A couple of diaries down is a comment thread exploring the GOP line of attack on Kerry's Vietnam experience. That thread has gotten ruined for a couple of reasons.
Although I'm a Dean supporter, it is in the Democrat interest to explore defenses against the inevitable attacks he will receive from the right due to his activities with Vietnam Veterans Against the War. The most difficult issue is going to be that when Kerry threw the medals through the White House fence, they were someone else's medals. The fact is, though, that his own medals were not accessible to him, and he did throw his own service ribbons, but by the time you have gotten that far, you've already been drawn in. Can someone come up with a one line rejoinder?
I think that if you want a fuller picture of Kerry's experience in Vietnam, you might want to read this recent treatment in the Atlantic Monthly of his Vietnam period that includes some of his letters from that time.
I think that the Kerry's Vietnam experience was extremely powerful and formative. Although, as I Dean supporter, I don't want to like him, there is more to Kerry than you think.