Why doesn't Kerry talk about the rest of his military service?

[Onlooker]

The right-wing makes it sound like Kerry was in the military for 4 months, when in fact he was in there for 4 years. Kerry needs to make it clear that 10% of his adult life were spent as a military man.

I'm not thrilled with Kerry's military service, but I do think it's an important card in winning the election. I was very suprised to learn that he had been in the military that long.

[buycitgo]

1. uhhhh, what are you not thrilled with

the silver star?

or the bronze?

the fact that he VOLUNTEERED for swift boat duty?

or the fact that his purple heart wounds were a few inches too far away from KILLING him?

[Onlooker]

2. Kerry's strength is not his military service

I tend to admire those who went to jail or even Canada more than those who went to Vietnam.

[buycitgo]

4. me, too......very much so

point taken

didn't think you were going to come at it from that direction

touche

[Racenut20]

3. The rest was probably boring, like most Stateside service.

Spit & polish, parades, and all those other exciting things that soldiers and sailors do for entertainment.

[Paschall]

5. But his service wasn't stateside

"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. The Navy assigned him to the USS Gridley which between December 1966 and July 1968 saw four months of action off the Vietnam coast. In August through November, 1968, Kerry was trained to be the skipper of a patrol boat for Vietnamese rivers. For the next five months, until April of 1969, Kerry was the commanding Lieutenant of a patrol boat in the Mekong Delta. He was wounded slightly on three different occasions and received a Silver Star for bravery. His patrol boat took part in Operation Sealords, mostly scouting out Viet Cong villages and transporting South Vietnamese marines to various destinations up and down narrow rivers covered with heavy foliage on either side. One time Kerry was ordered to destroy a Viet Cong village but disobeyed orders and suggested that the Navy Command simply send in a Psychological Warfare team to be friend the villagers with food, hospital supplies, and better educational facilities."

-- Harvard Crimson, "John Kerry: A Navy Dove Runs for Congress"
Published on Wednesday, February 18, 1970
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=352185

[buycitgo]

6. he's talking about the post Vietnam duty