Conduct Unbecoming - Kerry doesn't deserve Vietnam vets' support

Opinion Journal ^ | Monday, January 26, 2004 | STEPHEN SHERMAN

[yonif]

A turning point may have been reached in the Iowa caucuses when Special Forces Lt. James Rassmann came forward to thank John Kerry for saving his life in Vietnam. Although Mr. Rassmann, like most of my veteran friends, is a Republican, he said that he'd vote for Mr. Kerry. I don't know if the incident influenced the caucus results. But I took special interest in the story because Jim served in my unit.

[Eva]

I have heard stories about undercover Viet Cong who betrayed our forces, as well. I had a patient that swore that he had run into a prostitute that he had known in Saigon, who had had been responsible for the loss of most of his unit as they were pulling out, at the end of the war. The man was going to try to verify who she was and do something about it. He kind of scared me, but I understood how he felt.

Vietnam was like any other asymetric war, you never knew exactly who the enemy was.

[tcuoohjohn]

wow...got your knickers in a twist did I, cupcake?

Good...I like to do that to bumptious mewlers.

For your contining education John Glenn was Marine Corps Brigadier General not a Colonel. While I do not adhere to Glenn's political leanings in most regards, I do honor his service and his contributions to his nation.

Will there be anything else?

No?

Thank you for your less than scintillating contributions.

[tcuoohjohn]

What case?..

[ArrogantBustard]

You really are a very strange person, little boy.

[ArrogantBustard]

Yes, orthogonal.
There are two questions at issue, which intersect at a single point:
1) What pieces of a candidates pre-politics background reliably predict his suitability for the office he is running for. Specifically, does prior military service predict (favourably or unfavourably) a candidates performance when in office?
2) Is Candidate John Kerry an honest man, and a suitable candidate for the office of President? Specifically, has he accurately and honestly represented his military service?

These two questions intersect at "military service". To the first, I say "no". Some military heroes have been decent politicians (T. Roosevelt). Others have been abyssmally bad politicians (John Glenn). As to the second, Mr. Kerry does not appear to have been completely honest.

You write: "The man may have demonstated bravery under fire, in a kill or be killed situation, but he lacked the guts to stand up and defend his own commrades in arms against the attacks of people like Hanoi Jane.", with which I agree. And further note that Mr. Kerry belongs to the same category as Mr. Glenn: Good soldier, lousy politician.

[elli1]

http://www.parmacityschools.org/john_glenn/index.cfm

[elli1]

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/glenn-j.html

[Pure Country]

Don't give me that someone served in Vietnam and was awarded medals and now we have to vote for them crap

Stockdale received the Congressional Medal of Honor in Nam, served with distinction and valor--unbelievable story, but I wouldn't support him for VP when he ran.

[Eva]

No, Kerry's three months of service were not even that impressive. He got his metal for bravery for going after a man who had already been riddled by machine gun fire and pumping him full of bullets with his hand gun at close range and finishing him off. Some act of bravery. As a matter of fact, his statement that they never took any prisoners may be a reference to his own behavior.

[the invisib1e hand]

Many veterans believe these protests led to more American deaths, and to the enslavement of the people on whose behalf the protests were ostensibly being undertaken

the handwriting on the wall.

it strikes me just now that Kerry might just be the candidate from hell: so many marketable, fashionable tidbits that imply so much when spun just right yet, when examined closely, add up to just one more slimeball left-wing opportunist.

[ducks1944]

My brother spent two tout of duty in Vietnam. And they used what Kerry did when he returned against our troops. Putting them in cages and parading them through town like animals. So what Kerry did hurt the men still over there fighting. So go ahead all you Vets support Kerry that is more than he did for any of you. I will never support him for getting American killed and beaten. Go look at Kerry record and see if he has supported the Military while in Congress! !
President Bush in the guards did not get any Americans in cages and treated like animals.

[ducks1944]

My brother spent two tout of duty in Vietnam. And they used what Kerry did when he returned against our troops. Putting them in cages and parading them through town like animals. So what Kerry did hurt the men still over there fighting. So go ahead all you Vets support Kerry that is more than he did for any of you. I will never support him for getting American killed and beaten. Go look at Kerry record and see if he has supported the Military while in Congress! !
President Bush in the guards did not get any Americans in cages and treated like animals.

[Light Speed]

Kerry's Mekong delta stint sounds like war after the spin..but it really wasn;t that terrifying nor grueling.
Not like being a member of say 3rd Marine who landed in country for operation Starlite in 65..and saw some 30 plus killed in a matter of hours..then they stayed in Quang tri prov...the Hill fights near Khe Sahn...Khe Sahn region during TET..the DMZ..the northern Ashua Valley complex.
Most went 2 tours and out in 1969..or home in a body bag.

Driving around Route 9 was like playing Russian roulette..no one was safe..not even crews in their M551 Sheridan tanks which RPG's could whistle thru like butter.

Kerry did'nt *Hump it nowhere..,,he's not that combat experienced to go off and frame the Vietnam veteran as a robotic stooge of the gov.

[cricket]

"Good data. Kerry in Vietnam Veterans Against the War , a democratic candidate against the war he claims so significantly I am a Vietnam Vet . His achilles heel is revealed."

No one 'uses' - trades on - the American flag, the American Military; the very language of 'patriotism' more than these lying, pathetic Liberal excuses of American citizenship.

. . .and no surprise this is what they see, when President Bush is 'taking care of business' as Commander-in-Chief'.

[ArrogantBustard]

Go look at Kerry record and see if he has supported the Military while in Congress! !

EXACTLY!!! He has not (nor has he done much of anything else I approve). All of John F@#$%&^ Kerry's blather about his heroism in Viet Nam is whitewash, window dressing, a red herring intended specifically to distract us from his malfeasance and misfeasance as a US Senator. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.