Book reopens Kerry's war wounds ( New Book questions Kerry's Nam injuries, etc)

sunday times via theaustralian.news.com.au ^ | 02/23/04 | sunday times vis theaustralian.news.com.au

[KQQL]

VIETNAM has been the defining issue for John Kerry. His status as a decorated war hero has helped to propel him to the front of the pack of Democrat candidates seeking to evict George W.Bush from the White House. Conservative critics believe he has been given a free ride for too long on his war record, however, and are planning a fightback.

Support for their case is expected to come from a book to be published next month by reporters from The Boston Globe in Kerry's home state of Massachusetts. The book, JF Kerry, the Complete Biography, will question the extent of his injuries in Vietnam and whether he was entitled to an early release from the war.

Vietnam, The Washington Post opined at the weekend, "is a double-edged issue" for the 60-year-old Democratic frontrunner. Kerry has not authorised the release of his war records - a strange omission, say his political foes, given the ferocity with which his supporters have demanded to see every last document of Bush's military service in the Texas Air National Guard.

"Vietnam is such a crucial part of his background and his campaign, you would think he would want people to see them," said Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, a conservative journal. "There is going to be pressure on him to release them."

Kerry, who is surrounded on the stump by the "band of brothers" who fought with him in the Mekong Delta, became a fierce public critic of the Vietnam War after he left the navy.

A faked photograph of Kerry sharing a microphone with Jane Fonda was a warning of how his opposition to the conflict would be used against him. There also has been much criticism of the way he threw away another man's medals rather than his own during a 1971 protest demonstration.

Kerry's conduct during the war, however, was until now thought to be sacrosanct. Unlike many of his generation, he volunteered for service in Vietnam. He went on to perform heroically as the skipper of a Swift boat patrolling Vietcong-infested waters, and won a Bronze Star and a Silver Star for bravery.

Kerry served only four months of a year-long tour of duty after he received three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action. The injuries were not serious; by his own account, one shrapnel wound laid him off for two days and the other two did not interrupt his duties.

Five of his friends died in action and his medals show that, at the very least, he had several brushes with death. The future senator then invoked what he insists was a "three and you're out" rule enabling a soldier with three Purple Hearts to be sent home.

He requested a transfer and was given a plum job as an admiral's aide in Brooklyn. He returned to the US a bitter opponent of the war and was released from the army early.

In response to an inquiry from The Sunday Times, Kerry's campaign staff gave the newspaper a copy of naval regulations stating that "all naval personnel" who are "wounded three times, regardless of the nature of the wound or the treatment required for each wound" may be reassigned.

A spokesman for the US Navy said, however, that such redeployment was not automatic: "It would depend a lot on the nature of the injuries."

Ted Sampley, who runs Vietnam Vets Against John Kerry, said if a soldier could be sent home for minor wounds, "there would have been a lot of people claiming scratches, getting their Purple Hearts and getting out of there".

Sampley believes that the well-connected Kerry - photographed with president John F.Kennedy as a young man - simply received favourable treatment. "How many other people were able to get out of Vietnam early and be reassigned to a cushy post?" he said.

[bannie]

Blow off your own toe and you get a pretty purple heart AND medical care for life.

[bannie]

Blow off your own toe and you get a pretty purple heart AND medical care for life.

[the invisib1e hand]

In response to an inquiry from The Sunday Times, Kerry's campaign staff gave the newspaper a copy of naval regulations stating that "all naval personnel" who are "wounded three times, regardless of the nature of the wound or the treatment required for each wound" may be reassigned.

a little more focus now. so, what, he cut himself shaving, stubbed his toe, and gets fragged, and he goes stateside?

The more I observe the Bush administration, the more I am struck by its wisdom. At first I thought it was idiotic for them to stoop to releasing insignificant details of the President's service record... now it turns out that Kerry has not done so...and his not doing so will be an Achille's heel, for he now has no choice. He has played his hand. And he will be trumped.

Someone that stupid doesn't deserve to be president. Our President, and his team, earn their office every day. I am proud of them.

[CedarDave]

Please understand the context in my use of the term "in harm's way". There is a distinct difference from being an engineering officer on a ship offshore and being up close enough to be shot at by small arms fire while on a swift boat. If you generalize, however, military pilots operating fast jet planes are always in harm's way because you have literally only seconds to decide the proper course of action and to take that action in the event of an accidental or deliberate (in the case of combat) malfunction of the aircraft. That is why, IMO, President Bush's pilot service in the guard was as dangerous, in a different way, as Kerry's was. Except that as a pilot Bush knew that anytime he left the ground he could very possibly return in an uncontrolled condition. And for him that went on a lot longer than 90-days. He knew the risk, accepted it and by anyone's standard of measure was a competent jet fighter pilot.

[MamaLucci]

Where is your timeline in post 83 from? I ask, because I have read "authoritative" articles stating that Max Cleland lost 3 limbs fighting in the battle of Khe Sahn. The problem is, it's not true.

[bannie]

Leave the war record alone.

We can't: Kerry keeps insisting on riding on that one boat. It is his ONLY boat, and he won't "leave it alone."

[SAMWolf]

That Mortons salt box will hold $48 in dimes.

LOL! Personal experience?

[altura]

Does he have that choice?

I mean can he just decide to keep the records sealed, or is there some freedom of information thingee?

He's the one who's made the big deal about the war record.

Too bad the same press corp who demanded to see Prez's NG records are singularly incurious abut Kerry's.

[CedarDave]

That's probably right. I was a LtJG when I left active duty after three years for the reserves, but was promoted to full LT shortly thereafter.

[Tribune7]

reporters from The Boston Globe in Kerry's home state of Massachusetts. The book, JF Kerry, the Complete Biography, will question the extent of his injuries in Vietnam and whether he was entitled to an early release from the war.

Ha ha. The Clintons are out to get him. Hillary is running.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Concur.

[JLO]

"Like I said @ #124 & #135 his post war record should be questioned. Just don't make fools of yourselves questioning his legit war record."


Well, then why don't YOU just post his war record for us all? Seeing as you seem to know.

[CedarDave]

Lost them five days after the battle. See this long thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1076535/posts

[cookcounty]

A front page article in the Chicago Trib today basically echoed my tag line, that Kerry did more to develop the "Vietnam vets are thugs" myth than anyone else.

[xone]

selfbump

[cookcounty]

"the well-connected Kerry - photographed with president John F.Kennedy as a young man -"

There are at least 2 such photos, one on a Kennedy-n-Kerry family sailboat outing before JFK became prez, and another with JFK as president.

[CedarDave]

A front page article in the Chicago Trib today basically echoed my tag line, that Kerry did more to develop the "Vietnam vets are thugs" myth than anyone else.

This is really building to something nasty. Though the press is definitely anti-Bush, they don't take kindly to being taken down the primrose path of deception by a candidate like Kerry. I just hope the lid stays on until after the primaries on March 2, otherwise we have ambulance chaser and Breck Boy John Edwards to contend with.

[Wolverine]

Vacation gasoline money every year. Every year requires more and more boxes.

[BobS]

I wish you all would stop banging on Kerry. I found the photos of him with the SDS radicals from NY and northern New Jersey that will destroy him. They are on a far-away server. THIS is not the time.

[kabar]

We can't: Kerry keeps insisting on riding on that one boat. It is his ONLY boat, and he won't "leave it alone.";

Exactly. Kerry uses his Vietnam service as the centerpiece of his campaign. He keeps poking Bush and Cheney with it almost daily. It is part of his stump speech..."we really know what aircraft carriers are etc." At the risk of beating a dead horse, we don't know what Kerry did in the war. He refuses to release his service records.

Kerry is keeping Vietnam front and center for one or two reasons: He believes that his war record gives him an advantage over GWB and provides him with credentials on national security and/or he is going on the offensive recognizing that his Vietnam record, during and after his military service, makes him vulnerable because of his antiwar activities and/or there is something in his service records he would rather us not know about. As I mentioned, we had a CNO, Mike Boorda, commit suicide because he wore decorations that he had not earned.