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.

[Dante3]

No wonder Kerry does not want the records of his "injuries" revealed. What a fake.

[Destro]

Kerry served only four months of a year-long tour of duty after he received three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action.

I already cought this article in a lie or half truth. Kerry served 2 tours of duty in Vietnam. The second one was for 4 months. This article makes it sound he served only one tour of duty for 4 months.

Why are we cheering articles that fudge the truth in this manner?

We will not win over anyone if we keep launching dumb bombs rather then smart munitions.

[KQQL]

In April 1969, having engineered an early transfer out of the conflict because of his three minor wounds, John Kerry left his crew behind and returned home to a sweet assignment as an aide to Rear Admiral Walter F. Schlech, Jr.


http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnkerry.com/page2.html

[SAMWolf]

Rear Admiral Walter F. Schlech, Jr.

[Destro]

cynicom, Kerry served 2 tours as well. A full tour and four months into the next. This article is incorrect.

[Hon]

"Who was the Admiral Kerry worked for?"

Rear Admiral Walter F. Schlech, Jr.

[Destro]

As faked as the four month tour of duty smear. Kerry served 2 tours of duty did he not?

[Hon]

"A full tour and four months into the next. This article is incorrect."

This seems to be a pattern with you, posting misinformation.

Kerry did not ever serve a full tour in Vietnam. His first tour was also short of the usual 12 months.

"December: Kerry begins his first tour of duty, serving on the guided-missile frigate USS Gridley.

June 6: Kerry's first tour ends as the Gridley returns home."

http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/kerry/timeline.htm

[StriperSniper]

a lie or half truth. Kerry served 2 tours of duty in Vietnam. The second one was for 4 months.

Good catch, I knew something didn't sound quite right.

That aside for a moment, there wouldn't be such confusions if Sen. Ketchup would just release his records like GWB did. ;-)

[FairOpinion]

So why doesn't Kerry just release his service records?

[cynicom]

Better check his records. His first tour lasrted four months, aboard a ship at sea, never in country. His second trip also lasted four months.

[Meredith]

How tiresome Kerry is always whinning about his Vietnam experience. And that so-called LETTER to Bush whinning about his being maligned is disgusting. By the time the election grows nearer, I am willing to bet that some Democrats switch to someone else simply because his ad nauseum Vietnam sing song will wear even thinner than it already has. McCain is a REAL war hero and he rarely brings it up. What a drag Kerry is.

[Hon]

Not a good catch at all. The article is correct and Disinfo is wrong.

[Seeking the truth]

[VadeRetro]

He returned to the US a bitter opponent of the war and was released from the army early.

We should say "Navy" here, to be consistent.

[07055]

Not so. According to other accounts he did not turn against the war until several months after he returned--a calculated political decision.

I thought I read somewhere that he gave a speech against the war in 1966---*before* he enlisted?? I also recall reading he flew someone to anti-war rallies while he was still in the Navy?

[John Lenin]

This is Hugh and Series.

[cynicom]

Destro is just trying to sugarcoat Kerry.