I'm not a reporter, so I don't quite count -- but I did put this compilation together. By the way, the MLK thing isn't here, because Kerry seems to have been off the coast of Vietnam in April 1968, so his statement, while somewhat misleading, is not completely false.
Christmas in Cambodia –
Kerry now admits that he lied about spending Christmas in Cambodia in 1968 and claiming that Nixon was President at the time. He’s told the story for decades – said it was “seared” in his memory – and it was a lie.
Flying Dog –
Kerry has said that in the incident that won him a Bronze Star (see below for more), when the mine went off under his boat, his dog (“VC”) went flying overboard and was thought to be lost. The dog was later recovered by another boat. Only problem – a mine did not go off under his boat. The story is a lie.
Throwing away the medals –
Kerry has said that he threw away his medal in a famous public demonstration.
Kerry has said that he only threw away his ribbons in a in a famous public demonstration.
Kerry has said that he actually threw away another man’s medals at that famous public demonstration.
Kerry has said that he never threw his medals away.
Kerry filed paperwork to get new medals (guess he lost ‘em somewhere).
The evidence of the need to get new medals is highlighted by the signatures on the citations:
Kerry's multiple Silver (3) and Bronze (2) star citations: Two of the five were signed by John Lehman who was Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan Administration 5 Feb 1981 - 10 Apr 1987. There are three Silver Star citations supplied by Kerry. One was signed by ADM Zumwalt, one by ADM Hyland, and one by Secretary Lehman. The Bronze Star citations were signed by Zumwalt and Lehman.
Purple Hearts --
From: "Unfit For Command"
Dec. 2, 1968: Kerry was awarded his first Purple Heart for a tiny piece of shrapnel in his left arm, above the elbow. (Self inflicted.) p.34
Feb. 20, 1969: Kerry was awarded his second Purple Heart after sustaining a minor shrapnel wound in his left thigh. (Self-inflicted, according to his crew.) p. 78
March 13, 1969: He was awarded his third Purple Heart for a contusion (minor) of the right arm sustained in the incident when another boat, PCF 3, detonated a mine. He also fraudulently claimed that the shrapnel in his buttocks, sustained when he and Rassmann blew up a rice cache on land that morning, occurred in this incident. (Contusion doesn't qualify for a PH and shrapnel was self-inflicted.) p. 88
Bronze Star –
Wins Bronze Star for fleeing the scene of a mine explosion.
13 Mar 1969 - Five Swift Boats are sent to raid a Vietcong village: Kerry PCF-94, Droz PCF-43, Pees PCF-3, Chenoweth PCF-23, and Thurlow PCF-51. Special Forces Lieutenant Rassman goes along for the ride on Kerry's boat. They depart the LST anchored offshore at 7:30 am, cruise about 11 miles up the Bay Hap River, then about 3 miles up the Dong Cung Canal, and get to the village at 8:15 am.
1. The village is deserted. As they are returning to the boat, Kerry and Rassmann decide to blow up a five-ton rice bin. They climb on top of the huge pile and dig a hole in the rice. On the count of three, they toss their grenades into the hole and run. Kerry doesn't run fast enough. He gets hit in the butt by some pieces of rice.
2. As the five boats are returning down the Bay Hap River, they come to a fishing net stretched across the middle of the river. As PCF-94 is going around the fishing net to the right and PCF-3 is going around it to the left, a mine explodes under PCF-3.
3. Simultaneously: (a) Kerry goes to full throttle, which causes Rassmann to fall overboard, and flees down the river with all his guns firing at the shore, and (b) the other three boats go to help PCF-3 with all their guns firing at the shore.
4. After 40 seconds, PCF-43, PCF-23 and PCF-51 cease fire, but Kerry keeps on firing and fleeing down the river.
5. PCF-43, PCF-23 and PCF-51 work together to rescue the crew of PCF-3 and keep PCF-3 from sinking.
6. Kerry finally turns around, comes back, and fishes Rassmann out of the water.
7. As PCF 23 is leaving the area to take the three seriously injured men from PCF-3 to the Coast Guard cutter offshore, Kerry jumps in PCF-23 and goes with them.
8. PCF-94 (without Kerry) tows the badly damaged PCF-3.
9. Kerry writes the after-action report that portrays him as a hero. He does not mention the fact that he abandoned the other boats and fled from what he thought was a battle, or that he abandoned his own boat and rode home with the wounded.
Silver Star –
Kerry won this award for shooting a wounded man in the back. That’s not necessarily an improper action (the man was apparently holding a rocket launcher). But the Silver Star is our nation’s third highest award. It is not usually given out for administering a Coup de Grace to a wounded enemy.
Additionally, Kerry’s Silver Star apparently came with a V citation. But Silver Stars never come that way, so there is either a lie buried in there, or else a file clerk made an error (which could happen easily enough).
I hope you are right. This whole mess starts to smell a lot like Lewinski. Bush can't get his message out because all the noise about Nam. The Swifties have succeeded in destroying any post convention bounce Kerry might have had. For that they are heros. But the story needs to morph to VVAW,which they have done, Fonda (which is coming) Ramsey Clark, Nuclear freeze, Nicaragua, Panama, every position he has taken since 1970 has been directly against American interests. We need to move beyond Vietnam.
