Posted on 08/28/2004 11:16:52 AM PDT by wagglebee
Amid questions about one of John Kerry's combat "V" decorations, unearthed remarks by the senator eight years ago reveal he judged an admiral's allegedly false awards as a serious offense that disqualified him from leadership.
After the suicide of Adm. Mike Boorda in 1996, National Review columnist Kate O'Beirne notes Kerry gave his response to two Boston papers.
"In a sense, there's nothing that says more about your career than when you fought, where you fought and how you fought," Kerry told the Boston Herald.
"If you wind up being less than what you're pretending to be, there is a major confrontation with value and self-esteem and your sense of how others view you."
At that time, a left-leaning news service had raised questions about Boorda's combat "V" clip, which is awarded for valor under fire. The doubt was over whether Boorda's two tours in Vietnam aboard combat ships qualified him for the awards. The Washington Post reported Boorda's right to wear the clips apparently was supported by a Navy manual, but hours before he was scheduled to address the issue with Newsweek reporters, he shot himself.
The Herald described Kerry as among the veterans who said although they would take offense at someone falsely wearing the "V" pin, they couldn't see how it would drive Boorda to suicide.
"Is it wrong? Yes, it is very wrong. Sufficient to question his leadership position? The answer is yes, which he clearly understood," Kerry told the Herald.
Kerry also spoke with the Boston Globe.
"The military is a rigorous culture that places a high premium on battlefield accomplishment," he told the paper.
Of Boorda and his apparent violation, Kerry said: "When you are the chief of them all, it has to weigh even more heavily."
As WorldNetDaily reported, two researchers contend Kerry's Silver Star has an unauthorized "V" for valor which "makes it facially false and at variance with official government records." That's because Silver Stars are given for gallantry and never are accompanied with a combat "V," which would be redundant. But Kerry's DD 214, or "Report of Transfer and Separation," displayed on his website, shows the "V."
A U.S. Navy spokesman told the Chicago Sun-Times, "Kerry's record is incorrect. The Navy has never issued a combat 'V' to anyone for a Silver Star."
The allegations about Kerry's war record come amid a campaign by aSwift Boat Veterans for Truth, an independent "soft-money" group that has produced a New York Times best-seller, "Unfit for Command", endorsed by 254 men who served with Kerry in the Mekong Delta during his abbreviated tour from November 1968 to March 1969.
sKerry is just a lying sack of sh!+, his service never meritted a single medal, he simply cheated and connived in order to get them.
Yeah, I would really like to see that documentation for Kerry's V that he claims goes with that Silver Star?
Didn't it come out much later that he was in fact entitled to the additional "V" decoration....?
Is this the nail in Kerry's coffin? No. Why? Because the Leftist "mainstream" news will never cover it.
I hope you mean the original documentation rather than the 1980's edition of his records. IMHO - This one is going to be very hard to explain away.
Yes, Boorda was entitled to wear the "V". In his suicide letter he stated that he believed it was valid, but he couldn't bear the thought of a scandal.
It would seem he would be qualified to judge that.
http://www.cnn.com/US/9605/17/boorda.8p/
looks like that MAY have been the case...
If nothing else, the Admiral should have at least stuck around and gotten
a few "second" opinions before deciding how his life story would end...
Kerry hypocracy ping
This is from Kerry's site.
Lt. John Kerry's leadership, courage, and sacrifice earned him a Silver Star, the Navy's fifth highest medal, a Bronze Star with Combat V, and three Purple Hearts, awarded for wounds received in combat. John Kerry was awarded a Bronze Star for rescuing a Green Beret, who had gone overboard during a mission. According to his Bronze Star citation, "Lt. Kerry directed his gunners to provide suppressing fire, while from an exposed position on the bow, his arm bleeding and in pain, with disregard for his personal safety, he pulled the man aboard. Lt. Kerry's calmness, professionalism, and great personal courage under fire were in keeping with the highest traditions of the US Naval Service."
Bronze Star with combat V.What's that ?
Do SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
Do what Reagan did - GO AROUND THEM AND GO DIRECTLY TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!
Get your own "EXPOSE KERRY'S FRAUD SWIFT BOAT VETERANS FOR TRUTH" STICKER!
I put this sticker on my truck the other day. I get lots of honks and 'thumbs up'!
The sticker serves 3 purposes:
1 - Shows visible support for "Swift Boat Veterans For Truth" to passing motorists, (encourages our side discourages the libs).
2 - Gets the swiftvets.com website visible to the public, so they can and find out more about 'Hanoi John' Kerry.
3 - Circumvents the lamestream media BIAS filter!
Made by fellow FReeper disabled vet who has a bone to pick with Kerry, like we all do!
Large (24" Wide 12" Tall) $20 (like mine above)
Small (12" Wide 6" Tall) $10
Profits go to SwiftVets.com
Ping your FRiends, let 'em know about this!
FReep mail / private reply for details on how you can get one for your vehicle!
This needs to be dispersed to as many people as possible.
An astute writer pointed out that it took Kerry exactly 22 days from the time he obtained his first purple heart and the third one. He actually obtained the first one, probably legitimately with shrapnel in his leg, after sustaining his second injury. He then went back and refiled, under a different command, for the purple heart related to the self inflicted injury in the wailer boat that was rejected by commander Hoffman. Three weeks later he gets the third purple heart after blowing up the rice box. A few weeks after that he was on the way home.
Nick
Once again Kerry's own words come back to bite him.
Ain't it nice? I just love it!!!!!!!
Sure, I mean the documentation for the Navy man John Kerry. Who would believe any updated documentation about their service that the US military gave to any member of Congress. Everyone should know that is just puffery to get appropriations.
Kerry's record was falsified with the help of insiders that had infiltrated the military in the 1960s. Four months and all of those now questionable medals? Come on. That either some real super hero work or a lot of insider work.
Thanks before this article I thought it was a Bronze Star with a "V." Is he claiming the "V" on ony a Bronze Star or both one Bronze Star and his Silver Star or all three Stars?
As shallow as it may sound, all the while that I felt disgust at Kerry and Fonda and the other grungy protesters, I never appreciated the pain inflicted by their actions.
I pray that Adm. Mike Boorda is at rest in God's peace.
The Bronze Star and the Silver Star are NEVER awarded with a V device.
Kerry got some 'splainin' to do.
Kerry never knows when to keep his big mouth shut.
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