Fraters Libertas

For The Record...

Readers weigh in on whether Kerry's military records are relevant.

Matt thinks not:

Here, here. Well stated, it is practically the only thing me and some of my L friends can agree on, "who cares what happened 35 years ago," it's not like either guy left their sweetheart to suffocate in a submerged car. Really, are any of the swing votes going to come from a guy in the booth thinking, "Well, Bush may have missed some weekends in the Nat Guard; but Kerry may not have gotten good grades on a physical exam?"

Adrianna concurs:

I've noticed through the years that Hugh gets on a tangent and stays put until his vent is used up. Chiding him doesn't work. But, I do agree with you about the WAR RECORD crap. In the words of one of the best anti-liberal songs ever written, "Get Over It" Hell Freezes Over - Eagles.

Personally, I can't stand the Eagles, but the point is well stated.

Gary has a different view on the matter:

I agree largely with your ZZZZZ about Kerry's military record. And I agree that it bears little (but some) relevance to today.But look a little closer, please?

What were the natures of those three wounds leading to the Purple Hearts and thus, his ticket out, after just four months? (Gee, most of us got to stay in RVN 12 months. The three-wound "rule" was well-known to us, and one wound would suffice, of course, if "serious." But who'd ever want to hazard the three-and-out ticket? No one I knew.)

Details on the Purple Hearts, from Kerry's treatment records, we do NOT get from Kerry's campaign, after initial flip-flopping on his answer to Russert about reviewing his military records. Why is that?

Did Kerry know that three wound deal would get him outta there? He had to, as it was part of every in-country briefing that I myself help to conduct, about hometown news releases, along with the medics' spiel about VD, and that obligatory customs and culture lecture from anyone who knew a lick about Vietnam. In-country orientation we call it.

Kerry's first Purple Heart-triggering wound came quickly, and rather fortuitiously as it turned out, within twenty four hours after he steps into the Mekong. Slight, too, sounds like a what, a scratch? But then, I am in a put-down mode right now. No brush with any war is to be slighted.

Please note the fact that, after that first wound, and the subsequent two, he returns to duty each time, without missing a single day. Humm. Guy must lead a charmed life. Diplomatic with fellow officers, too. They apparently love the guy. Why, he even gets appointed to be an admiral's aide in the safety of Boston harbor, plush duty indeed.

So who wrote him up for the Silver Star? Well, it had to be an officer. Who was the only officer among enlisted men on the Navy switf boat? Kerry. Hummm. Verrry interesting. Details, please?

Contrary to misrepresentations in Strib's fawning AP report on 4/22, "Kerry's military record glowing," Kerry was NOT uniformly praised by his crewmen. After all, he put 'em in danger in what might've been court martial-rendering decisions in other circumstances.

(Catch that Strib headline--"glowing." Why, that one could've come directly from Kerry campaign headquarters, or DNC. Did mere ANG fighter jock "W" get this slavish treatment on release of his records? Nah. Double standard time, again, in liberal media. And they wonder why we call 'em biased?)

My own biggest, forever unresolved gripe about Kerry, is his libel and slander of GIs, giving comfort to the enemy, a la Hanoi Jane, and his smearing us to our own families and friends "back home." Kerry and his VAW minions (funded by Jane Fonda, btw) made me and about 2.5 million other GIs who served there into faux "war criminals." All this to what, serve his headline-grabbing initial run for Congress? Tawdry.

Never will forget that slander, nor likely forgive it. Old wound, you might say. I rallied once with Viet vets in front of the Metrodome, before a World Series game with Ted Turner's team (joining a bunch of chanting Indians there, interestingly enough) to protest Hanoi Jane's GI-defaming remarks. All we got was a sort of half-way apology, but that was later taken back. No such apology from Kerry to Tim Russert Sunday, or at any time, for how he helped besmirch the good reputations of his fellow Vietnam vets. Ergo, it's unforgiveable, especially after all these years, and redemption, well, it's still possible, but it must be taken up, and in good faith, something this JFK might not be capable of.

Kerry's association anti-war vet group, his largely unreported attendance at a KC meeting at which the assassination of U.S. Senators is raised as a protest possibility (truly!), frankly sicken me.

So his record does make a difference, notwithsanding your ZZZZZZs, for those who served, and did not throw back our own or anyone else's medals, in sheer contempt for our nation. And we took the brunt of antiwar, anti-GI sentiments upon our returns, like to back to school on the GI Bill forever "branded" as 'Nam vets and "baby killers."

Until Kerry apologizes, I'm inalterably opposed to the slandering, libelous opportunistic creep because, well, character counts. That's just the way it is with me. And it doesn't bother me a bit. Off the soapbox now.

I agree that Kerry's trashing of his fellow vets in 1971 and his refusal to recant those remarks to this day is despicable, and he should be held to account for it. So let's focus on that and let the records brouhaha go. There's more than enough dirt to bury this guy as is. The records are just loose pebbles that aren't worth the time or the effort to scoop up.