Posted on 08/30/2004 5:16:43 PM PDT by Tacis
I have reviewed the available documents related to Kerrys military service. They all appear to have been posted on Kerrys site and then reposted on an amazing number of other sites. Where they came form, I.e., Kerrys personal home file or in response to a request (Form 180?) to the Navy or a combination, is unknown. My source is a hostile site, awolbush.com.
There are many interesting points items in these records, none of which alone, defines todays candidate but do add some insights not otherwise available.
1. In Kerrys Report On The Fitness of Officers, signed 18 Dec 1969, the reviewing officer, G. M. Elliot said, He has of his own volition learned the Vietnamese language and is instrumental in the successful Vietnamese training program. It isnt know whether this is a fact that Kerry told Elliot or something Elliot observed. The Kerrys celebrate their ability with languages but it is not ceratin whether Kerry has bragged about his knowledge of Vietnamese. It surely helped him as he met with the Viet Cong in Paris to assist them with their war effort.
2. Contrary to popular belief, Kerry has had an honest job or two in his lifetime. He attended Yale from 1962 to 1966. During summer vacations he actually earned a paycheck (which may be the only Social Security earnings credited to his account). A Background Information Sheet Kerry signed on 2/1/66 indicates Employment as follows (dates, name of employer and Reason for Leaving): July 64 to Aug 64, P.F. Collier, Inc., Return to School, June 64 to July 64, First National Stores, Inc. (Somerville), Uninterestee [sic] in work, and June 63 to July 63, First National Stores, Inc. (Somerville), Left For Summer Trip.
3. Kerry, in a form signed 9 DEC 1968, designated his Fiancee, Miss Julia Stimson Thorne as a partial beneficiary and listed 14 Wall Street, New York City as her address. In a Record of Emergency Data of the same date, Kerry listed David H. THORNE, Brother-In-Law to be and showed his address as the USS Maddox (DD-731). If the Maddox was in Viet Nam and Thorne and Kerry confided in one another, perhaps Thorne (if he is still with us) would have some candid comments about the service of the man who discarded his sister for an even wealthier woman.
4. While it may not reflect on Kerry, himself, Kerrys Commission raises a question. It is a formal document with the Presidents seal and office, appointing Kerry as an Ensign on 16 December 1966. It is dated 11 October 1966 and has the stamped signatures of B. J. Semmes, Jr., Vice Admiral, U. S. Navy, Chief of Naval Personnel and Paul H. Nitze, Secretary of the Navy. The space following By the President, where one would expect the presidents name (stamped or signed) to be, has been redacted, as though someone didnt want the world to know which President commissioned Kerry in 1966. Reflect on Kerry? Doubtful, but why such a key and innocuous document be handled that way.
5. There can be no question that key portions of Kerrys military records have ben concealed and hidden from public view to make certain that the truth is kept from voters. From the few documents that are available, it seems clear that at least two different files are represented. One, of course, would be the copies that Kerry, himself, kept over the years. But, there also seem to be documents that were part of the Nays official record. This would mean that Kerry, at some time, must have filed a Form 180, a fact he desires to keep secret, and received what the Navy has on file. A complete reproduction of the material on awolbush.com, for example, results in duplicate/multiple copies of the same document. Initial analysis suggested nothing more than sloppy copy work. However, in one case, with two copies of the same form, one version had both Kerrys service number and his social security number redacted and the other, only his service number leaving his social security number (044 XX-XXXX) visible. This proves that they were copies of the same document made at different times.
This may also explain the mystery of the different Zumwalt and Lehman citations for Kerrys silver and bronze stars. An explanation might be that the Zumwalt versions (the earlier versions) were in Kerrys personal file and posted while the Lehman versions were contained in the hidden file but delivered to Kerry at his first Form 180 request. The Lehman versions which were supposed to replace the Zumwalt versions were allowed to be reproduced and compared side by side. The Lehman (Secretary of the Navy) versions may have been prepared in response to a request for a favor or by a Navy Department interested in pleasing a notoriously anti-military Senator. This, again, suggests that Kerry has, in fact, already requested and been sent a complete copy of his official military file and, therefore, knows without question that it can not be released without doing himself major, perhaps, irreversible damage.
Bump.
Does a bear do it in the Woods? Maddox, along with "Turner Joy", was one of the ships involved in the so called "Gulf of Tonkin" incident in August of '64, which signaled the beginning of the "American Phase" of the Vietnam war. Maddox actually was attacked on 2 Aug, while on 3 Aug in company with Turner Joy, an attack was "detected" on radar, but subsequent events have indicated that there were no NV boats present at the time.
During 1965-1968, Maddox served three more times in the Far East, doing her part to support the Vietnam War effort and other U.S. interests in the region.
However she doesn't appear from her DANFS entry to have been in Vietnamese waters during the time Kerry was there, either on the destroyer or on the Swifts.
Much has been made of GWB going for the ANG instead of active duty. Was Kerry trying to avoid the draft, as they accuse Bush of, by enlisting in the Navy Reserves? Input or links appreciated.
MoodyBlu
O'Neill claims in Unfit for Command that he signed up for the RESERVES.
I have read somewhere that when he returned from Viet nam he was assigned to active reserve status. Active reservists are required to attend drills. but no record of Kerrys ever attending drills is found. What gives here?
ping
The fact that he was in the Reserves is not necessarily a negative. The Reserves had requirements for active duty, and when on active duty served just like the Regulars.
The main difference was that the Reserves were mostly NOT "career" Military.
The point is that Kerry did the same as Bush, he volunteered for the Reserves there is a strong similarity there. The only difference is that Kerry got sent, Bush didn't.
The Dems like to paint Kerry as a brave hero who volunteered for the Navy while Bush cowered in the reserves, but the truth is they accepted similar obligations.
If Kerry was applying for a sensitive position in the US government he would have to open up his military and medical records to a background investigation. With all the information our there now would he receive any kind of clearance, much less Top Secret? Honesty, trustworthiness mental stability...?
http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/generalinfo/a/security.htm
http://www.usaid.gov/procurement_bus_opp/procurement/forms/SF-86/sf-86.pdf
No, it was standard practice, for those desiring to go to Officer Candidate School at least on a "delayed entry" program, to first enlist in the reserves. ROTC cadets are enlisted into the reserve as well. I spent two years in the AF reserve as an Airman Basic, before becoming a reserve 2nd Lt. on active duty, all the while also being an AFROTC cadet. (In fact I was a 2nd Lt. not on active duty for a month after receiving my commission. Many had to wait longer than that before going on active duty. Some never did to go on active duty, even though they'd signed up to do just that. These days going directly to ready reserve, without going through active duty is more common, but not as common as it was during the Carter and Clinton doldrums.
He wasn't assigned to active reserve status, but rather inactive reserve status, then in '72 he was transfered to the Standby Reserve, or so his paperwork shows, although as I've posted before, I'm beginning to wonder about the validity of the stuff posted on his site, because there are so many contradictions.
I had read that he was active for 30 months before he was inactive. I also know that most folks who got out early were active reserve for a while .
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.