Kerry's War-Hero Image Attracts Veterans

AP | 2/17/04 | NANCY BENAC

[kattracks]

WASHINGTON (AP) - John Kerry stands astride the decades, reaching back 35 years to his days as a Vietnam War hero to show the measure of his character now as a presidential candidate.

The pitch has been a powerful energizer for Kerry's campaign and now critics are hoping to use the rest of Kerry's war story to the opposite effect.

Kerry rarely gives a speech anymore without thanking the "band of brothers" who helped catapult his presidential bid from lost cause to apparent Juggernaut. With phone banks, personal appearances and campaign ad testimonials, Kerry's war buddies and other veterans have been a surprisingly potent mobilizing force for the Massachusetts senator.

"We noticed it first in Iowa," says Max Cleland, the former Georgia Democratic senator and decorated Vietnam veteran who has campaigned tirelessly for Kerry. "It is a generational phenomenon. ... John Kerry empowers veterans to feel good about themselves."

Veterans, says former Clinton administration Veterans Affairs Secretary Herschel Gober, typically are more like submarines, running beneath the surface in American politics. "But I think this year they've come up," he says. "They're excited because they've got a chance to have a Vietnam veteran sitting in the White House."

As with so many aspects of Kerry's personality, there are multiple sides to his Vietnam story. Kerry came home from the war with three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and growing disillusionment about the war effort. His three war injuries - all minor - were enough to allow him an early return to stateside duty. And after petitioning for honorable discharge six months early, Kerry became a leading force in Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

At one Washington protest, he tossed away the ribbons he had received with his war medals, and threw away the medals of other veterans who weren't able to attend. On Capitol Hill, he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

In the same hearing, he testified that U.S. soldiers had been involved in gruesome atrocities - rapes, beheadings, random killings of civilians. "We feel because of what threatens this country - not the reds, but the crimes which we are committing that threaten it - that we have to speak out," he testified.

Kerry's anti-war activities still make some veterans uncomfortable, and that is tinder Kerry's critics hope to turn into a bonfire.

Gober worked to mobilize veterans for Wesley Clark until the retired Army general dropped out the race, and Gober now has endorsed Kerry. He says of Kerry's anti-war efforts: "Some people will not forgive him for that." But he predicts that more veterans will vote for Kerry because of his war-related actions than against him.

Exit polls from the Democratic primaries show Kerry running strong among voters from veteran households, just as he has in the general population. But political analysts caution against thinking veterans will be a decisive voting bloc in November.

"Every group in politics, from the religious right to people who want to save the whales, has their day in the sun as the allegedly critical, decisive group in an election," said William Bianco, a Pennsylvania State University political scientist. "This year, it's veterans. However, there's little evidence of a sizable veterans' effect."

Bianco said veterans tend to be Republicans and vote for Republican candidates at very high levels.

Michael Coale, a Vietnam veteran who was volunteering his help at the Vietnam Memorial on a recent cold, sunny afternoon, said he doesn't understand some of Kerry's anti-war conduct but was unsure whom he'd support for president.

"We were out there laying our lives on the line," he said. "I was drafted. I say, don't stab us soldiers in the back and say we were baby killers."

Cleland, who came home from Vietnam a triple amputee, said most veterans he talks to are glad to see Kerry validate their military service, but he encounters occasional negative sentiment from vets who are "not comfortable with the fact that he was the lead dog back in the early 1970s."

"But what I suggest is that John was articulating what so many of us felt deep in our gut," Cleland said. "I wouldn't have joined an anti-war parade, but John came back and began to see that the greatest service to his veterans was to fight (President) Nixon and to stop the war."

Cleland, who lost his 2002 Senate re-election race after his patriotism was questioned when he refused to vote for creation of a Homeland Security Department, said a "slime machine" was gearing up to turn Kerry's war record against him.

Ted Sampley, a retired Green Beret who has started a Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry Web site, is happy to volunteer.

Sampley, who has long been a Kerry detractor, has posted a photo that shows Kerry sitting three rows behind Jane Fonda at an anti-war rally in 1970, two years before her much-criticized trip to Hanoi.

Kerry, asked about the photo Friday, disassociated himself from what he called Fonda's "terrible" choice but said he thought his stance against the war was "a measurement of character."

"I didn't love coming back from the war I fought in and having to tell people, 'This is wrong, this is screwed up.' But it was," he said.

"And one of the things I'm proudest of," Kerry added, "is that throughout that period we didn't just talk about the war, we talked about the way veterans were treated."

John Hurley, who heads Veterans for Kerry and has known the candidate since his war-protester days, dismissed the anti-Kerry veterans as a fringe, "noisy minority" and predicted that even Republican veterans will be drawn to Kerry's campaign because of the "painful similarities" between Nixon's handling of Vietnam and how President Bush has approached the Iraq war.

"I think veterans are beginning to feel that this is our guy, this is our voice, this is someone who will stand up for us," he said.

[river rat]

Bull Squat...
Kerry is a French surrender monkey...
Semper Fi

[observer5]

"Kerry's anti-war activities still make some veterans uncomfortable, and that is tinder Kerry's critics hope to turn into a bonfire. "

Hahaha, Reuters doing some damage control for free?

[AmericanVictory]

The writer, like most of his ilk, is completely ignorant of what happened in Vietnam after Nixon went into office. Those vets who support Kerry are only those who were in the first part of the war under Johnson who don't have knowledge of what happened once Abrams replaced Westmoreland and Admiral Moorer became JCS Chairman. Almost all of the negative stuff, including the lies Kerry told, relate to the pre-Abrams period of the war. There are good books about the latter part, which we have cited, but the lamestream is forever fixated on the pre-1970 conduct of the Vietnam war and this has resulted in over 30 years of lies by professors, intellectuals and media types to support their Marxist presuppositions. Even pundits like O'Reilly appear to be ignorant of what actually happened. It seems like we could correct this, which is the kind of thing Admiral Moorer meant when he called for information warriors in a WNC article posted here long ago.

[archy]

"I think veterans are beginning to feel that this is our guy, this is our voice, this is someone who will stand up for us," he said.

Yeah, but how many North Vietnamese veterans vote in U.S. elections....?

[USMCVet]

I am a Vietnam veteran and remember Kerry's support of the enemy very bitterly: he fell right in with Hanoi's line that we were all war criminals and rode that wave to his present political fortunes.

He may very well have committed crimes against the Vietnamese people, but the rest of us didn't. I'll always be proud of the bravery and discipline of my fellow Marines and soldiers over there. He allowed himself to become a tool of the people that were actively supporting the enemy (one of the most interesting parts of that war has been the camouflage of the treason by the ardent American Left as "antiwar protest" when they weren't trying to oppose warfare - they were working to support the Communist victory).

One of the greatest sadnesses of that war is that the lies of Hanoi and people like Kerry endure and the truth of how honorably and bravely the men of our Vietnam war did serve has stayed hidden.

[Nick Danger]

I wanna see if they can keep this up until November. Surely not even the AP can come up with a new and fresh sales pitch for John Kerry every single day for months.

This is exactly what McCain-Feingold was about. Silence everyone but the media, and the Democrats get $4 billion worth of free advertising, and nobody else can make a peep.

[ASA Vet]

camouflage of the treason by the ardent American Left as "antiwar protest"
when they weren't trying to oppose warfare - they were working to support
the Communist victory

Bingo! This should be the FR quote of the day.

[tet68]

This is one vet he doesn't hold an attraction for.

Repulsed is more like it, reviled is closer.

What a piece of slavering propaganda.

Kerry a colossus stands astride the decades, Hrumph!

. "I wouldn't have joined an anti-war parade, but John came back and began to see that the greatest service to his veterans was to fight (President) Nixon and to stop the war."

Max, you pathetic toad, Nixon was saddled with the war run by the party of Kerry, he was the one that stopped the war!
He was the one that brought the North to Paris. Idiot.

[kcvl]

Kerry activists in Iowa include John Hurley, a 60-year-old retired lawyer from Wellesley and a Vietnam War veteran who heads Veterans for Kerry. His group is mailing campaign literature to 73,000 Iowan households with veterans, politicking at American Legion posts, setting up phone banks, and arranging screenings of the documentary ''Brothers In Arms." The film tells the story of Kerry and five crewmates on a swift boat in the Mekong Delta in 1969.

[dennisw]

He served honorably but is not a war hero. This is bllsht. He betrayed his fellow Vietnam soldiers (Vietnamese as well as American) by his was protests.

[kcvl]

Herschel Gober, Arkansan, who organized veterans for Clinton in '92 and '96 and who was rallying
them for Clark, is now rallying them for John Kerry...

[dennisw]

Mega dittos!!!

[Bluntpoint]

Believe me, the press is going call any veteran that is for Kerry: a "Veteran."

Any veteran for Bush: a "Right Wing Conservative Veteran"

[kcvl]

Kerry, asked whether he is certain a rule enabled him to leave Vietnam after three Purple Hearts, responded: "Yep. Three and you're out."

For the past several weeks, Kerry's staff said it has been unable to come up with a Navy document to explain that assertion. On Friday, however, the National Archives provided the Globe with a Navy "instruction" document that formed the basis for Kerry's request. The instruction, titled 1300.39, says that a Naval officer who requires hospitalization on two separate occasions, or who receives three wounds "regardless of the nature of the wounds," can ask a superior officer to request a reassignment. The instruction makes clear the reassignment is not automatic. It says that the reassignment "will be determined after consideration of his physical classification for duty and on an individual basis." Because Kerry's wounds were not considered serious, his reassignment appears to have been made on an individual basis.

Moreover, the instruction makes clear that Kerry could have asked that any reassignment be waived.

The bottom line is that Kerry could have remained but he chose to seek an early transfer. He met with Horne, who agreed to forward the request, which Horne said probably ensured final approval. The Navy could not say how many other officers or sailors got a similar early release from combat, but it was unusual for anyone to have three Purple Hearts.

Kerry did not complete his tour of duty in Vietnam. Instead, in an appeal to Commodore Charles F. Horne, Kerry abused a loophole in the rules to secure an early discharge – Kerry suffered three minor, superficial wounds.

[Sir Gawain]

haha

[FreedomPoster]

Every time I hear the phrase "Band of Brothers" in connection with Kerry I want to throw up. He demeans the men of the 101st, who would often sneak back to their units while still assigned to hospital, by his misuse of their legacy.

[mewzilla]

I see AP's still in bed with Kerry.

[FRgal4u]

The media is still sucking up with the veterans for Kerry thing, I do think it will have "some" positive impact on Kerry's image, but they better be careful, if the public thinks Kerry is using a divisive war to divide us all once again, and use that to gain political points, it could backfire on him big time.

On Bush, the most dangerous situation for him is to ignore how the media and the left are twisting his record. The continue total silence from Cheney is extremely damaging. Bush can't pull the weight if Cheney continues to have his 30% approvals and 60% disapprovals. Cheney can't go out in public to do anything, it is time for him to seriously decide, get out and set the record straight or just get out. Of course if Cheney is out - a Bush/Rudy, Bush/powell or Bush/McCain ticket will rock the whole political landscape.

Even though the general election is a referendum on the sitting president, but no sitting president ever won the re-election when his veep is at 30% approvals. Conservatives may think Cheney is a plus but I bet the angry left think Cheney is an even bigger plus for them. The media did a great hack job on Cheney and Cheney personifies all the ills of this administration (rightly or wrongly; wmd "lies", corporate ties, corporate corruptions, cia leaks blah blah blah - how many more hits can he take before he takes the whole ship down).

BTW - Papa Bush 41's veep in 1992 has higher approvals than Cheney now, this is quite stunning indeed.

jmho.

[section9]

What a squalid, Kerry-fellating puff piece.

I strongly suspect that this will backfire. There were, literally, millions of people who served in the Army National Guard, the Air Guard (like Bush) and the various Reserve Components. The Democrats are busy insulting all of them.

That is all to the good.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Edit35]

The only VETERANS attracted to Kerry are the veterans of the America-hating, curse-filled, flag-burning protest marches which roiled this country and defamed our soldiers back in the 1960s and 70s.

With millions having served in the military back then, anyone (including Kerry) can go out and find a handful of ex-soldier protestors who are now so resentful that they will criticize anything.

[kabar]

Pure BS. We will see how many veterans support Kerry once they learn of Kerry's antiwar activities and his questionable war record. As a Vietnam veteran who remembers Kerry's activities with the VVAW and Jane Fonda well, I am energized by Kerry's candidacy. Energized to do everything I can to ensure that he does not get elected.

I wonder where these band of brothers running around with Kerry formed their association with him. Probably during the VVAW days. After all, Kerry spent less than four months in-country and served aboard two Swift boats--#44 (Dec 68 - Jan 69) and #94 (late Jan - March). Each Swift boat has a crew of 6 including the CO. This "band of brothers" is another creation of a biased and gullible press.

[RushLake]

Good Morning USMCVet. Thank you for being there. I am a Vietnam veteran and remember Kerry's support of the enemy very bitterly: he fell right in with Hanoi's line that we were all war criminals and rode that wave to his present political fortunes.

I too am sick and tired of hearing the charges that he and his communist supported cohort made against you guys. If I could ask him one question, it would be, "senator kerry, you were a commissioned officer who has stated that he witnessed numerous atrocities committed by our warriors against the Vietnamese. As a commissioned officer, why did you not take steps to have those committing atrocities arrested and brought up on charges?" Second question, "senator kerry, you or your supporters have accused President Bush of being AWOL from the National Guard, why have you not demanded that President Bush be arrested and prosecuted for the alleged felony of being AWOL?"

[FreedomPoster]

It's worth adding that those millions have families that account for millions more.

[North Coast Conservative]

One effective way to counter the "Veterans for Kerry" drive is to contact posts/detachments of the DAV, VFW, Legion, Marine Corps League with a fact sheet detailing:

Kerry's involvement with VVAW when he came back to the US,

His "erroneous" testimony before Congress,

His ties to Jane Fonda, (I will dance the day this traitor dies),

The quote from General Giap that the VVAW and John Kerry encouraged the North Vietnamese to stay the course.

John Kerry throwing his medals over the fence at the White House.

There is nothing slanderous or untrue about any of the above, and will show a good portion of the veteran community the truth about "war hero" Kerry. (Hi, wanna see my medals?).

If he becomes the candidate I intend to sell the Kerry/Fonda bumper sticker at cost to as many people as I can find that will put them on their cars. (I am adding TRAITORS.COM above their names.)

I will be putting a one page summary together, along with the pic of Kerry and Fonda sitting at the Rally in '70, two rows apart.

I will be distributing these fact sheets to all the veteran's organizations in my immediate community.

If you FReep-mail me your addy I will pass on the finished product IF John F'ing Kerry becomes the nominee.

I am also holding off on the bumper sticker until we get a little closer to the election. Then, if you send me your addy and $1.25 per sticker I will get them out.

In God We Trust…..Semper Fi!

[oh8eleven]

"They're excited because they've got a chance to have a Vietnam veteran sitting in the White House."
BS.BS.BS. I'm a 'Nam vet and I LOATHE this scumbag.
Semper Fi ....

[kittymyrib]

And this is what Pres. Bush signed into law, supposedly because he was sure it would be ruled unconstitutional. Unfortunately, he forgot to ask Sandra Day O'Connor what she thought about McCain-Feingold. He has no one to blame but himself when the media savages his campaign in the last 60 days.

[ctonious]

Herschel Gober, Arkansan, who organized veterans for Clinton in '92 and '96 and who was rallying them for Clark, is now rallying them for John Kerry...

Must be a cross between a goober and a Gomer. I'll bet he's rallied up at least a Platoon by now, including Martin and Charlie Sheen, who served in Hollywood.

[StonyBurk]

Kerry negated any heroic act he may have been party to in
the Republic Of --by his chosen civil disobedience after
he came home.His actions as a Democratic politician negate
any possability of this vet ever voting for Hanoi John

[Republican Red]

My dad was career Air Force, served in Vietnam, and he's also a leftwing liberal.

He told me for the first time since he could vote he would NOT vote if Kerry is the nominee. He told me he couldn't stand the man.

[mbynack]

There are six vets in my office and only one of them supports Kerry. He's a yellow dog Democrat who votes the party and not the person.

[ohioman]

Kerry is an F'in Traitor. Hell, Benedict Arnold was a war hero too, for a short time.

[sauropod]

For 28 Feb.

[cousair]

The garbage this guy wrote is a simple run on of how we have heard about what a hero Kerry was . He isn't a hero and the folks are tired of him telling everyone that his war record is the best. He is no patriot in my book and hero is far from what he should be called.

[brazzaville]

Good morning.
If you look on swiftboats.net( sorry, I don't know how to post a link), you find that Kerry is listed as serving on PCF 66, but not on the ones the media talks about. We know that old records get screwed up, eh. Kerry is only mentioned twice on the web site.

By the way, his callsign is listed as "Boston Strangler" It sort of fits.
Michael Frazier

[kabar]

Thanks for the info. I got my info from VVAJohn Kerry. http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnkerry.com/page2.html

I checked the site you gave me and found that according to this info, Kerry was OinC of PCF 66 from 10/68 to 4/69. With this conflicting info, all the more reason for Kerry to make his military records available. I was laboring under the apparent misconception that Kerry served in-country less than 4 months.

I also find it interesting that on that same boat, PCF 66, a William B. Hoole Jr, LT, is listed as OinC during the period 4/68-4/69. There can't be two OinCs at the same time. Something is screwy here. I haven't read the Brinkley book, but maybe that can shed some light as to what Kerry claims anyway.

[bushfamfan]

The cover of his book 'The New Soldier' with the disgracing of Old Glory is calling out to be made into a poster. I remember reading an article with some journalist writing about how there was an empty flagpole outside Kerry's offices for the longest time and when his staff was confronted with that fact and asked why, all of a sudden the flag showed up. He apparently wrote in his book that he didn't want to be one of those people waving an American flag, something to that effect in 'The New Soldier'. He's your typical 'America bad' lib radical really attempting to play it up now in this run for the presidency, how he is this hero, blahblahblah. I even noticed him with a little American flag pin on his suit the other day, attempting to play the patriot-like Benedict Arnold alright. But that book cover needs to be made into a poster and his name highlighted in yellow highlighter. Have fun with that one.

[RangerVetNam]

This vet will certainly not support Kerry, what a crock this article is.

[Cuttnhorse]

There can't be two OinCs at the same time.

Crews do rotate ya know. If I recall, there were three crews to every two boats. But that was 35-years ago and memory fades.

[RedEyeJack]

I agree...

He abandoned his brothers when he took advantage of the "technicalities" in the policy to "bug-out" after three "wounds" that didn't amount to anything... Not a day of convalescence...

He stabbed his brother in the back when he returned to CONUS and helped destroy the political will of the American people. General Giap gave him full credit for their victory over the greatest nation on earth.

This is how real brothers in arms fight for one another...

From Gen Robert Barrow USMC (Ret) [former CMC] RAND INTERVIEW WITH 1ST MARDIV

"Last week I sat in on several of the 1st MarDiv interviews that two retired Army colonels now working for RAND conducted on OIF Lessons Learned. They are writing a history for the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army on OIF and they recommended that the document also include Marine Corps and British forces experiences. Thus, their visit to 1st Division and I MEF.

While at 5th Marines, several of the regimental, battalion, and company commanders involved in the fight in Baghdad recounted some of their experiences. The fight on April 10th for the Amilyah Palace and Hanifah mosque were particularly noteworthy. The 1st Battalion, 5th Marines was
tasked with the mission. As a 5th Marines account of the action states,"Significant enemy action in several locations along the axis of advance and in the objective area, characterized by a relentless barrage of RPGs, a torrent of heavy machine gun and small arms fire, resulted in the commitment of the RCT quick reaction force in support of the 1st Battalion. In securing their assigned objectives, 1st Battalion experienced heavy casualties and killed an estimated 100 Saddam Fedayeen fighters....

Following 1st Battalion's attack, thousands of Iraqis spontaneously took to the streets of Baghdad to cheer and thank the Marines and Sailors of the RCT for liberating them from Hussein's oppressive regime." During the debrief to the Division, the RAND personnel said that they had no
idea that this fight had taken place, the ferocity of it, and the bravery of the Marines until these interviews were conducted.

Here are some additional details of the fight that we learned from the 5th Marine's officers and SNCOs who had taken part in this engagement. I felt I had to share with other Marines.

The Battle of the Mosque, as it is known, was actually a nine-hour,intense urban fight. Nearly 1,000 RPGs were fired at the Marines and Sailors from windows, doorways, corners of buildings and rooftops. Some of the casualties the battalion suffered were from small arms, and one of the Gunnery Sergeants was killed by small arms through a thin-skinned vehicle. The vast majority of casualties were from RPG fragments. One company reported that their 12 AAVs received 33 RPG shots, but that none caused a catastrophic kill to the AAV. Some of the shape charge rounds went
through both sides of the vehicle. On the first day of the battle, the battalion reported 34 wounded, most with fragmentation wounds to the head and upper torso. It was only on the day after the battle that the regiment realized the number of wounded was actually 74.

Many of the Marines had not reported their wounds to the corpsman,because they were afraid that they would be medevaced, and not be able to return to their unit in the midst of this intense fight.

Illustrating the bravery and devotion to their fellow Marines, a field grade officer in the regiment told us of one young Marine who only went to the Doc on the day after the battle to report severe shrapnel wounds to his left arm, asking the corpsman to look at the wounds and to not
say anything, because he was losing the use of the limb. The Marine confided to the corpsman that he had been unable to stop the bleeding for the past 24 hours. Looking at the blood-soaked dressing, the corpsman asked the Marine how many bandages he had bled through. The answer, "I lost count."

As soon as the regimental leadership found out about Marines hiding their wounds, the word quickly went out ordering everyone who had suffered wounds to have them taken care of.

We still make them like we used to."

Given what we know about Lt Kerry's wounds he is lucky that a real hero like Robert Barrow wasn't approval authority on his Silver Star. If he were JFK would have been throwing over his Shirley Highway Ribbon because that all he would have had...

[dennisw]

Great research. Now how many days (weeks?) did John Kerry serve on that swift boat? God bless him for honorable service but he's been milking this for years.

Once more for the cheap seats---> Kerry served with honor but is not a hero. This hero stuff, purple heart for superficial wounds jive, is just him trying to get one over one the American people. Hey, it worked in Massachusetts didn't it?

[Luke21]

This is so bad, we can almost tell which media outlet originates it before looking. The AP is a hideous excuse for a "news" outlet.

[Hatteras]

So Senator Kerry.... about those 3 Purple Hearts you used to get out of Vietnam 6 months early, you do have the medical records to confirm your injuries you sustained in combat, don't you? I mean, 4 months and 3 Purple Hearts? ...and missing only 2 days due to those injuries?

Hmmm, this raises even more questions than what is answered...

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

'JOHN KERRY = Enemy of Vietnam Vets'


http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1320

.

[Krodg]

I couldn't find this posted and wasn't sure if we should have another thread on Kerry.



Kerry reunites with another Vietnam vet

By James Kuhnhenn

Knight Ridder Newspapers

DAYTON, Ohio - It happened again. John Kerry reunited this week with another former seaman with whom he shared a harrowing night 35 years ago in a dark finger of water in Vietnam.

Patrick Runyon, a 58-year-old shipping clerk from Eaton, Ohio, showed up at a local union headquarters where Kerry was to speak and reintroduced himself to the Massachusetts senator. Runyon wanted to find out whether Kerry recalled their single nighttime mission as well as he did.

"He remembered quite a bit of it," Runyon said in an interview about his private meeting with Kerry.

It was the second time in five weeks that a figure from Kerry's Vietnam past has surprised him on the campaign trail. In Iowa last month, Kerry had an emotional reunion with Jim Rassmann, a former Green Beret whom Kerry had pulled from the water during a fierce firefight between Swift boats and Viet Cong. That episode earned Kerry a Bronze Star.

Vietnam veterans have become a staple of Kerry's campaign retinue, providing a reminder of his days as a gunboat skipper and a link to average Americans for a candidate otherwise known for his patrician bearing and privileged upbringing.

The skirmish involving Runyon occurred one night in early 1969. Kerry, Runyon and Bill Zaldonis, who was Kerry's Swift boat engine man, were assigned to a small Boston Whaler to patrol a peninsula north of Cam Rahn in search of Viet Cong in South Vietnam's "no man zone."

"It was very dark, really," Runyon said. "Then we seen some cross the water. A silhouette. Mr. Kerry saw them with starlight scope. He said, `I'm gonna pop a flare.' When he popped the flare I started the engine. We got going."

Kerry recalls the episode in "Tour of Duty," historian Doug Brinkley's book about the senator's service in the war and his ensuing antiwar stance.

"The light from the flares started to fade, the air was full of explosions. My M-16 jammed, and as I bent down in the boat to grab another gun, a stinging piece of heat socked into my arm and just seemed to burn like hell," Kerry says in the book.

It was Kerry's first real action, and it earned him his first of three Purple Hearts.

Neither Kerry nor Runyon has any idea whether they wounded or killed the enemy. In the book, Kerry says he and his crew strafed the beach, then destroyed the sampan the Vietnamese had beached.

"It was just a scary moment in our lives," Runyon said.

He'd never seen Kerry again. Until this week.

When Kerry landed in Dayton on Wednesday he was alerted to Runyon by an article in that day's Dayton Daily News. Kerry wasn't sure he remembered Runyon and asked to meet Runyon and his wife, Anne, privately, out of sight of journalists.

"I wanted to see if he remembered the incident," Runyon said. "I knew he wouldn't remember me."

Runyon said he followed Kerry's career from the moment Kerry became an antiwar activist as a leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

"The man had done his duty," Runyon said. "Then he came back and protested. That's the right way to do it, instead of running off or hiding away in college."

Runyon has been disaffected with politics since Vietnam. "I lost interest after that," he said.

But now, he's willing to reconsider.

"If it does help, I'm definitely going to register and vote for him," Runyon said.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/7992183.htm

[Hon]

"At one Washington protest, he tossed away the ribbons he had received with his war medals, and threw away the medals of other veterans who weren't able to attend."

"Kerry, after showing a reporter his medals and ribbons on display in his Back Bay apartment, said he had disagreed with other protest leaders on throwing away medals" -- Boston Globe, Oct. 15, 1984

Kerry's Medal Tossing
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1078349/posts