It’s Not Hype

tristero says that he plans to devote some time to blogging about John Kerry’s exemplary career and I think I’ll join him in that effort. Kerry is sadly underappreciated by Democrats and I think it’s important that we start to point out what a fine man he truly is.

For instance, how many of you knew that after Kerry came back from Vietnam and formed and then left Vietnam Veterans Against the War, that he was the co-founder of another highly effective advocacy group called Vietnam Veterans of America:

tristero says:

Tonight, I’ll briefly remind all of us that, after Yale, after Vietnam, after protesting the war with VVAW. Kerry co-founded a different group whose purpose was to move beyond the differences that divided the Vietnam generation. Dedicated to aiding all those who fought in Southeast Asia, it’s called Vietnam Veterans of America, “the only national Vietnam veterans organization congressionally chartered and exclusively dedicated to Vietnam-era veterans and their families,” currently with over 50,000 individual members.

VVA receives no government funds of any kind whatsoever. But it provides philanthropic assistance to Vietnam Vets that need it, works with homeless vets. and has worked for twenty years in the effort for a full accounting of POW/MIAs.

In addition, the VVA site says they are “single-handedly leading the fight for judicial review of disabled veterans’ claims for benefits. The result: In 1988, Congress passed a law creating the U.S. Court of Veterans appeals. This allowed veterans to appeal VA benefits denials to a court and required VA to obey the rule of law.” Furthemore, they’ve pressed the Agent Orange issue, helping to press the Agent Orange Act which has resulted in the Veterans Administration paying compensation for nine Agent Orange-related diseases.

[…]

Given both the heroic nature of his Vietnam service and his efforts to oppose the war, Kerry’s co-founding of VVA seems a minor accomplishment. But there are only a handful of people capable and willing to make the effort to start something like this. Kerry has the character to do so, and the skills to do it extremely well. Kerry’s co-founding of VVA, which would proudly cap the entire public service accomplishments of a lesser person, is often overlooked because Kerry’s well-known achievements are so numerous and yes, truly great ones.

I urge you to read the whole post here and remind those you talk to that Kerry has been an advocate for veterans every day since he came back from Vietnam, not just as someone who lobbied to end the war, but as someone who has worked on behalf of his greater band of brothers from the very beginning. His life was shaped by his experience in Vietnam, the crucible of his generation. At every turn he did the right thing, from bravery in battle to speaking truth to power to trying to get some justice for all the poor grunts who suffered in that war to reconciliation with North Vietnam. This heroic image is not hype set forth just for political purposes. It’s really him.

John O’Neill and his swiftboat liars couldn’t shine his shoes.