To a man, his entire unit, those closest to him, say that he deserted. He left.
No matter what excuse or explanation someone might come up with for that, the fact is that he left. He was supposed to be there, and he wasn’t there.
There is absolutely no denying that a desertion took place.
All the other evidence says he intentionally left. Like on a lawyer TV show, his only defense can be that he went crazy. I’ve heard he was weird, but no one yet has suggested he went insane.
Does he deserve a trial by court martial? Yes. There is absolutely no doubt. He should be court martialed and let the jurors sort out countless testimony that he just up and left. And then he should be punished. I don’t buy the notion that 5 years in captivity was brutal. The pictures I’ve seen of him since his return, he looked pretty capable to me.
But... but... all those Swift Boat guys were liars! Did you know that John Kerry was a decorated Viet Nam War hero?
Precisely correct.
Even if the 5 years lived as a captive was brutal which I don’t believe for a second, they were not as bad as the grief of the families of the eight patriots that died trying to rescue him. Nor as bad as the agony of the untold number of patriots wounded, some very severely, trying to rescue him.
A court-martial is most certainly warranted because of the testimony of his fellow soldiers who’ve already come forward and I don’t believe any of them had a reason to lie.