Candidate pulled Oregon resident from Vietnamese river

[Judi Lynn]

Candidate pulled Oregon resident from Vietnamese river


The Associated Press
1/20/2004, 12:31 a.m. PT


EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — When Florence resident Jim Rassmann offered to volunteer for the John Kerry presidential campaign he was thinking along the lines of answering phones and licking envelopes.

The retired sheriff's deputy is a political junkie, but hardly a zealot. And he's a registered Republican.

But Kerry's campaign strategists whisked him straight to Iowa for a tearful public reunion with the senator, who almost 35 years ago dragged him out of a river in Vietnam in a hail of enemy gunfire.

Rassmann moved to Florence from Los Angeles a decade ago. But the emotion welled up a few days ago when Rassmann, a former Green Beret lieutenant, saw a copy of "Tour of Duty," which details Kerry's experiences in the Navy piloting a swift boat in Vietnam's Mekong Delta.
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http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1074593343136110.xml

[Turley]

1. He's a Freeper, too

Sorry, just kidding. :-)

[blm]

2. It's stories like this that will turn the male vote.

Who will they want leading the country? The guy who you know will risk his life for you, or the guy who went AWOL during that same war?

[denverbill]

3. It didn't work in 2000.

Al Gore was in Nam. Nobody cared that Shrub used his political connections to dodge Nam and Gore went to Nam.

It will be a non-issue by November. Rove will see to that. Soon you'll be hearing about how Kerry brags incessantly about his war record and how old it's getting.

[bigwoody]

4. In 2000, military/ security issues were much more in the background.

Chimp's military exp. obviously pales in comparison to Gore's. However, don't confuse Gore's combat photog exp. with being a patrol boat commander whose job it was to get into shit as much as possible. 9/11 has made candidates like Kerry and Clark much more appealing IMO since Chimp's handlers have decided to make war 24/7. I lke Kerry more everyday. Give me any combination of Kerry/Clark/Edwards and I feel like that gives us the best chance!:toast:

[denverbill]

5. Kerry was the front-runner last summer.

And Rush and the talking heads were already pounding on him. Their favorite line was something like "Oh yeah, and did you hear, Kerry was in the military."

It will not be long at all before you started hearing that line used again.

[Dhalgren]

6. I don't care.

Anyone who would belittle Kerry's service to this country is beneath contempt and not worthy of my consideration.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

7. What Ted Kennedy said:

"John Kerry would not leave that man behind and he will not leave any of us behind"