Posted on Jan 15, 2017
John Kerry visits site where he killed a Viet Cong soldier
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This dude, kudos to him for his service, is an embarrassment to our country and our administration.
John Kerry visits site where he killed a Viet Cong soldier
Posted from cnn.comPosted in these groups: 
Vietnam
Vietnam War
Vietnam Vietnam War
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 12
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SFC Chuck Martinez
Fact Check: John Kerry’s war accounts and whether he deserved commendations still being called into question; I received this email titled “A Dream About Senator John Kerry,” which is supposed to be a fantasy about confirmation hearings for secretary of state. The email goes on to list “facts” about Kerry, including his military service record and medals, and that he couldn’t pass the bar. Is this true? Now that President Barack Obama has nominated Kerry to follow Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state, some old claims have resurfaced. Most of them originated in 2004 when Kerry faced George W. Bush for the presidency. The email brings up Kerry’s contention that he was on a secret mission in Cambodia in 1968; that people he recruited to testify of U.S. atrocities in Vietnam were never in the military; that the Purple Hearts he received were because of his own incompetence; and that he never could pass the bar. Besides the more weighty issues about Kerry’s war service: Kerry did pass the bar exam and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1976, according to numerous biographical sources and media reports.
On to the other claims ...
Sources such as the Washington Post, Boston Herald, and Associated Press have quoted Kerry over the years saying on the Senate floor in 1986 as part of a speech against giving aid to the Nicaraguan contras: “I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting in a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have the president of the United States tell the American people I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia. I have the memory which is seared - seared - in me. ... ”
Various sources, including “Unfit for Command,” a book refuting many of Kerry’s stories, contended that the candidate was never in Cambodia at Christmas and the president to which he referred in 1968 - Nixon - was not even sworn into office until January 1969. The authors, John O’Neill and Jerome Corsi quoted three of five of Kerry’s crewmen who denied that their boat was ever in Cambodia.
In another book, “Tour of Duty” by Douglas Brinkley, Kerry told of a mortar attack on Christmas Eve 1968 near the Cambodian border in Sa Dec. That book, according to the Post, quotes Kerry’s journal: “At some points, the border was only fifty yards away and it then would meander out to several hundred or even as much as a thousand yards away. Eventually, the Kerry camp clarified that Kerry merely got the Christmas Eve date wrong and that several stories about possible incursions “have gotten confused.” Kerry became the leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War after being discharged, the Post reported. In testimony to Congress, he relayed accounts by his VVAW comrades of having “personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads ... razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan ...”
Later, it was shown that many of the stories on which Kerry based this testimony were false, some told by people who had stolen the identities of real GIs, the Post printed on Aug. 24, 2004. Kerry was not implicated. As for claims in the viral email about his military record, much of this was discussed during the campaign after the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth questioned Kerry’s accounts and whether he deserved any of the commendations he received. But the veterans who accused Kerry were contradicted by numerous former crewmen of Kerry’s, and by Navy records, according to FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan fact-finding project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, which researched the claims back in 2004.
In the Navy, Kerry served aboard boats known as PCFs, or swift boats. According to a Boston Globe overview of Kerry’s service in Vietnam, as reported by Snopes.com and FactCheck.org: “Under [Navy Admiral Elmo] Zumwalt’s command, swift boats would aggressively engage the enemy. Zumwalt calculated in his autobiography that these men had a 75 percent chance of being killed or wounded during a typical year.” Kerry received a Purple Heart after being wounded in December 1968 when he got hit by shrapnel. The Boston Globe quoted William Schachte, who oversaw the mission, as saying it “was not a very serious wound.”nA wound is described as any combat injury to the body; the Purple Heart criteria have no mention of how severe the injury needs to be.
In an affidavit, physician Lewis Letson said he treated Kerry and said Kerry’s wound was self-inflicted when his gun jammed and he threw a grenade at an object, which sprayed the area with shrapnel. Kerry’s medical records show that he was treated by J.C. Carreon (who has since died). Letson said it common practice for medics to sign the paperwork for the attending physician.
Letson said in his affidavit that “the crewman with Kerry told me there was no hostile fire, and that Kerry had inadvertently wounded himself with an M-79 grenade.” But the crewmen with Kerry that day deny ever talking to Letson, FactCheck.org reported. A second Purple Heart was awarded after Kerry was returning from a PCF mission in February 1969, when shrapnel hit his leg. Again, the wound was not serious.
Kerry earned his Silver Star later in February when he jumped onto the beach from his boat to chase and shoot a guerrilla who had a rocket launcher and who, Kerry thought, was about to fire a rocket at Kerry’s boat. According to the Boston Globe, another member of the crew on Kerry’s boat - Frederic Short, with whom Kerry had not talked for 34 years until being contacted by the Globe reporter - confirmed the account and said there was no doubt Kerry’s action saved the boat and crew.
Republican Sen. John Warner, who was Under Secretary of the Navy at the time, said there was careful checking for the Silver Star award, and “I think we best acknowledge that his heroism did gain that recognition.” A third Purple Heart and Bronze Star were awarded in March 1969 when Kerry’s boat took fire, sending a man overboard. Kerry, who said his injuries came from an underwater mine, returned to pull the man to safety and to assist another damaged boat. Jim Rassmann, the man who fell overboard, confirmed the account in a detailed article in the Wall Street Journal. But other sworn statements say there was no hostile fire and Kerry’s wounds came from his negligently throwing a grenade into a rice pile.
Although Snopes.com labels attacks on Kerry’s medals being earned under “fishy” circumstances as “false,” FactCheck.org said in 2004, “at this point, 35 years later and half a world away, we see no way to resolve which of these versions of reality is closer to the truth.” Hello reader, our article commenting that you would normally see here is temporarily shut down. We still want to hear from you, so we invite you to go to our Facebook page or submit a letter to the editor. Readers make up your own mind!
On to the other claims ...
Sources such as the Washington Post, Boston Herald, and Associated Press have quoted Kerry over the years saying on the Senate floor in 1986 as part of a speech against giving aid to the Nicaraguan contras: “I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting in a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have the president of the United States tell the American people I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia. I have the memory which is seared - seared - in me. ... ”
Various sources, including “Unfit for Command,” a book refuting many of Kerry’s stories, contended that the candidate was never in Cambodia at Christmas and the president to which he referred in 1968 - Nixon - was not even sworn into office until January 1969. The authors, John O’Neill and Jerome Corsi quoted three of five of Kerry’s crewmen who denied that their boat was ever in Cambodia.
In another book, “Tour of Duty” by Douglas Brinkley, Kerry told of a mortar attack on Christmas Eve 1968 near the Cambodian border in Sa Dec. That book, according to the Post, quotes Kerry’s journal: “At some points, the border was only fifty yards away and it then would meander out to several hundred or even as much as a thousand yards away. Eventually, the Kerry camp clarified that Kerry merely got the Christmas Eve date wrong and that several stories about possible incursions “have gotten confused.” Kerry became the leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War after being discharged, the Post reported. In testimony to Congress, he relayed accounts by his VVAW comrades of having “personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads ... razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan ...”
Later, it was shown that many of the stories on which Kerry based this testimony were false, some told by people who had stolen the identities of real GIs, the Post printed on Aug. 24, 2004. Kerry was not implicated. As for claims in the viral email about his military record, much of this was discussed during the campaign after the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth questioned Kerry’s accounts and whether he deserved any of the commendations he received. But the veterans who accused Kerry were contradicted by numerous former crewmen of Kerry’s, and by Navy records, according to FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan fact-finding project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, which researched the claims back in 2004.
In the Navy, Kerry served aboard boats known as PCFs, or swift boats. According to a Boston Globe overview of Kerry’s service in Vietnam, as reported by Snopes.com and FactCheck.org: “Under [Navy Admiral Elmo] Zumwalt’s command, swift boats would aggressively engage the enemy. Zumwalt calculated in his autobiography that these men had a 75 percent chance of being killed or wounded during a typical year.” Kerry received a Purple Heart after being wounded in December 1968 when he got hit by shrapnel. The Boston Globe quoted William Schachte, who oversaw the mission, as saying it “was not a very serious wound.”nA wound is described as any combat injury to the body; the Purple Heart criteria have no mention of how severe the injury needs to be.
In an affidavit, physician Lewis Letson said he treated Kerry and said Kerry’s wound was self-inflicted when his gun jammed and he threw a grenade at an object, which sprayed the area with shrapnel. Kerry’s medical records show that he was treated by J.C. Carreon (who has since died). Letson said it common practice for medics to sign the paperwork for the attending physician.
Letson said in his affidavit that “the crewman with Kerry told me there was no hostile fire, and that Kerry had inadvertently wounded himself with an M-79 grenade.” But the crewmen with Kerry that day deny ever talking to Letson, FactCheck.org reported. A second Purple Heart was awarded after Kerry was returning from a PCF mission in February 1969, when shrapnel hit his leg. Again, the wound was not serious.
Kerry earned his Silver Star later in February when he jumped onto the beach from his boat to chase and shoot a guerrilla who had a rocket launcher and who, Kerry thought, was about to fire a rocket at Kerry’s boat. According to the Boston Globe, another member of the crew on Kerry’s boat - Frederic Short, with whom Kerry had not talked for 34 years until being contacted by the Globe reporter - confirmed the account and said there was no doubt Kerry’s action saved the boat and crew.
Republican Sen. John Warner, who was Under Secretary of the Navy at the time, said there was careful checking for the Silver Star award, and “I think we best acknowledge that his heroism did gain that recognition.” A third Purple Heart and Bronze Star were awarded in March 1969 when Kerry’s boat took fire, sending a man overboard. Kerry, who said his injuries came from an underwater mine, returned to pull the man to safety and to assist another damaged boat. Jim Rassmann, the man who fell overboard, confirmed the account in a detailed article in the Wall Street Journal. But other sworn statements say there was no hostile fire and Kerry’s wounds came from his negligently throwing a grenade into a rice pile.
Although Snopes.com labels attacks on Kerry’s medals being earned under “fishy” circumstances as “false,” FactCheck.org said in 2004, “at this point, 35 years later and half a world away, we see no way to resolve which of these versions of reality is closer to the truth.” Hello reader, our article commenting that you would normally see here is temporarily shut down. We still want to hear from you, so we invite you to go to our Facebook page or submit a letter to the editor. Readers make up your own mind!
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Like some other former servicemen, one may say that Kerry's antics and statements after his service have wiped out any kudos he may have rated. Then there is the whole Swift Boat thing that casts doubt on his in country actions and motives.
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SFC Chuck Martinez
Amen brother George, he was a disgrace and could not stand side by side to any real soldier who fought the fight in no man's land!
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1LT Vance Titus
Now, we learn, he has shared intelligence with Iran. Why does this man hate our country so much?
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SFC Chuck Martinez
One of many, because he did not win the presidency! It would have been a disaster for this country.
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