[Vision2020] Kerry's military record, redux.

Mon, 26 Apr 2004 14:50:09 -0700

My third posting of the day.  I apologize, but I had to follow Joan's 
message with these quotes from Maureen Dowd's wonderful column in today's 
New York Times, regarding "Bushworld."  As it pertains to Joan's topic, "In 
Bushworld, you get to strut around like a tough military guy and paint your 
rival as a chicken hawk, even though he's the one who won medals in combat 
and was praised by his superior officers for fulfilling all his 
obligations."  "In Bushworld, our troops go to war and get killed, but you 
never see the bodies coming home."  In Bushworld, flag-draped remains of the 
fallen are important to revere and show the nation, but only in political 
ads hawking the president's war against terror."                             

                Carl Westberg Jr.

>From: "Joan Opyr" <auntiestablishment@hotmail.com>
>To: "Vision2020 Moscow" <vision2020@moscow.com>
>Subject: [Vision2020] Kerry's military record, redux.
>Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 14:24:46 -0700
>
>Dear Visionaries:
>
>I came across the following on the AP Wire.  I'm forwarding it to you 
>because I can think of nothing so nauseating, so morally bankrupt as 
>smearing those who have served their country during war time.  It's enough 
>to gag a dog off a gut wagon.  But first, a few comments . . .
>
>Kerry's war record is a problem for George W. Bush.  A big problem.  It's 
>not the only reason Kerry won the Democratic primary, but it's a 
>significant factor.  And so, the appeal of Kerry's war record has to be 
>neutralized.  To that end, first the Bush campaign complained that although 
>Kerry had volunteered for duty in Vietnam and served with distinction, he 
>was a "traitor" for leading a group called Veterans Against the War upon 
>his return.  When that dung failed to stick, they switched tactics, 
>claiming that Kerry should only have gotten two Purple Hearts rather than 
>three because, in their opinion, his first collection of wounds weren't 
>ghastly enough.  Now, Bush aide Karen Hughes has taken to the airwaves to 
>complain that when Kerry says he returned his medals during a 1970 protest 
>at the Capitol, he really just returned the ribbons.
>
>This is an old Bush pattern.  In 2000, the Bushies suggested that primary 
>challenger John McCain might be "mentally unstable" because he spent five 
>years in a Vietnamese prison camp.  (The operative phrase, I believe, was 
>"Manchurian candidate.")  We got more of the same in 2002 when they helped 
>Saxby "Trick Knee" Chambliss unseat Vietnam Vet and triple-amputee Max 
>Cleland from his Senate seat in Georgia.  What a technique.  When faced 
>with an opponent who has a strong record of military service -- one who, 
>unlike you, hasn't just done the Top Gun cha-cha in a borrowed flight suit 
>-- you denigrate that service.  You claim that it's exaggerated.  You 
>swagger and you strut and you pretend that your own song and dance must be 
>the real thing because, hey, it's on television!  You liked M*A*S*H, didn't 
>you?  You watch JAG, don't you?  Well, where's the film of John Kerry's 
>active service?  Where's his reality show?  If you can't watch it live on 
>Fox TV, how can you know it's real?  No, don't read those boring old 
>military records.  Let's have five minutes of war on CNN and then switch 
>back to "The Swan."
>
>Enough.  We had a healthy dose of genuine reality last week when a young 
>woman, against Bush Administration orders, photographed the flag-draped 
>coffins of real soldiers coming back from a real war.  The Seattle Times 
>ran the photo on their front page, the young woman was fired, and now Bush 
>and Company are back at their all important campaign work of trying to turn 
>a silk purse into a sow's ear.  If we let that happen then I guess we'll 
>get what we deserve: Texas' answer to Grima Wormtongue.
>
>Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
>
>Records show high praise for officer Kerry
>By NEDRA PICKLER
>Associated Press
>4/22/2004
>
>WASHINGTON - Records of John F. Kerry's Vietnam War service released 
>Wednesday show a highly praised naval officer who volunteered for a 
>dangerous assignment and at one point was "unofficially credited with 20 
>enemy killed in action."
>With critics questioning his service, the Democratic presidential candidate 
>posted more than 120 pages of military records on his campaign Web site. 
>Several describe him as a gutsy commander and detail some of the actions 
>that won him three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star.
>Kerry's most harrowing experience came during the nearly five months when 
>he commanded a swiftboat along Vietnam's Mekong Delta. The future 
>Massachusetts senator was commended for gallantry, heroism and valor during 
>the tour, which was cut short when Kerry was wounded three times and sent 
>back to the United States.
>"He frequently exhibited a high sense of imagination and judgment in 
>planning operations against the enemy in the Mekong Delta," wrote Lt. Cmdr. 
>George Elliott, Kerry's commanding officer. "Involved in several enemy 
>initiated fire fights, including an ambush during the Christmas truce, he 
>effectively suppressed enemy fire and is unofficially credited with 20 
>enemy killed in action."
>Kerry's records show that throughout his four years of active duty, 
>superiors gave him glowing evaluations, citing his maturity, intelligence 
>and immaculate appearance. He was recommended for early promotion, and when 
>he left the Navy in 1970 to run for Congress, his commanding officer said 
>it was the Navy's loss.
>The lowest marks Kerry earned were the equivalent of average - in military 
>bearing, reliability and initiative. But narrative comments from his 
>commanding officers said he was diplomatic, charismatic, decisive and 
>well-liked by his men.
>The records cited Kerry's education at Swiss boarding school, his speaking 
>and debating awards and his role as class orator at Yale University's 
>commencement. He lettered in varsity soccer and lacrosse, fenced, had a 
>private pilot's license and had experience sailing and ocean racing.
>Kerry traveled throughout Europe in his youth and spoke fluent French and 
>some German. His supervising officer later commended him for taking it upon 
>himself to learn Vietnamese.
>Kerry cited his sailing experience before the Navy when he volunteered to 
>command a swiftboat, a 50-foot-long craft that could operate at high speeds 
>in the rough waters of Vietnam's rivers and tributaries.
>His records briefly describe shrapnel wounds to his arm and thigh for the 
>first two Purple Hearts, but they don't detail the severity of the wounds.
>According to a naval instruction document provided by Kerry's campaign, 
>anyone serving in Vietnam who was wounded three times, regardless of the 
>nature of the wound or treatment required, "will not be ordered to service 
>in Vietnam and contiguous waters."
>On Feb. 28, 1969, Kerry's and two other boats came under heavy fire from 
>the riverbanks. Kerry ordered his units to turn into the ambush and sent 
>men ashore to charge the enemy. According to the records, an enemy soldier 
>holding a loaded rocket launcher sprang up within 10 feet of Kerry's boat 
>and fled. Kerry leapt ashore, chased and killed the man.
>Kerry and his men chased or killed all enemy soldiers in the area, captured 
>enemy weapons and then returned to the boat only to come under fire from 
>the opposite bank as they began to pull away. Kerry again beached his boat 
>and led a party ashore to pursue the enemy, and they successfully silenced 
>the shooting.
>Later, with the boats again under fire, Kerry initiated a heavy response 
>that killed 10 Viet Cong and wounded another with no casualties to his own 
>men.
>He won the Silver Star "for gallantry and intrepidity in action" that day 
>Two weeks later, another fire fight led to a Bronze Star for heroic 
>achievement and the third Purple Heart that would result in his 
>reassignment out of Vietnam.
>Kerry was commanding one of five boats on patrol on March 13, 1969, when 
>two mines detonated almost simultaneously - one beneath another boat and 
>one near Kerry's craft. Shrapnel hit Kerry's buttocks, and his right arm 
>was bleeding from contusions, but he rescued a boatmate who had been thrown 
>overboard by the blast and was under sniper fire from both banks. Kerry 
>then directed his crew to return to the other damaged craft and tow it to 
>safety.Get more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : 
>http://explorer.msn.com

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