MPScholle
22 Sep 2004, 02:36 PM
Kerry And The Medals
These are ribbons. And these are medals. No one in the military mixes up the two. They are not interchangeable. Yet this is what John Kerry wants you to believe: that people in the military treat these as identical. They're not.
That's the third and latest version of what Kerry is telling the public. He says he threw his ribbons and not his medals over a six foot high fence hastily erected around the U.S. Capitol to protect the building from Kerry-led demonstrators in 1971. Kerry tossed his medals to show his contempt for U.S. policy
But this is how The Boston Globe newspaper reported what actually happened on that day, Friday, April 23rd, 1971.
"John Kerry of Waltham, Mass, a former Navy lieutenant and now a leader of the group, who became a national figure last week, said before he threw his medals over the fence: 'I'm not doing this for any violent reasons, but for peace and justice, and to try to make this country wake up once and for all.'"
Kerry has offered numerous accounts of what he actually threw over the fence that day. He had previously claimed he threw medals given to him by another protester. More recently he claimed he threw ribbons. 30 years ago he said it was his own medals. It is nearly impossible to know which of the three versions Kerry has told is the real story. But this much is certain. John Kerry lied when told two of his three versions. Either way, this incident underscores Kerry's lifelong pattern of lies, embellishments and exaggerations.
For the record, not everyone who threw medals during that 1971 protest was who he said he was. One supposed veteran tossed fistfuls of medals he claimed he earned including a Silver Star and nine Purple Hearts. But a review of public records does not support his claims of receiving any of those medals.
A detailed review of what happened the day John Kerry threw his military medals over the fence in 1971 based on newspaper accounts of the day can be found here.
And that's The Point.
I'm Mark Hyman.
These are ribbons. And these are medals. No one in the military mixes up the two. They are not interchangeable. Yet this is what John Kerry wants you to believe: that people in the military treat these as identical. They're not.
That's the third and latest version of what Kerry is telling the public. He says he threw his ribbons and not his medals over a six foot high fence hastily erected around the U.S. Capitol to protect the building from Kerry-led demonstrators in 1971. Kerry tossed his medals to show his contempt for U.S. policy
But this is how The Boston Globe newspaper reported what actually happened on that day, Friday, April 23rd, 1971.
"John Kerry of Waltham, Mass, a former Navy lieutenant and now a leader of the group, who became a national figure last week, said before he threw his medals over the fence: 'I'm not doing this for any violent reasons, but for peace and justice, and to try to make this country wake up once and for all.'"
Kerry has offered numerous accounts of what he actually threw over the fence that day. He had previously claimed he threw medals given to him by another protester. More recently he claimed he threw ribbons. 30 years ago he said it was his own medals. It is nearly impossible to know which of the three versions Kerry has told is the real story. But this much is certain. John Kerry lied when told two of his three versions. Either way, this incident underscores Kerry's lifelong pattern of lies, embellishments and exaggerations.
For the record, not everyone who threw medals during that 1971 protest was who he said he was. One supposed veteran tossed fistfuls of medals he claimed he earned including a Silver Star and nine Purple Hearts. But a review of public records does not support his claims of receiving any of those medals.
A detailed review of what happened the day John Kerry threw his military medals over the fence in 1971 based on newspaper accounts of the day can be found here.
And that's The Point.
I'm Mark Hyman.