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==Early Life and Education==
Kerry was born atin the west wing of the [[Fitzsimons Army Medical Center|Fitzsimons Army Hospital]] in [[Aurora, Colorado|Aurora]], [[Colorado]] outside [[Denver, Colorado|Denver]]. His father, [[Richard Kerry]], a former [[Army Air Corps]] [[test pilot]], who had served stateside in [[Alabama]] during [[World War II]], had been undergoing treatment there for [[tuberculosis]].
Kerry's family returned to their home state of [[Massachusetts]] shortly after his birth. His family was [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]], and as a child John served as an [[altar boy]].
Kerry and Medeiros searched the soldier's corpse and took the rocket launcher, returning to the boat. Kerry's commanding officer, [[Captain|Capt.]] George Elliott, joked that he didn't know whether to court-martial him for beaching the boat without orders or give him a medal for saving the crew. Admiral Zumwalt flew into An Thoi to personally award the medal to Kerry. The Navy's account of Kerry's actions is presented in [[Wikisource:Silver Star Citation - John Kerry|his medal citation]].
TheThis detailsincident surroundinghas Kerry'sbecome [[Silvercontroversial Starin Medal|Silverthe Star]]past awardtwo have recently become somewhat controversialyears. In [[June 2003]], Elliott was quoted as saying the award was "well deserved" and that he had "no regrets or second thoughts at all about that." [http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/kerry/061603.shtml] More recentlyHowever, Elliott apparently changed his story in [[August 2004]], Elliott signed an affidavit statingthat stated "Had I known the facts, I would not have recommended Kerry for the Silver Star for simply pursuing and dispatching a single wounded, fleeing Viet Cong" [http://humaneventsonline.com.edgesuite.net/unfit_aff.html]. This— Augusta affidavitstatement wasmade releaseddespite inthe supportfact ofthat histhe Julykilling 2004was affidavitfor whichthe statedrescue inof partthe "Whenboat Kerry came back toand the Unitedkilling States,is henot liedeven aboutmentioned whatin occuredthe inofficial Vietnam..."citation. After Itthis affidavit was after the release of this 1st affidavitreleased, that Michael Kranish, of the ''Boston Globe'' quoted Elliott as having saidretracted his prior statement, saying "It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one in trouble here ... I knew it was wrong ..In a hurry I signed it and faxed it back. That was a mistake." [http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/06/veteran_retracts_criticism_of_kerry/]. It was the release of these two affidavits and Elliott's contention that the Globe reporter substantially misquoted him which resulted in controversy. While there has been contention from some Kerry supporters that Elliott's story has changed as the 2004 presidential race has evolved, for the most part, neither the Kerry nor Bush camps have commented about Elliott's statements or the press reports about them.
[http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/06/veteran_retracts_criticism_of_kerry/]. Elliott contends that the reporter substantially misquoted him.
In one of his very few public comments about histhe Silver Starincident, Kerry said, "It is a matter of record, what I did in Vietnam. And over the months that I was in combat, yes, we know that we were responsible for the loss of enemy lives. But that's war."
Sources close to Kerry say the incident had a profound effect on him: "It's the reason he gets so angry when his patriotism is challenged. It was a traumatic experience that's still with him, and he went through it for his country." It affects the way Kerry lives his life every day, the source said, since "he knows he very well would not be alive today had he not taken the life of another man [he] never ever met." [http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Nightline/Politics/kerry_medal_040624-1.html]
On [[March 13]], Kerry's boat hit a mine while cruising the Bay Hap River. Army Lt. [[James Rassmann]], a [[Green Berets|Green Beret]] who was sitting on the deck of the pilothouse eating a chocolate chip cookie, was knocked overboard as Kerry's arm was hit. Just afterwards, the boat came under attack from sniper fire on both sides of the bank.
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