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Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin is catching grief for suggesting John McCain’s family history of military service makes the presumptive Republican presidential nominee unfit to be commander-in-chief. Harkin, who has a history of embellishing his own military record, told Iowa reporters last week that McCain’s background as the son and grandson of Navy admirals creates a “dangerous” situation because he can only view the world through the prism of the military. “He has a hard time thinking beyond that,” Harkin said, according to The Des Moines Register. “I think he’s trapped in that. Everything is looked at from his life experiences,...

For a guy who started his presidential campaign focused on his military service, John Kerry sure doesn't mind leaving that service record shrouded in mystery. There is controversy about every single aspect of Kerry's service – from the time he signed up for duty, to his brief command of a Navy swiftboat in Vietnam, to his commendations, to his medical records, to his departure from Vietnam and, now, even the question of whether he was honorably discharged. With the presidential election only 11 days away, there is only one way we'll get answers to the many questions surrounding Kerry's service...

http://www.johnkerry.com/about/john_kerry/military_records.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. John Kerry's campaign released a video Saturday comparing the controversy over Kerry's Vietnam service to attacks on John McCain during the 2000 Republican primaries. The video, sent via e-mail to supporters, says, "George Bush is up to his old tricks" and shows then-Texas Gov. Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain at a debate in February 2000. McCain, sitting next to Bush, says that when "fringe veterans groups" attacked him at a Bush campaign function, Bush stood by and didn't say a word. McCain says a group of senators wrote Bush a letter that said: "Apologize. You...

Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady (Medal Of Honor recipient) on Sen. Kerry "Guest Op-Ed by Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady 16 Aug 04 America has no kings or queens but we do have nobility – our nobility is called Veterans. That nobility is responsible for the bounty that is America but tragically their influence has faded in recent years and the values they died for are under attack. But this election year they are back in demand and some have said the veteran vote could decide this election. It may have put Bush in the White House. With this in mind, John...

http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=231 Writen: August 6, 2004 Modified: August 15, 2004 Sources: Michael Kranish,“Veteran Retracts Criticism of Kerry ,” The Boston Globe, 6 August 2004 . Jodi Wilgoren, "Vietnam Veterans Buy Ads to Attack Kerry," The New York Times, 5 August 2004. Douglas Brinkley, Tour of Duty, (NY, HarperCollins, 2004). Jim Rassmann, "Shame on the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush," Wall Street Journal, 10 Aug 2004: A10. Ron Fournier, "McCain Condemns Anti-Kerry Ad," Associated Press, 5 August 2004. Michael Kranish, "Kerry Faces Questions Over Purple Heart," The Boston Globe , 14 April 2004: A1. Michael Kranish, "Heroism, and growing concern about war,"...

Senator John Kerry has made his 4-month combat tour in Vietnam the centerpiece of his bid for the Presidency. His campaign jets a handful of veterans around the country, and trots them out at public appearances to sing his praises. John Kerry wants us to believe that these men represent all those he calls his "band of brothers." But most combat veterans who served with John Kerry in Vietnam see him in a very different light.

WASHINGTON - Dozens of Vietnam veterans questioned John Kerry's fitness to be president Tuesday, accusing him of exaggerating his credentials as a war hero and having betrayed U.S. troops in Southeast Asia with anti-war activities after his return home. The veterans' attack on the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee coincided with the Kerry campaign's launch in 19 key election states of two TV ads heralding his military and political service to the country. In bitter, dueling news conferences that reopened the wounds of the Vietnam War era, Kerry's detractors openly belittled the Massachusetts senator while a smaller group of veterans defended...

Prison camp life was tough in WWII. Fortunately I was able to bribe the guard.Can you say: 'Apple Strudel'?

Patriotism and John Kerry Many Americans are having a difficult time reconciling John Kerry's Viet Nam service with his activism against the war upon his return. I will not quibble over the length of his service in country inasmuch as four months can be an eternity under combat circumstances. I will not quibble over the severity of his wounds. He sustained them in battle and that's good enough for me. It's the term "hero" that's giving me trouble. I am not sure what it means anymore. It is tossed about and bestowed so casually that it's meaning has become obscure...

http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Senator Kerry recently wrote a letter to President Bush complaining, "You and your campaign have initiated a widespread attack on my service in Vietnam, my decision to speak out to end that war," and warning, "I will not sit back and allow my patriotism to be challenged." In the absence of any evidence from Mr. Kerry of an attack from the Bush campaign, Mr. Kerry seems to have originated his own doctrine of "pre-emption." How valid are his concerns? No one denies Mr. Kerry's four bemedaled months in "Swiftboats" or his seven-months' service as an electrical officer on...

A former Special Forces green beret who served in Vietnam has touched a nerve with fellow veterans after penning a scathing column hammering Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. "I've been deluged with e-mails," Don Bendell told WND. Most of the e-mails and phone calls he's received are from fellow Vietnam veterans, though he says some are from military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Take a look at my website," Bendell said, "and the number of guest-book entries." Bendell says the servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan who have contacted him have been "fervent" about their desire not to see Kerry...

<p>PHILADELPHIA - The head of a political group that helped Bill Clinton become president in 1992 said Democrats need to claim more credit for military victories in Afghanistan and Iraq if they are to win the White House in 2004.</p>