John Kerry's War Record

Sorry for making the question so broad, but an email containing the following questions about John Kerry’s war record found itself in my Inbox the other day, and I’m having a difficult time proving or disproving its contents. Anybody wanna have a go at some of the points? Is this just complete partisan BS, or is there a kernel of truth in here.

Since the article provides not a shred of proof and a whole boatload of bullcrap and seems to be populated with people who just can’t get over 1968, it would seem to relegate this thread to IMHO. How can anyone respond to innuendo?

Just another right wing hack.

http://www.ninamay.com/

I realize this reply does not belong in GQ but heck I can’t resist defending someone who REALLY served in a REAL overseas war.

The fact is John Kerry was on active duty in Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
What was the right-wing “darling” George “Dubya” Bush doing in Texas ???
I don’t even want to quibble about if he served his full Nat’l Guard duty or not. The fact is he knew joining the Guard (at that point in time) almost assured you of avoiding Vietnam. Also, how did he avoid that long waiting list ahead of him and manage to get into the Guard in the first place?

When I clicked on your link, my browser crashed! She must have some serious juju.

Generally speaking, political types in the know are afraid of Edwards. Kerry will self-destruct. There are a half dozen Kerry scandals in waiting – for the media to tire of the National Guard “issue.” The Republicans are just keeping their powder dry and lurking until they can see the whites of his eyes.

wolf_meister:

Actually, this week’s Newsweek says that’s not true:

It honestly seems like he wasn’t trying to avoid Vietnam per se, but he wanted to go as a flyer like his father, and the Air National Guard seemed the best track to that. I’m not saying it was necessarily right of him to do, but from all indications, it doesn’t seem he was being cowardly or shirking.

Family connections - no one seems to be denying that.

I think the conservatives (the ones I know) are very dissapointed that Dean dropped out, and are scared shitless that Bush will probably have to face Kerry (and possibly Edwards) in Novenber.
If there was anything of importance, including this, they would be riding it for all it was worth. pulykamell’s link is The Media.
Peace,
mangeorge

I thought this might be addressing some glurge I got recently. It’s different and frankly much more mean spirited. Anyone want to take a swipe at this (nothing in Snopes on it yet)?

It goes on more than that, but I thought it was getting long enough already. I’m particularly curious about the part about the woman, baby, boy and the old man as part of his “kills”.

As most things like this, there is a thread of truth, surrounded by a lot of opinion. In the action for which Kerry was awarded the Silver Star, he (and others) were in several days, if not weeks, of heavy stuff. He did chase down and shoot a wounded Vietnamese with a rocket launcher, who had run behind a hut after being hit. This was after be beached his boat, in violation of protocol. The bow of the boat was high, and pointed at the action, so the twin .50’s could not be brought to bear on this action at first, and the man was hit first with fire from a crewman on the front (pointy end) of the boat.

The Boston Globe says:

If this post looks familiar, I c&p’ed it from a post I made in a thread last week.

On preview, I see ShibbOleth’s text

He DID receive awards for actions performed during this time, but awards takle a lot of time, and are often given to the recipient months or years after the action. This may be a factually true, yet very misleading statement.

cmkeller
I still say he was “dodging” so to speak.
If he really wanted to be a pilot in Vietnam, I’m sure joining the Air Force would have ensured him a first class ticket to Vietnam. Heck, that’s what John McCain did. (and did he learn the horrors of Vietnam).

John McCain joined the Navy, not the Air Force.

Bush’s National Guard application contradicts that, in that he specifically indicated he did not want to volunteer for overseas duty.

You’re absolutely right. Your reply did not belong in GQ. If you value your posting privileges you will keep political debate out of this forum. This thread is for verifiable facts about John Kerry, not your opinions about George Bush.

bibliophage
moderator GQ

More accurately, John McCain was already in the Navy for a long time before the war even started. He graduated from Annapolis in 1958.

And getting a direct pilot slot in the Air Force has always been difficult.

Geez, where’s the “smack the head” icon been lately?
Of course John McCain was in the Navy. (smacking my head) Recently I saw a film clip in which he had to jump out of his plane when a fire occurred on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

I have it on good authority that John Kerry has an excellent “War” record.

It’s called “Spill the Wine” and features Eric Burdon on lead vocals. :smiley:

Nice spin. No volunteering for overseas duty meant he was not volunteering to be based overseas. It doesn’t cover deployments.

Military members fill out “dream sheets” that list where they would prefer to be assigned. You can list specific installations, regions or countries. The “dream sheet” is a way of asking the military to consider your preference when you come up for assignment. It’s not a guarantee and you frequently don’t get your requests.

But there is a difference between being assigned to a base and being deployed to an excersice, engagement or temporary duty.

So, Bush was saying he would prefer not to be assigned overseas for his permanent station.

The dream sheet preferences do not keep you out of war, deployments or temporary duty. And when military members fill in the dream sheets, they know this.

I don’t have the cite, but I remember reading how Bush’s family connections (his father) did help him. It was not because he was a Congressman, but because Bush Sr. was a naval aviator - in fact, I think at one time Bush Sr may have been the youngest aviator (pilot) in the Navy in World War II. I don’t know if it helped get him into the National Guard, but according to the source, it made it a done deal for the aviation program.

Here’s a Washington Post article concerning not only Bush’s enlistment in the Guard, but other aspects of his life, as well. It is from a series the Post produced during the 2000 election, and there’s a link to a series of articles about Al Gore as well. I suspect that a similar series may be written regarding Kerry.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bush072899.htm

All of the men have similar experiences - sons of prominent families faced with the possibility of particpation in a war that was probably the defining event of their generation.