It was an absolute jungle ambush. He let Kerry march in confidently as a Vietnam hero, and then let the SBV dismantle him in the crossfire. Kerry was warned month before, but failed to respond.
sKerry was "an idiot" (to quote tahrayzah) for doing that. I think his calculation was that he was going to play up his Vietnam "service", so that W would be unable to criticize his anti-war record. He kinda forgot about all those Vietnam veterans he slandered. Payback is h*ll. Also, sKerry is about the most inherently unlikable politician in history. I think that he actually beats Sore Loserman in that category.