Quote Originally Posted by piece-it pete
Hate to butt in again , but...

His actual actions in Vietnam are not really provable. He did get the medals.

But his subsequent actions are a matter of public record. Is there a Vietnam vet here that will second his accusations? Did you'all really rape, kill, maim and torture innocent civilians as a matter of course?

And WHY WON'T HE RELEASE HIS MILITARY RECORDS?! He MUST have something to hide.

Pete
Pete, You're not "butting in". This is an open forum. But, since you spoke up - you let yourself off the hook with "...as a matter of course." The atrocities you listed whether rampant or not did occurr and have been confirmed. And, your call for seconds from veterans is getting the built-in response you desired - none. The tough questions are how we deal with and learn from those experiences. The most basic question is are atrocities committed during war time a natural product of war? IOTW, taken in context, are they really "atrocities". If they are, is punishment the right course of official action? This is an area that I really don't like to get into and I believe these are the questions underlying the attacks on Kerry. Let's learn, train field officers on these matters and get on with our lives.

Why won't Kerry release his records? Those that have sided with the Swifties believe or theorize that they will somehow disparage his actual service in Vietnam. Let me give you my THEORY which is just as plausible, is backed by more FACTS and is more PROBABLE. (Hey, my theory is just as valid or invalid as anyone else's.) Let's start with the facts. When Kerry RETURNED from Vietnam he began protesting BEFORE he was officially discharged. The Nixon tapes turned over after Watergate reveal that Kerry was a target of the Nixon Admin. He was labelled a "demagogue" in the presence of Nixon and equated with "Ralph Nader." This all seems laughable now, but the Nixon Admin. went after Kerry rightly or wrongly. The next set of facts is that a board of officers reviewed Kerry's discharge and decided on the honorable status. Some say this was unusual and that they must have changed an original determination. The records will show the great lengths to which the Nixon Admin. went to discredit and destroy Kerry for his anti-war activities AFTER he returned from Vietnam. Of course if a board of officers to a man determined his discharge status as honorable, why even play with fire? Again, the military determined, in an unusually intense and scrutinizing manner, that his service was honorable. That's good enough for me. As for Bush, the Guard had no official criticism of his service and that's good enough for me too.