I have pointed out how Kerry cut his combat tour in Vietnam by six months in several threads for the last two weeks including
Post 161 on this one.
What he did is nothing to brag about and smacks of special treatment but it was legal. Throwing out the accusation of "desertion" simply gives opponents an easy strawman to knock down.
Your are right.
It's much easier to call him an East Coast Liberal who called Daddy when the going got tough.