poem, before the start of millions of social functions. For some people it’s just a little song. For a veteran, it’s a reminder of how many men and women, of all colors, have given their lives, so the rest can have the right to be free.
We found, in our research, that you requested that the National Anthem not be played, at any sporting events. We find it odd that, now, you are requesting the citizens, of the United States, to pay for your release, from a jail, in Russia.
Yes, we, the taxpayers, are paying for all of those diplomats, who are working on your release. Our government told you, as well as all fellow Americans, who were in Russia, to leave Russia, after the invasion of the Ukraine.
You wanted to play basketball, in a country which is known to treat Americans badly. You fly a great deal and must know, by now, all the rules of what one can bring into a country. All of us, who travel, know the rules for entering a foreign country. You are a guest and must go by the rules of their land. Yet, by your own admission, you were attempting to bring an illegal substance into a country, which is known for its long prison sentences. You had to know this because, you hold a college degree and are making a million dollars a year, just for playing a game. At six feet, nine inches, tall, you know that security officers are going to focus on you, from the moment you stand in the boarding pass line.
We noticed, also, that you are now claiming that you accidentally placed the drugs in your luggage. Please, that is something an 18 year old might say. We discovered, also, that your net income is around $ 5 million, for playing a game.
For old guys, like us, many living on fixed incomes, that’s a lot of money, for just playing a game. Don’t get us wrong; we are not against you. We all went, then fought, so all Americans can have the freedom to make their own choices. We just hope that, the next time you have to endure the playing of that little poem, you will pay closer attention to the “ land of the free” part.

We wish you the very best,
The Bunker Boys
 

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#3 ·
Unfortunately too many of the whiners haven't got a clue of the kind of oppression goes on in other countries. Zero appreciation for the blessings they were born into when they were born in in the U.S. They need to pay more attention to what Giannis and Enes have to say about the life, opportunities and freedom that comes with being in America.
 
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#6 ·
I can assure you that there is something about being in a foreign land, and catching a glimpse of Old Glory- however far away. Yes, I'm that guy that gets wet eyes during the playing of the national Anthem (which I stand up and salute for) and I don't care who knows it.
This one's for her:
Forehead Event Jewellery Championship Competition event
 
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#11 ·
If she's on drugs, she is supposed to be suspended from playing any professional sports, then be regularly and randomly tested, for drug traces in her blood/urine. She should, also, be arrested, for possession of drugs, while she was still in this country, IF she returns. Does anyone think that arrest or testing will happen, IF she gets back here? I'm hoping she doesn't make it back. We're better off, without her type of attitude.
Gary
 
#12 ·
I nominate Gary Hungerford for NYS Supreme Court Justice!
 
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#14 ·
Griner is nothing more than a political pawn being used by Putin. Russians couldn't care less about the tiny amount of cannabis oil that she had. Putin knows how susceptible Biden is to identity politics and how badly he wants to get her released, regardless of her guilt or innocence. ALL AMERICANS held abroad should be getting the attention that Griner has, starting with those who have been held the longest.

Moving Griner to the top of the list just shows what weak progressive fools run this country. Should Griner get released; yes. But there are many Americans that should come first!
 
#28 ·
I'm interested in where this originated from. There's a lot of different versions of this with considerable inconsistencies. I typically find letters to be written by people mistaken misrepresenting themselves as something they're not. So where did the letter come from? By the way, Bunker Boys were World War II vets, not Vietnam.
 
#37 ·
Unfortunately, she's been traded, for a Russian drug dealer. I think Russia got the better part of that deal.
Gary

WNBA star Griner freed in swap for Russian arms dealer Bout
By Eric Tucker, Matthew Lee and Zeke Miller
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia freed WNBA star Brittney Griner on Thursday in a dramatic prisoner exchange, as the U.S. released notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout but failed to win freedom for another American, Paul Whelan, who has been jailed for nearly four years.

The swap, at a time of heightened tensions over Ukraine, achieved a top goal for President Joe Biden but carried a heavy price.

“She’s safe, she’s on a plane, she’s on her way home," Biden said from the White House, where he was accompanied by Griner's wife, Cherelle, and administration officials.

The deal, the second such exchange in eight months with Russia, procured the release of the most prominent American detained abroad. Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist whose monthslong imprisonment on drug charges brought unprecedented attention to the population of wrongful detainees.

Biden's authorization to release a Russian felon once nicknamed “the Merchant of Death" underscored the escalating pressure that his administration faced to get Griner home, particularly after the recent resolution of her criminal case and her subsequent transfer to a penal colony.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also confirmed the swap, saying in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that the exchange took place in Abu-Dhabi and that Bout has been flown home

Russian and U.S. officials had conveyed cautious optimism in recent weeks after months of strained negotiations, with Biden saying in November that he was hopeful that Russia would engage in a deal now that the midterm elections were completed. A top Russian official said last week that a deal was possible before year's end.

Even so, the fact that the deal was a one-for-one swap was a surprise given that U.S. officials had for months expressed their their determination to bring home both Griner and Paul Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges that his family and the U.S. government has said are baseless.

“We’ve not forgotten about Paul Whelan,” Biden said. “We will keep negotiating in good faith for Paul’s release.”

Whelan's brother David said in a statement he was “so glad” for Griner's release but also disappointed for his family. He credited the White House with giving the Whelan family advance notice and said he did not fault officials for making the deal.

“The Biden Administration made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home, and to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen,” he said.

In releasing Bout, the U.S. freed a a former Soviet Army lieutenant colonel whom the Justice Department once described as one of the world's most prolific arms dealers. Bout, whose exploits inspired a Hollywood movie, was serving a 25-year sentence on charges that he conspired to sell tens of millions of dollars in weapons that U.S officials said were to be used against Americans.

The Biden administration was ultimately willing to exchange Bout if it meant Griner's freedom. The detention of one of the greatest players in WNBA history contributed to a swirl of unprecedented public attention for an individual detainee case — not to mention intense pressure on the White House.

Griner’s arrest in February made her the most high-profile American jailed abroad. Her status as an openly gay Black woman, locked up in a country where authorities have been hostile to the LBGTQ community, infused racial, gender and social dynamics into her legal saga and made each development a matter of international importance.

Her case not only brought unprecedented publicity to the dozens of Americans wrongfully detained by foreign governments, but it also emerged as a major inflection point in U.S.-Russia diplomacy at a time of deteriorating relations prompted by Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

The exchange was carried out despite deteriorating relations between the powers. But the imprisonment of Americans produced a rare diplomatic opening, yielding the highest-level known contact between Washington and Moscow — a phone call between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — in more than five months.

In an extraordinary move during otherwise secret negotiations, Blinken revealed publicly in July that the U.S. had made a “substantial proposal” to Russia for Griner and Whelan. Though he did not specify the terms, people familiar with it said the U.S. had offered Bout.

Such a public overture drew a chiding rebuke from the Russians, who said they preferred to resolve such cases in private, and carried the risk of weakening the U.S. government's negotiating hand for this and future deals by making the administration appear too desperate. But the announcement was also meant to communicate to the public that Biden was doing what he could and to ensure pressure on the Russians.

Besides the efforts of U.S. officials, the release also followed months of back channel negotiations involving Bill Richardson, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a frequent emissary in hostage talks, and his top deputy, Mickey Bergman.

Griner was arrested at the Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport in February when customs officials said they found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage. She pleaded guilty in July, though still faced trial because admitting guilt in Russia's judicial system does not automatically end a case.

She acknowledged in court that she possessed the canisters, but said she had no criminal intent and said their presence in her luggage was due to hasty packing.

Before being sentenced on Aug. 4 and receiving a punishment her lawyers said was out of line for the offense, an emotional Griner apologized "for my mistake that I made and the embarrassment that I brought on them.” She added: “I hope in your ruling it does not end my life.”

Her supporters had largely stayed quiet for weeks after her arrest, but that approach changed in May once the State Department designated her as unlawfully detained. A separate trade, Marine veteran Trevor Reed for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot convicted in the U.S. in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy, spurred hope that additional such exchanges could be in the works.

Whelan has been held in Russia since December 2018. The U.S. government also classified him as wrongfully detained. He was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison.

Whelan was not included in the Reed prisoner swap, escalating pressure on the Biden administration to ensure that any deal that brought home Griner also included him.
 
#38 ·
I'm not advocating for any foreign citizen to be held by another nation, especially Russia. That being said, I have to wonder why Paul Whelan has been languishing for years and she gets out so quickly. If the US had one bargaining chip, it should've been for the longest held. Now it just looks like the administration only values certain groups of people.
 
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