It happened again. Kerry reunited this week with another former seaman.

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http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/clips/news_2004_0220.html

Patrick Runyon, a 58-year-old shipping clerk from Eaton, Ohio, showed up at a local union headquarters where Kerry was to speak and reintroduced himself to the Massachusetts senator.

The skirmish involving Runyon occurred one night in early 1969. Kerry, Runyon and Bill Zaldonis, who was Kerry's Swift-boat engine man, were assigned to a small Boston Whaler to patrol a peninsula north of Cam Ranh in search of Viet Cong in South Vietnam's ``no-man zone.''

"It was very dark, really," Runyon said. "Then, we seen some cross the water. A silhouette. Mr. Kerry saw them with starlight scope. He said, `I'm gonna pop a flare.' When he popped the flare I started the engine. We got going."

"The light from the flares started to fade, the air was full of explosions. My M-16 jammed, and as I bent down in the boat to grab another gun, a stinging piece of heat socked into my arm and just seemed to burn like hell," Kerry says in the book.

It was Kerry's first real action, and it earned him his first of three Purple Hearts.


Bush's Commanding Officer, William Turnipseed, says he did not show up.

"To my knowledge, he never showed up," Turnipseed said last month. In interviews last week, Turnipseed and his administrative officer at the time, Kenneth K. Lott, said they had no memory of Bush ever reporting. ''Had he reported in, I would have had some recall, and I do not,'' Turnipseed said. ''I had been in Texas, done my flight training there. If we had had a first lieutenant from Texas, I would have remembered.'' Turnipseed also reports that the then-squadron operations officer of the Alabama Guard also has no recollection of having seen Bush.(The New Republic 10/16/2000)

“Furthermore, a spokesman for the Alabama National Guard estimates there were 600 to 700 members in the unit Bush was supposed to have served with in 1972. But none of these men has ever come forward to say he remembers Bush, and Bush has not named a single one of them.”(The New Republic 10/16/2000)

“Asked about that declaration, campaign spokesman Bartlett said Bush told him that since he was no longer flying, he was doing ''odds and ends.''


Well, one officer stepped up recently to say that Bush reported to him, but what a contrast. Who doesn't remember what they were doing in that war?

[mobuto]

1. I voted for John Kerry at my caucus

and I'm supporting him for President, but how many of these goddamn reunions is he going to have? He seems to average about four a week.

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6. I have to say that many Vietnam veterans a feeling mighty good

about a Vet president who could elevate their plights and give them the hero's recognition that they deserve for serving our country at war. They served. They deserve our respect and gratitude.

Sorry you are bored of the reunions. Seeing our Democratic hero reunite with his brothers in arms will never be met with a dry eye in my house. God bless our soldiers.

[absyntheNsugar]

2. I didn't quite get Kerry's strategy until now

It's 'show don't tell'.

He's not going after Bush's record, he's introducing you to all the people who saw his service.

Genius.

[JI7]

7. of course

like when he was asked about bush's service, kerry said it's not an issue with him. so he kind of makes it seem as if it's not an issue at all, but then follows up with "it's not MY service that's in question". hahhaha, i loved that.

[revcarol]

3. Maybe he would like to have a visit at Walter Reed with the wounded

of THIS war.

and he can tell them that he didn't really mean it, that mean ol president just lied to him with lies that didn't fool millions, but so sorry you lost your sight, buddy.

SHEESH.

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5. The president didn't follow the restaint mandated in the resolution

The president lied. We still don't know the nature or the amount of 'evidence' that was presented in the secret briefings but we saw Powell presenting detailed maps showing the apparent locations of chemical, biological, and nuclear weaponry and capabilities. The U.N. bought it so they passed 1441. But the president, when he signed the resolution promised and was mandated by the force of law to follow the resolution's dictates and return to the U.N. and press for agreement of the Security Council, exhausting all diplomatic means.

The power to commit forces was not inherent in the resolution. That power is effectively in the hands of the executive, who can deploy troops and commit them for up to 60 days without congressional approval. At that point Congress would not be in a strong position as many would be loath to retreat and withdraw forces.

There is no guarantee, however that the nay vote would have restrained Bush. Remember, Bush had gone around for days claiming that 1441 gave him authority to do whatever he wanted in the region.

Some Democrats saw the resolution as a way to restrain Bush and send him back to the U.N. My candidate was desperate to stifle Bush's argument for immediate invasion and sought to mandate a return to the international table by limiting Bush's authority in the resolution. The only restraint that could be agreed to in the republican-controlled Congress was through the IWR. Sen. Kerry voted to hold Saddam accountable, to force Bush back to the U.N., and to restore the inspection regime, which would have further forestalled war. His every action was to forestall war. His every action was to hold Saddam accountable. His every action was to prevent unilateral, preemptive invasion.

Foisting the blame on Democrats takes the responsibility off of Bush. He's the one who pushed forward with unilateral. preemptive war. He wanted cover, but the IWR doesn't give him cover for his unilateral, preemptive invasion. Nowhere in the bill does it mandate what he did.

To assert that John Kerry approved or authorized what the president ultimately did ignores the facts and statements made by Sen. Kerry before and after the vote and invasion.

[oasis]

4. Acknowledgement of past heroism will never be out of vogue.

[bucknaked]

8. Or, how about this...

The fearful Right and their newest buddy's site, vietnamvetsagainstkerry, chose to exploit a certain Veteran's words to suit their own purposes...

http://www.s-t.com/daily/10-96/10-28-96/a03sr015.htm

"...Yesterday, the gunner, Tom Belodeau of Dracut, stood beside Sen. Kerry and said he had been misquoted.
"This man was not lying on the ground. This man was more than capable of destroying that boat and everybody on it. Sen. Kerry did not give him that opportunity," Mr. Belodeau said.