Remember the 2004 Democratic National Convention where Capt. Wade Sanders – one of presidential nominee John Kerry's fellow Swift Boat veterans – introduced Kerry to the convention?
And will you ever forget how Sen. Kerry declared: "I am John Kerry, and I am reporting for duty!"?
Washington's Weekly Standard remembered this, even if most of the old Big Media were unaware of – or unwilling to report – the following undeniable news:
"Sanders was one of the few – perhaps only – fellow Swift Boat vets to defend Kerry's questionable war record publicly. … Sanders also had a stellar military record, having been awarded a Silver Star in 1992."
With that, the Standard went on to report:
"Sanders is currently doing time in a federal penitentiary after admitting to being in possession of child pornography."
And further:
- "On July 18, Navy Times reported that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus had revoked Sanders' Silver Star, the nation's third highest award for combat valor – apparently for reasons having nothing to do with his recent criminal conduct. … 'Had the subsequently determined facts and evidence surrounding both the incident for which the award was made and the processing of the award itself been known to the secretary of the Navy in 1992, those facts would have prevented the award of the Silver Star,' Capt. Pamela Kunze told Navy Times regarding the Navy Department Board of Medals and Decorations' decision.
- "Suffice to say, in 2004 Kerry was indignant that his fellow veterans would question the awarding of his own Silver Star – and yet, just about the only Swift Boat vet defending Kerry apparently didn't earn his. Sanders' offense must have been egregious; the few instances of a Navy commendation being revoked all predate World War I.
- "The normal scrutiny of a presidential candidate's resume was deemed in Kerry's case to be somehow beneath contempt, and the term 'Swift Boat' was turned into a verb, and a pejorative one at that.
- "Recall that the Kerry campaign was forced to admit Kerry had inaccurately claimed he crossed into Cambodia around Christmas 1968. The basic fact that Kerry spent less than four months in Vietnam and emerged with three Purple Hearts without missing a single day of active duty due to injury would be sufficient to question his veracity.
- "In his testimony before Congress in 1971, Kerry accused fellow vets of wanton atrocities without proof. … Kerry said that distinguished Adm. Roy Hoffman, the officer in charge of the Swift Boat mission, had 'a genuine taste for the more unsavory aspects of warfare' and sought 'splashy victories in the Mekong Delta' to get promoted. It was an understandably incensed Hoffman who organized the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, not the Bush campaign."
I commend the Weekly Standard for reporting all this U.S. history pertaining to a U.S. senator who ran for our nation's highest office. This exposé is ample grounds for rejoicing that Kerry was defeated – as well as national wishes that he would resign from the Senate.