Revealed: how 'war hero' Kerry tried to put off Vietnam military duty

Telegraph ^ | 03/07/04 | Charles Laurence

[Pikamax]

Revealed: how 'war hero' Kerry tried to put off Vietnam military duty By Charles Laurence in New York (Filed: 07/03/2004)

Senator John Kerry, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate who is trading on his Vietnam war record to campaign against President George W Bush, tried to defer his military service for a year, according to a newly rediscovered article in a Harvard University newspaper.

Senator Kerry on the campaign trail in Iowa He wrote to his local recruitment board seeking permission to spend a further 12 months studying in Paris, after completing his degree course at Yale University in the mid-1960s.

The revelation appears to undercut Sen Kerry's carefully-cultivated image as a man who willingly served his country in a dangerous war - in supposed contrast to President Bush, who served in the Texas National Guard and thus avoided being sent to Vietnam.

The Harvard Crimson newspaper followed a youthful Mr Kerry in Boston as he campaigned for Congress for the first time in 1970. In the course of a lengthy article, "John Kerry: A Navy Dove Runs for Congress", published on February 18, the paper reported: "When he approached his draft board for permission to study for a year in Paris, the draft board refused and Kerry decided to enlist in the Navy."

Samuel Goldhaber, the article's author who is now a cardiologist attached to the Harvard School of Medicine, spent 11 hours trailing Mr Kerry and still remembers that the subject of the Paris deferment came up during long conversations about Vietnam.

"I stand by my story," he told The Telegraph. "It was a long time ago, and I was 19 at the time, so it is hard to remember every detail. But I do know this: at no point did Kerry contact either me or the Crimson to dispute anything I had written."

Sen Kerry's campaign headquarters in Washington refused an opportunity to deny the report. Despite repeated telephone calls from The Telegraph, a spokesman refused to comment. Another Democrat official said merely: "In Vietnam, John Kerry proved his patriotism beyond question. Everyone knows that."

A senior Republican strategist, who asked not to be named, said: "I've not heard this before. This undercuts Kerry's complaints about Bush and it continues to pose questions as to his credibility among ordinary Vietnam veterans."

He said it would fuel concerns over the way Sen Kerry made a name for himself by leading anti-war protests in Washington and Boston in the late 1960s and early 1970s after he had completed his service in the US Navy, even while his former comrades continued to fight and die.

A newly-published biography of Sen Kerry by Douglas Brinkley, A Tour of Duty, makes no mention of the requested deferment or planned year in Paris. At the time, it was still unclear just how long America would remain in Vietnam, and it might have seemed that a year's deferral of service could render enlistment unnecessary.

According to the Democratic Party's version of Sen Kerry's military history, he joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps at Harvard through eagerness to do his duty, and sailed with the Navy for combat as soon as he graduated in 1966.

Sen Kerry won a gallantry medal for his service as a gunboat captain on the Mekong Delta, and was honorably discharged with three "purple heart" medals after sustaining three wounds. He has consistently presented himself as a leader who argued against the war only after fulfilling his duty in the field. Supporters argue that his war record makes him a more trustworthy leader than President Bush, who served sporadically in the National Guard at home.

"This means that Kerry didn't jump into all that heroic service until he was pushed, and it is a very nice piece of information," said Lucianne Goldberg, a prominent Republican campaigner.

Republican strategists for President Bush were already investigating Sen Kerry's record of three wounds sustained in Vietnam. "We find that he had only one day off sick - with three wounds? What exactly were these wounds?" she asked.

Mr Goldhaber recalled that, during a day spent with Sen Kerry and one assistant during his congressional campaign, he had described his involvement, service and decision to oppose the war in great detail.

"I am not at all surprised that he wants to be president, because he exuded ambition from the word go," said Dr Goldhaber. "At the time, the idea that he tried to persuade the draft board to let him spend a year in Paris was just a detail."

A spokesman for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign declined to comment.

[muawiyah]

So, he got turned down by the draft board. He then went looking for places to enlist.

He wasn't alone.

The Navy probably seemed quite safe at the time!

Some of us actually enlisted in the Marines or the Infantry and got sent elsewhere anyway.

Sometimes things just happen don't they?

Let me say one positive thing about Kerry ~ he didn't go to Canada.

"W" didn't go to Canada either.

Can't say what either one of them did (enlist in a "safe" service) was all that admirable, but they didn't go to Canada!

[Exit148]

Check the date. This was in the telegraph last March.

[TheCrusader]

John Kerry was proud to be an anti-war peace activist from the very start. He tried to defer his draft and when he was refused he joined the Navy to avoid combat duty. When plan "A" didn't pan out as expected he deferred to plan "B", working the system and manipulating his way to three Purple Hearts so he could go home early.

After a cup of coffee and a cigarette in Nam he returned home and used his war experience to lambast the guys still over there fighting for their lives, and to arm his anti-war organization "Veterans Against The Vietnam War" with a propaganda tool.

John Kerry's entire life plays out as a manipulator, con man and gigolo. He lives and thrives off the blood, sweat and money of others.

[coconutt2000]

John Kerry was against the war before he went to war, before was against the war... before he was for the war.

Anyone else dizzy yet?

[goldstategop]

Kerry was an anti-war liberal like Clinton but he was shrewd enough to realize being a draft-dodger would limit his ambitions for higher office. He had aspirations even then. So he selected a service that would minimize his exposure to dangerous combat and gamed the system to give him medals for questionable incidents. After he returned home, he spat in the face of those with whom he had served. Kerry's penchant for being on both sides of an issue was in evidence from the moment he enlisted in the Navy and then in his subsequent actions after he left the service. Truly, the Child Was Father To The Man.

[alancarp]

While nobody's really talking about this at all, I see an interesting contrast between the two Presidential candidates:

John Kerry tried to stay out of combat (okay - I don't really have a problem with that. He served, didn't go to Canada, etc.), and ended up getting stuck in a combat situation.

George W. Bush, I believe, seems to have wanted to follow his father as a pilot. The competition was really high in the Air Force, so I'm thinking he took an option to enter the Air National Guard, and got to fly. His hard luck seems to have been wanting a combt assignment, but being rated on the wrong type of plane for Vietnam service.

[YaYa123]

Kerry spinner Meehan is still saying Kerry volunteered for 2 tours in Viet Nam, even today.

I remember how news of Clinton crimes and corruption often made the British papers before it hit big here. Even though we've known about Kerry trying to get out of his Viet Nam service by requesting to study for a year in France, most people don't know, because the media here has never contradicted Kerry's account.

[Claire Voyant]

We might have won the war if they had let him opt out and go to Paris....PERMANENTLY! He did as much harm as anyone in Congree at the time with his "Band of Brothers
War Protestors.

[Cold Heat]

This story has aged, but it is relevant for purposes of countering the attacks against deferments received by others.

Otherwise, it carries little or no weight in the current attack on Kerry's character. Many were granted these education deferments, and many opted to stay out of the war.

I joined up willingly in '69 to kick some butt for the friends who did not come home in '68. I was certainly not alone in that regard.

Bush did it his way, and wanted to fly combat. Kerry just look for the safest and easiest way to earn some ribbons. He got more than he bargained for and sought refuge in purple hearts and embellished reports to get them.

He then stabbed us all in the back to get name recognition so he could never work another day on the public payroll and court rich women.

Nice guy huh? His deferment attempts are just the beginning of the deception.

[blu]

Information from another Marine about Kerry:






"Investigations on John F. Kerry

On 18 Feb. 1966 John Kerry signed a 6-year enlistment contract with the Navy (plus a 6-month extension during wartime).

On 18 Feb. 1966 John Kerry also signed an Officer Candidate contract for 6 years -- 5 years of ACTIVE duty & ACTIVE Naval Reserves, and 1 year of inactive standby reserves (See items #4 & #5).

Because John Kerry was discharged with total active duty of only 3 years and 18 days on 3 Jan. 1970, he was then required to attend 48 drills per year, and not more than 17 days per year of active duty for training.

Kerry was also subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Additionally, Kerry, as a commissioned officer, was prohibited from making adverse statements against his chain of command or statements against his country, especially during time of war.

It is also interesting to note that Kerry did not obtain an honorable discharge until Mar. 12, 2001 even though his service obligation should have ended July 1, 1972. What about his service record caused a 29 year delay in his Honorable Discharge being granted?

Lt. John Kerry's letter of 21 Nov. 1969 asking for an early release from active US Navy duty falsely states, "My current regular period of obligated service would be completed in December of this year."

On Jan. 3, 1970 Lt. John Kerry was transferred to the Naval Reserve Manpower Center in Bainridge, Maryland.

Where are Kerry's Performance Records for 2 years of obligated Ready Reserve, the 48 drills per year required and his 17 days of active duty per year training while Kerry was in the Ready Reserves? Have these records been released?

Has anyone ever talked to Kerry's Commanding Officer at the Naval Reserve Center where Kerry drilled?

On 1 July 1972 Lt. John Kerry was transferred to Standby Reserve - Inactive. On 16 February 1978 Lt. John Kerry was discharged from the US Naval Reserve.

Below are some of the crimes Lt. Kerry USNR committed as a Ready Reservist, while he was acting as a leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War:

1. Lt. Kerry attended many rallies where the Vietcong flag was displayed while our flag was desecrated, defiled, and mocked, thereby giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

2. Lt. Kerry was involved in a meeting that voted on assassinating members of the US Senate.

3. Lt. Kerry lied under oath against fellow soldiers before the US Senate about crimes committed in Vietnam.

4. Lt. Kerry professed to being a war criminal on national television, and condemned the military and the USA.

5. Lt. Kerry met with NVA and Vietcong communist leaders in Paris, in direct violation of the UCMJ and the U.S. Constitution.

Lt. Kerry by his own words & actions violated the UCMJ and the U.S. Code while serving as a Navy officer. Lt.

Kerry stands in violation of Article 3, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution. Lt. Kerry's 1970 meeting with NVA Communists in Paris is in direct violation of the UCMJ's Article 104 part 904, and U.S. Code 18 U.S.C. 953. That meeting, and Kerry's subsequent support of the communists while leading mass protests against our military in the year that followed, also place him in direct violation of our Constitution's Article 3, Section 3, which defines treason as "giving aid and comfort" to the enemy in time of warfare.

The Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3, states, "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President
and Vice-President ... having previously taken an oath, to support the Constitution of the United States, [who has] engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."

A. L. "Steve" Nash, MAC Ret, UDT/SEAL SEAL

Authentication Team -Director AuthentiSEAL Phone 707 438 0120
"The only service where all investigators are US Navy SEALs"

[Polybius]

We on FreeRepublic have known about for quite some time. Republican strategists need to spend more time on here. Also, Kerry admitted in the Crimson interview that it was not his intention to get into combat in Vietnam. That's why he signed up for swift boat duty after his stint on the USS Gridley. At the time, the swift boats were on coastal patrol--a veritable "China Beach" type of assignment--very little risk of combat.

It seems domestic and foreign journalists need to spend more time on FreeRepublic too. It's amazing what they consider "newly discovered".

I wrote the following summary of Kerry's Vietnam choices a while back and have re-posted it from time to time for the benefit of any lurking journalists:

*******************************

What bothered me about this article saying Kerry "only served" four months on a tour is that he had a cushy job on the big ship and opted to volunteer for his second tour of duty on a swift boat. In other words he took himself off the easy duty and into the harder combat seeing duty. That has to count for something.

That is what Kerry and the Democrats want us to believe and that is the version they are putting out. However, that version is pure Bravo Sierra and is not supported by the facts or by Kerry's own statements.

It would indeed be extremely admirable if Kerry had knowingly taken "himself off the easy duty and into the harder combat seeing duty".

However, Kerry never volunteered for combat or any duty he dreamed would get him into combat.

Kerry was the First Division Officer when he served on the USS Gridley.

John F. Kerry, the junior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts is positioning himself for a run at the Presidency in 2004. Ensign (and later LTJG Kerry) reported aboard GRIDLEY straight out of the Fleet Training Center, San Diego on 8 June 1967. This boot Ensign headed up First Division and is shown here with Calvert BM1 and BMCS Enochs. His biographical materials never mention this period even though he was aboard GRIDLEY much longer than he was in Vietnam. Between having these two old salts reporting to him and Captain Slifer after him all the time, Ensign Kerry was a busy young man.

What is "First Division"?

First Division is one of the "Deck Divisions" on a ship. In Navy slang, the "Deck Apes". They swab the decks. They chip paint. They paint the areas they finished chipping. After that, they swab, they chip and they paint some more. The bottom of the class at Navy Boot Camp ends up in a Deck Division.

In the Ward Room, the First Division Officer is the lowest guy in the ship's officers pecking order. When the XO or the CO need an S.L.J.O. (Shitty Little Jobs Officer), the First Division Officer is the guy that gets the job.

Kerry was in charge of the least skilled sailors in the lowest prestige division on his ship and, apparently, his C.O., Captain Slifer, was not making life very pleasant for our Boston Blue Blood who was more used to sailing on John F. Kennedy's yacht.

What to do?

Swift boats!

At the time, swift boats merely patrolled the coastline or ferried sailors between ships.

Most importantly, a lowly Lt.(j.g.) was the Officer in Charge (OIC).

Instead of being the SLJO on the USS Gridley, in charge of Deck Ape Division, with Captain Slifer making his life miserable, Kerry pictured himself as the OIC of his own boat, roaring up and down the South China Sea out of the war and with no Captain Slifer anywhere in sight.

But, don't take my word for it.

Let's hear it from John F. Kerry himself:

Boston Globe, 6/16/2003: ........"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."......... But two weeks after he arrived in Vietnam, the swift boat mission changed -- and Kerry went from having one of the safest assignments in the escalating conflict to one of the most dangerous.

Two weeks after Kerry assumed command of his swift boat, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt put into effect his idea of getting those swift boats out of glorified water skiing duty........

Picture of yours truly "RD2 Joe Muharsky" water skiing behind PCF 94 March 1969. Pictured is signed by Senator John Kerry who was a LTJG in Coastal Division 11.

.......into the shooting war in the rivers of the Mekong Delta.

Oooooops.

As Robert Burns once wrote, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

Kerry signed up for being OIC of his own water skiing boat and here he was in the middle of a friggin war!!

What does Kerry do now after he has gone from glorified water skier straight into deep kim-chee?

Well, Kerry then proceeds to rack up three Purple Hearts for "injuries" that kept him off duty for a grand total of.....drum roll, please..... two days of duty by his own admission and zero days according to his swift boat squadron C.O.

Kerry then sea-lawyered himself out of combat after only four months and requested a transfer as an "Admiral's aide", preferably in "Boston, New York or Washington".

Boston Globe, 6/16/2003: ......... He requested and was granted a transfer out of Vietnam six months before his combat tour was slated to end on the grounds that he had earned three Purple Hearts. None of his wounds was disabling; he said one cost him two days of service and the other two did not lead to any absence. .........The bottom line is that Kerry could have remained but he chose to seek an early transfer.

When the Boston Globe asked Kerry to give permission for the release of his Navy medical records so that the Boston Globe could document what sort of injuries earned Kerry three Purple Hearts and a ticket out of combat after 4 months.........Kerry refused.

Every decision and/or request John F. Kerry ever made; from First Division Officer to swift boat OIC; from swift boat OIC to early termination of his combat tour; from early termination of his combat tour to Admiral's aide; from Admiral's aide to early discharge from active duty; from early discharge from active duty to politically-popular-in-Massachusets American-G.I.'s-are-war-criminals anti-war protestor.....

Every decision and/or request John F. Kerry ever made in his Navy career was made to further the comfort, safety and political ambitions of John F. Kerry.

[JLS]

Senator John Kerry, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate

I added the bold. I guess the author of this article Mr. Laurence is a member of the FR tinfoil hat group thinking Hillary is still going to ultimately be the nominee? :-)

[Jim_Curtis]

"When he approached his draft board for permission to study for a year in Paris, the draft board refused and Kerry decided to enlist in the Navy."

I've always had a hunch from when the Crimson article was first brought to light that he made this up also to soften a perceived warrior image for political purposes, this certainly doesn't help him now though. I think with his connections he could have got a deferment.

I think Kerry had subversive reasons for going and I don't think he was acting all on his own. That's just my hunch and it's nothing that I would ever be able to the bottom of.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Kerry is such a blatantly obvious phony, the dims might as well run Baghdad Bob.

[dix]

Old news to Freepers, but it's time for the RNC to get on the stick, and fight back.

[Avenger]

This story along with the quote from Kerry stating why he chose duty on the swift boats paints a very different picture of Kerry's service than the one the Kerry campaign wants to portray.

[tgslTakoma]

Oooops. Good catch.

[eccentric]

According to "Unfit For Command" Tom Wright, another PCF commander, proposed that Kerry use the 3PH rule to leave Vietnam because they wanted him out of there.

[eccentric]

page 92-93

[TomGuy]

The media journalists are too lazy to get away from their wire service feeds to do any legitimate journalistic investigative reporting.

I quoted from "John Kerry: A Navy Dove Runs for Congress" months ago during the Democrat Primaries. This isn't new information. It has been 'there' since 1970. Journalists are just too lazy or too complicit to dig into Kerry's background.

from The Harvard Crimson
Published on Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Old Crimson Interview Reveals A More Radical John Kerry

Goldhaber, whose first-person profile of Kerry ran in The Crimson Feb. 18, 1970, said yesterday he recalled the candidate as an emerging outsider whose campaign focused squarely on his opposition to the Vietnam War.
[Ironically, Kerry's whole campaign so far has been about his serving in Vietnam, with little mention of his opposition to the war.]

from The Harvard Crimson
Published on Wednesday, February 18, 1970
John Kerry: A Navy Dove Runs for Congress

He [Kerry] supports a volunteer Army, "if and only if we can create the controls for it. You're going to have to prepare for the possibility of a national emergency, however." Kerry said that the United Nations should have control over most of our foreign military operations. "I'm an internationalist. I'd like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations."

On other issues, Kerry wants "to almost eliminate CIA activity. The CIA is fighting its own war in Laos and nobody seems to care."