OTOH, failing to confront a "gamer" who has falsely obtained military honors is hardly a fitting tributed to those who served bravely to obtain them. If mistakes were made by those on up the chain of command, then let them take their lumps along with Kerry.
At the very least they both feel that it casts doubt on every soldier's medal if the Swifties keep asserting that the system can be 'gamed' so easily.
OTOH, failing to confront a "gamer" who has falsely obtained military honors is hardly a fitting tributed to those who served bravely to obtain them. If mistakes were made by those on up the chain of command, then let them take their lumps along with Kerry.
C'mon.....you can't make a definitive argument about these medals 35 years after the fact. All they are doing now is carping and reducing the value of all medals awarded. What they're really ticked about is Kerry's post-war activism. They should stick to that rather then reducing their credibility by nit-picking medals so long after they were awarded.
As many before me have said....more often than not a good man does without a medal that was richly deserved. Vets are not going to buy the story that 5 medals were given without any cause.
Too many Vietnam vets got short shrift when they returned home IMO. I'm happy that many are finally being given the honor they deserve and I'm tired of their service being questioned. The Swifties should debate him on the statements he made after the fact and not muddy the waters with this stuff.
Just my 2 cents