[Cboldt]

* bump *

[Howlin]

All this, and we haven't even gotten to the part about the VVAW yet. :-)

[The G Man]

Is this guy a staff writer? Or a columnist?

[Straight Vermonter]

Woohoo!!! The best part of this story is that it is published in the MSM. Liberals in Chicago will be getting nauseous over breakfast reading this one.

[Centaur]

OOOOPS!

[pt17]

Kerry's Record: The gift that keeps on giving.

[ClearCase_guy]

The media will quickly decide not to shield Kerry anymore. He is a lost cause.

The Clinton Administration was crippled by his lies.
Gore lost in 2000, in part because people saw him as unprincipled.
Kerry is both a liar and unprincipled.

And Hillary wants to run in 2008? Can the Dems take another scoundrel as their Presidential Nominee? I think her hopes are actually sinking now too.

[dennisw]

The truth is poison to John Kerry.

[hflynn]

Kerry is being caught in lie after lie after but still insists on making Vietnam the centerpiece if not the sole basis for his candidacy.

Kerry is a fraud who has no record of accomplishment in the Senate that he willing to even discuss with the American people and apparently his war record is, at the very least, questionable. He continues to run on a record of 4 months as a junior grade officer on a Swift boat in Vietnam and insists these 4 months have made him more qualified to lead the nation than a President who has lead us through 3 years of a worldwide war on terror.

I think Maureen Dowd wrote the wrong book. Kerryworld: Enter at Your Own Risk would have been a super seller.

[igoramus987]

Kerry's Web site also carries a DD215 form revising his DD214, issued March 12, 2001, which adds four bronze campaign stars to his Vietnam service medal. The campaign stars are issued for participation in any of the 17 Department of Defense named campaigns that extended from 1962 to the cease-fire in 1973.

However, according to the Navy spokesman, Kerry should only have two campaign stars: one for "Counteroffensive, Phase VI," and one for "Tet69, Counteroffensive."

... and the lie gets bigger and bigger.

[Nick Danger]

Drip... drip.... drip...

[Warrior Nurse]

I am the son of a Silver Star Medal recipient and he told me once that "those type of medals come with a lot of blood, guts and luck". Never with a "V". When you are awarded the country's third highest award for Valor there should be no question about it. Just as with the Medal of Honor or Navy, Distinguished Service Cross and Air Force Cross a Silver Star has to have corroboration by witnesses. The separation between the three medal is the fine line of valorous conduct by the individual. In fact many Navy Cross, AC or DSC recipients have had their medals upgraded to the Medal of Honor. The bottom line is that these medals are not usually questioned for their veracity because a witness usually submits someone for an award. In my father's case it was his battalion XO whom I have personally spoke with a few years ago.

[truthkeeper]

Great post. bttt

[Spok]

I served from '69-'72, and knew guys who won medals. My attitude was "good for them", but the most common commentary soldiers made about medals was "with a Silver Star and a dime, you can get a cup of coffee". I saw alot of valor that went unrecognized, and some medals awarded that were unwarranted. Winning medals wasn't the point and it doesn't separate the heroes from the every day grunt. Getting my ass home in one piece was all I ever wanted. As far as I'm concerned, the heroes are on The Wall. The only recognition that meant anything is what your buddies thought of you, and the only glory in war is not letting them down. Period. The rest is fluff.

[goldstategop]

John F*ckin' embellished his medals. I mean the ones he tossed before he kept them? Well it goes to show when it comes to his wartime record, the man's a complete braggart.

[PilloryHillary]

Ouch! That's gonna leave a (another) mark!

[Wu]

I addressed this issue on the 20th here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1195373/posts

Does anyone know when it was first mentioned by the media or elsewhere?

[jmstein7]

BUMP!

[wolicy_ponk]

[leadpenny]

I see you started a thread first and wanted to get this comment in before going to work:

And to think Pete Dawkins lost to Lautenberg primarily because Dawkins had
a campaign pamphlet that stated he had two tours in Nam when he had only one.