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John Forbes Kerry was born Dec.11,1943 in Denver Colorado. When John was four months old his family moved to Groton Massachusetts where they lived for a short time. Next John's parents bought a farmhouse in Millis and moved and John's father went to work for a Boston law firm.
When John Kerry was four years old the family took a trip to visit the Forbes family estate in Saint Briac. Little was left of the house except the chimney and the stairway. The family found a mine still planted on the property, with bunkers practically untouched since the Allies had ousted the Germans. This visit made such a impact on John Kerry he says it remains one of his earliest memories. John said himself "I remember...the staircase in the sky, the glass under my feet and my mom was crying."
In 1950 John Kerrys family moved to Washington, D.C. when he was seven years old. They moved to Washington's Chevy Chase neighborhood. John's father took a job at the Office of the General Council for the Navy. For the next four years the Kerry's household took on the classic qualities of a Washington home headed by a civil servant, with much of the dinner-table conversation revolving around politics. In 1951 John's father took a job in the Bureau of the United Nations Affairs at the State Department. There was an extra sense of excitement in moving from Mass. to Washington because of the emerging fame of young congressman from that state: John F. Kennedy. Kennedy who had served on a Navy patrol boat in World War II, was elected to the U.S. House in 1946 and to the U.S. Senate in 1952. During John Kerry's formative years and when he was developing his political wits, he was living in Washington where family discussions focused on both his father and Kennedy.
In 1954 when John Kerry was ten years old his father made a dramatic announcement. Richard Kerry had accepted a job in Berlin where he would become the U.S. attorney for Berlin, advising U.S. officials about a variety of legal actions at the heart of the Iron Curtain that divided democracy from communism. John's father would now move his family to the center of the Cold War. It had a lasting impact on John Kerry. When the Kerry's moved to Berlin, much of the World War II rubble had been carted away, but the devastation remained.
All the images had their impact on young John. One day hoping to satisfy his curiosity about life across the line, John hopped on his bike and cycled into East Berlin. John Kerry himself said "I was 12 years old, it was a great fun adventure. I remember seeing Hitler's bunker distinctly. I dot to ride the Brandenburg Gate and see things other kids didn't get to see. My bike was my great escape from parents, rules and all those things." John's parents were not pleased. If John had been captured in East Berlin, it could have caused a international incident. John's parents decided the best thing for John was to send him off to boarding school. They decided to send young John to boarding school in Switzerland.
The boarding school called Montana was Founded in 1926. John was entranced by the Swiss countryside, but he was lonely. This would become routine. His parents would send him off to boarding school and he would adapt anew to a world of highly competitive boys. John Kerry said "My parents were fabulous and loving and caring and supportive but they weren't always around. In 1956 he was sent to a boarding school in Massachusetts. His parents sent him to Fessenden School in Newton,Mass. a all boys school that featured the motto "work conquers all". The students were required to were a jacket and tie to class and conform to rigorous standards. John Kerry said "I was always moving saying goodbye. It kind of had an effect on you, it steeled you, there wasn't alot of permanence and roots. For kids, it's not the greatest thing I certainly didn't want that for my kids."
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