If John Kerry’s Medals Are Tainted, Does That Mean My Medals Are Tainted Too?

by James Glaser
August 10, 2004

How about the medals of the Swift Boat Veterans who are now thirty years after the fact, accusing John Kerry of wrong doing in obtaining his medals, are their medals bogus too?

You ever wonder like I do, about those Generals you see on television, who have like twelve rows of ribbons. Each ribbon represents a medal and if they wore all of them, they would look like a Soviet Union General.

Do you really believe that those Generals won all of those medals for courageous acts or that they were obtained for Valor under fire?

Today a Soldier could pick up the South West Asia Service Medal, the Saudi Arabian Liberation of Kuwait Medal, the Kuwait Liberation of Kuwait Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal, NATO Bosnia Medal, NATO Kosovo Medal, National Defense Service Medal, the War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, and the War on Terror Service Medal all without firing a shot or even hearing one.

John Kerry was awarded the Silver Star. That is one of the most respected medals you can get. They don't just hand out Silver Stars, they really mean something and if the Veterans are now questioning the fact that Kerry got this Medal, then where the heck have they been for the last thirty years?

The men who really served with John Kerry say to a man, that Kerry was a hero and deserved all the medals he received. The people who are now in this political year taking shots at him, did not serve with John Kerry, but claim to know more than those who did.

I don't like Kerry's politics, but I do respect the man for the courage he had under fire, fighting for the men he served with, and for our country. I believe the Green Beret who thanks John Kerry for saving his life.

I also believe the men who were Kerry's crew. I loved the guys in my unit in Vietnam, but I would be the first to speak up, if any of them faked it, to get a medal. These people questioning Kerry are calling his whole crew liars, and I don't buy that. Kerry was an officer and enlisted men have to be pretty impressed to stick up for an officer, especially thirty years later.

President Bush's military record leaves a lot to be desired, but to slam a real American Hero to take him down a peg makes me sick. If John Kerry's Medals can now be questioned after all of these years, then I wonder if any medals from that war are valid.

Lets check everybody's Medals. Lets look at every staff officer and see if they really earned theirs. Lets look at every Purple Heart and see if that Soldier or Marine really bled enough.

Let us look at the Medals given posthumously and find out if just maybe some Medals were given to make the families feel better. If we are now going to question John Kerry's Medals, lets make all medals fair game.

These so called Swift Boat Veterans are putting a taint on every Medal issued by the Department of Defense and that is wrong.


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