His bronze star seems to be pretty noble. His silver star, whoa! But his 3 purple hearts were due to 'minor injuries'??? This is either pretty damn disrespectful OR purple hearts aren't the things that I've assumed. The Best of John Kerry The bravest thing he ever did. By William Saletan and Ben Jacobs Posted Wednesday, August 20, 2003, at 2:58 PM PT Slate continues its short features on the 2004 presidential candidates. Previous series covered the candidates' biographies, buzzwords, agendas, and worldviews. This series assesses the story that supposedly shows each candidate at his best. Here's the one told by supporters of John Kerry—and what they leave out. The story: "Even though he disagreed with the [Vietnam] war, Kerry enlisted in the Navy because he believes in the code of national service. Kerry, who volunteered to command what was known as a 'swift boat,' repeatedly showed courage under fire and gained the admiration of his crew. He was wounded three times and received three Purple Hearts. He also was awarded a Bronze Star for saving the life of a Special Forces lieutenant, and a Silver Star for boldly leading a counterattack into enemy fire." (Chicago Sun Times, May 9, 2003) "Mr. Kerry won his Silver Star by ordering his patrol boat straight into a Vietcong ambush, all guns blazing. This looked foolhardy to some other commanders, but it threw the guerrillas into disarray—and Mr. Kerry carried the day." (Economist, July 19, 2003) "Kerry went from having one of the safest assignments in the escalating conflict to one of the most dangerous. … wift boats were charged with patrolling the narrow waterways of the Mekong Delta to draw fire and smoke out the enemy. Cruising inlets and coves and canals, swift boats were especially vulnerable targets. … Because bullets could easily penetrate the hull, sailors hung flak jackets over the sides. The boat's loud engine invited ambushes. Speed was its saving grace—but that wasn't always an option in narrow, heavily mined canals. … Under [Adm. Elmo] Zumwalt's command, swift boats would aggressively engage the enemy. Zumwalt, who died in 2000, calculated in his autobiography that these men under his command had a 75 percent chance of being killed or wounded during a typical year." (Boston Globe, June 16, 2003) Reality check: On March 17, 1969, Kerry's superior officer passed along a request from Kerry to be reassigned "as a personal aide in Boston, New York, or Wash., D.C. area." The basis for this request was a rule that allowed any Navy officer with three wounds to seek reassignment "regardless of the nature of the wounds." Kerry had indeed received three wounds, but all were minor (they had caused him to miss only two days of service), and the third was on March 13, 1969, just four days before his transfer request was forwarded. In sum, he got out as soon as he could. The Boston Globe noted that "none of [Kerry's] wounds was disabling" and that he got his transfer "six months before his combat tour was slated to end." According to the Globe, "Kerry declined … 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." Still, Kerry is the only 2004 presidential candidate who fought in Vietnam. And before leaving, he made sure his crew members were also reassigned to safer jobs.
Different Kerry. I saw the Senator Kerry you're talking about give a speech at Scholtz's Beer Garden in Austin several years ago when he was running for president... that's Bob Kerry. He was a Navy Seal and lost part of a leg while winning the Congressional Medal of Honor. He had a long relationship with the actress, Debra Winger, and was from Montana, I believe. So yes, that Kerry was a stud. I was very impressed with him... got to shake his hand. He had a lot of charisma up close and gave a good speech. I can't remember if it was '88 or '92. I would have voted for him.
I think you guys are talking about Kerrey. As in Bobster. He had major potential, until a bunch of his guys described a march through a village gone awry.
Bob Kerrey is from NEBRASKA, where he was a Senator. He met Debra Winger when they shot parts of Terms of Endearment in Lincoln, Nebraska. I think he was governor then. Bob was a stud in Nam, and lost part of his leg, like you said. He got out of the Senate a few years ago to settle on the East Coast. He figured if he makes a run for President, he needs a base other than Nebraska. He's president of a university, I think, but he seems to be staying out of sight for this election. I suspect we will see him campaign for the ticket come September 2004. Man, I haven't thought about Scholtz's Garden in a long time. Is it still there? I can't tell you the number of political functions I've attended at Scholtz Garden, back in the day when I went to so many of those. It was always a good spot to drink a cold beer outside about 6 PM. Kind of an Ice House for the Capitol Crowd.
Scholtz's still is a big political watering hole, Friendly Fan. It's changed hands a couple of 3 times the last 20 odd years I've lived here, but it's still going strong. Right now, it's owned by the guy who owns the Green Mesquite BBQ place on Barton Springs Road. The Texas Chili Parlor is still open, although not by the original people. Great chili, thank goodness they didn't change anything. Another Legislative hangout of long standing. You used to see Ann Richards and Bob Bullock at both places. I've seen Ann around town on occasion. She's partial to Las Manitas on Congress. I knew Kerrey was from a state up there somewhere.
Deckard, I met Bob when he was running for Land Commissioner 31 years ago. He was a smart b*stard, and a good pol. I met Ann when she first ran for County Commissioner. She should have had that turkey neck removed before Dubya ran against her. God, I love her, but that neck does not sell on TV.
Re: the topic title I must have read that several times before figuring it out. I kept looking for something by George Will, but it's by WILL Saletan. who is Will and why do you call him by his first name?
just about everyone in combat would have taken that way back don't you think that he knew in 6 months this wasn't going to work? the suggestion is that after 3 injuries he should have been looking to go back out. only a man whose never been there could possibly think that. EVERYBODY wants out of combat after 90 days, except a very few. A story like this doesn't just pop up. Someone in a political camp feeds it to journalists. Or that's how I suspect this went down. Kerry is who Bush fears most, so some of this may come from Bush et al. But it could come from other Dems, too. It's the kind of thing that is used to besmirch "well, you know, he wasn't really THAT hurt." It's the same thing they used on Al Gore. He goes while George is literally AWOL stateside, and Dubya scammed that one through.
Can't argue about Ann's neck. She does something about it and the course of Texas history, that of the United States... hell, the entire world might be different. Ann, you let us down. A plastic surgeon could have saved us. Ultimately, Ann, because you lacked sufficient vanity, my two kids are supposed to recite some dumb-as* "pledge to the flag of the State of Texas"... which really pisses me off. I have an ancestor's name on the San Jacinto monument. I was born and raised in Texas and NOW we're supposed to have our children make this rediculous pledge to the Texas flag??? Don't those dumb-as* Republicans in the Legislature have other things to worry about? Like a budget crisis of epic proportions? Other really stupid stuff I won't mention? I'm going to send a letter to their principals to have them refuse to do it. It's an insult to every Texan, in my opinion. We don't need pride in Texas forced down our throats... we're Texans, godd*** it. It comes natural. (this really ticks me off... can you tell? probably should have started a thread on it... I'm not big on starting threads. grrrrr)
Hey, it was just passed by the stupid Republican held Legislature. THEY are the "dorks". (I think it's too nice a word) If you think it's goofy, think about what a Texan must feel? It's an outrage and an embarassment. Faced with a 10 BILLION dollar deficit, they find time to pull this sort of BS. Is there ANYONE here from Texas that thinks this makes any sense whatsoever??
it's an outrage they have control, they have a budget to meet, and we get a pledge to Texas BECAUSE IF THERE'S ONE THING TEXANS DON'T HAVE ENOUGH OF, IT'S PRIDE IN BEING TEXANS. whatever happened to --- Don't ever ask a man where he's from. If he's from Texas, he'll tell you. If he's not, you don't want to embarrass him.
Exactly. I guess it further derailed the thread, but wtf. I got this letter in the mail about 3 days before school started that the kids would be saying the Pledge of Allegiance... I sort of nodded my head, although I'm not crazy about the "under god" part... then it said this Texas pledge thing. I went ballistic and it took awhile to notice the next thing in the letter, that they also will have "a minute of silence" as well. I can see the potential for abuse of that one, but I don't feel like getting into it. Why all this BS? Why not try to do something of substance? Because that's not what I consider this to be. You can write a letter to the principal to have your kids just not do it... in other words, just put a spotlight on them saying, "Hey! We're different from you! Wanna make fun of us??" How absurd can a state government get. This one is trying to set some sort of modern record for Texas.
What is all this about pledging to Texas? The POA is now a state action? Are all states doing this, or just you good 'ol boys? Does this mean...I mean, is there any chance...I know it's probably a long shot, but does the state pledge thingie mean that, someday...the South shall rise again?
What is the point of this article? It would have taken only one injury for me to try to find a way to get the hell out of there.
