The New Book of Martyrs Book

As this book is a campaign biography, written about John Kerry when he was running for President (he is currently America's Secretary of State), he is shown to be a Perfect Gentleman. I don't believe he is Perfect, but he definitely is a very interesting and exceptional person. There is a huge section in back of the book of Notes and a Selected Bibliography, along with an extensive Index, so if one is interested, fact-checking is easy, if not quick to do.

Kerry seems very energetic, intelligent, hard-working, and he is fortunate to be a man of depth, quick wit and in being born with the upper-class credentials (for which his parents worked hard and sacrificed) which gave him access to colleges and organizations that helped him realize his ambition to be a politician. Yes, I know, in many quarters around the world, being a politician is somewhat nasty, but since it is a career which definitely has a way of giving a nonentity a leg up into situations of influence, I'm not one who automatically mocks the job. Most of the time.

Kerry is a liberal who votes as a Democrat. Since I am too, I did not find much here about his ideas with which I disagreed. I was impressed by how hard he has worked to develop himself and the skills he needs to do the various jobs in public service he has been fortunate to attain as a politician. There have been plenty of news stories distorting his actions in creating the public servant John Kerry, Politician, which to my mind, were necessary actions if he were to actually do the important work of governance which is done out of the public eye. I'm positive the versions of his activities here are sweetened ones, but nonetheless, I like the man.

The book is about John Kerry's early years. It quickly presents his childhood and education, outlining the achievements which led him to feel public service would be his career choice. John Kennedy, the President of the United States until he was assassinated in office, had a strong influence on his imagination, as he did on many of us young baby boomers. When the Vietnam War became the topic of dinner conversation, television and college dorms everywhere in America, Kerry felt he had to enlist. After a great deal of Navy transferring and training, he became a junior officer and eventually commanded a Swift boat, assigned to monitor the coastal waters of Vietnam to prevent the Viet Cong from bringing in weapons to fight American soldiers.

While I was curious about Kerry, the primary reason I picked up this book to read was my stronger curiosity about his experiences in Vietnam. Of course, this is clearly an expurgated version, but I feel it still gave an excellent overview of what was occurring in the Navy's small-boat campaign. I had heard, and watched, and read, in the news at the time, the stories from the infantry soldiers and their embedded reporters. I had never heard about these lightly armed boats which were sent up the rivers and canals of Vietnam jungles. Those of us who have seen the movie 'Apocalypse Now' may recall how the assassin character was delivered on his mission in a similar boat. (This is a link to information about Kerry's boat: ). It turns out such an assignment delivering CIA operatives or other black ops troops upriver was more true than not, at least late in the war.

I know war is always terrible, but this war was without a specific to Vietnam game plan, and worse, without any Vietnamese allies, which amplified the agonies. Fighting Communism was a bit too general of a goal, as it turned out. The North Vietnamese wanted foreigners out of Vietnam. It was clear to American soldiers who fought there that that is also what most of our so-called South Vietnamese allies wanted as well. The South Vietnamese were not stepping up much when called upon for assistance or backup. Some people called it cowardice or lack of moral character. However, I think it was the same thing which haunted the Republican Party's concurrent war of invading Iraq, while at the same time routing out the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The people of Iraq may have hated Saddam Hussein, but they hate invaders, especially Western crusading Christian invaders, even more.

American soldiers often lost their lives when the South Vietnamese soldiers somehow did not 'have their back' when the shooting started. But it isn't as if American soldiers had been given orders or training which would have assured the South Vietnamese we were really on their side and fighting for their freedom to choose democracy, not with 'free fire zones', where our soldiers had permission to kill every living thing in range, including children, set on fire homes, businesses, fishing boats, and wipe out fields of grain and vegetables, whether manned by North or South Vietnamese citizens. A northern farmer looked like a southern farmer in Vietnam, so foreign soldiers often killed everyone to be safe.

Not too surprising, but many American soldiers were devastated by their war memories when they returned to civilian life. Kerry was not involved in very many atrocities, which were not considered atrocities by the US Government, since he was on a boat for most of his tour, but on his return he became involved in the anti-war movement. He was a strong speaker of truth, and he testified before Congress. Although detractors have sneered at his mainstream choice of dealing through the system, I think organizations need many types of people to walk-the-walk and talk-the-talk if they want to reach all of the classes of people in this country. Kerry spoke the language of the educated upper-classes of politicians.

I am aware of the controversies which burst from haters and those who supported having the Vietnam War when this book was published. In reading it finally, and in having googled other sources of information, plus the fact I was a young American woman during the Vietnam War living on the west coast, and I had friends (those who came back) who had gone to Vietnam, I trust in the accuracy of the narrative, even though I know the book is a glamour biography for Kerry.