John Kerry’s record is replete with bad decisions. From opposing weapons systems to cutting intelligence budgets to the bone, and from voting against a war the entire world was on board with to voting for the one he would have been expected to vote against, John Kerry has made decisions his entire life that haven’t turned out the way he expected. One could say that trend goes all the way back to the day he enlisted in the Navy.
It’s clear that John Kerry did not want to face combat in Vietnam, despite the fact that he likes to talk about how great a man he was for volunteering for service. At his Yale Graduation ceremony, he gave a speech critical of US foreign policy. Before he enlisted, Kerry tried to get a one-year deferment. He was turned down. At that point, the young Kerry faced a choice. Go about his life and hope that he didn’t get drafted, or enlist. Kerry puts a lot of emphasis on the fact that he enlisted, but he doesn’t into the why part of it very much. I can tell you why, as could B.G. Burkett, author of Stolen Valor (read early in the book as Burkett tells of his difficulty getting assigned to Vietnam as an enlisted man, duty he actually wanted and volunteered for). By enlisting, Kerry stood a much better chance of never going to Vietnam. By enlisting in the Navy, he reduced his odds of getting dirty in country even more. Kerry had to have been smugly confidant that he was going to put a nice entry onto his resume without ever getting dirty. Why? Because if you were drafted, you most likely were going to be a grunt on the ground for the Army in Vietnam. As an enlisted man, the military tried to use your talents in a variety of ways, many of which were not in combat in Vietnam. Kerry would have known this. By choosing the Navy, he protected his backside even more. If sent to Vietnam, he’d have the chance of doing his duty aboard a ship off the shore of Vietnam, which would be a much safer place than on the ground in country.
The decision backfired, though. The duties of Swiftboats were changed. No longer just patrolling the shores of Vietnam, they were now patrolling the rivers and rice paddies in country. The Navy needed junior officers to command these boats. Kerry was part of the pool of available Junior officers to pull this duty.
Kerry clearly wanted no part of the mess he found himself in. He requested a non-combat role. Once he found himself in combat, he did everything in his power to get the hell out ASAP, which is where those three purple hearts that dog him today come from. He showed no loyalty to his fellow soldiers. Instead, he used those 3 Purple Hearts as his get out of jail free card, coming home to piss all over the reputations of those soldiers he had just abandoned.
Kerry has highlighted his Vietnam service because he desperately wants to avoid talking about his record. If his record in the Senate becomes the centerpiece of his campaign, then the truth that he is extremely liberal will surely doom his campaign. It is very possible to keep the topic on Vietnam while still looking at Kerry’s long history of having his decisions backfire on him. It is a little amazing that John Kerry has come this far, to be his party’s nominee for the Presidency, given his poor judgement over the years. Voters need to here even more of Kerry’s poor decision making skills. A man with this bad of a record, with no signs of ever having straightened it our and making better decisions, is not qualified for the office of Commander in Chief during a time of war.
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