Kerry's Military records

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-24-2004
Kerry's Military records
42
Tue, 08-24-2004 - 7:15am
John Kerry's service in Vietnam lasted 4 months and 12 days, beginning in November 1968 when he reported to Cam Ranh Bay for a month of training. His abbreviated combat tour ended shortly after he requested a transfer out of Vietnam on March 17, 1969, citing Navy instruction 1300.39 permitting personnel with three Purple Hearts to request reassignment. So far as we are able to determine, Kerry was the only Swift sailor ever to leave Vietnam without completing the standard one-year tour of duty, other than those who were seriously wounded or killed.

It is clear that at least one of Kerry's Purple Heart awards was the result of his own negligence, not enemy fire, and that Kerry went to unusual lengths to obtain the award after being turned down by his own commanding officer.

John Kerry has long insisted that using the three-injury loophole to leave combat early was his own idea, but Kerry's fellow Swift officer Thomas Wright, who served on occasion as the OIC (Officer in Charge) of Kerry's boat group, contradicts that claim. Wright reports that he "had a lot of trouble getting Kerry to follow orders," and that those who worked with Kerry found him "oriented towards his personal, rather than unit goals and objectives." He therefore requested that Kerry be removed from his boat group. After John Kerry qualified for his third Purple Heart, Thomas Wright and two fellow officers informed him of the obscure regulation, and told him to go home. Wright concluded, "We knew how the system worked and we didn’t want him in Coastal Division 11."

Constructing a complete picture of Kerry's service is difficult due to gaps in the Naval records provided by the Kerry campaign. These gaps include missing and incomplete fitness reports, missing medical records and missing records related to his medal awards.

Senator Kerry can clear all of this up if he would authorize complete access to all his military records by filing a standard Form 180, a simple two-page release form.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Tue, 08-24-2004 - 6:40pm

<< Ask any small business owner, and they will tell you that business stinks! >>


That depends on the region & the business sector. Overall, the economy is doing quite well.

Renee ~~~

Renee ~~~

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-07-2004
Tue, 08-24-2004 - 7:43pm
You must be living in LaLa land.



< That depends on the region & the business sector. Overall, the economy is doing quite well. >

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 10:36am
I can't believe that you (of all people as you seem to seek out what the truth is) are placing the blame for Enron on Bush, when the accounting fraud occurred during Clinton's administration (BTW, it wasnt his fault either, it was the fault of those crooks at Enron, who should all rot in prison).

I also cannot fathom how you can blame Bush for gas and oil prices when the President has extremely small amount of control over these issues.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 10:42am
Dont have time to respond to everything (which I could with glee), but I found this one particularly funny.

-- Restore Fiscal Discipline to Washington.

Kerry and Edwards have a record of fiscal discipline that is absent in this administration, and they have promised to live within the budget principles that helped lead this nation to balance the budget. Their plan will cut the deficit in half in four years, increasing economic confidence and keep interest rates from rising.

This is from John Kerry's website....the man who was the biggest supporter of the most overbudget and corrupt project ever undertaken in the history of the United States. I am talking about the Big Dig. The initial budget projections were 1.5 Billion to 2.0 Billion (mainly from tax dollars mind you). The final cost estimates....16 Billion to 17 Billion. That is 850% to 1150% over budget (and this is only on one project), and yet he STILL is proud of his support of this vast waste of money and corruption.

If this is how he plans on being fiscally responsible, then we should all be very worried about him serving as President as he could make President Bush's deficit appear to be pocket change.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 10:45am
You can partly thank lawsuits for the cost in health insurance, but the remainder is to fall on the shoulders of the executives at these companies that make millions of dollars per year each. I would think that instead of taking a $5 million bonus each, that they would perhaps try to lower the cost of the insurance for their policy holders.

In conjunction with fiscal responsibility in the insurance companies, and some sort of tort reform, it may be possible to control the costs of healthcare, where it will be viable to see that most people in America will be able to afford good quality health insurance, and it will not severely hamper small businesses to provide this for their employees.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 10:47am
When new employement exceeds layoffs, then the economy is improving.

I agree that the afteraction in Iraq was planned for and executed very poorly, and I blame Rumsfeld for not listening to the requests from his field commanders who asked for more troops.

I then blame President Bush for being loyal (to a fault, which is one of my pet peeves with him) to Rumsfeld, and not ordering him to send more troops to Iraq.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 10:49am
Not from where I stand. Also the actual figures do not support your supposition.

I know several small business owners, across different fields, and they say that the economic condition has improved vastly over the past three years. 7 of my friends have actuall expanded their businesses and hired more employees as well.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-28-2003
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 2:21pm
Having been laid off thanks to Enron, I'm bitter. I admit it. However, people who are so close to Presidents think they can get away with anything. Can you imagine if Kenny-boy had been put in charge of FERC?! I shall concede that the accounting issues at Enron are not the fault of Bush though - more of the greed shared by many (Wolrdcom, Tyco, etc.). The fact that they thought they could get away with it though, I think has a little more to do with Lay's relationship with the Bushes.

I was reading an article that stated that the President of the US can usually "lean" on OPEC to help decrease prices and has historically done so. Bush has refused and has continued to increase the amount in storage (partly it's argued, so that environmental restrictions on oil facilities expansion are lessened). Aside from that, the price is being determined by the instability of the market. Iraq is part of that market and as it is still not "Mission Accomplished" and stable, that's factored into the market price. I think you would agree Bush has something to do with this? I agree there are other factors - increased demand in China and questions in Russia, but I think Iraq is a good chunk of this.

Bush was also handed a defeat on the Chavez vote, but I don't think that's really an instability issue. Chavez just wants 30% of the oil pie for his country rather than 16% and that bites out of Bush's friends pocket.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 4:03pm
With regards to the crooks in the boardrooms across the country, no President will be able to do anything about this. We need to reform the laws so that boardmembers who are found guilty of cooking the books can have their personal assets attached to, no matter whos name they are in, to help offset the money that investors and employees may have lost. then on top of that, stiff jail sentences should help too, and not at country club prisons either. Put them in regular prisons with the blue collar criminals...perhaps that will be an additional deterrent.

I think that Bush could have leaned on OPEC a little harder than he had Powell do on his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, and I do agree that Iraq has something to do with the situation as well. I also agree that China's severe increase in demand (up 43% this year alone) has a great deal to do with the situation, as does the recent bankruptcy of the oil company in Russia.

We need to invent nuclear powered cars, where the fuel never runs out, and there is not a danger of radiation problems in the event of an accident (like on the Jetsons).


Ps....sorry to hear that you were laid off due to Enron. I personally think that Ken Lay and the other execs responsible at Enron should die 1000 deaths for what they did to both the employees and the shareholders alike...all the while they all got filthy rich.




Edited 8/25/2004 5:25 pm ET ET by debateguy

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-24-2004
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 4:36pm
"I'm John Kerry and I am reporting for duty"


John Kerry made his military experience the pinnacle of his campaign when he began his speech at the DNC with that comment.