Why did Kerry only serve half his term in Nam?

[rocktop15]

A freeper friend of mine was relating to me that Kerry only served half of his term in Vietnam. I asked him how many days Bush spent in Nam. Of course his answer was that he served valiently in the national guard. I laughed at that. I'm only 18 but I try to be as active as I can in politics. Today, I donated $50.00 to the Kerry campaign. I'm working my hardest to make everybody I know vote Kerry in November. So far, I've changed 10 votes!!!

[girl gone mad]

1. Check this fact..

because I don't believe it is accurate.

In any case, soldiers were given the chance to leave after being wounded. Kerry was wounded at least twice before he left, so he stayed well after he was legally required.

[DoctorMyEyes]

2. Because he was wounded three times

and there was a rule that if you were wounded (and survived) three times you could opt out. Kerry served on a swift boat in Nam.

Show your freeper friend this snopes page. Sometime freepers will accept snopes.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/kerry/service.asp

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[alcuno]

8. I've not been a Kerry fan, but I heard the guy tell the story of Kerry

pulling him out of the water and saving his life. He said that one of Kerry's arms was just hanging there because he had been shot.

[liberalnurse]

9. Like I said, a good fish story.

[alcuno]

10. So, as Ann Coulter would say, he was just getting his "hair mussed?"

[Media_Lies_Daily]

16. Proof? Documentation? Links?

[abbyhoffman]

13. Kerry

was never shot all his wounds were minor shrapnel wounds & the going home after Three Purple Hearts was only in the Navy

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. Gee, I guess two of those pieces of "shrapnel" were shaped like bullets.

[mike1963]

18. Gee, why do I have the impression you have no fucking idea who Abby

Hoffman was?
:grr:

[abbyhoffman]

20. yes I do

But I'm not named for him, plus his name is spelled Abbie

If Kerry were not a rich white boy the Navy would have old him to get back in the F**king boat

[JohnKleeb]

22. Kerry didnt have to get in that f***ing boat to begin with

but he signed up anyways.

[liberalnurse]

19. Thank you ......

[kskiska]

17. Someone posted the Snopes page over there last week

It's unbelievable, but it shut a few of them up – the ones who read it, anyway. They hadn't even known his story and had to admit they were impressed.

On edit:
Here it is:
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1084726/posts

[Jade Fox]

3. He was wounded like three times.....

I guess after that many wounds they don't make you go back.

Welcome, and congradulations on your converts.

[Jack Rabbit]

12. That is the correct answer

One got to go home after winning three purple hearts.

Kerry took two bullets in the arm and some shrapnel in the leg.

[KansDem]

25. Say, Jack Rabbit...

Were those "minor" bullets?

(see post 13)

[PaDUer]

4. Great...

since you have contact with so many freepers, maybe you can teach the freepers at freepsville the truth and show them the way.

[adadem]

5. Good work, Rocktop!

and welcome to DU :yourock:

Kerry received stateside duty after injuries thus cutting short his second tour in Nam.

[alcuno]

6. Welcome to DU, rocktop15.

Others here will know better, but my understanding of Kerry's service is that he spent a YEAR on a carrier prior to being "on the ground" in Vietnam. He was in the Navy, after all. Kerry was injured three separate times, for which he received three Purple Hearts. He then requested that he complete his service stateside. He followed the rules and did his time; earning the Bronze and Silver Stars while he was at it.

You're 18 and donated $50? I'm impressed.

[Oilwellian]

11. Here's a good story...

from one of my favorite Blogs:

John Kerry, as young Naval Officer, enroute to his first tour in Vietnam:

I remember lazy moments standing watch on the U.S.S. Gridley - out on the fantail, the fo'c'sle, anywhere, looking at the sea, enjoying glorious sunsets and sunrises on the bridge.
.
Then, on the afternoon of Feb. 26, when we had left Midway Island, the reality of Vietnam hit me right between the eyes. Gridley's executive officer came to me and asked if I had a friend named Pershing - and I knew immediately why he was asking.
...
... But that was Vietnam, where the children of America were pulled from front porches and living rooms and plunged almost overnight into a world of sniper fire, ambushes, rockets, booby traps, body bags, explosions, sleeplessness on the bridge.
.
Then, on the afternoon of Feb. 26, when we had left Midway Island, the reality of Vietnam hit me right between the eyes. Gridley's executive officer came to me and asked if I had a friend named Pershing - and I knew immediately why he was asking.
.
I fought to restrain an empty crying. I didn't even have to read the telegram; I knew that Dick Pershing, my childhood and college friend, was dead. For days on the empty Pacific I could barely stand the knowledge that I would never see him again. It was the loss of someone irreplaceable, a loss of innocence, a loss of the sense of invincibility and bravado that young men have as they go to war.

At the same time (almost exactly) Fearless Leader was probably sobering up from a drunken-fratboy binge somewhere in Southern Georgia and trying to see if the flight surgeon would get him off the flight schedule so he would not embarrass himself by puking all over the cockpit for being so hung over.

It's a measure of the men and their character...how they chose to spend what was given to them. One Officer served with distinction, one Officer barely showed up for anything. No matter what you believe, you have to believe that it's not about Vietnam, but about how they chose to use the opportunites presented. Nothing else.

http://www.usndemvet.com/blog/

Welcome to DU. :hi:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. Actually, he served two terms in Vietnam (1966-1970)...

...one tour aboard a ship in the combat theater, and one shortened tour aboard "swift boats" in the Mekong Delta of the former Republic of South Vietnam. His second tour was shortened because of the wounds he suffered.

As a Naval officer, Kerry was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with Combat "V" (indicating five such awards), and three Purple Hearts.

[DinahMoeHum]

24. Actually, the "V" on the Bronze Star stands for Valor. . .

Oak leaf clusters are what get pinned onto the Bronze Star in place of multiple medals.


:kick:

[myopic4141]

21. A tour of duty.

The length of a tour of duty in Vietnam was one year. The tour could be shortened if sufficiently wounded to the point where effectiveness to successfully complete missions is threatened.

[Zookeeper]

23. Rocktop15, you've already notice the double standard...

and it's going to get worse as the Republikooks start their serious smear campaign!

Great job! I'm glad we have you on OUR side!

Welcome to DU..:yourock:

[genius]

26. That was the norm - especially for anyone who got injured.

Your friend ought to talk to others who served there. Virtually no one was there for two years.