My Letter to a Vet (Kerry Supporter)

I think you will agree that it is okay for Bush supporters to ask questions of Kerry supporters just as much as the other way around. I think you would agree that no election is over one single issue.

I have a question for you. But first I need to make sure you have the appropriate information to answer the question. It has to do with Kerry’s record in Vietnam. If you were not aware of this record, this is so much more needful, because before you cast your vote for him you should be aware of all of the facts.

1. Kerry asked for an exemption from Vietnam. (I don’t know the precise term so I say exemption.) He did not get it. So he signed up for swift boat duty, thinking he would not have to go into combat. Then the swift boats were ordered into interior action, not what he anticipated.

2. Every one of his medals was obtained under questionable circumstances. He got three purple hearts. One was for a flesh wound to the forearm. The doctor pulled the small piece of shrapnel out with tweezers and applied a bandaid. The doctor would not sign off on the medal, but an orderly later did. Another wound, to the buttocks, he received when he threw a grenade into a rice paddy. No enemy was present. He took shrapnel and rice to the buttock which was removed and a bandaid applied. His commanding officer refused to sign off on the medal, and Kerry reapplied for the medal after that officer left nam. The details on the third one escape me right now. He never spent a night in the hospital for any of the wounds.

The bronze star came when 4 boats were traveling down a river. Boat 3 struck a mine. Kerry accelerated his boat and turned around to leave the action. He knocked crew mate Rasmussen off the boat. The other two boats stayed to assist boat 3. Kerry came back at the end of the action, picked up Rasmussen just ahead of boat 2. THERE WAS NO HOSTILE FIRE. He applied for and received bronze for valor under fire.

The silver star came from an incident when Kerry beached his boat, chased a Viet Cong teenager down and shot him in the back. Another boat’s gunner had already shot the kid in the leg. The kid, only Cong around, was carrying a rocket propelled grenade launcher and needed to be killed. Hardly the stuff of silver stars.

Kerry later claimed to have thrown his medals over the White House fence. “I threw 7 or 8 over, I don’t remember how many.” Well, he received 5, so the number would have been five.

3. Kerry applied for an early discharge for having received 3 purple hearts. His men were heartily sick of him and were ready to see him go.

4. Kerry attended a Chicago meeting of the Vietnam Vets against the War. He and another vet took a fellow vet to the meeting. According to that guy, they badgered him all the way to the meeting to tell stories of atrocities. He did, which he has since recanted.

5. At the meeting, people who have since been proven to be imposters told stories of soldiers cutting off heads, ears, raping, burning villages, shooting all the animals in villages.

6. Kerry then testified to the Senate, saying that vets cut off heads, ears, raped, shot up and burned villages, shot all the animals in villages. He told this under oath, and finished by saying that “I did some of those things myself.” This was based on the VVAW meeting, which was mostly made up testimony.

7. As he gave that testimony, which the North Vietnamese have since said helped their war effort, American soldiers were in prison camps. That testimony was presented to them to destroy their morale. They have said so.

8. Kerry never filed a report, as required under the military code of justice, while he was on active duty or later, turning anyone in for committing crimes in Nam.

9. Kerry met with representatives of North Vietnam in Paris while he was in the naval reserves. His picture hangs in their war museum.

10. Kerry gave a speech in the Senate on more than one occasion, saying that on Dec 24, 1968, he was in Cambodia. The Boston Globe reporter who wrote his biography included the story. He said in one account the President was back home telling the American people that no boys were in Cambodia. In another account he said it was President Nixon. Nixon was not sworn into office until Jan 20, 1969. In his Senate speeches he said this incident was “seared into his memory” and was “ a turning point in his life.” When Carl Cameron of Fox news, detailed to the Kerry campaign, asked about those speeches, the campaign said there were no such speeches. When Carl showed them the Senate record, they said they would get back to him. They never did. Later the campaign retracted for Kerry the speeches he gave on the floor of the Senate. His fellow soldiers have stated he was no closer than 50 miles to Cambodia. He now says he was "somewhere near Cambodia."

11. 16 of 23 officers in Kerry’s direct chain of command IN NAM have signed a statement saying he is unfit for command. Three are dead, the others have nothing to say. Over 250 of his fellow soldiers who served with him in Nam say he is unfit for command. Eight side with Kerry, the same 8 that he trots out at every campaign appearance.

12. Bush has signed the form 180, releasing all of his service records. Kerry refuses to, and of course the mainstream media says not one word about it, but instead pressures Bush to release his dental records, and uses fake documents to make him look bad.

If Kerry really wanted to clear this all up, he would sign the form 180. I don’t blame Kerry supporters for not taking Bush’s word for it on his service. Shouldn’t the other side get the same benefit of the doubt? But that’s not the real question.

My question for you is, given all this information, which can be easily verified by a Google search; and given how important your service to your country was in Nam, how can you vote for or send out supportive emails for this man? He is a coward (ran when the other boat got hit) a liar (presented false information to the Senate about atrocities and about Cambodia, lied on the Senate floor) a traitor (met with North Vietnamese when in uniform) and war criminal (he said so to the Senate. But as we have seen, his word is no good, so we can’t take his word for it. But, his mates said the only war crime they saw was when he, KERRY, shot all the animals in a village.). How can you support this man?

I sent this to a liberal friend who has been sending me anti-Bush email. I imagine I made a mistake or two, so feel free to point them out to me. Perhaps a corrected version of this would be helpful to others who are having the same debate with friends that I am.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Thanks for your reply. My friend has now emailed me back. He says he was not aware of all of these things, but had known of some. I expected a vitriolic answer, intead he says he will now vote for Nader!

If we each sent this email out to a friend or acquaintance who is leaning toward Kerry I believe it would have a huge impact.

Please, Freepers, post any corrections. I intend to keep sending this out.

In your paragraph regarding the throwing of his "medals," sometimes the terms medals/ribbons are interchangeable. For instance for the generic ribbons almost everyone gets for serving in specific places or during specific campaigns they also come in the form of medals to be worn on uniforms like "Dress Blues." The other medals/ribbons I know he had just because he served in the military and in Viet Nam are The National Defense ribbon, the Viet Nam Service medal, the Viet Nam Campaign medal, and most likely, the Combat Action Ribbon. So, technically speaking, his count was probably correct. The five high order medals, Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts Have to be earned by qualifying actions. Just a side note: In my 19 months in Nam, I NEVER MET or even HEARD of ANYONE who was awarded five high order medals, especially these medals, in a complete 12 or 13 month regular tour of duty, let alone in just four months. He was either a very careless sailor or just wanted to go home to Mama. I'm sure the latter was the case, as he is the one who would write up the days patrol report and recommend awards. So to hush up his little crew, all he had to do was promise them a commendation while he wrote himself up for the big ones. Believe me, I know. I was in communications, and the medals and commendations authorizations would come through my hands!

I agree. In my 13 months in the grunts, I never saw anyone receive those types of awards in such a short period and for such type actions. Many of us saw a lot worse on a regular basis and did more. The Silver Star is an honored decoration of unsual heroism. Kerry's citation is trivial compred to what many real heroes did and never received more than an atta boy. I was twice wounded and three times decorated for heroism while serving as a platoon commander in a grunt company my whole time.

I agree. In my 13 months in the grunts, I never saw anyone receive those types of awards in such a short period and for such type actions. Many of us saw a lot worse on a regular basis and did more. The Silver Star is an honored decoration of unusual heroism. Kerry's citation is trivial compared to what many real heroes did and never received more than an atta boy. I was twice wounded and three times decorated for heroism while serving as a platoon commander in a grunt company my whole time.

In contrast:

FR thread -- A Pat Tillman for Wall Street (Marine Lance Corporal Dimitri Gavriel, 29)

Marine went into battle wounded
By MARK HAYWARD
Union Leader Staff
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=47444
The former Timberlane student who died as a Marine in Fallujah Friday had been injured about a week earlier and was still limping when he returned to battle, his mother said yesterday.
Lance Cpl. Dimitri Gavriel had shrapnel throughout his leg, said Penelope Gavriel from her Haverhill, Mass., home. A Marine buddy of her son had relayed the information to his own mother, who spoke to Mrs. Gavriel yesterday.
"It was something that he didn't have to do. He could have very well stayed in bed and nursed his wounds. He was limping, but he felt well enough to go," Mrs. Gavriel said. "The psychological state and the training of these men is unbelievable, probably beyond logic. That is why they are heroes."
. . .

I can only say -- thanks to all of you who have served your country.

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