Re KERRY SERVICE TIMELINE: johnkerry.com
Note he leaves a gap between 1970 and 1976.............
1966-1970
United States Navy
Volunteered for duty in Vietnam where he earned three Purple Hearts, the Silver Star and the Bronze Star.
1976-1979
Prosecutor, Middlesex County
Took on organized crime and put behind bars the “number two organized crime figure in New England." He fought for victims' rights and created programs for rape counseling.
1983-1985
Lieutenant Governor
Organized the nation's Governors to combat the acid rain that was polluting lakes, rivers, and the nation's water supply.
1985-present
U.S. Senator
Championed economic opportunity, fiscal responsibility and a strong foreign policy for America.
but wikipedia (free encyclopedia online) says this, plus has info regarding his medals and awards, with dates....plus an updated SBVFT, as well as his anti-war days:
en.wikipedia.org
Return from Vietnam
On March 17, 1969, shortly after his third wound, on March 17, 1969, Commodore Charles Horne, the commander of Kerry's coastal squadron and a military administrator, filed a document allowing Kerry's reassignment to the U.S. He was entitled to this early departure from Vietnam (subject to approval by the Bureau of Naval Personnel), because those who had been wounded three times, "regardless of the nature of the wound or treatment required...will not be ordered to serve in Vietnam and contiguous waters or to duty with ships or units which have been alerted for movement to that area."
After a final patrol, Kerry was transferred to Cam Ranh Bay for five or six days. His tour of duty in Vietnam ended in early April. On April 11, he reported to the Brooklyn-based Atlantic Military Sea Transportation Service, where he would remain on active duty for one more year as a personal aide to an officer. On January 1, Kerry was promoted to full Lieutenant; on January 3, he requested discharge. After having been listed as completing his service on April 29, he officially left active duty on March 1.
In total, Kerry served on active duty for three and a half years, from August 1966 until March 1970. He was transferred to the Naval Reserve in 1970, and was later transferred to the Standby Reserve in 1972, where he no longer was required to participate in Reserve activities. He received his honorable discharge in 1978.
In other words, when Kerry was protesting the war and holding private meetings with North Vietnamese and Viet Cong representatives in Paris, he was still a Naval officer in the reserves. The folks at AP and the Globe might not think that matters, but they ought to report this so that people can make up their own minds -- and they ought to get it right. Especially when the correct information is right on the Kerry website, and when their fellow journalists are accusing blogs of sloppiness. . . . |
