John Kerry

John Forbes Kerry (b. December 11, 1943) is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts where he has been one of the most liberal senators since 1984. In 2004, he ran an unsuccessful bid for the United States presidency as the Democratic Party's nominee, losing to Republican incumbent president George W. Bush. Kerry is currently the Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Military Career

Kerry enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve in February, 1966, and began active service that August as Ensign aboard the USS Gridley, a Guided Missile Frigate deployed in the Gulf of Tonkin. During his tour of duty, Kerry requested his second tour be in Vietnam, listing his preferred position as commandeering a Fast Patrol Craft (PCF) or "Swift Boat." His request was granted, and on November 17, 1968 he reported to Cam Ranh Bay for a month of training. During his service, he recieved the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a total of three Purple Hearts during combat operations inside Vietnam, and after his third injury was permitted to request reassignment as per Navy instruction 1300.39, Leaving Vietnam on April 2, 1969. Upon returning stateside, he served as personal aide to Rear Admiral Walter Schlech until March 1970 when his active duty obligation had ended. Kerry continued serving in the Naval Reserves until February 1972.

During his 2004 campaign for President, several groups were formed, most notably the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, to counter the charges of "war crimes" Kerry repeatedly made against Vietnam veterans (see below) and to call Kerry's military record into question, accusing him of inflicting his own wounds, going to unusual lengths to obtain his Purple Hearts, and attacking unarmed civilians. Swift Boat Veterans for Truth had been publically criticised, firstly because no member of the group actually served on the boats that Kerry commanded or witnessed the events described, and secondly for internal consistancy and contradiction. As an example, one member of the group was Kerry's commanding officer, George Elliott, who as late as 2003 expressed having "no regrets or second thoughts at all" about writing Kerry up for his Silver Star, only claim the exact opposite the following year.,

Opposition to the Vietnam War

Kerry belonged to Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), where he supported the anti-war movement.

Kerry's book, The New Soldier with VVAW activists flying the American flag upside down.

Controversially referring to US servicemen in Vietnam as having been sent "to die for the biggest mistake in history," Kerry alleged that the military had "created a monster" in the form of violence-prone American soldiers, and recounted that soldiers had personally recollected stories of having "personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads," of Vietnamese citizens and rampaging across Vietnam "[razing] villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan". That these acts were "not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command."

On NBC's Meet The Press in 1971, Kerry was asked whether he had personally committed atrocities in Vietnam. He responded:

"There are all kinds of atrocities, and I would have to say that, yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed in that I took part in shootings in free fire zones. I conducted harassment and interdiction fire. I used 50 caliber machine guns, which we were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people. I took part in search and destroy missions, in the burning of villages. All of this is contrary to the laws of warfare, all of this is contrary to the Geneva Conventions and all of this is ordered as a matter of written established policy by the government of the United States from the top down. And I believe that the men who designed these, the men who designed the free fire zone, the men who ordered us, the men who signed off the air raid strike areas, I think these men, by the letter of the law, the same letter of the law that tried Lieutenant Calley, are war criminals."

Iraq War

Kerry voted to give President George W. Bush the authority to go to war with Iraq in 2002, although in his 2004 Presidential bid he campaigned as being opposed to the war, and now says, regarding his vote to give the President that authority, "There's nothing - nothing - in my life in public service I regret more, nothing even close. We should all be willing to say: I was wrong, I should not have voted for the Iraq War Resolution."

Books by John Kerry

• John Kerry, The New Soldier, edited by David Thorne, Macmillan Pub Co (October 1971). ISBN-10: 002073610X