[CedarDave]

Though he served two tours, there was a big difference between serving on coastal/river patrol and being on a big ship at sea which is not in harm's way.

I served as XO on a coastal patrol boat for a year based in both Vung Tau and Da Nang during the year of the Tet offensive. While on patrol for five to seven days at a time, we lived for the chance to come up beside a big ship on a Sunday afternoon (weather and duty permitting) and put a few crew members on board to enjoy a good meal with steaks, fresh fruit and milk. The big ships never ventured closer than several miles from shore and served mainly as fire support vessels and to stop sea-going cargo from North Viet Nam. One of the big ships was the battleship New Jersey (IIRC) and I got to see her big guns in action a couple of time.

[Destro]

Though he served two tours, there was a big difference between serving on coastal/river patrol and being on a big ship at sea which is not in harm's way.

I agree. What bothered my about this article saying Kerry "only served" four months on a tour is that he had a cushy job on the big ship and opted to volunteer for his second tour of duty on a swift boat. In other words he took himself off the easy duty and into the harder combat seeing duty. That has to count for something. I don't support Kerry but this attack on his record is small minded and stupid.

[kabar]

Though he served two tours, there was a big difference between serving on coastal/river patrol and being on a big ship at sea which is not in harm's way.

I will take issue with you somewhat. I served 8 months off the coast on an LPH (including 65 days straight at sea) and one year in country. Just because you were on a big ship didn't mean you were out of harms way. A good friend of mine almost lost his life on the USS Oriskany, CVA 34, which had a major fire that cost 44 men their lives in Oct 1966 off the coast of Vietnam. There were plenty of lives lost and others injured on our ships due to accidents and handling ammo, etc., associated with high temp ops in a war zone. I received combat pay for both assignments, at sea and ashore.