John Kerry's war record

Washington Times Letter to the editor ^ | Fri Dec 13 2002 | MICHAEL BENGE

[restornu]

As Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, considers a bid for the White House, Americans should know a few things about him that he might prefer go unmentioned ? and I don't mean his $75 haircuts.

When Mr. Kerry pontificated at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Veterans Day, a group of veterans turned their backs on him and walked away. They remembered Mr. Kerry as the anti-war activist who testified before Congress during the war, accusing veterans of being war criminals.

The dust jacket of Mr. Kerry's pro-Hanoi book, "The New Soldier," features a photograph of his ragged band of radicals mocking the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, which depicts the flag-raising on Iwo Jima, with an upside-down American flag.

Retired Gen. George S. Patton III charged that Mr. Kerry's actions as an anti-war activist had "given aid and comfort to the enemy," as had the actions of Ramsey Clark and Jane Fonda. Also, Mr. Kerry lied when he threw what he claimed were his war medals over the White House fence; he later admitted they weren't his.

Now they are displayed on his office wall. Long after he changed sides in congressional hearings, Mr. Kerry lobbied for renewed trade relations with Hanoi.

At the same time, his cousin C.Stewart Forbes, chief executive for Colliers International, assisted in brokering a $905 million deal to develop a deep-sea port at Vung Tau, Vietnam ?

An odd coincidence.

As noted in the Inside Politics column of Nov. 14 (Nation), historian Douglas Brinkley is writing Mr. Kerry's biography. Hopefully, he'll include the senator's latest ignominious feat: preventing the Vietnam Human Rights Act (HR2833) from coming to a vote in the Senate, claiming human rights would deteriorate as a result. His actions sent a clear signal to Hanoi that Congress cares little about the human rights for which so many Americans fought and died.

The State Department ranked Vietnam among the 10 regimes worldwide least tolerant of religious freedom. Recently, 354 churches of the Montagnards, a Christian ethnic minority, were forcibly disbanded, and by mid-October, more than 50 Christian pastors and elders had been arrested in Dak Lak province alone.

On Oct. 29, the secret police executed three Montagnards by lethal injection simply for protesting religious repression. The communists are conducting a pogrom against the Montagnards, forcing Christians to drink a mixture of goat's blood and alcohol and renounce Christianity.

Thousands have been killed or imprisoned or have just "disappeared." The Montagnards lost one-half of their adult male population fighting for the United States, and without them, there might be thousands more American names on that somber black granite wall at the Vietnam memorial.

As Mr. Kerry contemplates a run for the presidency, people must remember that he has fought harder for Hanoi as an anti-war activist and a senator than he did against the Vietnamese communists while serving in the Navy in Vietnam.

MICHAEL BENGE Foreign Service officer and former Vietnam POW (1968 to 1973)

[Destro]

Second .. the fact that Kerry protest against this war is not the issue or why many Vietnam Vets are ticked off at him

It's the fact that instead of protesting against the government and the war .. He accused he fellow soldiers of being criminals ..

How so?

[Texasforever]

Kerry won his medals legit. We are talking hand to hand combat.

Source?

[Destro]

You are kidding me right?

[Mo1]

You're kidding right??

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1061806/posts
Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 23, 1971, Kerry claimed that U.S. soldiers had “raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam.”

[Texasforever]

You are kidding me right?

Not at all. I spent about 2 hours on google looking for details behind his medals. I could find nothing beyond the simple statement that he was awarded them. I did find one article in which his CO stated that Kerry acted recklessly and put his boat and crew in unnecessary danger and that the enemy soldier he took the rocket launcher from was already incapacitated from heavy fire from the boat and that Kerry provide the "Coup De Gra". So I repeat, source?

[Destro]

Thanks a lot for making me go on his website. Again I keep warning you people this line of attack makes Kerry look good and our side look bad: Kerry entered the Navy after graduation, becoming a Swift Boat officer, serving on a gunboat in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. He received a Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, and three awards of the Purple Heart for his service in combat.

[Mo1]

Nice site Kerry has .. but it reminds me of Hellary's book

Though he tells the truth .. he also leaves gapping holes when it comes to telling the whole truth

[Destro]

All that is false? What will Joe Blow American think? After movies like "Platoon"? John Wayne's "Green Berets" is not that familiar to Americans these days. Secondly, he said what he said in the open. While that statement may turn off many Americans many other Americans will say this guy has the guts to stand up and go on record. I say again this line of attack is dangerous. Kerry is already planning to take out Bush via the military record and even though he is a Dukakis at heart he has the medals to not look silly in a helmet.

[Texasforever]

http://www.usvetdsp.com/jf_kerry.htm Kerry was given a Silver Star for an action on February 28, 1969: When Kerry's Patrol Craft Fast 94 received a B-40 rocket shot from shore, he hot dogged his craft beaching it in the center of the enemy position. To his surprise, an enemy soldier sprang up from a hole not ten feet from Patrol Craft 94 and fled. The boat's machine gunner hit and wounded the fleeing Viet Cong as he darted behind a hootch. The twin .50s gunner fired at the Viet Cong. He said he "laid 50 rounds" into the hootch before Kerry leaped from the boat and dashed in to administer a "coup de grace" to the wounded Viet Cong. Kerry returned with the B-40 rocket and launcher..

[Salvation]

Current information is what you want, huh?

How about the 82 votes he missed on the Senate floor last year?

Howie Carr has the source on his website.

[Mo1]

I never stated it should be the main focus of attacks by Bush .. I said it shouldn't be ignored by the media/press

As for Kerry's words ... you may think spitting on our soldiers is fine ... But it's not ok with me and many many others .. especially Vets

[Destro]

I will say no more on this subject if I can help it. I do not wish to point anything else out and get Kerry's name even more out there and Texasforever unless you are ready to argue that Kerry got his medals the same way Pvt Jessica Lynch did-because of cuteness the official reasons for his medals stands. In additon 3 Purple Hearts is nothing to sneaze at. He bled. He served. Was he Alexander the Great crossing the Hellespont? No. But what will the war record be on the side he will face?

CAMPAIGN SMART.

[Destro]

He spit? Actual spit?

[Texasforever]

Dukakis at heart he has the medals to not look silly in a helmet.

That would be extremely foolish for Lurch since he has already been shown to be a liar concerning his disposition of those medals on his return from the Nam. His 3 "Purple Hearts" are also a bit overblown. He was "wounded" 3 times but none serious enough to keep him from active duty. He then used the 3 PHs to gain early release from service.

[Destro]

Sounds brave to me. Even daring. Sounds like he commanded a tight ship and captained a good and sharp crew.

[Salvation]

How about this record? Kerry is a Catholic in name only.

Catholics and Politicians:

The Deadly Dozen

Blood On Their Hands: Exposing Pro-abortion Catholic Politicians

Kerry [Catholic} says he'll filibuster Supreme Court nominees who do not support abortion rights

PETITION TO EX-COMMUNICATE PRO-ABORTION CATHOLIC ELECTED OFFICIALS

Catholics Kerry and Kennedy have a 100% Pro-homosexual Record with the Human Rights Campaign! Page 10,11

Kerry says he alone hasn't 'played games' on abortion

[Destro]

I am not Catholic.

[Mo1]

He spit? Actual spit?

Cute ... You know what I was talking about

[kiki p]

I feel good about the fact that WE'RE not into personal attacks. That's what the other guys resort to, right?

[Destro]

No I don't. We will no one with such statements. We will sound like kooks to the average American who will not have made up his mind.