- kerry's first tour was on a big ship way out to sea, since the North Vietnam had no navy, he was quite safe.
Regarding Kerry's "two" tours. The first was on the USS Gridley, of which only five weeks was spent anywhere near Vietnam, on aircraft gaurd duty. The remainder was spent off the west coast of the US and in a transit from there to Australia and back.
His second tour, on the Swifts, was four months, of which the first full month was spent at Cam Ranh Bay, in the safety and comfort of a former French resort while he went through training.
As to his "volunteering" for combat, that's a distortion as well. He first applied for a student deferrment to study in, of all places, Paris. He was refused. So, he volunteered for the Navy, with less prospects for combat duty in-country. After his year on the Gridley, he volunteered for the swift boats. However, at that time, the Swifts were coastal patrol craft that hardly ever saw combat. Right after he joined, they were ordered into the rivers, the dangerous duty with which they made their mark on naval history. Kerry is reported to have complained bitterly at the change.