Seven letters - Citizen -- a word Dr. King loved because invested in it were our rights and responsibilities -- a calling to be involved. I will never forget - in particular - what Martin Luther King spoke of when he confessed to being what he called a "maladjusted" citizen.

He said that he simply could not adjust to a world sharply divided between the hardworking many and the privileged few. He could not accept an America where discrimination and bigotry still held citizens down. He had not been able to get comfortable with a society that had become complacent in the face of human hardship and suffering.

Perhaps the most unique item I have noted in the sites discussing the note taking done by Mr. Kerry during his tour in Vietnam was the time available to him to focus and document his actions.
Okay, Okay, never been shot at, but served over 21 years in the Army. The closest I ever got to combat were a couple of rotations at the National Training Center in California. During one of the rotations, I was a Tank Company Cdr. I had the brilliant idea to catalog my thought processes and actions. A good idea as this was in the same time frame that two books, The Defense of Hill 781 and Team Yankee had made their authors a ton of money (who says I can't think big!) In fact, I recommended my XO and PLs keep their thoughts and actions in a log as well. Unfortunately, I quickly found, there was way to much to do just keeping people organized, fed and fueled to have any time left for record keeping. How on earth any commander would be able to spend time documenting his actions during a real shooting war is beyond me.

Regards,
Mike

I hope y'all will pardon me though if I wonder whether this definition of "in" might explain Kerry's claim to have been "in" Cambodia. (Especially since there's no way I'm the first to snark on it...)

Usually, ships assigned to provide direct support were considered to be "in theater", while those assigned to provide indirect support were not. Again, someone with access to the proper documentation should be able to resolve this rather quickly. The fact that Kerry himself doesn't claim the credit may simply be ignorance, although his detailed knowledge of every other minor aspect of wartime service would make one skeptical of that.

Additionally, there was the Vietnam War Zone, which went quite a ways out to sea. Navy personnel on carriers and other ships were considered deployed to Vietnam, though they obviously were not on "the ground." Accordingly, their reenlistment bonuses were tax free. Most ships on 6-month deployments to the Western Pacific (WestPac)tried to get routed through the area so they could take advantage of the tax break (I have heard similar stories of other Services' personnel in Okinawa, Japan, and Korea making similar short visits to Vietnam).

Irony isn't dead; it's just sleeping.

1. Like adaplant, I take a bit of exception to the "in Vietnam" nitpick, too. Most Navy folks aren't going to actually set foot on the ground since they serve on ships in the oceans and seas. That doesn't mean they aren't fully engaged in the combat. For instance, my father flew over Vietnam on countless bombing runs while he was over there - doesn't that count as being "in Vietnam"?

2. I noticed "maladjusted" and I have to wonder why no one has called him on what he meant by that. Clearly it's a slap at MLK, unless Kerry thought he was saying something else. Although what I can't imagine.

I have no hope whatever of changing THEIR minds. For a mind to be changed the first thing that's needful is that it must actually FUNCTION.

It's as I said a few days ago: Kerry's rabidly leftist base disagreed with his even being in the service in the first place, so any question about his service there will only make him more, not less, popular... Any lie he tells in that regard will be viewed by such people as a badge of honor among them. His base isn't moving even should be suddenly be revealed as an axe murderer.

Bottom line...What motivates Kerry's base isn't getting Kerry elected, nearly as much as it is a hatred for George W. Bush and getting him unelected. As such, I expect the net effect to Kerry's base however this falls out will be zero.

Odd part is, even the Democrats in reality are not all thta Jonesed about Kerry, apparently seeing Kerry's only advantage being he's not Bush.

Recent events, however I thinik are starting to show to them it isn't enough to elect the man.

Time will tell.

maladjusted: poorly adjusted to demands and stresses of daily living; "a maladjusted child" emotionally unstable and having difficulty coping with personal relationships

Is it a misquote? Not based on the linked website it isn't.

The mind reels what would possess him to say it. And I wonder what the reaction was.

And they say Bush can't speak and chew gum at the same time. - Feh

I'll have to tell my brother's widow her husband's death on a navy boat off the coast wasn't in connection to his service in Vietnam as she proudly relates to her grandkids.

Nit meet pick.