Kerry & Vietnam: This Time We Deserve The Truth
By Frank Salvato (08/08/04)
It would seem that turn-about is not fair play, at least in the Democratic Party.
Recently an organization of Vietnam veterans released a commercial that raised questions with respect to the validity of John Kerry’s service medals. Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is an organization of more than 250 Vietnam Veterans – many of whom were wounded or highly decorated – that served on swift boats during the Vietnam War. Many of the veterans affiliated with Swift Boat Veterans for Truth crossed paths with John Kerry during his self-inflicted four-months of duty in Vietnam and many of them are of the opinion that John Kerry is far from being Commander in Chief material.
In the commercial ad people who were there, some who served and completed one and sometimes two tours of duty, some who interacted with John Kerry during his “glory days,” step up to the plate and tell it as they see it is. They leave the beating around the bush for the Kerry campaign and come straight out and say they believe John Kerry has not been truthful about his service, that based on the quality of his service he cannot be trusted and they go on to refute the circumstances of how John Kerry acquired his ribbons, medals and whatever else Kerry wants to call the commendations he received during his abbreviated military career.
Make no mistake the McAlli-nistas are not happy. They came out with a blistering rebuttal that included a charge linking the Republican Party to the release of the ad. Sadly, as is often the case, the Kerry campaign is completely wrong. Neither the Bush campaign nor the Republican National Committee has anything to do with the ad. It was produced and paid for by the organization of Vietnam veterans known today as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
In addition, and surprisingly so, some in the conservative circles are infuriated about the ad. They call it dangerous and stupid. Among the dissenters read Bill O’Reilly, Charles Krauthammer and Dick Morris. They say the ad is a baseless attack on Kerry’s honorable military career. But how are we to be sure Kerry’s service was honorable when questions from those who have earned the right to make such allegations exist?
What really should be absolutely stunning to the American people is the fact that Kerry’s campaign is taking such offense at the charge of deceit. Why should it be so outrageous that some organization should dare to call John Kerry the Vietnam War Hero, a liar? The Kerry campaign and its surrogates didn’t blink an eye before calling President Bush a liar and there was a mountain of evidence that Bush had never lied. One could argue that believing George W. Bush lied to the American people in pursuit of Iraqi oil is almost a prerequisite to being on the Kerry campaign staff. But make the assertion when it comes to John Kerry, war action figure who can’t throw a baseball, who doesn’t release his military medical records in total and watch out!
Predictably, the mainstream media will cry foul while coddling the crying child that is the Kerry campaign. They will heap shame upon those who would be so cruel to brave, brave Winter Soldier Johnny, and after all he did to preserve freedom for our country.
But one better than kissing the skinned knee of the Kerry campaign, the mainstream media could inject themselves into the process just as they did during Watergate. Why not set the wannabe investigative reporters of The Fifth Column on the matter? Why not get to the bottom of this issue once and for all? If the Kerry campaign has nothing to fear, nothing to hide, the investigation into these allegations would only help to bolster his war hero status and he would be in receipt of that elusive bump in the polls he was surely “cheated out of” after the Democratic National Convention. But each moment Kerry and his handlers deflect, each finger that they point, each accusation they make only serves to create an of air suspicion and with the polls so close, and Kerry making Vietnam the cornerstone of his electability, he can hardly opt for the wrong choice in this matter.
We need to know if Lt. Com. Louis Letson, the medical officer who treated Kerry for his first injury resulting in a Purple Heart, is correct in his claim that the wound didn’t warrant the commendation. We need to know if Gunners Mate 2nd Class Van Odell, a man who insists he was present when Kerry’s action allegedly warranted him his Bronze Star, is correct when he contends that Kerry lied to get that honor. We need to know if Rear Admiral Roy Hoffman, the recipient of a Distinguished Service Medal and a Silver Star, is correct when he says John Kerry is unfit to be Commander in Chief. We not only need to know, we deserve to know.
We could listen to the he-said-she-said game of tit-for-tat that politicians like to play when they don’t want to answer specific questions. We could listen to Terry McAuliffe, James Carville, Bill Clinton and the rest of the Leftinista say that this attack was a creation of the GOP – undoubtedly Ted Kennedy will blame it on the Crawford Cabal – but, as Kerry likes to say, simply saying something isn’t so doesn’t prove anything.
This time around John Kerry should have to face the real heat of the intrusive American media and the mainstream media should obligate itself to hold Kerry’s feet to the fire. After all, it doesn’t matter whose blood is spilled just as long as the scandal bleeds long enough to sell papers, right?
These accusations need to either be validated so the American people can dodge a bullet (no pun intended) or they need to be put to bed as slanderous rumors. This time the American people deserve more than flip-flopping and arrogance. This time we deserve the truth.
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