STORM2K

I'm hearing all this hubbub on the radio about John Kerry and whether he did or didn't toss his military medals over the White House lawn fence in protest of the Vietnam War.

One thing I can't find out for certain -- was he, in fact, awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor?

If he was, then all I can think of is that quote from Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump:

They gave you an imbecile, a moron who goes on television and makes a fool out himself in front of the whole damn country, the Congressional Medal of Honor?

kerry is in some hot water today!!

No, John Kerry did receive the Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts, among other medals (National Defense, Multinational Service, etc.).

IMHO, anyone who insults the country he served in such a way has NO business being elected to the Presidency; more, I still wonder HOW this man received all these awards when his actual "in-country" service was only FOUR MONTHS out of 11 in theater....questions to answer, indeed.

what i found surprising is max clelland did not get a purple star for being horribly mangled, but kerry got 3 for minor wounds.

I was not a fan of the Vietnam war. In fact, I was drafted into it when I didn't want to go.

Once there, however, I turned the anger into something good and would not be who I am today (is that a good thing?) were it not for that experience. I spent my tour there in an honorable way...and while those back home were cursing the government for its lack of commitment, I chose to do my best.

I received two medals (they came boxed with a ribbon to match) for my service there and have always valued them. Disgracing the meaning behind those medals would be the same as disgracing those I know who died there.

Mine are safely tucked away in Illinois, as is my "coming home" uniform with those ribbons on them.

When you leave the military you are provided a form DD 214, I think it is. That form shows the medals that you have earned while in service. I would like to see the one for John Kerry. While I don't fault anyone for their views on that war, I certainly feel that we can best honor the 50,000 American soldiers who died there by recognizing that the military served proudly in spite of those political odds.

That makes both candidates who have a question about their service. A few months ago, people were talking about Bush's service or lack of same.

Kerry Flip-Flops Again on 'Tossed' Medals
Did John Kerry throw away his Vietnam War medals, or didn't he? In a newly surfaced 1971 interview with a Washington, D.C., television station, the young Kerry said he threw away "six, seven, eight, nine" medals. He said nothing about ribbons in that interview.

But on Monday morning, Kerry vehemently denied throwing away his medals, contradicting what he said in the 1971 interview. He explained the contradiction by saying that back then, medals and ribbons were the same thing.

"There was no distinction," he said Monday. Medal, ribbons, even dogtags and photographs, all were "symbols" of the Vietnam War, he told ABC News.

During the interview Monday morning with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, Kerry repeatedly answered before Gibson even finished asking his questions. Kerry said he had been very clear about what he did in 1971, and he accused Republicans of manufacturing a controversy where none exists.

Background:
ABC News obtained a copy of WRC-TV's 1971 interview with Kerry and aired it Monday morning, reigniting the controversy over Kerry's anti-war past.

In the 1971 interview, Kerry told Washington's WRC-TV he "gave back ... six, seven, eight, nine" medals. He answered a questions specifically about "medals." He said nothing about giving back ribbons only. He made no distinction then, as he does now.

Flash forward to Monday.
In a somewhat heated interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday, Kerry insisted, "I stood up in front of my nation and took the ribbons off my chest," in front of TV cameras, he noted, and then threw those ribbons over a fence.

Caught ... by Himself
"I never asserted otherwise," Kerry said on Monday, moments after ABC played part of the 1971 intervew in which Kerry indicated he threw his medals over a fence.

"And back then, ribbons, medals were absolutely interchangeable ... We all referred to them as the symbols ..." Kerry continued. "So the fact is that I have been accurate precisely about what took place. And I am the one who later made clear exactly what happened."

Kerry said the controversy is one that "the Republicans are pushing ... This comes from a president and a Republican Party that can't even answer whether or not he [George W. Bush] showed up for duty in the National Guard."

'I Saw You'
Gibson said he was there 33 years ago when Kerry threw medals over the fence. "I saw you throw medals over the fence, and we didn't find out until later [interrupted] that those were someone else's medals," Gibson said.

Kerry, not listening to the end of Gibson's statement, said: "Charlie, Charlie, you're wrong. That is not what happened. I threw my ribbons across. And all you have to do ..."

Gibson tried to clarify that Kerry threw someone else's medals over the fence, but Kerry would not give him an opportunity.

Kerry eventually clarified that he did throw two medals (not his) over the fence at the request of two veterans.

'Phony'
Kerry did not let Gibson finish his questions, and he continued talking over Gibson. "This is a phony controversy," Kerry said, as Gibson tried to ask another question.

Gibson pressed Kerry on why he didn't make a distinction between medals and ribbons in 1971, but did so in 1984 when he was running for Senate and continues to do so today.

Kerry said in 1984 he was asked in greater detail about what he did, and that's when he distinguished between ribbons and medals.

"This is a phony controversy," Kerry said for the second time in the interview. "This comes from a president who can't even show or prove that he showed up for duty in the National Guard. I'm not going to stand for it."

Asked whether he was trying to appeal to the anti-war people in 1971, and now is trying to appeal to people who supported the war, Kerry said it was a "ridiculous" suggestion.

"Everybody understood what we were doing," Kerry said. "I even said in that interview that we threw away the symbols of what our country gave us for what we had gone through."

'Proud of It'
Kerry said what he did in 1971 was unpopular and polarizing: "I threw my ribbons over; I threw the medals of two veterans who asked me to throw them over, after the ceremony, completely separate. And I'm the one - if I had something to hide - I'm the one who made it known exactly what happened. To me, it's one and the same [ribbons, medals], and I'm proud of it."

At the end of the interview, Kerry said he didn't want to throw medals or ribbons over the fence to begin with. "I thought we ought to lay them on a table and put them in front of people in a way that wouldn't be as challenging to many Americans. Other veterans felt otherwise. They took a vote ... they voted to throw. I threw my ribbons. I didn't have my medals."

Proud He Attacked the Democrat War That Kennedy Started and Johnson Escalated
Kerry then attacked Republicans for attacking him on something that happened 35 years ago. Kerry said he would not be attacked for something that is a matter of record.

"We threw away the symbols of the war. I'm proud I stood up and fought against it - proud I took on Richard Nixon. And I think to this day there's no distinction between the two [medal/ribbons]."


http://www.newsmax.com/archive...shtml

http://www.johnkerry.com/about/DD214.pdf

There's the link to Kerry's DD214.

rainstorm wrote:what i found surprising is max clelland did not get a purple star for being horribly mangled, but kerry got 3 for minor wounds.

You mean a scrape.

A wood splinter in the buttocks lol Can anyone say Forrest Gump?

mf_dolphin wrote:A wood splinter in the buttocks lol Can anyone say Forrest Gump?

LMAO!!

I don't consider this an important issue. His other actions after he returned from Vietnam but the whole medal thing is not really important today.

The actions of a man 33 years ago aren't as important to me as his denial or spinning of those events today. His "I threw the ribbons not the medals" is just another pathetic flip-flop. I would have respected him more if he had just said he did it 33 years ago as a protest. At least then i wold know he stood for something longer than 10 minutes.

This is a losing story for Bush/Cheney. They should just drop it. Kerry did his time in Vietnam. Bush did not. While Kerry was getting shrapnel in his leg, Bush was doing coke, skipping the National Guard and drinking like a fish. Why would Bush/Cheney want to bring up the past. It is a losing battle and a sign of an incumbent who is insecure.

zwyts wrote:This is a losing story for Bush/Cheney. They should just drop it. Kerry did his time in Vietnam. Bush did not. While Kerry was getting shrapnel in his leg, Bush was doing coke, skipping the National Guard and drinking like a fish. Why would Bush/Cheney want to bring up the past. It is a losing battle and a sign of an incumbent who is insecure.

Actually, zwyts, I think it is important for the citizens of the US to see Kerry for what he is, a flip flopper. Tomorrow, if asked, he'll probably have a totally different tale to tell about his medals/ribbons. If he'll lie about this, what makes people think he'll tell the truth about anything? He seems to be of the type that will tell you something today to fit the agenda, but tomorrow if asked the same thing will tell a different story to fit that day's agenda.

timNms wrote:

zwyts wrote:This is a losing story for Bush/Cheney. They should just drop it. Kerry did his time in Vietnam. Bush did not. While Kerry was getting shrapnel in his leg, Bush was doing coke, skipping the National Guard and drinking like a fish. Why would Bush/Cheney want to bring up the past. It is a losing battle and a sign of an incumbent who is insecure.

Actually, zwyts, I think it is important for the citizens of the US to see Kerry for what he is, a flip flopper. Tomorrow, if asked, he'll probably have a totally different tale to tell about his medals/ribbons. If he'll lie about this, what makes people think he'll tell the truth about anything? He seems to be of the type that will tell you something today to fit the agenda, but tomorrow if asked the same thing will tell a different story to fit that day's agenda.

I think it is fine for the GOP to paint him as a flip flopper, I just think this is a losing issue for Bush/Cheney and I think it will hurt them to keep bringing it up. As far as I am concerned they can continue but given Bush and Cheney's whereabouts during Nam, I think this is a bad issue for them.

Also, I think tag teaming Kerry will hurt Bush/Cheney a bit as well since Kerry does not yet have the advantage of having a VP to do his dirty work for him.

Basically, Kerry knew Bush during the Yale years, and the more Bush brings up from those years the more he opens the door for Kerry to hammer him.

worse than a flipp flop. he called the brave servicemen in nam murderers, rapists, and war criminals

rainstorm wrote:worse than a flipp flop. he called the brave servicemen in nam murderers, rapists, and war criminals

Yes, but he was one of them, so he has a right to call it as he saw it. While Bush was doing blow like pixie sticks, Kerry was getting medals. And yet Bush/Cheney keep bringing it up, even though they were both war evaders. Bush has zero understanding of war, yet he continues to send our kids into imminent death. poor soldiers. What was Bush doing when he was their age? Bush is a sick man.

cant agree. liberals wanted 9/11 prevented. and thats what bush is doing now, preventing future 9-11's. i dont want a man as president that considers our military rapists and murderers, just my opinion.

the truth of the matter is rather simple. had bush announced before 9/11 that he was going to ban all arabs and arab looking people from planes, and he was going to invade afghanistan because he was convinced muslims were preparing a major attack on us, liberals would have been screaming that he was a race-profiling bigot, and a war -mongerer. just the facts.