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Here's a summation of Kerry's service record. Includes a few interesting wrinkles that raise unanswered questions about how his character, as revealed then, contradicts his routine stump speech today.

Kerry tried to avoid combat in Vietnam

*Reassigned to a combat zone he quickly got out with a technicality.
*Stateside he got an 'early out' to run for Congress.
*Dropped out of the election after just 3 months.
*Joined radical anti-war protest group and threwaway medals.

When he had a choice, Kerry attempted to go to school in Paris rather than serve in Vietnam. He was denied permission. He was already outspoken against the US commitment in Vietnam.

But he had heard that enlisted men got better assignments than draftees so he joined the Navy. Kerry did not become a SEAL and despite his flying experience, he showed no interest in becoming a naval pilot.

On his Vietnam tour, he served on frigate off-shore for awhile; back at port stateside (for 6 months) Kerry asked for command of a swift-boat. He has admitted that he fully expected uneventful Coast Guard duty far from harm's way.

But the Navy decided to use patrol boats and swift-boats to interfere with the enemy's river supply routes. The swift-boat's mission changed; Kerry was thrust into combat against his expectations.

He must have been one of the swiftest swift-boat commanders to accumulate 3 Purple Hearts (for "bandaid wounds") and to take advantage of a 3-PH rule to get his ticket punched for a trip home. In his brief time skirting the VC in the Mekong Delta (a dangerous combat zone) Kerry was warned about endangering the lives of his crewmen through reckless behavior; he also instigated a near-mutiny when he led a confrontation with superior officers. His commanding officer may have appreciated the opportunity to send the well-to-do and politically connected Kerry stateside for reassignment as an Admiral's attache.

While still on the Navy payroll, Kerry travelled the anti-war protest circuit with a former speechwriter for John F Kennedy. Kerry requested an "early out" -- about 6 months short of his Navy commitment -- to run for Congress. After 3 months, he dropped out of the race when he realized he wouldn't win the election.

A few months later he joined V.V.A.W., helped organize the "Winter Soldier" mock trial, and made his false accusations of daily atrocities when he testified under oath before Congress. He wore his decorations when he passed on false stories and described his error-laden analysis of the war effort. That same week he infamously threwaway medals in protest. There's a published photo of him curled up on the grass weeping. Of course, 13 years later he had to admit that he had publicly discarded someone else's medals. A couple of years after his radical protests, he joined the Naval Reserves. The real medals that he had kept out of harm's way are now displayed in his office.