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Summary: Kerry Was Still Getting A Navy Paycheck As He Slandered GI's
Review: Kerry was still on the U.S. Navy's payroll as he travelled the NE & MidAtlantic for Jane's Fonda's antiwar rallys. Kerry was an organizer in the group. Pretty sad how he was cashing U.S. Navy paychecks as he was smearing American GI's by calling them "babykillers." I guess there were no wealthy widows around so he need the paycheck. Kerry is no hero. He is an opportunistic back stabber. His cousin Stewart Forbes, Chief Executive Officer of Colliers International (Kerry's cousin), was awarded a contract worth billions designating Colliers International as the exclusive real estate agent representing Vietnam. This is after Senator Kerry sold out American POWs & MIAs while "normalizing" relations with the new Vietnam.
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Summary: Let's Be Clear
Review: This is my second review, and it is inspired by the startling naiveté demonstrated by the reviewer who insists that since Brinkley is a professional historian he could not, therefore, be politically motivated in his composition of this "biography" of John Kerry. I, too, am a professional historian, and while I cannot claim that my books match the popularity of Brinkley's, I have a professional understanding of the process of writing works in history. The reality is this: John Kerry as just a senator is not a subject of sufficient stature to merit such an explication of his life. Aside from his recent presidential efforts, he is but one of hundreds of men and women alive and dead who have served or who are serving in the Senate. He has no major legislation associated with his name; he has not been a real leader of the Democratic side of the upper chamber; and he was, until recently, not even much of a household name outside of Massachusetts. Historians choose their subjects with great care not only because good historical works require tremendous time, concentration, and luck in researching but also because publishers demand that they be at least reasonably marketable. Someone of Brinkley's status certainly would not bother to begin the arduous task of researching a biography of say Senator Mikulski of Maryland without the certain knowledge that such a work would be a greater public interest in the future - occasioned by, say, a run for the presidency. It is simply not reasonable to believe, therefore, that Brinkley did not know Kerry was going to make a presidential run in '04, and wrote Tour of Duty accordingly; it is even possible that he was approached directly or indirectly by Kerry's people or those of his mentor Ted Kennedy to write the work because that, children, is often how life works. Further, let us have a reality check about academia and historians. It is a rare scholar indeed who is employed as a professional historian either within or without universities and colleges who is not at least a strong liberal or socialists (at one major Big Ten school, the chair of the history department at one time was an open and passionate communist, who was saddened by the fall of the Soviet Union). This is not my opinion, it is objective fact well known within the profession. Scholars who do not conform can be and are denied tenure and promotion. Therefore, it is not only possible, but also probable that Brinkley is indeed a "knee-jerk" liberal, and certainly the content Tour of Duty only buttresses this contention. It is, I repeat, a rather skillful campaign book designed to attract votes for John Kerry. It is neither history nor historical biography, but is instead, like Kerry's public image, a clever manipulation of the truth.
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Summary: Another Viewpoint on JFK's "Heroism"
Review: Personally, I place more credence in the following account of Kerry's sevice, as written by someone who actually served: "I was in the Delta shortly after John Kerry left. I know that area well. I know the operations he was involved in well. I know the tactics and the doctrine used, and I know the equipment. Although I was attached to CTF-116 (PBRs) I spent a fair amount of time with CTF-115 (swift boats), Kerry's command. Here are my problems and suspicions: (1) Kerry was in-country less than four months and collected a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts. I never heard of anybody with any outfit I worked with (including SEAL One, the Sea Wolves, Riverines and the River Patrol Force) collecting that much hardware that fast, and for such pedestrian actions. The Swifts did a commendable job, but that duty wasn't the worst you could draw. They operated only along the coast and in the major rivers (Bassac and Mekong). The rough stuff in the hot areas was mainly handled by the smaller, faster PBRs.
(2) He collected three Purple Hearts but has no limp. All his injuries were so minor that he lost no time from duty. Amazing luck. Or he was putting himself in for medals every time he bumped his head on the wheel house hatch? Combat on, the boats were almost always at close range. You didn't have minor wounds, at least not often. Not three times in a row. Then he used the three Purple Hearts to request a trip home eight months before the end of his tour. Fishy. (3) The details of the event for which he was given the Silver Star make no sense at all. Supposedly, a B-40 was fired at the boat and missed. Charlie jumps up with the launcher in his hand, the bow gunner knocks him down with the twin .50, Kerry beaches the boat, jumps off, shoots Charlie, and retreives the launcher. If true, he did everything wrong.
(a) Standard procedure when you took rocket fire was to put your stern to the action and go balls to the wall. A B-40 has the ballistic integrity of a frisbie after about 25 yards, so you put 50 yards or so between you and the beach and begin raking it with your .50's.
(b) Did you ever see anybody get knocked down with a .50 caliber round and get up? The guy was dead or dying. The rocket launcher was empty. There was no reason to go after him (except if you knew he was no danger to you just flopping around in the dust during his last few seconds on earth, and you wanted some derring-do in your after-action report). And we didn't shoot wounded people. We had rules against that, too.
(c) Kerry got off the boat. This was a major breach of standing procedures. Nobody on a boat crew ever got off a boat in a hot area. EVER! The reason was simple: If you had somebody on the beach, your boat was defenseless. It coudn't run and it couldn' t return fire. It was stupid and it put his crew in danger. He should have been relieved and reprimanded. I never heard of any boat crewman ever leaving a boat during or after a firefight. Something is fishy. Here we have a JFK wannabe (the guy Halsey wanted to court martial for carelessly losing his boat and getting a couple people killed by running across the bow of a Japanese destroyer) who is hardly in Vietnam long enough to get good tan, collects medals faster than Audie Murphy in a job where lots of medals weren't common, gets sent home eight months early and requests separation from active duty a few months after that so he can run for Congress. In that election, he finds out war heroes don't sell well in Massachsetts in 1970, so he reinvents himself as Jane Fonda/...
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Summary: Hungry for knowledge
Review: I didn't read the book. I heard that everyone in Woodbridge, NJ eats women and babies and was hoping this book would be a culinary adventure story. Is it true.
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Summary: A man of courage
Review: Whether you like John Kerry or not he is a genuine war hero and a man of profound courage and all the petty reviews here most likely done by Republicans can't change that reality. Face facts. I am an Edwards supporter but I can't deny that John Kerry is a good man with an honorable record of public service. He should be proud. This book is an honest assessment of his Vietnam experienes which are told warts and all. What comes through is a brutal honesty that is rare in politics these days. And a good overview of a dark period in our U.S. history. However, this book should be read to understand Kerry's greatness and to learn lessons from this ugly war. The Bush/Cheney war record is nonexistent. So far, the sketchy evidence of the Bush war record is that he was proven to have shopped at the base company store a few times and that he had his hair cut on the base on occasion (kidding). Truthfully, Bush's guard experience is difficult to assess and shaky to measure. This is not the case with Kerry. He actually fought in a war and was wounded. Read the book and learn what a great man John Kerry is.
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Summary: Campaign for Kerry
Review: To call this book an unbiased look at Kerry's life is extremely naive. From the very beginning it reads like a cheesy campaign commercial. If you like Kerry and his politics, you'll like the book, conversely if you don't, you won't.
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Summary: Great book no matter what the guy from portland says
Review: I note the he posted 2 reviews that slammed kerry so I guess I'll post my second review saying that everything he said is a lie and the book is good, kerry is an honorable man and that yes, the US did commit atrocities in vietnam. I know the truth is hard to take but it is the truth.
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Summary: Fails To Mention How Kerry Called American GIs "babykillers"
Review: O starts. The book fails to mention how Kerry smeared Vietnam Vets by calling them all "babykillers" in front of the Senate. Much of Kerry's speech before Congress painted his fellow GIs as so brutal that, today, they could easily be mistaken for Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen killers. He reported to Congress that U.S. soldiers had "personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam." C. Stewart Forbes, Chief Executive Officer of Colliers International (Kerry's cousin), was awarded a contract worth billions designating Colliers International as the exclusive real estate agent representing Vietnam. Kerry's group, The Vietnam Veterans Against the War Organization, was funded by Jane Fonda. Jane Fonda personally sought out returning American soldiers from Vietnam to solicit them to publicly speak out against American atrocities against Vietnamese women and children during her broadcasts. North Vietnamese officials based in Canada allegedly coordinated her broadcasts. In 1972 Jane Fonda, Tom Hayden and others traveled to North Vietnam to give their support to the North Vietnamese's Government. When she returned to the United States, she advised the news media that all of the American Prisoners of War were being well treated and were not being tortured. As the American POWs returned home in 1973, they spoke out about the inhumane treatment and torture they had suffered as prisoners of war. Their stories directly contradicted Jane Fonda's earlier statements of 1972. Some of the American POWs such as Senator John McCain, a former Presidential candidate, stated that he was tortured by his guards for refusing to meet with Jane Fonda and her group. Jane Fonda, in her response to these new allegations, referred to the returning POWs as being "hypocrites and liars." The Wall Street Journal (August 3, 1995) published an interview with Bui Tin who served on the General Staff of the North Vietnam Army and received the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975. During the interview Mr. Tin was asked if the American antiwar movement was important to Hanoi's victory. Mr. Tin responded "It was essential to our strategy" referring to the war being fought on two fronts, the Vietnam battlefield and back home in America through the antiwar movement on college campuses and in the city streets. He further stated the North Vietnamese leadership listened to the American evening news broadcasts "to follow the growth of the American antiwar movement." Visits to Hanoi made by persons such as Jane Fonda, former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and various church ministers "gave us confidence that we should hold on in the face of battlefield reverses." Mr. Tin surmised that "America lost because of its democracy; through dissent and protest it lost the ability to mobilize a will to win." Mr. Tin further advised that General Vo Nguyen Giap (Commanding General of the North Vietnam Army) said the 1968 Tet Offensive was a defeat. Gen. Giap in his book, made the same statement, adding that they were surprised by the news media reporting and the demonstrations in America. Instead of seeking a conditional surrender, they would now hold out because America's resolve was weakening and victory could be theirs. From 1969 to the end of the war over 20,000 American soldiers lost their lives in a war that the United States did not have the resolve to win. If General Giap was accurate in his assessment that North Vietnam was going to seek a conditional surrender at the Paris Peace Conference, but stopped due to the sensationalism of the American news media and the anti-war protests following the 1968 Tet Offensive, it follows that those who participated in these anti-war activities have to share partial responsibility for those 20,000 + Americans deaths. We won the war on the battlefield but lost it back home on the college campuses and in the city streets. Americans must realize that there are agents* operating in this Country attempting to undermine our Country and it's leadership through our democratic principles in an effort to achieve a foreign country's goal. A prime example of such a person during the Vietnam War was Jane Fonda, an admitted Socialist, who blatantly supported North Vietnam. * Agent - Any person who works to obtain the goals of another nation either for money or for their own political beliefs. A valuable lesson was taught by North Vietnam to other nations on how the United States may be defeated by fighting a two front war - the battlefield and the American home front. We must be aware of this vulnerability. In 1975, after the fall of the South Vietnam Government, Jane Fonda returned to Hanoi with her newborn son Troy for a celebration in her honor for the work she had done for North Vietnam. During the celebration, her son was christened after a Viet Cong hero, Nguyen Van Troi. Troi had attempted to assassinate Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara while on his visit to South Vietnam in 1963. The South Vietnam Government executed Troi for this attempted assassination.
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Summary: A "Must Read "in 2004
Review: Let's establish a couple of things first: 1) Douglas Brinkley is a professional historian and director of the Eisenhower Center, the mission of which is to preserve and honor the stories and sacrifices of American servicemen from World War II through Vietnam and beyond. No one can reasonably accuse Brinkley of being a knee-jerk "liberal historian" who only wrote this book to flack John Kerry's presidential candidacy. 2) Brinkley began his research for this book in 2002, before Kerry ever decided to run. To the extent that Brinkley became an admirer of Kerry--and clearly he did--I would suggest that this was a RESULT of researching and writing this book, not a CAUSE of it. That said, this volume is without question an eye-opener. Regardless of one's political persuasion and what one may think of John Kerry's presidential candidacy, this book is an education. Brinkley reminds us of how divisive the conflict in Vietnam was for Americans and how ambivalent many young men of Kerry's generation were about serving. He also accomplishes one of his primary goals with this book, which is to enlighten readers about the largely overlooked riverine war in southeast Asia, and how dangerous it was for the men involved. John Kerry and many others served bravely and well in this battle, despite its often unclear or contradictory goals. It was as a direct result of his experience in combat in Vietnam, and his belief that we were clearly not winning the "war for hearts and minds" that Kerry came to oppose American involvement in the conflict and the way our political leaders were conducting it. Additionally, we learn that Kerry's current campaign to honor servicemen through proper funding of veterans' hospitals and services is not an election-year gimmick; this is a cause he has supported and fought for throughout his career. As a leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Kerry's focus was to bring an end to American casulties AND to see that proper attention was paid to those who had already given so much. He constantly visited with disabled veterans and railed against the "shabby treatment" they too often received. Finally, given the current political climate, it is impossible--it was for me anyway--to read this book and not constantly reflect on the comparison between John Kerry and our current president. Again, regardless of where one stands politically, the intellectual and moral depth of these two men seems remarkably different. Here is 25-year old John Kerry writing in anguish to his girlfriend upon learning of the battlefield death of one of his best friends: "Right now everything that is superficial and emotional wants to give up and just feel sorry but I can't. I am involved in something that keeps pushing on regardless of the individual and which even with what has happpened must, I know deep, deep down iside me be coped with rationally and with strength. I do feel strong and despite emptiness and waste, I still have hope and confidence...Judy, if I do nothing else in my life I will never stop trying to bring to people the conviction of how wasteful and asinine is a human expenditure of this kind. I don't mean this in an all-consuming world saving fashion. I just mean that my own effort must be entire and thorough and that it must do what it can to help make this a better world to live in." Can anyone even remotely imagine George W. Bush writing something like this when he was 25--or today?
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Summary: conservatives smear kerry over "hanoi Jane"
Review: conservatives are excerpting the part of this book that supposedly documents Kerry's association with Jane Fonda to claim that Kerry was a supporter of "hanoi" Jane Fonda's attempt to"give aid and comfort to the enemy".
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