It didn't really hit home for me until I saw the 2cd ad with Paul Galanti. I know him and was at USNA where he was my battalion officer. I remember him as a man of absolute sterling character.
In one of my leadership classes, we were shown film clips of the POW's. One clip was from an East German documentary. The North Vietnamese captors had "prepped" (i.e.) tortured the POW's to the point where they sat to be "interviewed" by these "journalists". They basically had the same spiel. They presented themselves in a passive aggressive way spewing the nonsense they were forced to say by their captors. This was also the same occasion I believe where Jim Stockdale disfigured his own face so he couldn't be shown.
Galanti's appearance was notable in that he was flipping the captors the bird the whole time during the "interview". Supposedly he told the captors that it was the "Hawaiian Good Luck" sign. Of course they found out what it really was and Galanti paid for it dearly.
I think the focus on Kerry must be on his post Vietnam experiences starting with the VVAW days. There's a thread running through his life. He's a political opportunist of the first order that has sought recklessly to weaken the Ntional Security of the US. This includes his time in the Senate which seems unwilling to talk about.
Doesn't sound like the type to buckle under whatever Kerry ("Mommy, make him stop!") can bring out.