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A bit more ...

http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/kerry/061603.shtml

... Kerry served two tours. For a relatively uneventful six months, from December 1967 to June 1968, he served in the electrical department aboard the USS Gridley, a guided-missile frigate that supported aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin and was far removed from combat.

"I didn't have any real feel for what the heck was going on [in the war]," Kerry has recalled. His ship returned to its Long Beach, Calif., port on June 6, 1968, the day that Robert F. Kennedy died from a gunshot wound he received on the previous night at a Los Angeles hotel. The antiwar protests were growing. But within five months Kerry was heading back to Vietnam, seeking to fulfill his officer commitment despite his growing misgivings about the war.

Kerry initially hoped to continue his service at a relatively safe distance from most fighting, securing an assignment as "swift boat" skipper. While the 50-foot swift boats cruised the Vietnamese coast a little closer to the action than the Gridley had come, they were still considered relatively safe.

"I didn't really want to get involved in the war," Kerry said in a little-noticed contribution to a book of Vietnam reminiscences published in 1986. "When I signed up for the swift boats, they had very little to do with the war. They were engaged in coastal patrolling and that's what I thought I was going to be doing." ...

"I didn't really want to get involved in the war," Kerry said in a little-noticed contribution to a book of Vietnam reminiscences published in 1986. "When I signed up for the swift boats, they had very little to do with the war. They were engaged in coastal patrolling and that's what I thought I was going to be doing."

I guess he signed up for the Naval Reserves because he knew he probably wouldn't be in any danger. When he realized he needed to establish some credibility in order to further his anti-war cause, he went back, but still in a capacity that would not subject himself to real danger.

Whatta guy!

After reading that article, I am convinced that Kerry was frightened, and that is why he used the little known clause to leave Vietnam early, and why he had those "injuries" that allowed him to do it. There is no doubt that the duty was dangerous, and that's why I think he ran.

I didn't really want to get involved in the war," Kerry said in a little-noticed contribution to a book of Vietnam reminiscences published in 1986. "When I signed up for the swift boats, they had very little to do with the war. They were engaged in coastal patrolling and that's what I thought I was going to be doing." ...

Gee it's funny how lucky Kerry was that after not "want(ing) to get involved in the war" that when his mission changed and he was to be "involved in the war" for a years tour.... he just "lucked out" and got (un)involved in the war in four months... just like his luck to fall in love woman with alot of money....that Kerry is just one "lucky" guy