The First “Tour of Vietnam”
John Kerry’s first year of duty, from June 1967 to June 1968, was spent aboard the USS Gridley, a guided missile frigate. During this year, Kerry experienced no combat. His assignment aboard the Gridley is, however, the basis on which Kerry claims to have served “two tours” in Vietnam. Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign describes his service in the following words, which frequently get picked up uncritically by the news media: “After graduating from Yale, Kerry enlisted in the Navy and was sent to Vietnam in 1967. He served two tours of duty and won a Bronze Star, a Silver Star, and three Purple Heart.”
A closer look at his service record, however, shows that the assignment in 1967 was not to Vietnam, but to the Gridley. The guided missile frigate was in the Pacific and in December 1967 did guard duty for planes operating in the China Sea and the Gulf of Tonkin.
To say that Kerry was sent to Vietnam in 1967 exaggerates what was actually service on a deep fleet ocean vessel, involving no combat. Indeed the Gridley operated along the California coast, and on January 2, 1968, the Gridley sailed for Australia and then returned to Long Beach, California on June 8. In other words, the Gridley was in what could be considered a “fighting zone” ( still far off the coast of Vietnam) for probably fewer than five weeks while Kerry was aboard; five week off the coast of Vietnam could hardly be called a “tour of duty”.
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Can you show us the document in question? Kerrys record.
They should have more carefully checked Gridley's movements. They should have more correctly stated that he spent closer to 8 or 9 weeks off the coast rather than 5.
The period in question is described in the March 23-July 20, 1968 report.
Enr and Upk Subic (27-31MAR) = Left previous operation, enroute to and upkeep at Subic Bay
Enr and SAR Ops Gulf of Tonkin (1APR-5MAY) = enroute to and serving the SAR duty
Enr and inport Subic (5-9MAY) = returned from SAR duty prior to departure to home port via New Zealand