Kerry Forthcoming With Vietnam Records: Or Is He?

Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode CCLXVI

The Boston Globe reports, Apr. 20:

The day after John F. Kerry said he would make all of his military records available for inspection at his campaign headquarters, a spokesman said the senator would not release any new documents, leaving undisclosed many of Kerry's evaluations by his Navy commanding officers, some medical records, and possibly other material.

Kerry, in an interview Sunday on NBC's "Meet The Press," was asked whether he would follow President Bush's example and release all of his military records. "I have," Kerry said. "I've shown them — they're available for you to come and look at." He added that "people can come and see them at headquarters."

But when a reporter showed up yesterday morning to review the documents, the campaign staff declined, saying all requests must go through the press spokesman, Michael Meehan. Late yesterday, Meehan said the only records available would be those already released to this newspaper.

"He is releasing all military records he has released to The Boston Globe," Meehan said in a telephone interview. In a follow-up e-mail, Meehan said it was those particular records to which Kerry was referring on "Meet the Press."

Kerry has not released the formal evaluations from superior officers, although his campaign has given a letter from a commanding officer that recommended him for service aboard Navy patrol boats and also reports for the Silver and Bronze stars that laud Kerry's actions in combat. By comparison, retired Army General Wesley K. Clark released hundreds of pages of his records during the Democratic primary campaign, including all evaluations of him by his superiors.

Bush earlier this year released 300 pages of documents after media outlets raised new questions about the extent of his National Guard service. Those records, which Bush promised during a Feb. 8 appearance on "Meet the Press" to make available, included many military evaluations and medical records....

Here's the transcript (embedded ellipsis in original):

.... MR. RUSSERT: The Boston Globe reports that your commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Grant Hibberd has suggested that you perhaps didn't earn your first Purple Heart and question whether you should have left Vietnam after six months. In order to deal with those kinds of issues, when I asked President Bush about his service in the Texas Guard, he agreed to release all his military records, health records, everything. Would you agree to release all your military records?

SEN. KERRY: I have. I've shown them — they're available to you to come and look at. I think that's a very unfair characterization by that person. I mean, politics is politics. The medical records show that I had shrapnel removed from my arm. We were in combat. We were in a very, very — probably one of the most frightening — if you ask anybody who was with me, the two guys who were with me, was probably the most frightening night that they had that they were in Vietnam and we're...

MR. RUSSERT: But you'll make all your records public.

SEN. KERRY: They are. People can come and see them at headquarters and take a look at them. I'm not going to--but I'll tell you this. I'm proud of my service. I'm proud of what we did. I know what happened. And the Navy 35 years ago made a decision and it's the Navy's decision and I think it was the right decision....

Reuters reports, yesterday, that Republicans jumped on the issue:

Opening a new campaign front, President Bush's Republican Party on Tuesday called on Democrat John Kerry to release his Vietnam-era military records.

Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie made the demand after the Boston Globe reported the Kerry campaign was refusing to give up more of Kerry's military records even though he had promised to do so on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.

Kerry has cited his military service during the Vietnam war as a major reason why he has the strength and fortitude to serve as president.

Kerry, a Massachusetts senator and the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, became a leader of the anti-war movement after returning from Vietnam where he was decorated with a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. He served in the Navy from 1966 to 1970.

Bush surrendered his National Guard files from the Vietnam war period in February to try to stamp out election-year charges from Democrats that he shirked his duty....

BG follows up yesterday:

After a day of heated criticism from Republican Party officials, the campaign of Senator John F. Kerry yesterday switched course and said it would release more of Kerry's military records.

An initial distribution of 13 pages to the Associated Press last night did not include any previously unavailable documents. A campaign official said in a press release that more records would be posted online by today....

Yesterday, Republican officials blasted Kerry as failing to live up to what they considered to be his promise to release all military and medical records. The Republican Party chairman, Ed Gillespie, mocked Kerry's refusal to release all records, saying, "Guess it depends on what your definition of the word 'all' is."

Late yesterday, after Kerry's stance and the Republican taunts became the subject of numerous media reports, the campaign announced that it would release more records than it had given to the Globe, but it did not say what additional records would be made available....

Note, especially, the weasel words with which the article concludes:

In the interview on CNN, correspondent Judy Woodruff asked Shaheen whether Kerry would release "all of the material, evaluations by his commanding officers? All of his medical records?"

"Our intent is to make all of those records available," Shaheen responded. "Most of them are — they're all available on the website that we have today."

When Woodruff asked whether "everything [is] going to be put out," Shaheen said, "we intend to put out everything that we have."

They "intend" to put out everything they "have"?

Honestly, Faithful Reader, I am astounded that this issue has received as much attention as it has. I thought all of mainstream media would look away and act as if Russert and Kerry had never talked about it. So, what's up?

I think the Democratic Establishment was very upset that hound-dog reporters got everything about Bush's ANG service out into the open by February: I'm sure they would rather have saved all the ginned-up controversy until October. Conversely, I think they'd rather get any controversy about Kerry's record out into the open long before October.

Or, they really, really don't like the guy.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 04/22/04 06:24:38 AM
Categorized as Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode & John Kerry.