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I will respond to both of you. President Bush has not one time ever criticized Kerry's military service.

Kerry chose to open this can of worms by attacking Bush and inferring he was AWOL. Bush released all of his records. He was honorably discharged and fulfilled the terms of his commitment. There was some risk involved in his service, as he was flying a very difficult plane which had a high crash incidence.

Kerry didn't race out to enlist; he was no Pat Tillman. He enlisted in the Navy only after being told that he couldn't get a deferment to study in France.

Only through a change in the deployment of the swift boats did he wind up in combat. Once he was in combat, he got three Purple Hearts VERY quickly and unlike the Marines I see with Ollie North every day, he did NOT choose to stay in Viet Nam, but opted to go home after 4 months.

Now, I am not denigrating his service. It was admirable, along with many millions of others.

But he has chosen to place himself in a position of superiority to all of those who served in other theaters. At the time John Kerry was in Viet Nam, my husband was serving as Russian linguist in West Berlin. His service was just as necessary to the security of this nation. Is Kerry superior to my husband? I don't think so.

In addition, Kerry's testimony before Congress was shameful. I don't care how demoralized he was with the war, smearing the reputation of an entire generation of servicemen was despicable; it was also fraudulent and self-serving.

Kerry's record is "superior" to Bush and Cheney's combined.

I have no problem with his post Vietnam life being torn apart.

What I am seeing here is "conservatives" denigrate Kerry's service. Wooo paper cut wound - he got a medal for saving someone's life??? He does not deserve that! etc. This from so called Republicans? Did I land on Bizzarro world?

1) Bush's avoidance of service in the Viet Nam War was brought to the forum long before Kerry came into the picture. 2) Kerry is using all he has to offer that he thinks might benefit his campaign. What is new there... 3) Kerry's statements to Congress back in '71 were RIGHT IN LINE with the thinking, the concerns, and popular, counter-culture opinion of the times. He spoke for an entire generation with his words back then, who thought that young American men's lives were being ruined and/or destroyed for a futile cause. The counter culture was trying to SAVE these men--not denigrate them. Many veterans were forced into service, and many of them, and others who were NOT forced, but whose minds were changed after serving, looked at Kerry as their spokesperson. It is easy now to say what he did was self serving...now that he is running for office. As I said, I am not a Kerry fan, but I do not believe his appearance before Congress back then was self serving.