Need help with Kerry's war service

[goddess40]

I need to debunk a recent letter to our newspaper. The writer said Kerry served only 4 months in Vietnam. I know he was on the river boat 4 months but wasn't he assigned to a battle ship for some time before that? I know he signed up for a second term and that is where the 4 months comes in. The fool goes on to say Kerry can't serve as President as he "engaged in insurrection and rebellion" against the US for protesting the war when he came home from 'Nam. Seems to me he was using his right to free speech.

[kentuck]

1. That's right. You can only run for president if you were a chicken hawk...

That is why Bush is so qualified....

[shraby]

2. That was his

second tour of duty.

[meti57b]

3. according to this source ....

According to Navy rules, sailors who have been wounded three times in combat can be transferred to non-combat duty.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2004/02/02_400.html

Kerry apparently was in combat for something like 4-6 months and wounded three times during that time.

I should add, I didn't read that entire webpage so perhaps there are things there I don't agree with.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

4. Kerry left Vietnam after being wounded three times

yes, it was about 4 months.

Informative link:

http://www.johnkerry.com/communities/veterans/service.html

[goddess40]

5. Thanks

You guys are the greatest and this info will be a big help with my letter to the editor. Thanks so much.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

6. try this

[truthspeaker]

7. most salient detail: HE BOTHERED TO SHOW UP

That's more than Bush can say.

[Killarney]

8. It was MORE than 4 months. He did two tours of duty.

That was only one tour. He did TWO tours. One was 4 months, one was 6 months.

December 1967 to June 1968, he served in the electrical department aboard the USS Gridley, a guided-missile frigate that supported aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin. His second tour was the one that was on the swiftboat in the Mekong Delta. He saw lots of combat on his second tour and was injured three times.

Great info for your LTTE here:
http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/kerry/061603.shtml

[July]

9. That "insurrection and rebellion" line is BS.

He's just looking for something negative to pin on Kerry. If he thinks it will stick, he'd better start figuring out who the millions of others who protested are so he can report them to the authorities.

The lengths people have to go to in order to smear Kerry should be indication enough that they're just making shit up.

[seasat]

10. The Boston Globe has a pretty complete biography of Kerry

(Globe Article)

I'd take them with a slight grain of salt. The Globe has been highly critical of Kerry. They make comments such as Kerry wanting to Join the Swift Boats in his second tour and it was still a "relatively safe" appointment. If you look at the casualty rate for the Swift Boats before Kerry joined and after they started running up the rivers on patrol, yes is was safer. Their casualty rate was much higher than most any job on a ship offshore like Kerry did during his first 6 month tour. Kerry left after the three time purple heart. I don't know where the comment is, but one commander noted that the odds of surviving on a swift boat after being injured three times were pretty low. One commander reported a 75% casualty rate for the Swift Boats during operation Sealord.

[UTUSN]

11. How Many Months Did Shrub Serve?

So the wingnut's logic is, JK's 4 months was not very long, so Shrub is preferable over ZERO time?