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.

[Destro]

That was sarcasm.

[KQQL]

*

[Hon]

Right. Show me one post you have made attacking Kerry's liberal voting record.

(And I'm still waiting for proof of your claim that Swift boat crews were all volunteers.)

[Salvation]

What You Don't Know about John Kerry

[Salvation]

We're not too "Fonda" John Kerry!

[Destro]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1083481/posts

Kerry and his Vietnam service strategy

[Destro]

Initial Swift Boat crews were volunteers, and a regular rotation was established so that personnel could gain some respite from the high level of daily combat

[Hon]

What a joke! You posted an article from someone saying that Kerry's military service shouldn't be challenged.

Where is YOUR criticizm of Kerry's liberal voting record?

BTW, you aren't fooling anybody by your "sarcasm" claim. Sarcasm is supposed to be funny. That wasn't funny. It wasn't anything but an attack on conservative Republicans and a defense of Kerry.

That seems to be ALL you do. (Except defend Russians.)

[Hon]

What part of "initial" don't you understand?

You are a fraud.

[maica]

Wow! Milligan! You sure know how to give a powerful presentation of truth and consequences. Your words should be recorded and sent to everyone under the age of 50, in case their view of history is not as clear as yours.

***

He didn't know what to do but he thought talking about it and raising taxes would solve the problems.

This is STILL the rationale of the Democrats. They think that talking about what they would "like" to do is all that is necessary. When a given situation deteriorates, they then look around to blame someone else for the failure. They CAN'T be failures, because they wished for the good outcome.

[Destro]

Next time know what you are talking about:

From:

Every crewmember aboard a Swift is a volunteer. Inasmuch as the number of volunteers far exceeds the billets available, the job is apparently widely sought.

Such popularity must be deserved but it certainly can't be attributed to the easy life led by the crew. Swift bases are usually primitive tent installations where the rattle of small arms fire is well known.

While they are on patrol, Swift boats offer a rough ride-very much like the old PTs. They may remain at sea for three days and frequently can be found more than 100 miles from their home base somewhere along the 1000-odd miles of South Vietnamese coastline.

Living conditions aboard Swifts are spartan when you consider how long they remain on patrol. They do, nevertheless, have the essentials -bunks, a refrigerator, an electric stove and a head.

[ex 98C MI Dude]

Kerry served his country honorably, and just like Benedict Arnold, switched sides.

Any good he might have accrued to himself was washed away.

[Hon]

Look, you creep, you are once again misrepresenting materials--as you have done on this entire thread.

That article is from an article in 1966. Kerry didn't get on an Swift boat until December 1968.

Even your other "source" said "INTIALLY" they were volunteers.

You have been caught in yet another outright misrepresentation. Why are you doing this? What's in it for you?

Why don't you want us to talk about Kerry's record?

[maica]

Terrific post - great info about the Division One Officer.

Kinda different career path from interceptor jet pilot!

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[Hon]

"Kinda different career path from interceptor jet pilot!"

And of course Kerry already had a pilot's license when he was facing the draft. He could have easily gotten into the Air Force if he was looking to be heroic.

He wasn't.

[Polybius]

So at the end of the day - what does it prove? That both candidates for president tried to get out of combat missions but the Democrat screwed up in his efforts and got himself into combat?? Is this line of attack going to get the vast middle - independent voter to vote for Bush? Can you imagine the disaster of a Kerry presidency if he wins because we keep harping on Vietnam and alienating those voters and ignore his liberal voting record that is relevant and that we can win against?

What this proves is that neither John F. Kerry nor George W. Bush measures up to my uncle who volunteered for the Bay of Pigs, volunteered for the U.S. Army, served two Green Beret combat tours in Vietnam that did not end with three paper cuts but with several AK-47 rounds in his body each tour and then served in covert combat operations with the Gren Berets in South America.

What this proves is that neither John F. Kerry nor George W. Bush measures up to every Vietnam veteran that served a full combat tour instead of using his politically prominent name to avoid combat.

What this proves is that while George W. Bush at least has the common sense and decency not to brag about his attempts to stay out of Vietnam combat, John F. Kerry wants to falsify his record and the facts to make it appear he volunteered for Vietnam combat when he did no such thing and, in fact, sea-lawyered himself out of combat as fast as he possibly could.

And because I point this out I am called a Kerry supporter and a secret Democrat. I thought such mono-thinking was a Democratic party attribute. Live and learn.

I, Polybius, have never called you a Kerry supporter nor a secret Democrat.

All I have done is put the facts on the table to show that John F. Kerry and his Democrat handlers are in full-throttle disinformation mode and that even Republicans such as yourself are being tricked by his disinformation campaign.

John F. Kerry is claiming that he volunteered to be Audie Murphy in Vietnam.

I am documenting that John F. Kerry is a liar.

[Destro]

Why don't you want us to talk about Kerry's record?

I do - but his senate record not his military record.

Kerry was not drafted into the swift boats. No commander of a swift boat was ever reassigned. You had to ask to be assigned to one. Shame on you for being that inept.

[Hon]

You are a total pantload. You are so concerned about Kerry's record that you cannot produce one post you have made about it.

Instead, I produced a post from you where you mocked concern about his anti-defense voting record. You're a troll.

[Destro]

You're a troll.

I outrank you in Freeper membership seniority, rookie.