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For his honeymoon, Kerry chose a telling location: the Pershing family's Jamaica home. Richard Pershing, a close friend of Kerry's and a fellow member of Yale's Skull and Bones society, had been killed in Vietnam. Pershing's grandfather, General John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, had commanded US forces in Europe during World War I.

--With antiwar role, high visibility

--By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff, 6/17/2003

Kerry's "Imaginary" Friend

By David Schlossberg
FrontPageMagazine.com | November 2, 2004

As a graduate of the Yale class of 1966, I resent the self-serving lies and misrepresentations advanced by my classmate John Kerry. Herewith, a few corrections:

John Kerry has been using the Pershing name to dramatize his Vietnam experience, claiming to have been a close friend of Richard Pershing, the grandson of General (Black Jack) Pershing. Richard Pershing was a member of the Yale class of 1966, and he was killed in Vietnam shortly after we graduated. However, Kerry's constant references to his 'dearest' friend are exaggerated and exploitative. In fact, Dick Pershing and I roomed together for all 4 years at Yale.

I don't remember John Kerry ever being in our room or even being a particular favorite of Dick's. In this regard, it is particularly revealing that a recent biography of General Pershing, Until The Last Trumpet Sounds (by Gene Smith), includes an entire chapter on Dick, primarily on his years at Yale; the name John Kerry does not appear.

The Pershing Family did know Kerry, but they disliked him intensely. This antipathy stemmed primarily from an incident at the Pershing home on Park Avenue not long after Dick's death: at a gathering of friends and family, Kerry worked the room with his anti-Vietnam message, incurring the undying enmity of Mr. and Mrs. Pershing and Dick's older brother Jack, a Green Beret. The family was shocked and insulted by Kerry's insensitivity.

Kerry has implied - as recently as the first Presidential debate – that he became disillusioned about Vietnam by his military experience. However, as early as 1965, in his Junior year at Yale, he was giving anti-war speeches; and his Class Day Oration in 1966 - prior to graduation - criticized American involvement in Vietnam. These sentiments clearly antedated his Vietnam experience. So why did he join the Navy? He told some classmates that it would help his career.

The above pattern suggests a callous and opportunistic personality -- hardly what I would call Presidential.

Dave Schlossberg, MD
Yale '66http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=15744

BSNS EXCLUSIVE:

Kerry enlists High-Powered Aide in an attempt to cleanse his image

BOSTON, MA (BSNS) -- Running hard to catch up, in the run-up to the 2008 Presidential Election, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry (...The Loser in 2004, to President George W. Bush) has once again made changes to his struggling campaign team, according to recent, as-yet-unconfirmed, reports. Undisclosed sources revealed early this week that Kerry has recently added a Scottish noblewoman to his staff. Her primary duties are said to be to clean up Kerry's seriously-besmirched image with still-angry Vietnam Era Veterans, and others with long memories, who have long been suspicious of Kerry's bona fides, amid persistent rumors of his 'aid-and-comfort to the (Vietcong/NVA) enemy', his apparent 'refusal to release his disputed military records', and his on-going 'lack of support for the military' in general.
Reportedly, Kerry's new staffer, M. Macbeth, has a great deal of prior experience with stain-removal, having been unsuccessful in only ONE prior occasion, during a long and otherwise-unblemished career. In a recent interview M. Macbeth discounted that particular failure, saying, "As everyone already knows, THAT one time involved a highly unusual situation, and one particularly DIFFICULT stain." Some experienced observers say she is likely to find THIS project no less daunting.