Originally posted by: Harvey
Originally posted by: Pabster
Kerry lied, and that is a fact. His Cambodia claim was beaten down rather quick. And his fear-mongering that GWB had some 'secret plan' to reinstate the draft circa January 2005 never materialized. What a shock!
Kerry shed real blood in military service, and he did it more than once. He came from a privileged background, and he could have easily stepped aside and let others go.
What have you done for your country, other than repeat the lies of your inept, lying TRAITOR of a President and his inept, lying, traitous administration?
And all you libs who continue to demonize and attack those who don't wear the uniform ought to check your mirrors real closely. There's only a handful here on this forum who HAVE and most of them don't engage in the BS you guys do.
I did wear the uniform. It was just the reserves, but the nation wasn't in combat, and unlike one of our sitting chicken hawk Presidents, I put in my full six years.
Oh boy another Harvey post I can shred
1. "He came from a privileged background, and he could have easily stepped aside and let others go."
Check this out
Link
in 1970. In the course of a lengthy article, "John Kerry: A Navy Dove Runs for Congress", published on February 18, the paper reported: "When he approached his draft board for permission to study for a year in Paris, the draft board refused and Kerry decided to enlist in the Navy."
This was AFTER he finished his college studies at Yale. Looks like he tried to step aside and was refused... oops.
2. "Kerry shed real blood in military service, and he did it more than once."
From a Boston Globe kiss up piece
link
"I didn't really want to get involved in the war," Kerry said in a little-noticed contribution to a book of Vietnam reminiscences published in 1986. "When I signed up for the swift boats, they had very little to do with the war. They were engaged in coastal patrolling and that's what I thought I was going to be doing."
So much for images of Kerry wanting to charge off into battle huh?
and on his three purple hearts
Purple heart one
"He had a little scratch on his forearm, and he was holding a piece of shrapnel," recalled Kerry's commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Grant Hibbard. "People in the office were saying, `I don't think we got any fire,' and there is a guy holding a little piece of shrapnel in his palm." Hibbard said he couldn't be certain whether Kerry actually came under fire on Dec. 2, 1968, the date in question and that is why he said he asked Kerry questions about the matter.
and got to love this quote
"I've had thorns from a rose that were worse,"
Interestingly enough Kerry has never claimed that they came under fire, just that he doesn't know where the shrapnel came from.
On Feb. 20, 1969, Kerry earned his second Purple Heart after sustaining a shrapnel wound in his left thigh
a legit war wound, but he did not lose any time from duty.
A couple of weeks later, on March 13, 1969, a mine detonated near Kerry's boat, wounding Kerry in the right arm, according to the citation written by Zumwalt...
So we have three purple hearts, none of them questionable under rules in place at that time, but none of them severe.
As Kerry said himself
Asked about the severity of the wounds, Kerry said that one of them cost him about two days of service, and that the other two did not interrupt his duty. "Walking wounded," as Kerry put it. A shrapnel wound in his left arm gave Kerry pain for years. Kerry declined a request from the Globe to sign a waiver authorizing the release of military documents that are covered under the Privacy Act and that might shed more light on the extent of the treatment Kerry needed as a result of the wounds.
Why doesn't he want us to see the medical records if they will only show the intensity of his wounds? What is he trying to hide?
Now having three purple hearts Kerry looks for a way out of Nam
So Kerry went to talk to Commodore Charles F. Horne, an administrative official and commander of the coastal squadron in which Kerry served. Horne filled out a document on March 17, 1969, that said Kerry "has been thrice wounded in action while on duty incountry Vietnam. Reassignment is requested ... as a personal aide in Boston, New York, or Wash., D.C. area."
and
The instruction, titled 1300.39, says that a Naval officer who requires hospitalization on two separate occasions, or who receives three wounds "regardless of the nature of the wounds," can ask a superior officer to request a reassignment. The instruction makes clear the reassignment is not automatic. It says that the reassignment "will be determined after consideration of his physical classification for duty and on an individual basis." Because Kerry's wounds were not considered serious, his reassignment appears to have been made on an individual basis.
Moreover, the instruction makes clear that Kerry could have asked that any reassignment be waived.
The bottom line is that Kerry could have remained but he chose to seek an early transfer
In summary:
Many people want us to think that Kerry is some brave man who rushed off to war to serve his country.
However, he actually tried to avoid going to the war by asking for a deferment to study in France, even though he had finished his degree.
He then joined he navy hoping to avoid being involved in any fighting. Joining the swift boats because he thought they "had little to do with the war"
When that changed he managed to rack up three purple hearts for minor wounds (and I don't question him being wounded or deserving the medals) and following that he went to his commander and asked for reassignment out of the war zone.
So instead of having a brave warrior who rushed off to fight for his country. We have a man who tried to avoid service, and when that didn't work out then tried to avoid combat. When forced into combat he did distinguish himself as a brave and capable commander. However, once he was able to rack up three purple hearts, including one for a scratch, he got the hell out of Nam as fast as he could.
So please spare us the hero worship routine when it comes to Kerry. He in no way shape or form deserves it. On top of all that John Kerry went out of his way to remind everyone of his service in Vietnam. :thumbsdown::|:thumbsdown:
Compare that to John McCain who spent 5 1/2 years in a prison camp and after being shot down "was then tortured by Vietnamese soldiers who bayonetted him in his left foot and groin. His shoulder was crushed by another soldier's rifle butt. He was then transported to the Hoa Lo Prison, also known as Hanoi Hilton.
Once McCain arrived at the Hanoi Hilton, he was placed in a cell and interrogated daily. When McCain refused to provide any information to his captors, he was beaten until he lost consciousness"
BTW: read this Boston Globe piece
link for one of the most biased and hero worshiping piece you'll ever see in a mainstream newspaper. Especially the last line.