clifto wrote:

Mike Pearson see .sig wrote:
clifto wrote:
From the book: "John Kerry's service record indicates that on February 18,
1966, he enlisted in the United States Naval Reserves, status 'inactive',
not in the U.S. Navy. These details are conveniently left out of all
pro-Kerry biographies. Douglas Brinkley records that Kerry entered
Offer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island; however, again he fails
to note that Kerry was seeking to be an officer of the U.S. Naval Reserve."

So he took part in a "delayed enlistment program", where you sign up,
are placed on inactive reserve status, and several months to a year
later go to active duty. Why are these guys making such a big deal of
it?

Because Kerry's Viet Nam record is replete with reports of him doing
whatever he could to minimize his proximity to battle. I have no problem
with that in itself, but if he's then going to criticize Bush for joining
the National Guard to avoid battle, he's a hypocrite.

But the delayed enlistment has absolutely *nothing* to do with anything;
the authors of that book are, as usual, raising a red-herring and making
is sound like something sinister.

How does Kerry's volunteering to go back to Vietnam for a 2nd tour and
asking for swift boat duty on that tour constitute "minimizing his
proximity to battle"? Compare that to GWB's "NO" box checked next to
the "Volunteer for overseas duty?" box on his paperwork.



Personally, if I'd had a ghost of a chance of being able to fly the
world's best airframes like Bush did, I'd have joined the Podunk Possum
Posse to get in the pilot's seat.

Of the 875 F-102A production models that entered service, 259 were lost
in accidents that killed 70 Air Force and ANG pilots, an accident rate
far above the other aircraft in service at the time. By December of
1969 all F102's had been removed from service in Southeast Asia (they
had been flown as a part of the ANG's "Palace Alert" program) and were
used for domestic air defense by the ANG. It was hardly the
state-of-the-art machine that you think it was at that time.


--
Mike
NAR #70953 - Sr/HPR Level-1 ~ BEMRC - NAR Section #627
NO Junk Email, please! Real email to: amphoto [at] blarg [dot] net.
WANTED: Experienced Kamikaze Pilot