Letter: Kerry is more qualified to lead

Friday, Sept. 24, 2004 | 9:14 a.m.

Most people have heard the story about John Kerry's rescue of a Special Forces soldier while in Vietnam. A writer published on your editorial page of Sept. 10 reminded us that years after the Vietnam War, Kerry saved Sen. Chic Hecht, R-Nev., from choking in a Senate corridor. It is clear that Kerry was and still is a person who is disposed to take positive action to help others when faced with an emergency.

Contrast these actions with the lack of action by the current president shown in the film taken immediately after his notification of the attacks on the World Trade Center by terrorists three years ago.

And where did the president go immediately after the attacks? Not to the White House to direct the emergency, but to an underground bunker. An action not unlike the one he took years ago when faced with the prospect of Vietnam service.

Another letter writer published on the same editorial page said that because the Kerry military records have not had a thorough examination, he will refer to Kerry, if he wins the election, as "the impostor who occupies the White House." An examination to the nth degree is not needed to adequately resolve this matter. If Kerry, as a volunteer, spent only one hour under hostile fire in Vietnam, and we know that he did, that would be a lifetime when compared to the documented volunteer actions taken by the current president.

The difference between the two men over time in their demonstrated inclination to take action to save others in an emergency could not be clearer. And, consequently, that Kerry is better qualified to be commander in chief could not be clearer.

CHARLES R. PARRISH