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Kerry Service Record vs. Bush Service Record
From another website--I have not fact-checked this:
Dubya finessed, with help from Daddy and his friends, a coveted slot in the Texas Air National Guard while Vietnam was raging. Again thanks to family connections, he was commissioned a second lieutenant after just 6 weeks of basic training and sent off to pilot school, for which he just barely qualified. Somehow he won his wings and was transitioned into F-102s, a model of fighter that was even at the time being phased out by the Air Force. So far as I know, Bush was never rated in another front-line fighter.
While he was on active service for training, he flew the straight and narrow and was graded as a good officer by those marking his record. However, once he was into the two weekends a month and 2 weeks a year mode, he supposedly transferred to an outfit in Louisiana, which never laid eyes on him in 9 months. He was too busy working on some political campaign to make the required meetings, he alleges.
After refusing a drug test required as part of a flight physical, he was grounded and served out the time before his 'early out' behind a desk.
Kerry volunteered for the Navy, for OCS, and then for the 'river rats.' Although the JibJab Guthrie parody harps on his 3 Purple Hearts, they conveniently forget to mention that he ALSO holds a Silver Star and a Bronze Star, both for combat valor and not for administrative excellence. Although the Army tossed Bronze Stars and Silver Stars for service in a war zone around like M&Ms to its lieutenants and captains, the Navy did not. They only way a Navy officer could get either was to be out doing the fighting. Kerry's two Stars are legit. Please note that the Silver Star ranks only behind the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross in terms of medals for valor awarded to Naval personnel.
After his third Purple Heart, in accordance with Navy regulations he was sent home and discharged when his term of service expired.
The evidence speaks for itself.
George W. Bush dodged military service in a war zone (since he knew that military policy at that time was NOT to send Reserve units overseas to Viet Nam) in a way that, had he just kept his nose clean and fully met his service requirements, might have elicited some grumbling about his being a 'fortunate son' from the media and veterans' groups but they would grudgingly admit he had met his obligations; following which the issue would disappear. It is the fact that Bush, in the opinion of most people who have studied the issue, failed to fulfill his requirements as an officer in the Air Force Reserve but somehow managed to escape punishment to receive an early out and a fully honorable discharge, plus of course his failure to be forthcoming about the matter, that keeps the issue of his service and personal integrity (if any) alive.
John Kerry served. There can be no doubt of it. The media comparisons of John Kerry and his Swift boat to John Kennedy and PT-109 are not accurate (and a transparent attempt to anoint Kerry as the spiritual successor to Kennedy), but the record is clear. Kerry came by his medals the old-fashioned way: He earned them. The later actions of the man as regards Vietnam Veterans Against the War must be judged with that in mind; for surely the men and women who served in that shithole called Vietnam and were wounded or damaged there had earned the right to be critical of a government they felt didn't give a damn about its service personnel or how the war was being bungled by both parties in Washington.
I especially like the final point--that of all people who choose to exercise their Constitutional right to freedom of speech in this country to criticize the Vietnam War, the ones with the greatest moral latitude would be those who actually risked their lives for it. I am so tired of these thin-skinned military types--criticism of the war DOES NOT equal criticism of the troops. Yes, to some extent it did back in the '60s and '70s but use your brain and look at the context--why would a veteran be slagging on his fellow troops?
Dubya finessed, with help from Daddy and his friends, a coveted slot in the Texas Air National Guard while Vietnam was raging. Again thanks to family connections, he was commissioned a second lieutenant after just 6 weeks of basic training and sent off to pilot school, for which he just barely qualified. Somehow he won his wings and was transitioned into F-102s, a model of fighter that was even at the time being phased out by the Air Force. So far as I know, Bush was never rated in another front-line fighter.
While he was on active service for training, he flew the straight and narrow and was graded as a good officer by those marking his record. However, once he was into the two weekends a month and 2 weeks a year mode, he supposedly transferred to an outfit in Louisiana, which never laid eyes on him in 9 months. He was too busy working on some political campaign to make the required meetings, he alleges.
After refusing a drug test required as part of a flight physical, he was grounded and served out the time before his 'early out' behind a desk.
Kerry volunteered for the Navy, for OCS, and then for the 'river rats.' Although the JibJab Guthrie parody harps on his 3 Purple Hearts, they conveniently forget to mention that he ALSO holds a Silver Star and a Bronze Star, both for combat valor and not for administrative excellence. Although the Army tossed Bronze Stars and Silver Stars for service in a war zone around like M&Ms to its lieutenants and captains, the Navy did not. They only way a Navy officer could get either was to be out doing the fighting. Kerry's two Stars are legit. Please note that the Silver Star ranks only behind the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross in terms of medals for valor awarded to Naval personnel.
After his third Purple Heart, in accordance with Navy regulations he was sent home and discharged when his term of service expired.
The evidence speaks for itself.
George W. Bush dodged military service in a war zone (since he knew that military policy at that time was NOT to send Reserve units overseas to Viet Nam) in a way that, had he just kept his nose clean and fully met his service requirements, might have elicited some grumbling about his being a 'fortunate son' from the media and veterans' groups but they would grudgingly admit he had met his obligations; following which the issue would disappear. It is the fact that Bush, in the opinion of most people who have studied the issue, failed to fulfill his requirements as an officer in the Air Force Reserve but somehow managed to escape punishment to receive an early out and a fully honorable discharge, plus of course his failure to be forthcoming about the matter, that keeps the issue of his service and personal integrity (if any) alive.
John Kerry served. There can be no doubt of it. The media comparisons of John Kerry and his Swift boat to John Kennedy and PT-109 are not accurate (and a transparent attempt to anoint Kerry as the spiritual successor to Kennedy), but the record is clear. Kerry came by his medals the old-fashioned way: He earned them. The later actions of the man as regards Vietnam Veterans Against the War must be judged with that in mind; for surely the men and women who served in that shithole called Vietnam and were wounded or damaged there had earned the right to be critical of a government they felt didn't give a damn about its service personnel or how the war was being bungled by both parties in Washington.
I especially like the final point--that of all people who choose to exercise their Constitutional right to freedom of speech in this country to criticize the Vietnam War, the ones with the greatest moral latitude would be those who actually risked their lives for it. I am so tired of these thin-skinned military types--criticism of the war DOES NOT equal criticism of the troops. Yes, to some extent it did back in the '60s and '70s but use your brain and look at the context--why would a veteran be slagging on his fellow troops?
no subject
That being said..
This site, http://factcheck.org/, is a very good, very trustworthy fact checking source. It validates or debunks assertions or rumours or campaign ads etc from BOTH sides. On the main page you'll see an article listed which details the contrarian arguments of both Kerry and the so called SwiftBoat guys who are trying to discredit him. It's inconclusive as to what really happened. But what is clear is that none of his accusers actually served on the boat with him. Interesting. Also take note of the SwiftBoat funding sources. Pretty much says it all.