You can make a good case that Kerry did his duty in Vietnam, although there are arguments on both sides, but can we drop the lame fantasy that Kerry boldly leaped into the most dangerous situation he could find?

Kerry tried for a 1-year educational deferment, and when he was turned down, joined the ROTC, and enlisted in the Navy.

Ya hear that? John "Blood and Guts" Kerry tried for a deferment.

Was there anything really wrong with that? Hell, no. Given involuntary conscription, a lot of good people would have done exactly the same thing. But they aren't crapping all over Cheney for his deferment, are they?

Does anyone have a source that indicates that, although Kerry certainly voluntarily enlisted in the Navy (and deserves credit for that), that he volunteered specifically for Vietnam? As opposed to being sent there? I honestly haven't found something like that, and would appreciate further information.

His first tour was on a ship at sea, far from combat. Not cowardice--that's just where he was put as far as I know. When he returned for a second tour--I still haven't found out whether he had a choice in this--he tried to get onto Swift Boat duty because he thought it would not be hazardous.

Kerry initially hoped to continue his service at a relatively safe distance from most fighting, securing an assignment as "swift boat" skipper. While the 50-foot swift boats cruised the Vietnamese coast a little closer to the action than the Gridley had come, they were still considered relatively safe.

"I didn't really want to get involved in the war," Kerry said in a little-noticed contribution to a book of Vietnam reminiscences published in 1986. "When I signed up for the swift boats, they had very little to do with the war. They were engaged in coastal patrolling and that's what I thought I was going to be doing."

But two weeks after he arrived in Vietnam, the swift boat mission changed -- and Kerry went from having one of the safest assignments in the escalating conflict to one of the most dangerous. Under the newly launched Operation SEALORD, swift boats were charged with patrolling the narrow waterways of the Mekong Delta to draw fire and smoke out the enemy. Cruising inlets and coves and canals, swift boats were especially vulnerable targets.

Again, none of this makes Kerry a coward. Many good people would have done the same thing.

But are they bragging about their glorious war record? And declaring that they went right for the danger when they went into military service?