There was a Metafilter thread discussing Kerry’s book “The New Soldier” that led to some information I had not previously seen. Links to many things are available, including the full text of the book and other links including his senate testimony from 1971. I replied, and my reply is below…
posted by soulhuntre at 4:08 PM EST on August 27
This post was kind of hit or miss for me. The reading I did brought me a few things…
- It actually gave me a little more respect for Kerry’s position. Upon reading his testimony it became a bit clearer his position was against the conduct of that war (Viet Nam) and not the concept of force in total.
- It cost respect for Kerry upon reading that he used a regulation allowing early termination of a tour to get out of his service after 4 months instead of the full term.
I might even respect Kerry’s views on the war as he saw it (I don’t agree with his characterization of the conflict as a whole) – but finding out he took advantage of the rulings to bail early after 3 admittedly minor, trivial wounds (one probably inflicted by his own fire) makes me worry about his fortitude.
“A normal tour of duty in Vietnam was at least one year for all personnel. Many sailors, like Tom Wright (who would later object to operating with Kerry in Vietnam) and Steven Gardner (the gunnerโs mate who sat behind and above Kerry for most of his Vietnam stay and came to regard him as incompetent and dishonest), stayed for longer periods either because of the special needs of the Navy or because they had volunteered to do so. With very few exceptions in the history of Swift Boats in Vietnam, everyone served a oneyear tour unless he was seriously wounded. One exception was John Kerry, who requested to leave Vietnam after four months, citing an obscure regulation that permitted release of personnel with three Purple Hearts. John Kerry is also the only known Swiftee who received the Purple Heart for a self-inflicted wound.” – quote in context