[Carolinamom]

I interpreted "tour" as enlistment and "two tours" as 2 separate enlistments. While I freely admit that I'm not very conversant w/military terms, I do think that the general non-military public might get the impression that I got, for it makes Kerry's Vietnam time sound impressive.

[Miss Marple]

I see your confusion. However, an enlistment is the length of time you commit to the service. For Kerry, that was, I believe, 4 years. "Tour" is short for "tour of duty" which is an extended assignment overseas. Most tours of duty for Viet Nam were 12 months in country for the Army. For the Navy and Air Force, they may have been a bit longer. However, normal tours were NOT four months. Even Al Gore was there longer than Kerry's second tour.