If you aren't already aware, John Kerry has a connection with Forbes.

Kerry was born in a Denver military hospital, the son of Richard Kerry, a World War II pilot and diplomat, and Rosemary Forbes Kerry, a member of Boston’s wealthy Forbes family and a descendant of John Winthrop, first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. John Kerry, educated in New England and Switzerland, was a successful student and athlete who nurtured a longtime interest in politics. After graduating from Yale University in 1966, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the Vietnam War as an officer of a gunboat in the Mekong delta. By the time he returned from Vietnam in 1969, he had achieved the rank of lieutenant and had been honoured with a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts.

How exactly did he, "achieve" Lt. before returning from Vietnam? Did he start as a private? I doubt it. If he had gotten a battlefield commission, he would be bragging about it, not silent about it. He either was a Lt. when he started, or got a battlefield commission, which was it? Or did he just go from second Lt. to first Lt.?

This guy was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. It would be interesting to hear from any of his riverine "shipmates," as to how much fighting he actually did.