  This past week, a group of anti-Kerry Vietnam veterans aired a scathing commercial claiming that John Kerry did not deserve the medals he won for his service in Vietnam. A link to the site and the ad is below: urlLink Human Events Exclusive: Vietnam Vets Blast Kerry in New TV Ad This commercial is very disturbing. On one hand, some of these vets make claims that Kerry lied about his war service. On the other hand, none of these vets actually served under his command on the swift boat. While the vets who made this ad may be quite sincere, it is clear that other sincere veterans were willing to stand on the stage with Sen. Kerry at the Democratic National Convention. One of those vets personally claims that Kerry saved his life. Here is my concern: Whether the charges that the vets in the ad made are true or not, there is something deeper at work that undermines every soldier who has won medals for valor in defending our freedom.
John Kerry was awarded three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star for his service. The United States Navy saw it fit to award Sen. Kerry these medals decades ago. By questioning the validity of Kerry's awards, this vet group is opening the door to question any veteran's medals. Do we really want to go down that road? Do we really want to demean the meaning of the awards our military has given to brave men and women over the years by accusing the military of awarding medals to people who did not deserve them? Doesn't that put any medal winner in question if we then have doubts as to the military's methods of awarding decorations? As you can see, that is not a good thing. In my opinion, if the military awards a medal of valor to a soldier, sailor or airman, then we should assume that the recipient was worthy. Quite frankly, anyone who is willing to put himself or herself in harms way for our freedom deserves a big medal as far as I'm concerned. Did John Kerry earn his medals in Vietnam? The military says yes, and that's good enough for me.
If the veterans in the ad believe otherwise, they are entitled to their opinions, but questioning a decorated officer's service has no place in American politics or anywhere else for that matter. I am glad that the Bush Administration has distanced itself from this ad. Yes, the folks who financed the commercial are obviously Bush supporters, and there also have been Democratic soft money groups that have put up ads that blamed Bush for a racial lynching too, which was highly inappropriate.
These types of ads do nothing to further our great democracy. Both Bush and Kerry served our country in the military, and we should be grateful to both of them. Now let's get on with the important issues like our national security, our economy and our future. 
