Military Record of Teresa's First Husband Mirrors Bush's
If first lady-wannabe Teresa Heinz Kerry hasn't said much about her current husband's attempts to demean President Bush's National Guard Service, it may be because her first husband, the late Sen. John Heinz, did very much the same thing during the early phase of the Vietnam war.
Turns out, the heir to the Heinz Foods fortune - whose ketchup jackpot transformed Sen. Kerry into the richest man in the Senate - joined the Air Force Reserves in 1963, just as the Vietnam war was heating up.
While in the Reserves, Heinz was based in Texas [just like you know who] - and was briefly activated for four months in 1963. But Teresa's first husband never got any closer to combat than a desk job at San Antonio's Lackland Air Force Base.
According to an online biography complied by the Carnegie Mellon Library, Sen. Heinz had something else in common with the man Sen. Kerry wants to replace.
Turns out, Heinz took time away from the Reserves to work on a political campaign - just like President Bush did when he requested temporary reassignment to an Alabama Guard unit.
The Carnegie Mellon bio reveals: "From March to December 1964, Heinz had his first taste of politics . . . as assistant campaign manager in Senator [Hugh] Scott's successful reelection bid." [Heinz didn't receive his honorable discharge from the Reserves until 1969]
But if Mrs. Heinz Kerry's first husband missed any Reserve drills while dabbling in politics, the Kerry campaign has been mum about it - especially since DNC chief Terry McAuliffe has famously described such career detours as "going AWOL."
"For the remainder of his enlistment, [Heinz] served with the 911th Troop Carrier Group based at the Greater Pittsburgh Airport," Carnegie Mellon says.
None of this is meant to demean Sen. Heinz military record, which is just as honorable as the president's.
But it does raise questions about Sen. Kerry, who, when he insinuates that service in the Guard and Reserves is somehow second class, is taking a potshot at both Bush and his own marital predecessor - the man whose Heinz Foods' fortune bought the Beacon Hill townhouse Kerry recently mortgaged to save his presidential campaign.
If first lady-wannabe Teresa Heinz Kerry hasn't said much about her current husband's attempts to demean President Bush's National Guard Service, it may be because her first husband, the late Sen. John Heinz, did very much the same thing during the early phase of the Vietnam war.
Turns out, the heir to the Heinz Foods fortune - whose ketchup jackpot transformed Sen. Kerry into the richest man in the Senate - joined the Air Force Reserves in 1963, just as the Vietnam war was heating up.
While in the Reserves, Heinz was based in Texas [just like you know who] - and was briefly activated for four months in 1963. But Teresa's first husband never got any closer to combat than a desk job at San Antonio's Lackland Air Force Base.
According to an online biography complied by the Carnegie Mellon Library, Sen. Heinz had something else in common with the man Sen. Kerry wants to replace.
Turns out, Heinz took time away from the Reserves to work on a political campaign - just like President Bush did when he requested temporary reassignment to an Alabama Guard unit.
The Carnegie Mellon bio reveals: "From March to December 1964, Heinz had his first taste of politics . . . as assistant campaign manager in Senator [Hugh] Scott's successful reelection bid." [Heinz didn't receive his honorable discharge from the Reserves until 1969]
But if Mrs. Heinz Kerry's first husband missed any Reserve drills while dabbling in politics, the Kerry campaign has been mum about it - especially since DNC chief Terry McAuliffe has famously described such career detours as "going AWOL."
"For the remainder of his enlistment, [Heinz] served with the 911th Troop Carrier Group based at the Greater Pittsburgh Airport," Carnegie Mellon says.
None of this is meant to demean Sen. Heinz military record, which is just as honorable as the president's.
But it does raise questions about Sen. Kerry, who, when he insinuates that service in the Guard and Reserves is somehow second class, is taking a potshot at both Bush and his own marital predecessor - the man whose Heinz Foods' fortune bought the Beacon Hill townhouse Kerry recently mortgaged to save his presidential campaign.
