Bugs: “He didn’t brag about it or tell stupid war stories …”

Again, “stupid war stories” are different for different audiences. For those of us who’ve worn the uniform, that stuff is history and heritage, sometimes tragic, sometimes legend, that defines what means to be a soldier.

Of course, Kerry did that very thing repeatedly, even during the Vietnam War. And his supporters in the last election were awfully hot to criticize Bush’s service, to the point of fabricating evidence. I never heard of Kerry calling them dishonorable for doing so.

When Kerry and his supporters get that great big beam out of their collective eye, they can start complaining about the mote in the Swiftboat vets’ eyes.

From your recent reply, I guess the point (already addressed) is that Kerry made it an issue by centering his campaign around his service, whether you cared or not.

Have a nice day 🙂

A point I’ve made often enough. Kerry was a self-promoter and we’ve all served with people like that. And it’s not a problem. But don’t pretend that’s not what it is. If you do your job, no one cares, even if it’s annoying from time to time.

And no one would fault him for getting out of Vietnam on a technicality, either. Except that he was presenting himself as a willing warrior.

“As one who served in Vietnam, I can say that there were many medals awarded that were not deserved, many not awarded that were deserved, and many combinations of the foregoing.”

Absolutely. And it makes a huge difference if you’ve got commanders who believe in putting their people in for any possible medal or if you’ve got one that is on a one-person crusade to stop the habit of giving medals to anyone who isn’t superman.

I’ve got a medal. The citation is pure fiction. Do I think I deserved it? Yes, probably. Do I understand the process? Yes. Someone sat down with a list and made check marks after names… Achievement, Commendation, etc., And then they (or someone else) wrote up a crap load of citations that supported those judgments and submitted them. (Not war time but after the mass evacuation of Clark and Subic Bay, so the element of disorder may be similar.)

The idea that medals or citations are writ by the finger of G-d is silly.

Veterans understand this. Their criticisms about Kerry were not about this. A purple heart is important for what it represents but everyone understands that not all purple hearts are equal. It doesn’t *matter* if Kerry should have gotten them or not. What matters is that he didn’t spend a day in the hospital.

I’ll give an example that might help to explain it. I *have* a Desert Storm ribbon. This is a fact. Were I to present that ribbon as important, however, would be entirely out of line. Because I was never there. All Desert Storm ribbons are not created equal. I got mine by being “forward deployed” at Clark. Now that was no picnic either, and the hazardous duty pay was nice, but I would be misrepresenting myself if I claimed that I was involved in Desert Storm. I wasn’t.

I watched the video interviews on the Swiftboat Vets for Truth website and they refused to say anything but that Kerry was brave and that being assigned a Swift Boat was dangerous. It was what it was.

And it wasn’t what it wasn’t. And charges that his “war hero” status was a mite overwrought were simply *true*. And nothing about his ordinary four months of being stationed in Vietnam in any way excused his activities afterward.

It’s interesting that his defenders focus so incredibly sharply on a single medal… was it won under fire?.. and utterly ignore the bulk of the Swiftboat charges. Because there is no “smear” with the rest of what is absolutely public record, often with video of Kerry saying what he is “accused” of saying.

Coleman barracks, if memory serves.

GWB’s NG record is sterling as far as I’m concerned. If you’ll recall, no one has produced reliable documentation proving that Bush’s activities in the ANG were anything but typical. And if merely serving in the ANG stateside rather than in Vietnam was dishonorable, then thousands of other veterans from that era are also dishonored.

Regarding my old man and John Kerry: My old man was being honest about what he did in the war. Cynical, maybe, but honest. And you know what? I’ve read all of his aviator’s logbooks from that period, and it’s true: he dropped a lot of bombs on a lot of little yellow people. We have yet to see logbooks or any other service documentation from JFK. I believe the clock is still running on that.

Kerry’s postwar activities are documented all too well. He was a disgrace back then, and he still is. My old man, on the other hand, raised a family, and retired after thirty years of honorable service. He didn’t brag about it or tell stupid war stories; he just did his duty.

For what it’s worth, I haven’t seen any documentation proving that Jesus was in Vietnam, either. Maybe he was stationed in Germany…

However, had JFK tried to use his service in helping the U.S. to win the war in Vietnam, I doubt any of them would have spoken up when he ran for President. He may have been a glory hound and been awarded some medals he didn’t deserve, but that is not what won him the enmity of his fellow sailors. It was his use of his position as a Vietnam vet to attack his country and his shipmates, which drove their attitude. It certainly drove mine and I didn’t even know who he was until he started testifying before Congress.

What particularly angered me was his consorting with the enemy in Paris while he was still a commisioned Officer in the Navy Reserves. Anyone with any sense of honor would at least have resigned his commision before committing such treacherous acts.

He has still not released his Naval records in full and Boone Pickens is still waiting to see them. I think that speaks volumes.

A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often….

I believe the Dem/Lib version of this is a couple words shorter and one word different:
“A mind is a terrible thing.”

The leftist definition of swiftboating: telling the truth about a Democratic politician.