Uh-oh... the proverbial (bleep) is about to hit the fan

American Spectator got hold of the downloadable copy of Kerry's 1971 book "The New Soldier" and delves into it's contents:

Though Kerry would later retrieve the medals he pretended to throw at the White House, he emphasized in The New Soldier that the Vietnam veteran should not be honored. Purple hearts and bronze stars mean nothing to the new soldier, for he knows they are just a sham: "We will not quickly join those who march on Veterans' Day waving small flags, calling to memory those thousands who died for the ‘greater glory of the United States.' We will not accept the rhetoric. We will not readily join the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars…We will not take solace from the creation of monuments or the naming of parks after a select few of the thousands of dead Americans and Vietnamese. We will not uphold traditions which decorously memorialize that which was base and grim."

Meanwhile, Human Events note the thoughts and feelings of Vietnam POWs:

"What they wanted to do was get us to make statements that they could use for propaganda, no matter what it took to get it" said [POW Tom Collins]. "They would torture us, some were even killed for it...For over seven years, their goal was to get propaganda out of me. And then I see somebody like John Kerry and the Vietnam Veterans [Against the War] giving them the same propaganda they want me to give them, free of charge, on American television."

(Hat-tip to Betsy Newmark)

UPDATE: The National Review has this disturbing bit of information regarding Kerry’s comments on the tragic suicide of Navy Admiral Mike Boorda in 1996 (who was being investigated for wearing unearned medals):

"Is it wrong? Yes, it is very wrong. Sufficient to question his leadership position? The answer is yes, which he clearly understood," said Sen. John Kerry, a Navy combat veteran who served in Vietnam.

Then you have this investigation by the Chicago Sun Times:

...the official records on Kerry's Web site only add to the confusion. The DD214 form, an official Defense Department document summarizing Kerry's military career posted on johnkerry.com, includes a "Silver Star with combat V."

But according to a U.S. Navy spokesman, "Kerry's record is incorrect. The Navy has never issued a 'combat V' to anyone for a Silver Star."

Naval regulations do not allow for the use of a "combat V" for the Silver Star, the third-highest decoration the Navy awards. None of the other services has ever granted a Silver Star "combat V," either.

(Hat-tip to Hugh Hewitt)

ANOTHER UPDATE: These are some excellent general summaries on the whole situation. Here and here. Then here and here. Finally here and here.