Kerrey, J. Robert (1943- )
Robert J. Kerrey was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1943. He attended the University of Nebraska and began to pursue a career pharmacy. When Kerrey was drafted in the fall of 1965 and enlisted in Navy officer-training school, and then signed up for underwater demolition. He was selected for the secretive Navy team called SEALS.
Kerrey was sent on many covert operations. One included the mission at Thanh Phong, where, up to this day, controversy dwells. Kerrey was charged for killing nearly 14 civilians at that incident, whether inadvertently or not. He was later given a Bronze Star for his actions at Thanh Phong.
About a month later in another raid, a grenade landed on Kerrey's foot. Although nearly his entire body was wounded, Kerrey continued to command his squad until they reached safety. Subsequently, Kerrey was pulled out of Vietnam and placed in hospital. For his valor, Kerrey was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Even though Kerrey and many others believed that the medal was politically motivated, Kerrey reluctantly accepted the nation's highest military award.
In 1971, Kerrey and his brother-in-law opened a chain of successful restaurants and health clubs in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1982, Kerrey was elected governor of Nebraska but announced that he would not seek a second term in 1986, despite a popularity rating of more than 70 percent.
In 1988, Kerrey returned to politics by being elected to the US senate. He would be reelected in 1994. Kerrey decided not to seek to return to the Senate in 2000.
Kerrey has tried to relinquish the terrible memories that had happened to him in Vietnam and did not wish to talk about them. Since his years at Vietnam, Kerrey has been haunted by the shame, guilt, and remorse from the Thanh Phong incident.
However, recently, a reporter named Gregory Vistica released an investigation report that appeared in New York Times Magazine and a segment of 60 Minutes II. The report was devastating accounts, disclosed by former squad mate Gerhard Klann, revealing that the war crimes that took place at Thanh Phong.
Pressed to give his own version and clear his conscience, Kerrey has finally confessed and publicized his feelings about the tragedy at Thanh Phong. Hoping to heal his wounds from this exposure, Kerrey is incessantly disturbed every night of the terrible actions that he took that night.
Photos Courtesy of Vietnam Photos
