John Kerry says that Trump is "disgraceful" and "dangerous"

[bullwinkle]

Imagine if he’d bought himself a few deferments and insulted POW’s instead of earning medals fighting for our country. He could be a GOP POTUS right now.

The medals were given at best under fishy circumstances. He was in the country less than 3 months and collected a bronze star, silver star and purple hearts. Quite a feat He must have put himself in for the purple heart every time he bumped his Herman Munster noggin on the bulkhead. The controversy surrounding all of his " exploits " are profound.

Right! Purple Hearts were given out in Cracker jack boxes, just for the asking? Ask any VN vet.

He wrote himself up for them.

Sez who?

Accounts from military records. He asked for each medal. It is public record.

I saw the Wiki piece, but no mention of requester is mentioned. Is it customary to request for one's self? How about all the other Purple Hearts awarded? Are they self-requested too?

 

[dave p]

The medals were given at best under fishy circumstances. He was in the country less than 3 months and collected a bronze star, silver star and purple hearts. Quite a feat He must have put himself in for the purple heart every time he bumped his Herman Munster noggin on the bulkhead. The controversy surrounding all of his " exploits " are profound.

Right! Purple Hearts were given out in Cracker jack boxes, just for the asking? Ask any VN vet.

He wrote himself up for them.

Sez who?

Accounts from military records. He asked for each medal. It is public record.

I saw the Wiki piece, but no mention of requester is mentioned. Is it customary to request for one's self? How about all the other Purple Hearts awarded? Are they self-requested too?

It is not customary to request medals for your self. I cant speak for all purple hearts given out in Viet Nam, but is where requested by him and under questionable circumstances.

 

[bullwinkle]

It's says a lot about a man who will throw his fellow soldiers under the bus to launch his political career as John Kerry did.

Imagine if he’d bought himself a few deferments and insulted POW’s instead of earning medals fighting for our country. He could be a GOP POTUS right now.

The medals were given at best under fishy circumstances. He was in the country less than 3 months and collected a bronze star, silver star and purple hearts. Quite a feat He must have put himself in for the purple heart every time he bumped his Herman Munster noggin on the bulkhead. The controversy surrounding all of his " exploits " are profound.

Right! Purple Hearts were given out in Cracker jack boxes, just for the asking? Ask any VN vet.

He wrote himself up for them.

Pretty good write up on Kerry from a guy who was in Vietnam on the boats.

He said it was all fishy too as Kerry was in Vietnam for four months and to earn a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three purple hearts was unheard of.

Also when he got the silver star it was because he left his boat after beaching it to go after a guy who was hit with a .50 caliber round. Ever see anyone get up after getting with a .50?? He never had and no one ever will. Loads of fishy shit here.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/service-mettle/

Caludette, did you read the Snopes article that claims the 'fishy shit' claim is false?

 

[Claudette]

Imagine if he’d bought himself a few deferments and insulted POW’s instead of earning medals fighting for our country. He could be a GOP POTUS right now.

The medals were given at best under fishy circumstances. He was in the country less than 3 months and collected a bronze star, silver star and purple hearts. Quite a feat He must have put himself in for the purple heart every time he bumped his Herman Munster noggin on the bulkhead. The controversy surrounding all of his " exploits " are profound.

Right! Purple Hearts were given out in Cracker jack boxes, just for the asking? Ask any VN vet.

He wrote himself up for them.

Pretty good write up on Kerry from a guy who was in Vietnam on the boats.

He said it was all fishy too as Kerry was in Vietnam for four months and to earn a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three purple hearts was unheard of.

Also when he got the silver star it was because he left his boat after beaching it to go after a guy who was hit with a .50 caliber round. Ever see anyone get up after getting with a .50?? He never had and no one ever will. Loads of fishy shit here.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/service-mettle/

Caludette, did you read the Snopes article that claims the 'fishy shit' claim is false?

Doesn't seem false to me and the guy who wrote it was there and on the boats.

He should know what he's talking about.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/service-mettle/

 

[Claudette]

Right! Purple Hearts were given out in Cracker jack boxes, just for the asking? Ask any VN vet.

He wrote himself up for them.

Sez who?

Accounts from military records. He asked for each medal. It is public record.

I saw the Wiki piece, but no mention of requester is mentioned. Is it customary to request for one's self? How about all the other Purple Hearts awarded? Are they self-requested too?

It is not customary to request medals for your self. I cant speak for all purple hearts given out in Viet Nam, but is where requested by him and under questionable circumstances.

All three of his injuries were very minor and he never lost a day of work for either of them.

They do award purple hearts for any wound though. At least as far as I know.

Here's a list of the criteria for a purphttp://www.recognizethesacrifice.org/purple-heart-criteria.htmlle heart.

 

[JLW]

He wrote himself up for them.

Sez who?

Accounts from military records. He asked for each medal. It is public record.

I saw the Wiki piece, but no mention of requester is mentioned. Is it customary to request for one's self? How about all the other Purple Hearts awarded? Are they self-requested too?

It is not customary to request medals for your self. I cant speak for all purple hearts given out in Viet Nam, but is where requested by him and under questionable circumstances.

All three of his injuries were very minor and he never lost a day of work for either of them.

They do award purple hearts for any wound though. At least as far as I know.

Here's a list of the criteria for a purphttp://www.recognizethesacrifice.org/purple-heart-criteria.htmlle heart.

As opposed to the milksop President Bone Spurs who took every action to avoid service. Trump, however, admitted his Vietnam War was his battle with Venereal Disease.

You know what they say about what VD can do to the brain.

By the looks of it then, it appears the VD won.

 

[bullwinkle]

Right! Purple Hearts were given out in Cracker jack boxes, just for the asking? Ask any VN vet.

He wrote himself up for them.

Sez who?

Accounts from military records. He asked for each medal. It is public record.

I saw the Wiki piece, but no mention of requester is mentioned. Is it customary to request for one's self? How about all the other Purple Hearts awarded? Are they self-requested too?

It is not customary to request medals for your self. I cant speak for all purple hearts given out in Viet Nam, but is where requested by him and under questionable circumstances.

The medals were given at best under fishy circumstances. He was in the country less than 3 months and collected a bronze star, silver star and purple hearts. Quite a feat He must have put himself in for the purple heart every time he bumped his Herman Munster noggin on the bulkhead. The controversy surrounding all of his " exploits " are profound.

Right! Purple Hearts were given out in Cracker jack boxes, just for the asking? Ask any VN vet.

He wrote himself up for them.

Pretty good write up on Kerry from a guy who was in Vietnam on the boats.

He said it was all fishy too as Kerry was in Vietnam for four months and to earn a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three purple hearts was unheard of.

Also when he got the silver star it was because he left his boat after beaching it to go after a guy who was hit with a .50 caliber round. Ever see anyone get up after getting with a .50?? He never had and no one ever will. Loads of fishy shit here.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/service-mettle/

Caludette, did you read the Snopes article that claims the 'fishy shit' claim is false?

Doesn't seem false to me and the guy who wrote it was there and on the boats.

He should know what he's talking about.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/service-mettle/

From the piece you linked:
Kerry earned his Silver Star on 28 February 1969, when he beached his craft and jumped off it with an M-16 rifle in hand to chase and shoot a guerrilla who was running into position to launch a B-40 rocket at Kerry’s boat. Contrary to the account quoted above, Kerry did not shoot a “Charlie” who had “fired at the boat and missed,” whose “rocket launcher was empty,” and who was “already dead or dying” after being “knocked down with a .50 caliber round.” Kerry’s boat had been hit by a rocket fired by someone else — the guerrilla in question was still armed with a live B-40 and had only been clipped in the leg; when the guerrilla got up to run, Kerry assumed he was getting into position to launch a rocket and shot him:




On Feb. 28, 1969, Kerry’s boat received word that a swift boat was being ambushed. As Kerry raced to the scene, his boat became another target, as a Viet Cong B-40 rocket blast shattered a window. Kerry could have ordered his crew to hit the enemy and run. But the skipper had a more aggressive reaction in mind. Beach the boat, Kerry ordered, and the craft’s bow was quickly rammed upon the shoreline. Out of the bush appeared a teenager in a loin cloth, clutching a grenade launcher.
An enemy was just feet away, holding a weapon with enough firepower to blow up the boat. Kerry’s forward gunner, [Tommy] Belodeau, shot and clipped the Viet Cong in the leg. Then Belodeau’s gun jammed, according to other crewmates (Belodeau died in 1997). [Michael] Medeiros tried to fire at the Viet Cong, but he couldn’t get a shot off.


In an interview, Kerry added a chilling detail.

“This guy could have dispatched us in a second, but for . . . I’ll never be able to explain, we were literally face to face, he with his B-40 rocket and us in our boat, and he didn’t pull the trigger. I would not be here today talking to you if he had,” Kerry recalled. “And Tommy clipped him, and he started going [down.] I thought it was over.”

Instead, the guerrilla got up and started running. “We’ve got to get him, make sure he doesn’t get behind the hut, and then we’re in trouble,” Kerry recalled.

So Kerry shot and killed the guerrilla. “I don’t have a second’s question about that, nor does anybody who was with me,” he said. “He was running away with a live B-40, and, I thought, poised to turn around and fire it.” Asked whether that meant Kerry shot the guerrilla in the back, Kerry said, “No, absolutely not. He was hurt, other guys were shooting from back, side, back. There is no, there is not a scintilla of question in any person’s mind who was there [that] this guy was dangerous, he was a combatant, he had an armed weapon.”


Another member of the crew confirmed Kerry’s account for the Boston Globe and expressed no doubt that Kerry’s action had saved both the boat and its crew:




The crewman with the best view of the action was Frederic Short, the man in the tub operating the twin guns. Short had not talked to Kerry for 34 years, until after he was recently contacted by a Globe reporter. Kerry said he had “totally forgotten” Short was on board that day.
Short had joined Kerry’s crew just two weeks earlier, as a last-minute replacement, and he was as green as the Arkansas grass of his home. He said he didn’t realize that he should have carried an M-16 rifle, figuring the tub’s machine guns would be enough. But as Kerry stood face to face with the guerrilla carrying the rocket, Short realized his predicament. With the boat beached and the bow tilted up, a guard rail prevented him from taking aim at the enemy. For a terrifying moment, the guerrilla looked straight at Short with the rocket.


Short believes the guerrilla didn’t fire because he was too close and needed to be a suitable distance to hit the boat squarely and avoid ricochet debris. Short tried to protect his skipper.

“I laid in fire with the twin .50s, and he got behind a hootch,” recalled Short. “I laid 50 rounds in there, and Mr. Kerry went in. Rounds were coming everywhere. We were getting fire from both sides of the river. It was a canal. We were receiving fire from the opposite bank, also, and there was no way I could bring my guns to bear on that.”

Short said there is “no doubt” that Kerry saved the boat and crew. “That was a him-or-us thing, that was a loaded weapon with a shape charge on it . . . It could pierce a tank. I wouldn’t have been here talking to you. I probably prayed more up that creek than a Southern Baptist church does in a month.”

Charles Gibson, who served on Kerry’s boat that day because he was on a one-week indoctrination course, said Kerry’s action was dangerous but necessary. “Every day you wake up and say, ‘How the hell did we get out of that alive?'” Gibson said. “Kerry was a good leader. He knew what he was doing.”


Although Kerry’s superiors were somewhat concerned about the issue of his leaving his boat unattended, they nonetheless found his actions courageous and worthy of commendation:




When Kerry returned to his base, his commanding officer, George Elliott, raised an issue with Kerry: the fine line between whether the action merited a medal or a court-martial.
“When [Kerry] came back from the well-publicized action where he beached his boat in middle of ambush and chased a VC around a hootch and ended his life, when [Kerry] came back and I heard his debrief, I said, ‘John, I don’t know whether you should be court-martialed or given a medal, court-martialed for leaving your ship, your post,'” Elliott recalled in an interview.


“But I ended up writing it up for a Silver Star, which is well deserved, and I have no regrets or second thoughts at all about that,” Elliott said. A Silver Star, which the Navy said is its fifth-highest medal, commends distinctive gallantry in action.

Asked why he had raised the issue of a court-martial, Elliott said he did so “half tongue-in-cheek, because there was never any question I wanted him to realize I didn’t want him to leave his boat unattended. That was in context of big-ship Navy — my background. A C.O. [commanding officer] never leaves his ship in battle or anything else. I realize this, first of all, it was pretty courageous to turn into an ambush even though you usually find no more than two or three people there. On the other hand, on an operation some time later, down on the very tip of the peninsula, we had lost one boat and several men in a big operation, and they were hit by a lot more than two or three people.”

Elliott stressed that he never questioned Kerry’s decision to kill the Viet Cong, and he appeared in Boston at Kerry’s side during the 1996 Senate race to back up that aspect of Kerry’s action.

“I don’t think they were exactly ready to court-martial him,” said Wade Sanders, who commanded a swift boat that sometimes accompanied Kerry’s vessel, and who later became deputy assistant secretary of the Navy. “I can only say from the certainty borne of experience that there must have been some rumbling about, ‘What are we going to do with this guy, he turned his boat,’ and I can hear the words, ‘He endangered his crew.’ But from our position, the tactic to take is whatever action is best designed to eliminate the enemy threat, which is what he did.”

Indeed, the Silver Star citation makes clear that Kerry’s performance on that day was both extraordinary and risky. “With utter disregard for his own safety and the enemy rockets,” the citation says, Kerry “again ordered a charge on the enemy, beached his boat only 10 feet from the Viet Cong rocket position and personally led a landing party ashore in pursuit of the enemy . . . The extraordinary daring and personal courage of Lt. Kerry in attacking a numerically superior force in the face of intense fire were responsible for the highly successful mission.”


Kerry was injured yet again on 13 March 1969, in an action for which he was awarded both a Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart. According to Kerry’s Bronze Star citation (signed by Admiral Zumwalt himself):




Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry was serving as an Officer-in-Charge of Inshore Patrol Craft 94, one of five boats conducting a Sealords operation in the Bay Hap River. While exiting the river, a mine detonated under another Inshore Patrol Craft and almost simultaneously, another mine detonated wounding Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry in the right arm. In addition, all units began receiving small arms and automatic weapons fire from the river banks. When Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry discovered he had a man overboard, he returned upriver to assist. The man in the water was receiving sniper fire from both banks. Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry directed his gunners to provide suppressing fire, while from an exposed position on the bow, his arm bleeding and in pain and with disregard for his personal safety, he pulled the man aboard. Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry then directed his boat to return to and assist the other damaged boat to safety. Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry’s calmness, professionalism and great personal courage under fire were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

According to the Boston Globe, this was the only one of Kerry’s three Purple Heart injuries that caused him to miss any days of service:




Kerry had been wounded three times and received three Purple Hearts. Asked about the severity of the wounds, Kerry said that one of them cost him about two days of service, and that the other two did not interrupt his duty. “Walking wounded,” as Kerry put it. A shrapnel wound in his left arm gave Kerry pain for years. Kerry declined a request from the Globe 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.

Back in 1969, Navy regulations specified that any soldier wounded in combat three times be automatically reassigned away from a combat zone to an assignment of his choosing (unless the thrice-wounded soldier specifically requested to stay). Four days after Kerry took his third hit of shrapnel, Commodore Charles F. Horne, an administrative official and commander of the coastal squadron in which Kerry served, forwarded a request on Kerry’s behalf to the Navy Bureau of Personnel asking that Kerry be reassigned to “duty as a personal aide in Boston, New York, or Washington, D.C.” Soon afterwards Kerry was transferred to Cam Ranh Bay to await further orders, and within a month he had been reassigned as a personal aide and flag lieutenant to Rear Admiral Walter F. Schlech, Jr. with the Military Sea Transportation Service based in Brooklyn, New York.

Kerry served with Admiral Schlech until the end of 1969, when he requested an early discharge from the Navy in order to run for a Massachusetts congressional seat. Admiral Schlech approved the request, and on 3 January 1970 Kerry received an honorable discharge, six months early.

Last updated: 2 September 2007

Sources:

Brinkley, Douglas. Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War.

New York: HarperCollins, 2004. ISBN 0-06-056523-3.
Klein, Joe. “The Long War of John Kerry.”

The New Yorker. 2 December 2002.
Kranish, Michael. “John F. Kerry: Candidate in the Making — Part 2: Heroism, and Growing Concern About War.”

The Boston Globe. 16 June 2003.



Snopes.com has long been engaged in the battle against misinformation, an effort we could not sustain without the support of our readers.

If you'd like to learn more about how you can support us, click here.



Fact Checker: David Mikkelson

Published:2 September 2007

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[koshergrl]

John Kerry is absolutely wrong as he has been for most of his career.

Yup. All you have to do is look at the Iran deal he and Barry made.

Well now Iran can pursue nuke ambitions to its hearts content. Congratulations.

They are already pursuing nukes to their hearts content and have been for decades.

Not for the last 4 years.

Of course they are silly. They never stopped.

If you think they did then you are one dumb fuck.

She believes everything her marxist handlers tell her.

 

[JustAnotherNut]

Vietcong Hero John Kerry says that Trump’s Helsinki news conference was "disgraceful" and "dangerous". Well it’s hard for Trump to defend our intelligence agencies when they have repeatedly lied and covered-up Hillary and Obama’s epic corruption whilst trying to pull a coup on Trump.

"disgraceful" and "dangerous"? John Kerry "American soldiers [are] going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children ...”

"disgraceful" and "dangerous"? John Kerry called the American Soldiers fighting in Vietnam ‘Genghis Khan’

"disgraceful" and "dangerous"? John Kerry said of America's volunteer troops "Military service is for losers and idiots."


View attachment 206554

John Kerry says Trump-Putin Helsinki news conference was "disgraceful" and "dangerous" - CBS News

and that's why I didn't vote for him either

 

[Claudette]

He wrote himself up for them.

Sez who?

Accounts from military records. He asked for each medal. It is public record.

I saw the Wiki piece, but no mention of requester is mentioned. Is it customary to request for one's self? How about all the other Purple Hearts awarded? Are they self-requested too?

It is not customary to request medals for your self. I cant speak for all purple hearts given out in Viet Nam, but is where requested by him and under questionable circumstances.

Right! Purple Hearts were given out in Cracker jack boxes, just for the asking? Ask any VN vet.

He wrote himself up for them.

Pretty good write up on Kerry from a guy who was in Vietnam on the boats.

He said it was all fishy too as Kerry was in Vietnam for four months and to earn a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three purple hearts was unheard of.

Also when he got the silver star it was because he left his boat after beaching it to go after a guy who was hit with a .50 caliber round. Ever see anyone get up after getting with a .50?? He never had and no one ever will. Loads of fishy shit here.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/service-mettle/

Caludette, did you read the Snopes article that claims the 'fishy shit' claim is false?

Doesn't seem false to me and the guy who wrote it was there and on the boats.

He should know what he's talking about.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/service-mettle/

From the piece you linked:
Kerry earned his Silver Star on 28 February 1969, when he beached his craft and jumped off it with an M-16 rifle in hand to chase and shoot a guerrilla who was running into position to launch a B-40 rocket at Kerry’s boat. Contrary to the account quoted above, Kerry did not shoot a “Charlie” who had “fired at the boat and missed,” whose “rocket launcher was empty,” and who was “already dead or dying” after being “knocked down with a .50 caliber round.” Kerry’s boat had been hit by a rocket fired by someone else — the guerrilla in question was still armed with a live B-40 and had only been clipped in the leg; when the guerrilla got up to run, Kerry assumed he was getting into position to launch a rocket and shot him:




On Feb. 28, 1969, Kerry’s boat received word that a swift boat was being ambushed. As Kerry raced to the scene, his boat became another target, as a Viet Cong B-40 rocket blast shattered a window. Kerry could have ordered his crew to hit the enemy and run. But the skipper had a more aggressive reaction in mind. Beach the boat, Kerry ordered, and the craft’s bow was quickly rammed upon the shoreline. Out of the bush appeared a teenager in a loin cloth, clutching a grenade launcher.
An enemy was just feet away, holding a weapon with enough firepower to blow up the boat. Kerry’s forward gunner, [Tommy] Belodeau, shot and clipped the Viet Cong in the leg. Then Belodeau’s gun jammed, according to other crewmates (Belodeau died in 1997). [Michael] Medeiros tried to fire at the Viet Cong, but he couldn’t get a shot off.


In an interview, Kerry added a chilling detail.

“This guy could have dispatched us in a second, but for . . . I’ll never be able to explain, we were literally face to face, he with his B-40 rocket and us in our boat, and he didn’t pull the trigger. I would not be here today talking to you if he had,” Kerry recalled. “And Tommy clipped him, and he started going [down.] I thought it was over.”

Instead, the guerrilla got up and started running. “We’ve got to get him, make sure he doesn’t get behind the hut, and then we’re in trouble,” Kerry recalled.

So Kerry shot and killed the guerrilla. “I don’t have a second’s question about that, nor does anybody who was with me,” he said. “He was running away with a live B-40, and, I thought, poised to turn around and fire it.” Asked whether that meant Kerry shot the guerrilla in the back, Kerry said, “No, absolutely not. He was hurt, other guys were shooting from back, side, back. There is no, there is not a scintilla of question in any person’s mind who was there [that] this guy was dangerous, he was a combatant, he had an armed weapon.”


Another member of the crew confirmed Kerry’s account for the Boston Globe and expressed no doubt that Kerry’s action had saved both the boat and its crew:




The crewman with the best view of the action was Frederic Short, the man in the tub operating the twin guns. Short had not talked to Kerry for 34 years, until after he was recently contacted by a Globe reporter. Kerry said he had “totally forgotten” Short was on board that day.
Short had joined Kerry’s crew just two weeks earlier, as a last-minute replacement, and he was as green as the Arkansas grass of his home. He said he didn’t realize that he should have carried an M-16 rifle, figuring the tub’s machine guns would be enough. But as Kerry stood face to face with the guerrilla carrying the rocket, Short realized his predicament. With the boat beached and the bow tilted up, a guard rail prevented him from taking aim at the enemy. For a terrifying moment, the guerrilla looked straight at Short with the rocket.


Short believes the guerrilla didn’t fire because he was too close and needed to be a suitable distance to hit the boat squarely and avoid ricochet debris. Short tried to protect his skipper.

“I laid in fire with the twin .50s, and he got behind a hootch,” recalled Short. “I laid 50 rounds in there, and Mr. Kerry went in. Rounds were coming everywhere. We were getting fire from both sides of the river. It was a canal. We were receiving fire from the opposite bank, also, and there was no way I could bring my guns to bear on that.”

Short said there is “no doubt” that Kerry saved the boat and crew. “That was a him-or-us thing, that was a loaded weapon with a shape charge on it . . . It could pierce a tank. I wouldn’t have been here talking to you. I probably prayed more up that creek than a Southern Baptist church does in a month.”

Charles Gibson, who served on Kerry’s boat that day because he was on a one-week indoctrination course, said Kerry’s action was dangerous but necessary. “Every day you wake up and say, ‘How the hell did we get out of that alive?'” Gibson said. “Kerry was a good leader. He knew what he was doing.”


Although Kerry’s superiors were somewhat concerned about the issue of his leaving his boat unattended, they nonetheless found his actions courageous and worthy of commendation:




When Kerry returned to his base, his commanding officer, George Elliott, raised an issue with Kerry: the fine line between whether the action merited a medal or a court-martial.
“When [Kerry] came back from the well-publicized action where he beached his boat in middle of ambush and chased a VC around a hootch and ended his life, when [Kerry] came back and I heard his debrief, I said, ‘John, I don’t know whether you should be court-martialed or given a medal, court-martialed for leaving your ship, your post,'” Elliott recalled in an interview.


“But I ended up writing it up for a Silver Star, which is well deserved, and I have no regrets or second thoughts at all about that,” Elliott said. A Silver Star, which the Navy said is its fifth-highest medal, commends distinctive gallantry in action.

Asked why he had raised the issue of a court-martial, Elliott said he did so “half tongue-in-cheek, because there was never any question I wanted him to realize I didn’t want him to leave his boat unattended. That was in context of big-ship Navy — my background. A C.O. [commanding officer] never leaves his ship in battle or anything else. I realize this, first of all, it was pretty courageous to turn into an ambush even though you usually find no more than two or three people there. On the other hand, on an operation some time later, down on the very tip of the peninsula, we had lost one boat and several men in a big operation, and they were hit by a lot more than two or three people.”

Elliott stressed that he never questioned Kerry’s decision to kill the Viet Cong, and he appeared in Boston at Kerry’s side during the 1996 Senate race to back up that aspect of Kerry’s action.

“I don’t think they were exactly ready to court-martial him,” said Wade Sanders, who commanded a swift boat that sometimes accompanied Kerry’s vessel, and who later became deputy assistant secretary of the Navy. “I can only say from the certainty borne of experience that there must have been some rumbling about, ‘What are we going to do with this guy, he turned his boat,’ and I can hear the words, ‘He endangered his crew.’ But from our position, the tactic to take is whatever action is best designed to eliminate the enemy threat, which is what he did.”

Indeed, the Silver Star citation makes clear that Kerry’s performance on that day was both extraordinary and risky. “With utter disregard for his own safety and the enemy rockets,” the citation says, Kerry “again ordered a charge on the enemy, beached his boat only 10 feet from the Viet Cong rocket position and personally led a landing party ashore in pursuit of the enemy . . . The extraordinary daring and personal courage of Lt. Kerry in attacking a numerically superior force in the face of intense fire were responsible for the highly successful mission.”


Kerry was injured yet again on 13 March 1969, in an action for which he was awarded both a Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart. According to Kerry’s Bronze Star citation (signed by Admiral Zumwalt himself):




Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry was serving as an Officer-in-Charge of Inshore Patrol Craft 94, one of five boats conducting a Sealords operation in the Bay Hap River. While exiting the river, a mine detonated under another Inshore Patrol Craft and almost simultaneously, another mine detonated wounding Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry in the right arm. In addition, all units began receiving small arms and automatic weapons fire from the river banks. When Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry discovered he had a man overboard, he returned upriver to assist. The man in the water was receiving sniper fire from both banks. Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry directed his gunners to provide suppressing fire, while from an exposed position on the bow, his arm bleeding and in pain and with disregard for his personal safety, he pulled the man aboard. Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry then directed his boat to return to and assist the other damaged boat to safety. Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry’s calmness, professionalism and great personal courage under fire were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

According to the Boston Globe, this was the only one of Kerry’s three Purple Heart injuries that caused him to miss any days of service:




Kerry had been wounded three times and received three Purple Hearts. Asked about the severity of the wounds, Kerry said that one of them cost him about two days of service, and that the other two did not interrupt his duty. “Walking wounded,” as Kerry put it. A shrapnel wound in his left arm gave Kerry pain for years. Kerry declined a request from the Globe 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.

Back in 1969, Navy regulations specified that any soldier wounded in combat three times be automatically reassigned away from a combat zone to an assignment of his choosing (unless the thrice-wounded soldier specifically requested to stay). Four days after Kerry took his third hit of shrapnel, Commodore Charles F. Horne, an administrative official and commander of the coastal squadron in which Kerry served, forwarded a request on Kerry’s behalf to the Navy Bureau of Personnel asking that Kerry be reassigned to “duty as a personal aide in Boston, New York, or Washington, D.C.” Soon afterwards Kerry was transferred to Cam Ranh Bay to await further orders, and within a month he had been reassigned as a personal aide and flag lieutenant to Rear Admiral Walter F. Schlech, Jr. with the Military Sea Transportation Service based in Brooklyn, New York.

Kerry served with Admiral Schlech until the end of 1969, when he requested an early discharge from the Navy in order to run for a Massachusetts congressional seat. Admiral Schlech approved the request, and on 3 January 1970 Kerry received an honorable discharge, six months early.

Last updated: 2 September 2007

Sources:

Brinkley, Douglas. Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War.

New York: HarperCollins, 2004. ISBN 0-06-056523-3.
Klein, Joe. “The Long War of John Kerry.”

The New Yorker. 2 December 2002.
Kranish, Michael. “John F. Kerry: Candidate in the Making — Part 2: Heroism, and Growing Concern About War.”

The Boston Globe. 16 June 2003.



Snopes.com has long been engaged in the battle against misinformation, an effort we could not sustain without the support of our readers.

If you'd like to learn more about how you can support us, click here.



Fact Checker: David Mikkelson

Published:2 September 2007

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WE can al believe what we want to believe. You included.

 

[Wyatt earp]

Imagine if he’d bought himself a few deferments and insulted POW’s instead of earning medals fighting for our country. He could be a GOP POTUS right now.

The medals were given at best under fishy circumstances. He was in the country less than 3 months and collected a bronze star, silver star and purple hearts. Quite a feat He must have put himself in for the purple heart every time he bumped his Herman Munster noggin on the bulkhead. The controversy surrounding all of his " exploits " are profound.

Right! Purple Hearts were given out in Cracker jack boxes, just for the asking? Ask any VN vet.

He wrote himself up for them.

Pretty good write up on Kerry from a guy who was in Vietnam on the boats.

He said it was all fishy too as Kerry was in Vietnam for four months and to earn a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three purple hearts was unheard of.

Also when he got the silver star it was because he left his boat after beaching it to go after a guy who was hit with a .50 caliber round. Ever see anyone get up after getting with a .50?? He never had and no one ever will. Loads of fishy shit here.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/service-mettle/

Caludette, did you read the Snopes article that claims the 'fishy shit' claim is false?

It's their "opinion" only

 

[Auld Phart]

Sez who?

Accounts from military records. He asked for each medal. It is public record.

I saw the Wiki piece, but no mention of requester is mentioned. Is it customary to request for one's self? How about all the other Purple Hearts awarded? Are they self-requested too?

It is not customary to request medals for your self. I cant speak for all purple hearts given out in Viet Nam, but is where requested by him and under questionable circumstances.

All three of his injuries were very minor and he never lost a day of work for either of them.

They do award purple hearts for any wound though. At least as far as I know.

Here's a list of the criteria for a purphttp://www.recognizethesacrifice.org/purple-heart-criteria.htmlle heart.

As opposed to the milksop President Bone Spurs who took every action to avoid service. Trump, however, admitted his Vietnam War was his battle with Venereal Disease.

You know what they say about what VD can do to the brain.

By the looks of it then, it appears the VD won.

As opposed to the milksop President Bone Spurs who took every action to avoid service.

just like Clinton, correct?

 

[Claudette]

Vietcong Hero John Kerry says that Trump’s Helsinki news conference was "disgraceful" and "dangerous". Well it’s hard for Trump to defend our intelligence agencies when they have repeatedly lied and covered-up Hillary and Obama’s epic corruption whilst trying to pull a coup on Trump.

"disgraceful" and "dangerous"? John Kerry "American soldiers [are] going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children ...”

"disgraceful" and "dangerous"? John Kerry called the American Soldiers fighting in Vietnam ‘Genghis Khan’

"disgraceful" and "dangerous"? John Kerry said of America's volunteer troops "Military service is for losers and idiots."


View attachment 206554

John Kerry says Trump-Putin Helsinki news conference was "disgraceful" and "dangerous" - CBS News

Kerry is a fine one to call anyone a disgrace.

 

[bullwinkle]

The medals were given at best under fishy circumstances. He was in the country less than 3 months and collected a bronze star, silver star and purple hearts. Quite a feat He must have put himself in for the purple heart every time he bumped his Herman Munster noggin on the bulkhead. The controversy surrounding all of his " exploits " are profound.

Right! Purple Hearts were given out in Cracker jack boxes, just for the asking? Ask any VN vet.

He wrote himself up for them.

Pretty good write up on Kerry from a guy who was in Vietnam on the boats.

He said it was all fishy too as Kerry was in Vietnam for four months and to earn a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three purple hearts was unheard of.

Also when he got the silver star it was because he left his boat after beaching it to go after a guy who was hit with a .50 caliber round. Ever see anyone get up after getting with a .50?? He never had and no one ever will. Loads of fishy shit here.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/service-mettle/

Caludette, did you read the Snopes article that claims the 'fishy shit' claim is false?

It's their "opinion" only

As opposed to 'your' opinion only?

 

[bullwinkle]

Accounts from military records. He asked for each medal. It is public record.

I saw the Wiki piece, but no mention of requester is mentioned. Is it customary to request for one's self? How about all the other Purple Hearts awarded? Are they self-requested too?

It is not customary to request medals for your self. I cant speak for all purple hearts given out in Viet Nam, but is where requested by him and under questionable circumstances.

All three of his injuries were very minor and he never lost a day of work for either of them.

They do award purple hearts for any wound though. At least as far as I know.

Here's a list of the criteria for a purphttp://www.recognizethesacrifice.org/purple-heart-criteria.htmlle heart.

As opposed to the milksop President Bone Spurs who took every action to avoid service. Trump, however, admitted his Vietnam War was his battle with Venereal Disease.

You know what they say about what VD can do to the brain.

By the looks of it then, it appears the VD won.

As opposed to the milksop President Bone Spurs who took every action to avoid service.

just like Clinton, correct?

Hey, will! I find this thread kinda funny watching all these folks destroying Kerry's character for taking action in VN and disparaging it in a desperate attempt to make Trump look good. Trump doesn't even have the guts to face anyone he fires. Can you see him jumping off a boat and running into a jungle to take out a fleeing enemy that has a weapon? Yet Trump is the brave one, right, 'cause he chewed out the G7, who had too much class to stoop to his level, right? chuckle

 

[dave p]

I saw the Wiki piece, but no mention of requester is mentioned. Is it customary to request for one's self? How about all the other Purple Hearts awarded? Are they self-requested too?

It is not customary to request medals for your self. I cant speak for all purple hearts given out in Viet Nam, but is where requested by him and under questionable circumstances.

All three of his injuries were very minor and he never lost a day of work for either of them.

They do award purple hearts for any wound though. At least as far as I know.

Here's a list of the criteria for a purphttp://www.recognizethesacrifice.org/purple-heart-criteria.htmlle heart.

As opposed to the milksop President Bone Spurs who took every action to avoid service. Trump, however, admitted his Vietnam War was his battle with Venereal Disease.

You know what they say about what VD can do to the brain.

By the looks of it then, it appears the VD won.

As opposed to the milksop President Bone Spurs who took every action to avoid service.

just like Clinton, correct?

Hey, will! I find this thread kinda funny watching all these folks destroying Kerry's character for taking action in VN and disparaging it in a desperate attempt to make Trump look good. Trump doesn't even have the guts to face anyone he fires. Can you see him jumping off a boat and running into a jungle to take out a fleeing enemy that has a weapon? Yet Trump is the brave one, right, 'cause he chewed out the G7, who had too much class to stoop to his level, right? chuckle

I’m not trying to make trump look good. I couldn’t care less. The fact is Kerry is an idiot, a liar and a traitor. He was an ineffective Secretary Of Stare as well. Judge Kerry on his own merit.

 

[Auld Phart]

I saw the Wiki piece, but no mention of requester is mentioned. Is it customary to request for one's self? How about all the other Purple Hearts awarded? Are they self-requested too?

It is not customary to request medals for your self. I cant speak for all purple hearts given out in Viet Nam, but is where requested by him and under questionable circumstances.

All three of his injuries were very minor and he never lost a day of work for either of them.

They do award purple hearts for any wound though. At least as far as I know.

Here's a list of the criteria for a purphttp://www.recognizethesacrifice.org/purple-heart-criteria.htmlle heart.

As opposed to the milksop President Bone Spurs who took every action to avoid service. Trump, however, admitted his Vietnam War was his battle with Venereal Disease.

You know what they say about what VD can do to the brain.

By the looks of it then, it appears the VD won.

As opposed to the milksop President Bone Spurs who took every action to avoid service.

just like Clinton, correct?

Hey, will! I find this thread kinda funny watching all these folks destroying Kerry's character for taking action in VN and disparaging it in a desperate attempt to make Trump look good. Trump doesn't even have the guts to face anyone he fires. Can you see him jumping off a boat and running into a jungle to take out a fleeing enemy that has a weapon? Yet Trump is the brave one, right, 'cause he chewed out the G7, who had too much class to stoop to his level, right? chuckle

no matter how much they disparage Kerry and his service, it won't make Trump look good.

 

[dave p]

It is not customary to request medals for your self. I cant speak for all purple hearts given out in Viet Nam, but is where requested by him and under questionable circumstances.

All three of his injuries were very minor and he never lost a day of work for either of them.

They do award purple hearts for any wound though. At least as far as I know.

Here's a list of the criteria for a purphttp://www.recognizethesacrifice.org/purple-heart-criteria.htmlle heart.

As opposed to the milksop President Bone Spurs who took every action to avoid service. Trump, however, admitted his Vietnam War was his battle with Venereal Disease.

You know what they say about what VD can do to the brain.

By the looks of it then, it appears the VD won.

As opposed to the milksop President Bone Spurs who took every action to avoid service.

just like Clinton, correct?

Hey, will! I find this thread kinda funny watching all these folks destroying Kerry's character for taking action in VN and disparaging it in a desperate attempt to make Trump look good. Trump doesn't even have the guts to face anyone he fires. Can you see him jumping off a boat and running into a jungle to take out a fleeing enemy that has a weapon? Yet Trump is the brave one, right, 'cause he chewed out the G7, who had too much class to stoop to his level, right? chuckle

no matter how much they disparage Kerry and his service, it won't make Trump look good.

I’m not interested in making Trump look good. Using Kerry as a yardstick for character and lending any credence to what is says is the issue here.

 

[kaz]

Vietcong Hero John Kerry says that Trump’s Helsinki news conference was "disgraceful" and "dangerous". Well it’s hard for Trump to defend our intelligence agencies when they have repeatedly lied and covered-up Hillary and Obama’s epic corruption whilst trying to pull a coup on Trump.

"disgraceful" and "dangerous"? John Kerry "American soldiers [are] going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children ...”

"disgraceful" and "dangerous"? John Kerry called the American Soldiers fighting in Vietnam ‘Genghis Khan’

"disgraceful" and "dangerous"? John Kerry said of America's volunteer troops "Military service is for losers and idiots."


View attachment 206554

John Kerry says Trump-Putin Helsinki news conference was "disgraceful" and "dangerous" - CBS News

Well, that's only fair since that's what I think about Kerry

 

[koshergrl]

It is not customary to request medals for your self. I cant speak for all purple hearts given out in Viet Nam, but is where requested by him and under questionable circumstances.

All three of his injuries were very minor and he never lost a day of work for either of them.

They do award purple hearts for any wound though. At least as far as I know.

Here's a list of the criteria for a purphttp://www.recognizethesacrifice.org/purple-heart-criteria.htmlle heart.

As opposed to the milksop President Bone Spurs who took every action to avoid service. Trump, however, admitted his Vietnam War was his battle with Venereal Disease.

You know what they say about what VD can do to the brain.

By the looks of it then, it appears the VD won.

As opposed to the milksop President Bone Spurs who took every action to avoid service.

just like Clinton, correct?

Hey, will! I find this thread kinda funny watching all these folks destroying Kerry's character for taking action in VN and disparaging it in a desperate attempt to make Trump look good. Trump doesn't even have the guts to face anyone he fires. Can you see him jumping off a boat and running into a jungle to take out a fleeing enemy that has a weapon? Yet Trump is the brave one, right, 'cause he chewed out the G7, who had too much class to stoop to his level, right? chuckle

no matter how much they disparage Kerry and his service, it won't make Trump look good.

No, what it does is make you look bad.