Kerry's war record deserves scrutiny
By Boston Herald editorial staff
Saturday, August 7, 2004
He brought it up. By making his four months of service in Vietnam the centerpiece of his campaign for the presidency, Sen. John Kerry [related, bio] himself invites further scrutiny of that service.
Had Bob Dole or John McCain made his heroic military service the essential argument for his election, too, then Dole's war injury and the harsh reality of McCain's five years in a Viet Cong prison camp may also have been explored in more detail.
Those two candidates, ultimately unsuccessful, let their records speak for themselves, and focused on their records in public service and plans for the future. Perhaps John Kerry is drawing the correct lesson that voters need to be hit over the head with a two-by-four in order for military valor to penetrate.
Consider them hit.
We have seen no evidence to make us doubt John Kerry's honorable service in Vietnam. His conduct after the war has long been a source of controversy, played out in public view. What happened on the Mekong Delta was, of course, not visible to those of us not on Kerry's Swift boat or nearby.
So now there's a competing narrative about Kerry's wartime experience and his much-promoted medals in a soon-to-be-released book and TV ad.
Kerry's crew, who actually served on his Swift boat, vehemently defend Kerry's valor.
The country ought to hear what both sides have to say. And Kerry ought to release any remaining records to provide as full an account of the incidents in question as possible.
Then the voters can judge for themselves whether his tour of duty some 35 years ago matters as much as John Kerry himself has said it does. |
