Posted on 08/21/2004 10:01:06 AM PDT by forest
John Kerry wants us to believe that he is qualified to be President of the United States and commander-in-chief of our nations armed forces simply because he was a junior lieutenant in the Navy. Oh, and, he keeps mentioning serving two tours in the Vietnam war.
Note, now, that Kerry does not want us to scrutinize what he did (and did not do) in all his years as a Senator. Kerry is running for office as a Naval officer -- as a war hero.
On Kerry's Senate web site[1], he clearly states: "As a Vietnam veteran, I have experienced firsthand the horrors of war. I served two tours of duty, commanding a swift boat in Vietnam's Mekong Delta as a member of the U.S. Navy. I have witnessed the sacrifices our men and women have made and the courage they have displayed in faithfully serving our country. Every day I carry with me lessons from being in combat that help me to recognize the needs of our nation's veterans and the problems they confront."
The Kerry campaign often uses much the same words. The Social-Democrat's leftist-liberal cheerleaders in the national media evidently give Kerry a free pass to say anything he wishes and they report, without fact checking, whatever he says.
Well, in this little newsletter, we try to do somewhat better. So here are a few of the facts about Kerry's "two tours of duty commanding a swift boat in Vietnam":
When Kerry graduated from Yale, he requested permission from his draft board to study for a year in France but was turned down. Knowing the North Vietnamese did not have war ships, Kerry thought the Navy would be safe. So, on February 18, 1966, Kerry enlisted in the U.S. Navy. That is, he enlisted in the Naval Reserves -- with an inactive status. That was a nice try, but it didn't quite work and Kerry was sent to Officer Candidate School and then somehow became active Navy.
Now starts Kerry's "two tours" of Vietnam service.
From June of 1967 to June of 1968, Kerry was stationed aboard the USS Gridley, which is a guided missile frigate. Let's see how that duty went:
From June 1967 to November of 1967 the Gridley was stationed off the California coast. In December of 1967, the Gridley was in the Pacific doing guard duty for aircraft operating in the China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin. Rather safe duty for the junior lieutenant, in other words.
In January of 1968 the Gridley sailed to Australia and didn't return to Long Beach again until June 8 of 1968.
That's kind of far from Vietnam, too. And, no, the Gridley did not have swift boats attached to it. Nor were there swift boats for Kerry to command around the coast of California or wandering around Australia, either.
However, in all fairness, we'll have to admit that Kerry was at least somewhere out in the ocean in the general neighborhood of Vietnam for a couple weeks in December of 1967. Probably not ever close enough to actually see Vietnam, but whatever.
So, how did Kerry get to the swift boats? Easy. He requested the duty.
As Kerry wrote[2] in 1986 (if we can believe him): "They were engaged in coastal patrolling and that's what I thought I would be doing. Although I wanted to see what was going on, I really didn't want to get involved in the war."
At that time, the swift boat duty was easy duty, in other words. So, Kerry volunteered for it. It wasn't till late in 1968 that the swift boat mission was redefined and they started running up the rivers to interdict the enemy supply lines and whatnot.
In November of 1968, Kerry arrived at Coastal Squadron One in Cam Ranh Bay in South Vietnam -- a beautiful place to be. That is where Kerry spent his first month in Vietnam -- training to operate a swift boat.
Lieutenant Kerry, it turns out, was a poor leader who bellyached a lot. For instance, he was transferred to the An Thoi area, where the action was, and started whining that the duty was too dangerous there and he had been transferred against his will.
Kerry was in Vietnam a total of four months, when the training month is counted. He was transferred three times, simply because no one wanted to keep him.
Does this experience qualify Kerry to be president of the United States?
1. <http://kerry.senate.gov/bandwidth/issues/veterans.html>
2. "The Vietnam Experience: A war remembered"
Kerry enlisted in the Naval Reserves -- with an inactive status.
Kerry was in Vietnam a total of four months, when the training month is counted. He was transferred three times -- no one wanted to keep him.
Kerry is a phony and a liar who is not qualified to run for dog catcher much less president.
two tours in the Vietnam war ....each tour was 60 days long....LOL!
LOL.
Why, Kerry even made a complaint with the FEC to prove how qualified he is!! He's willing to go to battle for himself !!! Ooooooooo. Scary, John!
Every political campaign files a complaint with the FEC about something. The FEC is 50/50 dem and Republican. Nothing will become of it. It never does. What a bunch of hot air!
Kerry is such a dork. Who does he think he's kidding?
First I've heard that. Documentation?
You hit the nail on the head. That's precisely what he's doing, and his whole campaign boils down to that! It's obvious that his whole life has been focused on this probably from even before he went into the service. His senate career has just been treading water waiting for his big chance. Now he's got it, and this "war hero with unearned medals" isn't going to wash. I wonder if he'll ever get over it and get a life. (Or will he just join Algore in being bitter the rest of his days?)
After a pretty thorough search of the USS Gridley records, I could NOT find a Vietnam Service Award nor a Vietnam Campaign award to that ship.
They did mention being in the "vicinity" of the Gulf of Tonkin, but that means nothing.
If the ship was not designated as in a combat zone, then Kerry cannot claim a "Second" tour in Vietnam.
I COULD have missed a link somewhere .... Do we have that on record anywhere?
No one is 'sent' to OCS. You are invited to attend, and there is a change in your commitment. Besides fact checking, I have no problems with this fine opinion.
Want to join in the fun? Click the logo to donate to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth!
Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry (news - web sites), left, and William B. Rood, right, are shown in this undated photo at the Swift boat base at An Thoi shortly after the action for which Kerry was awarded the Silver Star and Rood was awarded the Bronze Star in early 1969 during his service in Vietnam. Both men are holding weapons captured in the mission. Rood, a night city editor with the Chicago Tribune, who served with Kerry during the Vietnam War as the commander of a Navy swift boat on the 1969 mission ischallenging the attacks on Kerry's account of the incident. (AP Photo/Chicago Tribune, Courtesy William B. Rood)
Is that Kerry's lucky hat?
Notice how many of sKerry's 'tough guy combat' pictures have him posing with his hand on his hip! A very 'girlie' pose that does not fit the image of a CIC.
BUMP FOR SWIFT VET AD2... http://www.swiftvets.com/
Honest men can disagree about whether or not Kerry fluffed up his deeds to get a purple heart, but his testimony before Congress was crystal clear: It's part of the Congressional record and tape recorded for posterity. His actions in testifying before Congress and in leading the VVAW gave great aid and comfort to the enemies of freedom. Only God Almighty knows the entire toll Kerry's actions had on the lives of the men he sold out, and on the innocent people of South Viet Nam who perished. My eyes well up with tears when I consider the years so many of our finest and bravest men suffered from injuries that were inflicted upon them by the enemy emboldened by Kerry's rhetoric. The names on the wall. The ones we will never know. Their blood cries out from the ground. Surely, we can in charity forgive John Kerry for his folly, maybe even excuse his actions because he was "swept up with the times." Maybe. But should this man ever be alowed the honor of serving as the President of the United States of America? Never.
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