Vietnam war shaped Kerry's outlook

Vietnam war shaped Kerry's outlook

(EXCERPT) John Kerry's combat experience put him on a course of
activism and led to his work with Sen. John McCain in connection with
POWs and Vietnam., By JAMES KUHNHENN jkuhnhenn@krwashington.com

WASHINGTON - The path to John Kerry's most prized political
achievement began in an awkward silence aboard a C-135 military
transport plane bound for Kuwait nearly 13 years ago.

There, Sens. Kerry, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz. -- men with
distinguished Vietnam War records but whose views of Vietnam were as
distinct as night and day -- sat opposite each other and broke through
an anger that had consumed a generation.

The work that grew out of their conversation helped to move America
beyond the ordeal of Vietnam; without it, neither man might have
sought the presidency of the United States. McCain went first four
years ago. Now it's Kerry's turn.

Over the course of that flight they opened up. First they discussed
their shared experiences as Navy veterans. Then Kerry talked of his
high-profile opposition to the war in the 1970s, McCain about his six
years as a prisoner of war. Slowly they bonded.

In time the Vietnam protester and the POW worked together to end
lingering suspicions that POWs and MIAs remained alive in Vietnam and
ultimately to normalize relations with their former enemy.

''There were different wars going on, in a way,'' Kerry said in a
recent interview. ``The incompleteness of Vietnam, the way it ended,
the residu...

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---------------------------
Otis Willie
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com