[pawdoggie]

I agree with those who urge caution in accepting the apocryphal Zumwalt story. However, if you read the Globe account it's not hard to come to the conclusion that Kerry was a shoot first and identify later kind of trigger-happy guy. Just because an area was declared a "free-fire zone" didn't mean you were obligated to hose down anyone in sight, or that the law of land warfare no longer applied. It was tough to apply any humanity in that war, but the "good guys" tried like hell to do that.

[Wild Irish Rogue]

From Joe Klein's interview of John Kerry,in The New Yorker,2002.

" Admiral Elmo Zumwalt later joked that he wasn't sure if he should give Kerry the Silver Star or court-martial him for his actions on February 28, 1969. Kerry had ignored standard operating procedure as his squadron ferried troops up the river that day."