Letter: Demeaning Kerry’s citations insults veterans

Monday, Aug. 9, 2004 | 8:55 a.m.

The Republicans are so desperate to defeat John Kerry that they have now turned to demeaning and discrediting his military record. I know of no soldier ever who wrote his own citations for the Purple Heart or Bronze Star awards. It is improbable that Sen. Kerry ever did this.

Those who choose to demean his military record do a great disservice to all veterans and active soldiers who have earned these medals. It casts an unspeakable doubt on all who earned the Purple Heart and Bronze Star because it implies these medals can be awarded for political purposes, position and influence.

The implication from these Republican naysayers is that John Kerry was somehow able to influence their being awarded to him. Was this true of awards earned by former veterans such as former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., President John F. Kennedy and others? Should we now scrutinize even the service of Medal of Honor winners as well? Should we now scrutinize every national candidate's military record and question the validity of any military medals they might have received?

The radicals in the Republican Party, in their zeal to get George W. Bush re-elected, have brought American politics to a new low level of cheapness and dirt mongering.

VIRGIL A. SESTINI