PRINCIPLE IS ONE THING, BUT $300.00 IS $300.00

Kerry at center of '72 Vietnam debate in city (Jason Lefferts, Lowell Sun, 9/5/04)

On April 18, 1972, John Kerry, a war hero turned anti-war activist and a declared congressional candidate, wanted city councilors to approve a resolution condemning the war. Kerry had said many times in the preceding months since his return from Vietnam that the war was wrong.

At a 1971 anti-war protest in the nation's capital, Kerry said he tossed away his combat medals to protest the government's military action. . . .

[Councilor Phil] also confronted Kerry on a little-publicized fact: Kerry had filed for and taken a Vietnam bonus of $300 from the state of Massachusetts. All returning Vietnam veterans were eligible to receive the money. The Sun, through a Freedom of Information Act request, has received a copy of Kerry's bonus check. It was issued on Dec. 17, 1969, and authorized by then-state Treasurer Robert Q. Crane.

As Kerry was running for Congress, Shea tried to show the inconsistency in Kerry's stance against the war. If you returned your medals in protest, Shea asked Kerry, why didn't you return your bonus money?

Kerry told Shea and the seven other councilors present that he returned his medals to make a point and would do the same with the money. The Massachusetts Treasurer's Office, which issues the bonus checks, has no record today that Kerry followed through on his promise. . . .

John Kerry, a war hero turned anti-war activist, kept his Vietnam combat medals and his Massachusetts bonus money.

The most astonishing thing about this article is that Massachusetts gives a bonus to combat veterans.

Posted by David Cohen at September 6, 2004 8:57 PM