Reply #7: Let me see what I have [View All]

[TayTay]

1981, Boston Globe Pre-race hype:

But most candidates simply came to see and be seen - even the reluctant candidates. John F. Kerry, the former Middlesex County assistant district attorney, would like to run for attorney general, but will not run against Bellotti. So he is running for lieutenant governor. "What can I do?" he shrugged.

As he said that, a woman from the North Shore rushed to greet him and promised to help him regardless of the office he sought. Kerry reached for a paper and pencil. "I never let a name go by," he explained with a smile.

And this early, early, early story, pre-race 9/20/81

CAMPAIGN '82 KERRY'LL CALL IN THE IOUS
BOSTON GLOBE, FIRST, Sec. FOCUS 09-20-1981
By David Farrell

John Forbes Kerry, the much decorated Vietnam War veteran who became one of the outspoken foes of the Southeast Asian conflict has decided to run for lieutenant governor next year.

The recent decision of Middlesex County Dist. Atty. John J. Droney to retire after more than two decades of distinguished service as county prosecutor, had prompted some of Kerry's supporters to urge him to enter that race in 1982. But Kerry, who served as first assistant district attorney of Middlesex under Droney, will enter the growing field of Democrats seeking the party's lieutenant governor nomination. Those hoping to succeed Lt. Gov. Thomas P. O'Neill 3d include Evelyn Murphy, former secretary of environmental affairs; former state rep Lois Pines of Newton; and William Geary, former top aide to ex-Gov. Michael S. Dukakis. Several other politicians, including Rep. Louis Nickinello of Natick and Chelsea Mayor Joel Pressman, are considering entering the contest.

Although he has already received commitments from many leading Democrats across the state, Kerry's candidacy is not without problems. Ever since he ran and lost a close contest for Congress in 1972, the Yale graduate often has been unfairly viewed as a perennial candidate for office.

For a few days in 1980, he considered running for former Rep. Robert Drinan's seat in Congress, but he stepped aside to support Drinan's successor, Barney Frank. The latter is expected to reciprocate in the upcoming lieutenant governor battle.Stepped aside for Droney in '78

In 1978, Kerry, though he would have liked to have run himself, stood by his boss Droney in that tough Middlesex DA fight against Scott Harshbarger. During his stewardship as Droney's top assistant, Kerry created a white-collar crime unit to combat political corruption and a priority prosecution unit for quick action against violent crimes. He personally supervised the grand jury investigation of the Somerville pinball machine case which resulted in the conviction and incarceration of organized crime figure Howie Winter.

Kerry's rape counseling division and several other programs he launched to combat and deal with child abuse have served as prototypes for similar bureaus in other counties.

But his heroics as a young naval officer during the Vietnam War earned him the national respect still accorded him. The same moral and physical courage which won him the Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts during action in the Mekong Delta, also influenced him to go before Congress in 1971 and lead the mounting charge against our continued involvement in the war.

Kerry's Silver Star citation, from the President via former Chief of Naval Operations Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., tells it all:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepedity in action while serving as an officer in charge of U.S.N. Patrol Craft Fast 94," the citation reads, "while transiting the Bay Hap River along the Dong Cung River on Feb. 28, 1969, P.C. Fast 23, 43 and 94 came under heavy enemy small arms fire from the river banks. Lt. Kerry directed his units to turn to the beach and charge the Viet Cong positions . . . later upstream, Kerry's craft received a B-40 rocket close aboard. Once again Kerry ordered his units to charge the enemy positions . . . then he beached in the center of the enemy positions. Lt. Kerry led an assault party and conducted a sweep of the area. After the enemy was completely routed, Kerry's units again came under a hail of fire, this time from the opposite bank. Lt. Kerry suppressed the enemy fire. Later, after disembarking personnel while exiting the Bay Hap River, P.C. Fast again came under fire and Lt. Kerry maneuvered his craft through several strafing runs which completely silenced the enemy . . . Kerry's devotion to duty, courage under fire, outstanding leadership and exemplary professionalism directly contributed to the success of this operation and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the US Naval Service."Won gains for Vietnam veterans

Kerry was awarded the Bronze Star for "his great personal courage under fire" rescuing a comrade while he himself was wounded and under fire from the Viet Cong on March 13, 1969.

After he was discharged from the Navy, his antiwar crusade, combined with his efforts on behalf of Vietnam veterans, helped produce many of the major gains won by the veterans of the unpopular conflict. These include the extension of the GI Bill, the recognition of the post-Vietnam syndrome as a VA-treatable disorder, and the outreach and psychological rehabilitation programs which became crusades of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

His work for the Democratic Party over the years has earned him the right to call in his many political IOUs for his lieutenant governor campaign. His party endeavors include extensive campaigning in several congressional and two national presidential campaigns.

Kerry feels that his background as a prosecutor and his experience in national and state affairs during the past decade make him the best qualified candidate now seeking the lieutenant governorship. He concedes that the position of lieutenant governor does not have a great deal of the muscle so necssary for keeping Massachusetts economically competitive with other high technology and industrial states.

But there are some tools in the office which, he says, can be utilized to those ends. He also feels that the commonwealth is not doing enough to deal with the sharp increase in crime reported here and around the nation and says he will have some specific proposals to deal with that problem when he formally announces his candidacy.

As an undergraduate at Yale in the mid-'60s, Kerry was president of the Yale Political Union and treasurer of the Young Democrats. He won prizes for oratory and debating as well as several varsity letters. He delivered his class commencement address at graduation in 1966. He then entered the Navy and served as an officer on a guided missle frigate in the Gulf of Tonkin prior to his assignment to a command post over patrol boats in the Mekong Delta.

He thinks his greatest achievement as first assistant district attorney of Middlesex was reducing the backlog of pending cases from 12,000 in 1977 to 228 by the summer of 1979. In a 12-month period, he also secured more than $4 million in federal grants for the DA's office, more than any other prosecutorial office ever received in such a short span.