lexi

=John Kerry by Lexie=

Born December 11th, 1943, John Kerry grew up in the small town of Newton, Massachusetts. At age 14, Kerry attended Fessenden Boarding School in West Newton in 1957. There, he met and befriended the grandson of the WWI’s General Officer, Richard Perishing. After a year of studies, Kerry enrolled in St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. A graduate of 1962, Kerry was accepted into the prestigious Yale University. Not only did he master political science, but Kerry was also involved in the soccer, hockey, lacrosse, and fencing teams in addition to flying lessons. He graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts degree; little did he know he would spend the next 4 years in combat overseas in Vietnam. John served in the Vietnam war for 4 years, 1966-1970. He began his active duty on August 19, 1966 and trained at the US Naval Training Center in Newport, Rhode Island. During his service, Kerry was deployed at a rescue station in the Golf of Tonkin. He was in charge of a small boat operating near a peninsula north of Cam Ranh Bay. Throughout his time in Vietnam, he received one silver star, one bronze star, and three purple hearts.
 * Kerry Who?**
 * War Bound Kerry**



After returning from Vietnam, Kerry strongly opposed war due to the horrendous actions the soldiers encountered. “They told stories that at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Ghengis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country” (John Kerry). Kerry believed no man should suffer such a vile experience and therefore would oppose going to war in his future presidential election of 2004.
 * First For, Now Against**

__Citations:__ "Vietnam Veterans Against the War Statement by John Kerry to the Senate Committee of Foreign Relations." __The Sixties Project__. 10 Dec. 2007 http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Primary/Manifestos/VVAW_Kerry_Senate.html

1970. 10 Dec. 2007 http://www.thewe.cc/thewei/_/images10/vietnam/kerry_medal.jpe.

"Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW)." 10 Dec. 2007 http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Primary/Winter_Soldier/VVAW_entry.html.