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]

Christ, why is it because I have a problem with the line of attack against Kerry - not because I support Kerry but because I feel it may hurt Bush and our chances - seen as support for Kerry? I may well be wrong in thinking this. Strategy for campaign elections is a tricky business but instead of saying Destro we thing our chess strategy is better then yours I am accused of being a secret Kerry supporter? because I am not running with the herd on this one issue?

[BushisTheMan]

When is their march again. Every time he tried to say when on with Hannity on the radio, Hannity kept talking over him.

It was the one time I was screaming at Hannity on the radio to shut up and let the vet speak. Veterans who served in Vietname certainly have a right to speak up against John Kerry and the outrage they have towards the man.

Hannity, next time, shut up and let the man have his say. He deserves the time and the courtesy.

[FairOpinion]

Here is their website:

http://www.usvetdsp.com/

Click on the Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry link.


And throught there, I found the info about their demonstration:


http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnkerry.org/ker_ny_protest_feb28.htm


Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry and Vietnamese-American Organizations Coalition Announce Plans For A Protest Demonstration Against John Kerry

Where: New York City, 373 Park Avenue South (between 26the and 27the Streets) across from Kerry's campaign headquarters

Date: February 28, 2004

Time: 12:00 noon

[Quick_Rod]

Thanks for the record Patton.

Pinging for ammo.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Islam is a religion of peace...practiced by???
Ms.B

[windchime]

Bump!

[Winfield]

'Kerry will rue the day he made his Vietnam service his centerpiece' I just would feel better about it if we
waited until he definitely has the Demo nomination, before
showing all of our "arsenal". The way the Demos have been
killing all their own (Dean, Clark....and even Kerry was once declared "dead"), who knows who will finally come up with the nomination? I prefer Kerry, of course.

[onyx]

Kerry won't self-destruct --- too arrogant for that. I hate him. Now he's tossing around buzz words like "regime change" and "GOP terrorism" --- man, I don't know how I'll survive his nomination. He's too disgusting.

The RNC has compiled a treasure trove on Kerry. We have not even seen the tip of the proverbial iceberg yet. Kerry will be bloodied and you can take that to the bank.

I wish I shared your thought --- I don't prefer Kerry, but I guess he's going to be their nominee.

Who do you think he might tab for his running mate?

[BushisTheMan]

This is exactly the demonstration that I was looking for.

I am hoping that they have demonstrations everywhere when Kerry is the candidate. I want to March against this creep.

Thanks for finding for me.

[BushisTheMan]

This is exactly the demonstration that I was looking for.

I am hoping that they have demonstrations everywhere when Kerry is the candidate. I want to March against this creep.

Thanks for finding for me.

[Flyover Country]

I have a problem with McCain standing shoulder to shoulder with Kerry. He, of people should do an about face on him.

[talleyman]

Benedict Arnold was a war hero, too...

[the Real fifi]

Do not miss today's Village Voice article by Schanberg which details how Kerr shreded documentation and other wise covered by facts that many--perhaps hundreds--of MIAs were still in enemy hands in order to speed out normalization with Viet Nam..And pass it around.

Schanberg is a man who studied the subject extensively, was the author of the Killing Fields, and the Village Voice is a very liberal publication

[Phsstpok]

The author is evidently an Australian, who may be unfamiliar with the structure of the American military. At any rate Kerry was never in the US Army.

no author is a brit...I think ...

No, both Australia and Britain have the same military structure as the U.S. Army is Army and Navy is Navy. Therefore the author is a reporter... a lazy idiot, incapable of checking simple facts, by definition.

And they complain about the internet not having any editors. Hah!!! We have more editors, with more facts at our fingertips than any "mainstream press" editor could ever hope to muster.

"Oh, mercy, on the evil internet you can say anything you want and no one can stop you!" Yeah, but if you bother to read anything at all, such as this thread, you'll see every flaw and stupid mistake caught and every fact vetted and either refuted or confirmed in a heartbeat. When the mainstream media blows it they either ignore it or bury it on page 38 (of a 37 page paper).

[backhoe]

Appreciate the tip- thanks!

[the Real fifi]

Thank you. I'd post it on FR but it's beyond my poor powers of IT skills. Feel free to do so. I am sure it would be of great interest to Freepers. This must get wide circulation.

[JLO]

There's miscommunication going on here. Back-step to the original post; read responses. Someone jumped in; someone else responded, and there you go.

The first person was not talking about Kerry.

[JLO]

Oops! What I meant was: There's miscommunication going on here. Back-step to the response to YOUR post; read responses. Someone jumped in; someone else responded, and there you go. (Read responses and backtrack.)

The first person WAS talking about Kerry.