A friend who been a sailor at Okinawa was hospitalized with a wounded hand; he cannot straighten out one of his fingers. Years ago (long before Kerry surfaced) he told me how embarrassed he had been to receive the PH while in the hospital surrounded by men in much worse shape.
The fact that so many of Kerry's colleagues hate him suggests that spirit didn't end with the WWII generation.
Yes, you are right. But the fact that the men of spirit are ignored while “men” like Kerry rise to the top of the heap is cause for alarm.