More Liberal Than Teddy?

The other day Geoffrey pointed me in the direction of the Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry website that exposes his actual war record. Some excerpts:

Kerry experienced his first intense combat action on Dec. 2, 1968. He was slightly wounded on his arm, earning his first Purple Heart.

Kerry earned his second Purple Heart after sustaining a minor shrapnel wound in his left thigh on Feb. 20, 1969.

Kerry was given a Silver Star for an action on February 28, 1969:  When Kerry's Patrol Craft Fast 94 received a B-40 rocket shot from shore, he beached his craft in the center of the enemy positions and an enemy soldier sprang up from a hole not ten feet from Patrol Craft 94 and fled. The boat's machine gunner hit and wounded the fleeing Viet Cong as he darted behind a hootch. The twin .50s gunner also fired at the Viet Cong. He said he "laid 50 rounds" into the hootch before Kerry leaped from the boat and dashed in to administer a "coup de grace" to thw wounded Viet Cong. Kerry returned with the B-40 rocket and launcher.

On March 13, 1969, a mine detonated near Kerry's boat, slighting wounding Kerry in the right arm. He was awarded his third Purple Heart.

When later 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.

After his third Purple Heart Kerry requested to be sent home. Navy rules, he pointed out, allowed a thrice-wounded soldier to return to the United States immediately.
Commodore Charles F. Horne, an administrative official and commander of the coastal squadron in which Kerry served, filled out a document on March 17, 1969, that said Kerry had "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."

Having engineered an early transfer out of the conflict because of his three Purple Hearts, John Kerry returned home to a sweet assignment as an admiral's aide in April 1969.

While in command of Swift Boat 44, Kerry and crew operated without prudence in a Free Fire Zone, firing at targets of opportunity racking up a number of enemy kills and some civilians-- a woman, her baby, a 12 year-old boy, an elderly man and several South Vietnamese soldiers. "It is one of those terrible things, and I'll never forget, ever, the sight of that child," Kerry later said about the dead baby. "But there was nothing that anybody could have done about it. It was the only instance of that happening. "Kerry said he was appalled that the Navy's ''free fire zone'' policy in Vietnam put civilians at such high risk.

Later, I came across this website by the Americans For Democratic Action which puts Kerry's liberal voting record in perspective. He's even more liberal than Jabba The Hutt wannabe Ted Kennedy. Given his navy training, I'll bet he's a better swimmer than Ted.

File under The Presidential Election.

12:07:54 PM      trackback []