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John Kerry military service controversy

During John Kerry's candidacy in the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign, a political issue that gained widespread public attention was Kerry's Vietnam War record. In television advertisements and a book called Unfit for Command, co-authored by John O'Neill and Jerome Corsi, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT), a 527 group later known as the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, questioned details of his military service record and circumstances relating to the awarding of his combat medals. Their campaign against Kerry's presidential bid received widespread publicity, but was later discredited and gave rise to the neologism "swiftboating", to describe an unfair or untrue political attack. Defenders of Kerry's service record, including former crewmates, stated that allegations made by SBVT were false.

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
Of the approximately 3,600 Swift boat sailors who served in Vietnam, the names of some 200 appeared on the group's statement against Kerry; most did not serve at the same time or in the same place as Kerry. Of those who served in Kerry's boat crew, only Stephen Gardner joined SBVT. He was not present on any of the occasions when Kerry earned his medals, including his Purple Hearts. Gardner appeared in two of the group's television advertisements. All other living members of Kerry's crew supported his presidential bid, and some frequently campaigned with him as his self-described "band of brothers". Kerry crew members have disputed some of SBVT's various allegations, calling them "totally false" (Drew Whitlow), "garbage" (Gene Thorson), and "a pack of lies" (Del Sandusky). Several members of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT) served in the same unit as Kerry, although Gardner was the only one to serve on Kerry's boat. A number of Kerry's SBVT critics were present on accompanying Swift Boats at one of the combat events for which Kerry was decorated with the Bronze Star Medal and a third Purple Heart. Another SBVT member, Dr. Louis Letson, was the physician who claims to have treated Kerry for his first Purple Heart wound. Larry Clayton Lee was the sole SBVT member to participate in the event for which Kerry was awarded the Silver Star. No SBVT member participated in events related to the award of Kerry's second Purple Heart.

In addition to questioning the merit of many of Kerry's service awards, SBVT decried his post-Vietnam anti-war activity and disputed the truthfulness of his subsequent testimony about the conduct of the American military as demonstrated in that war. Many political observers saw this as reflecting the "true reason behind the Swift Boat campaign." All of the allegations referencing Kerry's Vietnam service and awards were made during Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign while Kerry's post-Vietnam anti-war activity had long been a subject of controversy.

Defenders of John Kerry's service record, including nearly all of his former crewmates, have stated that SBVT's allegations are false.

Purple Heart – general criteria
The criteria for the Purple Heart call for its award for any injury received during combat requiring treatment by a medical officer; the military makes no distinction regarding the severity of the injury. Under military regulations, the Purple Heart can also be awarded for "friendly fire" wounds in the "heat of battle," so long as the fire is targeted "under full intent of inflicting damage or destroying enemy troops or equipment."

An article in The Boston Globe described the circumstances in which Purple Hearts were given to wounded Swift Boat personnel in Vietnam:

"'There were an awful lot of Purple Hearts—from shrapnel; some of those might have been M-40 grenades,' said George Elliott, Kerry's commanding officer. 'The Purple Hearts were coming down in boxes. Kerry, he had three Purple Hearts. None of them took him off duty. Not to belittle it, that was more the rule than the exception.'"

In Douglas Brinkley's book Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War, Brinkley notes that Purple Hearts were given out frequently:

"As generally understood, the Purple Heart is given to any U.S. citizen wounded in wartime service to the nation. Giving out Purple Hearts increased as the United States started sending Swifts up rivers. Sailors—no longer safe on aircraft carriers or battleships in the Gulf of Tonkin—were starting to bleed, a lot."

According to the Los Angeles Times:

"Navy rules during the Vietnam War governing Purple Hearts did not take into account a wound's severity—and specified only that injuries had to be suffered 'in action against an enemy'." "A Times review of Navy injury reports and awards from that period in Kerry's Swift boat unit shows that many other Swift boat personnel received Purple Hearts for slight wounds of uncertain origin."

First Purple Heart
Some SBVT members have questioned the propriety of Kerry's first Purple Heart, received for a wound sustained on December 2, 1968. Kerry remained on duty after being wounded, and sought treatment at the following day's sick call. They assert that the injury was too minor to merit a citation because the only treatment Kerry received, after the removal of a piece of shrapnel from his arm, was bacitracin (an antibiotic) and a bandage, and he returned to service immediately. Other division members, including at least one SBVT member, received Purple Hearts under similar circumstances. SBVT also claims that the wound was not from enemy fire but was from shrapnel of a grenade he threw himself, "Self-inflicted wounds were awarded if incurred 'in the heat of battle, and not involving gross negligence.' Kerry's critics insist his wound would not have qualified, but former Navy officials who worked in the service's awards branch at the time said such awards were routine."

On the night in question, Kerry was not on a Swift Boat, but on a 15-foot skimmer. Kerry opened fire on suspected guerrillas on the shore. During this encounter, Kerry suffered a shrapnel wound in the left arm above the elbow. Accounts differ over the crew aboard the skimmer, the source of Kerry's injury—Kerry has stated that he does not know where the shrapnel came from —and several other major details.

James Wasser, who later became Kerry's radarman on PCF 44, was serving as an interpreter on board-and-search missions at the time; on the night of December 2 he was on the Swift boat accompanying the skimmer, interrogating fishermen picked up by the skimmer.

SBVT's claims about the incident are primarily based on an account by retired Rear Admiral William Schachte, then a lieutenant. Schachte has stated that he regularly led training missions for recently arrived officers such as Kerry. One tactic described by Schachte was for a Swift Boat to tow the skimmer to the target area and wait nearby. The skimmer, manned by three people, "would go in, draw fire and get out immediately." The waiting Swift Boats or air support would attack the enemies thus detected. Schachte stated that he had participated in all previous skimmer missions up to and including the night Kerry was injured, although the latter claim could not be substantiated.

In an interview in 2003, Schachte made no mention of being on the skimmer with Kerry that night; in addition, he described the action as a "firefight" and said of Kerry, "He got hit." In August 2004, however, Schachte stated that he was the senior officer on Kerry's skimmer that night, with one enlisted man also on board, that he popped a flare after detecting movement, and opened fire. He stated that there was no return fire, and that Kerry was "nicked" by a fragment from an M-79 grenade launcher he fired himself. Moreover, while Schachte has described Kerry as, at the time, a "rookie [who] would never be put in command" of a skimmer mission, Kerry was actually given command of a Swift Boat and crew just three days after the skimmer mission and sent into a combat area.

Kerry crewmates Bill Zaladonis and Patrick Runyon dispute Schachte's 2004 account. Zaladonis stated that "Myself, Pat Runyon, and John Kerry, we were the only ones in the skimmer." Runyon added, "Me and Bill (sic) aren't the smartest, but we can count to three." They recounted that the skimmer opened fire on suspected guerrillas attempting to evade the patrol, as they ran from sampan boats onto the shore. Both Runyon and Zaladonis believe, but are not completely certain, that the skimmer received return hostile fire; Runyon commented, "It was the scariest night of my life." Runyon also stated that he is "100 percent certain" that no one on the boat fired a grenade launcher. Zaladonis has noted that Schachte went on "a bunch of" other skimmer missions and speculated that Schachte might have inadvertently mixed up his dates.

In an SBVT television ad, Dr. Lewis Letson asserted, "I know John Kerry is lying about his first Purple Heart because I treated him for that injury," but did not specify the alleged lie; he subsequently gave varied accounts of his purported interaction with Kerry. Kerry's medical records list a medic, J. C. Carreon, as the "person administering treatment" for this wound. Dr. Letson's name does not appear on the record, but Letson claimed it was common for medics to sign the paperwork even though Letson would treat the patient. That claim cannot be verified as Carreon died in 1992. In addition, Letson claimed he was given information by way of Kerry's crewmen who accompanied him to the clinic, but neither Zaladonis nor Runyon accompanied Kerry, nor has any crewman who was on the nearby Swift Boat supported this claim.

SBVT member Grant Hibbard, who was Kerry's commander at the time, has claimed that Kerry came to him the morning after the incident, after he had been to sick bay, stating that he was eligible for a Purple Heart. Hibbard has also claimed that he denied Kerry's request and does not know how the award eventually came to be granted, although he had initially stated that he acquiesced on the matter of the award. The presentation letter for the award was dated February 28, 1969.

In addition, Hibbard stated in Unfit for Command (Chapter 3) that he had been told that "our units had fired on some VC units running on the beach," which if true would meet the criteria for the Purple Heart.

SBVT also points to the narration of a subsequent event in Tour of Duty (pp. 188–189). Brinkley opens the account of a four-day cruise by stating that "Kerry—who had just turned 25 on December 11, 1968—was a fine leader of his men". He goes on to quote Kerry's reflections in his notebook: "A cocky feeling of invincibility accompanied us up the Long Tau shipping channel because we hadn't been shot at yet, and Americans at war who haven't been shot at are allowed to be cocky." SBVT argues that this journal entry shows that the December 2 incident could not have involved enemy fire. Others argue that Kerry was referring to ambushes, a common misfortune for Swift Boats which Kerry had not yet suffered, or to the crew collectively, as he used the term "we" instead of "I", and most of his crewmembers clearly had been "shot at" before.

Bronze Star
Kerry's Bronze Star has been criticized by former Swift Boat commander Larry Thurlow. During the incident leading to the medal, Thurlow was in overall tactical command of five boats, including Kerry's. The incident began when one of the boats struck a mine. In 2004 Thurlow, along with two other SBVT members, alleged that Kerry's citation for bravery under fire is false because neither Kerry's boat nor any of the others was under hostile fire. In an affidavit about the incident, Thurlow testified, "I never heard a shot." Of the three boat commanders present besides Kerry and Thurlow, two are SBVT members who now claim that there was no hostile fire during the incident. But one of them was seriously wounded with a concussion and the other left the scene early on to accompany the wounded to safety. Only Kerry and Thurlow remained behind to work on damage control. The other boat commander present, Don Droz, was later killed in action; however, his widow recalls Droz's account as being consistent with Kerry's.

Several other witnesses insist that there was hostile fire during the incident. Jim Rassmann, the Special Forces captain Kerry rescued, wrote, "Machine-gun fire erupted from both banks of the river. … When I surfaced, all the Swift boats had left, and I was alone taking fire from both banks. To avoid the incoming fire, I repeatedly swam under water." Del Sandusky, the helmsman on Kerry's boat, PCF-94, stated, "I saw the gun flashes in the jungle, and I saw the bullets skipping across the water." Wayne Langhofer, who manned the machine gun on Don Droz's PCF-43, stated, "There was a lot of firing going on, and it came from both sides of the river." Michael Medeiros, aboard PCF-94, recalled "a massive ambush. There were rockets and light machine gun fire plus small arms." Jim Russell, the Psychological Operations Officer of the unit, who was on PCF-43, wrote "All the time we were taking small arms fire from the beach… Anyone who doesn't think that we were being fired upon must have been on a different river."

Although it is not mentioned in Unfit for Command, Thurlow himself was awarded a Bronze Star for his actions during the same incident. Thurlow's citation includes several phrases indicating hostile fire such as "despite enemy bullets flying about him" and "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire", and speaks of fire directed at "all units" of the five-boat fleet. Thurlow's medal recommendation, signed by Elliott, used the phrasing "under constant enemy small arms fire." Also unmentioned in "Unfit for Command" was the name Robert Lambert, Thurlow's chief petty officer who was the official eyewitness cited for Thurlow's Bronze Star recommendation, and who received his own Bronze Star for "courage under fire" for pulling Thurlow out of the water. Lambert still insists that the boats were receiving fire from the enemy.

The after-action report is initialed "KJW", who SBVT claims is Kerry. However, Kerry's initials are "JFK", and SBVT cites no reason why Kerry would have included a "W". These same initials "KJW" appear on other reports about events in which Kerry did not participate. A Navy official stated to the New York Times that the initials referred not to the author of the report, but to the headquarters staffer who received it.

Furthermore, Kerry's base commander, Adrian Lonsdale, stated that according to the precedence he had set out in his operations order, Kerry would be the "only logical candidate" to write the report based on his length of service in Vietnam. However, records indicate that Kerry actually had the least amount of time in Vietnam of any of the officers there that day (although Droz had arrived at Anthoi somewhat later than Kerry).

In addition, SBVT claimed that the after action report for the incident was sent from the Coast Guard cutter where Kerry had received medical treatment, the USCGC Spencer. but relevant Navy documents indicate that the report was likely transmitted from a ship with a routing indicator that would apply to the LST Washtenaw County (LST-1166), where all nonevacuated officers who had served on the mission were berthed for the night.

Finally, beyond the medal citations, all U.S. Navy documents indicate hostile fire during the action. Kerry's boat (PCF-94) even received special recognition from Captain Roy Hoffmann on March 14 in his weekly report to his men; the report's description of hostile fire was not disputed at the time. PCF-94 had major damage that had to be repaired before it could resume patrols. Also, later intelligence reports confirm the presence of hostile forces.

Silver Star
Kerry's Silver Star medal has been called into question by George Elliott, Kerry's former commanding officer and a member of SBVT. Elliott's stated position on the award changed during the course of the 2004 presidential campaign.

Kerry's medal citation indicates that he charged into an ambush, killing an enemy preparing to launch a rocket. In his 1969 performance evaluation, Elliott wrote "In a combat environment often requiring independent, decisive action, LTJG [Lieutenant Junior Grade] Kerry was unsurpassed. He constantly reviewed tactics and lessons learned in river operations and applied his experience at every opportunity. On one occasion, while in tactical command of a three boat operation his units were taken under fire from ambush. LTJG Kerry rapidly assessed the situation and ordered his units to turn directly into the ambush. This decision resulted in routing the attackers with several KIA [Killed in Action]. LTJG Kerry emerges as the acknowledged leader in his peer group. His bearing and appearance are above reproach."

During Kerry's 1996 Senate re-election campaign, when there was criticism of his Silver Star, Elliott responded: "The fact that he chased armed enemies down is not something to be looked down on." In June 2003, Elliott was quoted as saying the award was "well deserved" and that he had "no regrets or second thoughts at all about that."

During the 2004 campaign, however, Elliott signed two affidavits that criticize the award. The first, in July 2004, stated in part, "When Kerry came back to the United States, he lied about what occurred in Vietnam..." After the release of this first affidavit, Michael Kranish of the Boston Globe quoted Elliott saying, "It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one in trouble here...I knew it was wrong...In a hurry I signed it and faxed it back. That was a mistake." Elliott contended that Kranish had substantially misquoted him, but the Globe stood by its account, calling the disputed quotes "absolutely accurate".

The story prompted Elliott to release a second affidavit, in August 2004, in which he stated, "Had I known the facts, I would not have recommended Kerry for the Silver Star for simply pursuing and dispatching a single wounded, fleeing Viet Cong." The second affidavit made what Elliott called an "immaterial clarification", in that he admitted that he had no personal knowledge of the circumstances of the shooting. Rather, his initial statement that Kerry had been dishonest was based on unspecified sources and a passage contributed by Kranish to a biography of Kerry.

However, although Elliott claims that he was not in possession of the facts of the event, the original citation that Elliott wrote (which is not the citation that appears in "Unfit for Command") incorporates most of the details in the after action report. The report states that Kerry chased and shot a single wounded, fleeing Viet Cong. In addition, it states that the PCFs were filled with troops, that all three boats turned into the first ambush and beached, that the troops conducted the first sweep, and that while Kerry led the first landing party during the second sweep, the other landing parties and troops followed and took out the VC.

Kerry’s crew members who were there that day do not agree with Elliott’s characterization of the event in his 2004 affidavits. They contend that the enemy soldier, although wounded, was still a threat. For example, one of them, Fred Short, said, "The guy was getting ready to stand up with a rocket on his shoulder, coming up. And Mr. Kerry took him out... he would have been about a 30-yard shot... [T]here's no way he could miss us." Del Sandusky, Kerry’s second in command, described the consequences to the lightly armored Swift Boat: "Charlie would have lit us up like a Roman candle because we're full of fuel, we're full of ammunition." Another witness stated that the VC "had an entry wound at the side of his chest and exit wound at the opposite side of the chest cavity, a wound that was consistent with reports of the man turning to fire a second B-40 rocket."

The only member of SBVT who was present that day, Larry Clayton Lee, has stated he believes Kerry earned the Silver Star.

Another eyewitness, William Rood, a former Chicago Tribune editor, in a 2004 article gave an account that supports Kerry's version of the events of that day. Rood was commander of PCF-23, which was one of the two Swift Boats that accompanied Kerry's PCF-94.

Rood discounted several specific charges made by SBVT about the incident. In his (secondhand) book account, O'Neill implied that Kerry chased down a lone "teenager in a loincloth clutching a grenade launcher which may or may not have been loaded," without coming under enemy fire himself. In contrast, Rood stated that there were multiple attackers, there was heavy hostile fire, and the guerrilla Kerry shot was "a grown man, dressed in the kind of garb the Viet Cong usually wore" armed with a "loaded B-40 rocket launcher". Also, O'Neill called Kerry's tactic of charging the beach "stupidity, not courage." Similarly, Hoffman characterized Kerry's actions as reckless and impulsive. However, Rood stated that Kerry's tactic of charging the beach was discussed and mutually agreed with the other Swift boat commanders beforehand. He also notes that, at the time, Hoffman praised all three Swift boat commanders and called the tactics developed "a shining example of completely overwhelming the enemy" and that they "may be the most efficacious method of dealing with small numbers of ambushers." O'Neill responded that Rood's criticism was "extremely unfair" and stated that Rood's account of events is not substantially different from what appeared in his book Unfit for Command, for which Rood had declined an interview. The American eyewitnesses to the second sweep, including SBVT member Larry Clayton Lee, have stated that there were multiple VC at the scene of the second sweep.

The accounts of Vietnamese witnesses are consistent on several points with Rood's. Ba Thanh, the guerrilla killed while carrying the B-40 rocket launcher, was "big and strong" and in his late 20s. Return fire was also intense, according to Vo Van Tam, who was then a local Viet Cong commander: "I led Ba Thanh's comrades, the whole unit, to fight back. And we ran around the back and fought the Americans from behind. We worked with the city soldiers to fire on the American boats." No Vietnamese witnesses saw how Thanh died or saw him being chased by an American.

No individual who was present that day has disputed Kerry's version of events, nor suggested that he did not earn the Silver Star, and some said accounts given in Unfit for Command were incorrect.

O'Neill states that the Silver Star was awarded after only two days, "with no review".

Some critics questioned the reason for the existence of three versions of the Silver Star citation with variations in the wording, the first being signed by Vice Admiral Zumwalt, as Commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Vietnam, the second being signed by Admiral John Hyland as Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and the third being signed by John Lehman, as Secretary of the Navy. In this connection, Mr. Lehman, who served as secretary from 1981 to 1987, was quoted as saying he had never seen or signed the most recent citation (Kerry citation a 'total mystery' to ex-Navy chief, Thomas Lipscomb, Chicago Sun-Times, Aug. 28, 2004). However, in its October 2004 documentation of its investigation of Kerry's medals, the office of the Navy inspector general described the first, longer version as the "COMUSNAVFOR Vietnam version, signed by VADM Zumwalt" and the second version as the "official version, signed by the delegated award authority, ADM Hyland, CINCPACFLT". As to the third version, the report described it as one of several "duplicate citations" that were issued in 1985 after "considerable correspondence indicating efforts over the years to chase down various citations", and stated that the ones under Lehman's name were likely signed by machine. In addition, in October 2004, Rowan Scarborough of the Washington Times reported:

"Navy officials say that there is no evidence that Mr. Kerry's Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts were ever rescinded and that there is no evidence of misconduct in his records. He did receive new medal citations in the mid-1980s. Officials say the Navy receives scores, and perhaps hundreds, of such requests each year from veterans who want a second copy or have lost the originals. The citations are simply put through a machine that implants the signature of the current Navy secretary. John Lehman's signature, via a machine, appears on Mr. Kerry's new citation for his Silver Star."

Commenting on the Silver Star issue, Republican Sen. John Warner, who was Undersecretary of the Navy at the time, stated "We did extraordinary, careful checking on that type of medal, a very high one, when it goes through the secretary. I'd stand by the process that awarded that medal, and I think we best acknowledge that his heroism did gain that recognition." Elmo Zumwalt, Commander of the United States Naval Forces in Vietnam at that time, signed Kerry's original Silver Star citation and defended the award in 1996, saying "It is a disgrace to the United States Navy that there's any inference that the [medal] process was anything other than totally honest." Boston Herald, October 28, 1996.

Cambodia mission
On March 27, 1986, while giving a speech to the Senate, Kerry mentioned he was in Cambodia on a swift boat around Christmas, 1968, during the Vietnam War. During that encounter, Kerry said he was shot at by Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge Cambodians, while the President had told the American people that U.S. military personnel were not in Cambodia. According to the Boston Globe biography of Kerry, he later recalled that after the Christmas Eve incident, he began to develop a deep mistrust of U.S. government pronouncements.

One chapter of SBVT's Unfit for Command questioned Kerry's statements that he was in Cambodia during the war. Kerry did not claim to have been sent on a covert mission to Cambodia on Christmas Eve, 1968. Rather, he believed at the time he had crossed the border while on a patrol near the border, during which the boats were ambushed and later came under friendly fire from South Vietnamese soldiers. None of Kerry's crewmates confirmed being sent to Cambodia. One of Kerry's crewmen, SBVT member Steven Gardner, asserted that it was physically impossible to cross the Cambodian border, as it was blocked and patrolled by PBRs (a type of patrol boat); however, Kerry's boat was evidently patrolling with PBRs during the mission in question. Some crewmembers have, moreover, stated that they may at some point have entered Cambodia without knowing it. James Wasser, who was on PCF-44 on that December mission, while saying that he believed they were "very, very close" to Cambodia, did not recall actually crossing over; he also stated that it was very hard to tell their exact position in the border area. Kerry's own journal entry on this, written the night of the mission, does not specifically say they entered Cambodia. However, it does state that PCF-44 was somewhere "toward Cambodia" to provide cover for two smaller patrol boats, and in sarcasm, that he considered messaging Christmas greetings to his commanders "from the most inland Market Time unit" and that a court martial for the incident "would make sense" In addition, George  Elliott noted in Kerry's fitness report that he had been in an ambush during the 24-hour Christmas truce, which began on Christmas Eve. Michael Meehan, a spokesman for the Kerry campaign, responded to SBVT's charges with a statement that Kerry was referring to a period when Nixon had been president-elect and before he was inaugurated. Meehan went on to state that Kerry had been "deep in enemy waters" between Vietnam and Cambodia and that his boat came under fire at the Cambodian border. Meehan also said that Kerry did covertly cross over into Cambodia to drop off special operations forces on a later occasion, but that there was no paperwork for such missions and he could not supply dates.

Based on examination of Kerry's journals and logbook, historian Douglas Brinkley placed the covert missions soon after Christmas. In an interview with the London Daily Telegraph, Brinkley stated that Kerry had gone into Cambodian waters three or four times in January and February 1969 on clandestine missions, dropping off U.S. Navy SEALs, U.S. Army Green Berets, and CIA operatives. Brinkley added, "He was a ferry master, a drop-off guy, but it was dangerous as hell. Kerry carries a hat he was given by one CIA operative. In a part of his journals which I didn't use he writes about discussions with CIA guys he was dropping off."

In an interview with Tim Russert on NBC's "Meet the Press", Kerry corrected his 1979 statement about being "five miles across the border" on Christmas Eve, but reiterated that he was on a patrol at the border at that date and had been sent on a covert mission at a later date.

In the book, O'Neill argued that a Swift boat commander would have been "seriously disciplined or court-martialed" for crossing the Cambodian border. Critics point out the inconsistency between this description and O'Neill's own claims documented in a conversation with President Nixon in 1971 in which O'Neill told the President he had worked along the Cambodian border on the water in a Swift boat.

Document release
Kerry has made his Vietnam journals and diaries available to his biographer, historian Douglas Brinkley, but has not made them otherwise publicly available. In declining to make the materials available to The Washington Post in 2004, the Kerry campaign cited an exclusivity agreement with Brinkley. However, Brinkley subsequently told the paper that he interpreted the agreement as requiring only that quotations from the materials cite his book.

During the 2004 campaign, Kerry released hundreds of documents related to his military service, including his reserve and discharge documents.

The conservative organization Judicial Watch filed a request for Kerry's records with the Navy under the Freedom of Information Act. The Navy provided Judicial Watch with a biographical data sheet on Kerry, two citations and one certificate for the Silver Star medal, two citations and one certificate for the Bronze Star medal, and three sets of orders and certificates for the Purple Heart. The Navy was required to withhold an additional 31 pages of personnel records because a release authorization was not provided, but referred the requester to Kerry's website which contained documents exempted from disclosure.

Kerry was attacked by SBVT and some media entities for not authorizing independent public access to his privacy protected service records. After the election, on May 20, 2005, he did sign a Standard Form 180 allowing full release of all his military service records, including his reserve and discharge records, as well as his medical records, to the Associated Press, the Boston Globe, and the Los Angeles Times. A spokesman for Kerry declined the New York Sun's request to be included on that release. The Boston Globe reported that the material largely duplicated what Kerry had released during the campaign, and included no "substantive new material".

Asked why he had declined to sign the release earlier, Kerry responded:

"The call for me to sign a 180 form came from the same partisan operatives who were lying about my record on a daily basis on the Web and in the right-wing media. Even though the media was discrediting them, they continued to lie. I felt strongly that we shouldn't kowtow to them and their attempts to drag their lies out."

Navy Inspector General report on medals
In September 2004, Vice Admiral Ronald A. Route, the Navy Inspector General, completed a review of Kerry's combat medals, initiated at the request of Judicial Watch. In a memo to Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England, Route stated:

"Our examination found that existing documentation regarding the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals indicates the awards approval process was properly followed. In particular, the senior officers who awarded the medals were properly delegated authority to do so. In addition, we found that they correctly followed the procedures in place at the time for approving these awards. Conducting any additional review regarding events that took place over 30 years ago would not be productive. The passage of time would make reconstruction of the facts and circumstances unreliable, and would not allow the information gathered to be considered in the context of the time in which the events took place. Our review also considered the fact that Senator Kerry's post-active duty activities were public and that military and civilian officials were aware of his actions at the time. For these reasons, I have determined that Senator Kerry's awards were properly approved and will take no further action in this matter."

On September 23, 2004, Judicial Watch appealed on the basis that "no specific documentary examples were cited or offered as exhibits" in the Navy Inspector General's letter of reply. Judicial Watch also filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documentation of the investigation. On October 4, 2004 the Navy Inspector General's office responded with documentation of the investigation.

Included within the Navy Inspector General's documentation was a discussion of the duplicate medal citations Kerry had received in 1985:

"[I]t is apparent that duplicate citations issued under then-Secretary Lehman's and others' signatures in June 1985 were in response to a request from Senator Kerry or his office. [T]here is considerable correspondence indicating efforts over the years to chase down various citations, etc. The citations under Secretary Lehman's name appear to have been signed by a machine, which would explain why he now doesn't recall any involvement."

In an October 5, 2004 letter to Judicial Watch, Secretary England deferred to the Navy Inspector General's authority as the investigating officer, and declined to initiate a separate review. On October 12, 2004, Judicial Watch released a press release critical of the Navy's decision that no further investigation or review would take place.

"Swiftboating"
Since the 2004 election, the term "swiftboating" (or "swift boating") has become a common expression for a campaign attacking opponents by questioning their credibility and patriotism in a dishonest manner. The term is most often used with the pejorative meaning of a smear campaign.

title: John Kerry military service controversy


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Kongde Ri

Kongde Ri (sometimes Kwangde Ri) is a mountain in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal. The mountain is located four km west of Namche Bazaar.

The mountain is classified as a trekking peak, but it is considered one of the more difficult ones to climb. A climbing permit costs US$350 for up to 4 climbers.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Kongde Ri


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Maxim Institute

The Maxim Institute is a research and public policy think tank based in Auckland, New Zealand. The Institute's work is oriented toward a conservative perspective on its issues of primary concern, which are now education policy, tax and welfare policy. Although initially identifiable as a social conservative organisation, its policy statements have emphasised fiscal restraint within tax and welfare policy since its former director, Bruce Logan, left in 2005.

The Institute has been involved in public debate in a number of educational policy issues. These include private school funding, teacher registration and training options, bulk funding and related concerns. As it originally arose from the "Education Development Foundation" as its precursor organisation before it rebranded, this is not illogical, although educational policy issues have been a diminished focus since 2001. During the Logan era, free speech, social justice, democracy and constitutional issues were emphasised. The Institute produces research and publications, and advocates for fiscal conservative public policy. It regularly organises a series of political forums and has developed websites in the lead up to New Zealand general elections for the sake of educating voters about the electoral process.

Maxim Institute's mission statement is "to foster ideas and leadership that enable freedom, justice and compassion to flourish in New Zealand."

Work
Since its founding in 2001, Maxim Institute has supported a greater role for "civil society" and community in New Zealand life, notably in education, welfare and social service provision. Mild controversy has hinged on what the Institute considers to be 'civil society' in this context, and concern has been expressed by some small segments of the population about harms contingent on what left-leaning critics view as 'welfare privatisation' and outsourcing to 'questionable' religious conservative social service providers.

The Institute has undertaken extensive research in a number of areas. Most notable amongst their reports are a series on the role of government as expressed through the taxation system, a literature report on father involvement - Going Further with Fathers - and a modelling project looking at school choice - Roll Play.

It has published a wide range of op-eds and analysis on these and other subjects in newspapers, and also produces research and submissions on law and policy (See publications). Since its inception, Maxim Institute has also run an internship programme.

Social Conservative Era: CEO Bruce Logan: 2001-2005
Maxim Institute first gained public recognition in 2003 when it opposed the Prostitution Reform Bill. The Institute stated that the Bill would legitimise and increase the exploitation of women in New Zealand. It also opposed the Civil Union and Relationships Statutory References Bills in the following year, and argued that such moves would make "marriage meaningless." The act was passed, and lesbian and gay New Zealanders acquired secular ceremonial and ritual recognition of their relationships and substantive equal relationship-related rights and responsibilities within most areas of New Zealand law.

Fiscal Conservative Era: CEO Greg Fleming: 2005-
After the retirement of Bruce Logan, the Institute moved to emphasise fiscal conservatism as well as its previous focus on the aforementioned social conservative 'core' issues. Thus, it has also supported other measures which "empower parents," localising decision making. Maxim Institute has also endorsed restorative justice, parental choice of schools, democratic involvement, performance related pay for teachers, strong communities, limited government, low taxes and personal responsibility.

The Institute holds regular forums, including one held at the Auckland Town Hall and centred on the theme of "social justice". Speakers have included Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft, University of Canterbury Professor David Fergusson and Researcher Professor Peter Saunders.

In 2008, it held the first of its Annual John Graham Lectures. This was delivered by Professor Jeremy Waldron of NYU Law School and titled "Parliamentary Recklessness: Why we need to legislate more carefully".

The Institute also holds regular public lectures on topics such as tax and "social justice". However, as with its adoption of 'civil society' rhetoric, there have been minor criticisms of its concept of 'social justice', which rules encourages public participation through renewed emphasis on privatisation policies, as well as redistributive taxation policies to ensure equality of opportunity.

History
Maxim Institute was founded on 12 November 2001 by Greg Fleming (formerly general manager of Parenting with Confidence) and Bruce Logan, a former Headmaster, and former Director of the New Zealand Education Development Foundation (NZEDF) in Christchurch. John Graham (then University of Auckland Chancellor) also played a role in the Institute's founding.

After serving four years as the Institute's Director, Bruce Logan retired in 2005 and was replaced by Greg Fleming. Maxim Institute's Christchurch office closed in early 2006.

Publications
Maxim Institute has published various books and reports on issues including political correctness, curriculum, and marriage law. These books include Silent Legacy: The unseen ways great thinkers have shaped our culture, which considers the history of western philosophy. Pursuing Social Justice in New Zealand, a collection of essays from prominent New Zealanders looking at creating strong communities. From Innocents to Agents, which looks at the politicisation of children in New Zealand. Vying for our Children, which examines various education philosophies. It also formerly published a quarterly journal entitled Evidence. According to Maxim Institute Evidence "explore[d] the critical issues facing New Zealand society today, including education, family and welfare. Evidence provided commentaries and analyses that were heavily relied on Anglo-American and Australian religious and social conservative pressure groups. As of Issue 15 (Spring 2005), Evidence ceased publication, as Bruce Logan was its former editor.

The Institute produces a monthly email called Real Issues, which focuses on "provoking analysis of developments in policy and culture in New Zealand and around the world".

As well as Real Issues, Maxim also published an ongoing series of educational research reports based on research by Colmar Brunton, called The Parent Factor, related to parental choice in education access, government funding and opposition to centralisation.

The Institute also drafts submissions on a range of public policy issues. The issues have included sedition law reform, electoral finance, victims' rights, democratic reform, prostitution, civil unions, hate speech and section 59. However, it has primarily emphasised fiscal conservative positions on tax and welfare policy since 2005.

Awards
In 2005, Managing Director Greg Fleming was one of six New Zealanders to receive an Emerging Leader Award from the Sir Peter Blake (sailor) Trust.

Maxim Institute has received several international think tank awards from the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, a neoliberal US think tank. The Templeton Freedom Prizes were awarded for: Institute Excellence (first place), Social Entrepreneurship (second place) and Initiative in Public Relations (second place).

In April 2006, Atlas Foundation awarded Maxim Institute's Parent Factor publications as the winner of the Innovative Projects category of the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award.

Plagiarism
On 17 October 2005, Paul Litterick of the New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists used Copyscape, a web-based plagiarism detection service, to analyse Logan's published newspaper work. He alleged plagiarism in Logan's work, and published the results in the Fundy Post (Issues 18 and 19), an online chronicle of the alleged excesses of New Zealand conservative Christians and other faith-based elements. Litterick found that some of Logan's work was taken (with permission) from Anglo-American sources, which include The Heritage Foundation, Institute for American Values, National Fatherhood Institute, Maggie Gallagher (a U.S. social conservative journalist), Melanie Phillips (UK), Conservative Christian Fellowship (UK) and Digby Anderson, Social Affairs Unit (UK). Later that year, Logan retired from the Maxim Institute.

"NZ Votes"
In 2005 the Maxim Institute ran a project leading up to the New Zealand general election, 2005 called "NZ Votes." The campaign featured a website and 30 debates between electorate candidates around the country. On its website, the NZ Votes project described itself as a  "non profit and non partisan" and as a "community service" designed to inform voters about MMP. However, Nicky Hager criticised the Institute's candidate database in his book The Hollow Men (2006), and also alleged that there had been close ties between the New Zealand National Party and a series of educational policy booklets that attacked New Zealand Labour Party government stances on such issues. However another book, The Baubles of Office, by Stephen Levine and Nigel Roberts, makes a point of highlighting the political neutrality of nzvotes.org.

In June 2011, the Institute advertised that it had invited Iain Duncan-Smith, United Kingdom Secretary of State for Welfare and Pensions, head of the Centre for Social Justice and former leader of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom and the Opposition (2001—2003). This has raised some questions about whether the Institute's days of social conservative emphasis are as far behind it as its recent public policy statements and analyses suggest. Duncan-Smith is an outspoken social conservative on issues like abortion, civil partnerships and inclusive adoption reform in the United Kingdom

Frank Ellis visit
In 2004, Dr Frank Ellis, a University of Leeds lecturer, spoke at a conference hosted by the Maxim Institute on political correctness and its reputed origins in Soviet Communism. Ellis was later suspended from his post when it emerged he had endorsed the British National Party, and for his alleged ties to white nationalist groups.

title: Maxim Institute


text:
Stern John

Stern John CM (born 30 October 1976) is a Trinidadian football manager and former player who is currently managing Saint Lucia. He managed Anguilla from 2020 to 2022. He previously played for a number of American and English football clubs that included Columbus Crew, Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City, Coventry City, Derby County, Sunderland, Southampton, Bristol City, Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town.

Early U.S. career
John was born in Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago, to a sporting family that included several professional footballers and cricket players. He played on the Trinidad and Tobago cricket youth national team until age 16, when he switched to playing soccer full-time. John moved to the United States in 1995 to attend New Jersey's Mercer County Community College. He had been recruited in Trinidad by the college's head coach, Charlie Inverso, who had previously sought international talent. John led the Mercer County Vikings to the 1995 NJCAA soccer championship and scored 27 goals, including one in the final against Yavapai College.

He made his professional debut for the Carolina Dynamo of the A-League, the second division of U.S. club soccer, in April 1997 while on loan from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association. John was traded to the New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers for Jamie Wellington a month later, having not scored a goal in five appearances for Carolina. With New Orleans, where he was paired with fellow Trinidadian forward Mickey Trotman, John scored 16 goals in 21 appearances and was named Rookie of the Year.

John was invited by the New England Revolution to their 1998 preseason camp, but was not retained after his trial. Following the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where he scored two goals, John was invited for a walk-on trial by the Columbus Crew. His second cousin Ansil Elcock, a fellow Trinidad and Tobago international who had been signed by the Crew, had recommended John to head coach Tom Fitzgerald. Following a successful trial, John was signed and made his Major League Soccer debut on 29 March 1998 against the Dallas Burn, where he replaced Elcock but failed to score. He scored his first MLS goal in his fifth appearance, a 5–1 victory over the Miami Fusion, and ended the match with a hat-trick and an assist. John ended his rookie MLS season as the league scoring champion with 26 goals in 27 matches and a place in the MLS Best XI. He was the first MLS player to score three hat-tricks in a single season, including 16 goals in a span of 12 matches.

He scored 18 goals in the 1999 season, tied for the league's scoring leaderboard, and attracted interest from European clubs but declined a mid-season transfer. He ended his MLS career with 44 goals in 55 matches.

Nottingham Forest
After the 1999 season with Columbus, John was acquired by Nottingham Forest of the English First Division for a fee of £1.5 million. However, eventual financial difficulties at Forest following the team's failed bid at promotion forced John's sale to Birmingham City in February 2002, then pushing for promotion to the Premier League, for the sum of £100,000. John scored 18 goals in 49 starts for Forest.

Birmingham City
At Birmingham, John scored nine goals in 60 Premier League appearances in two full seasons and was effective with his hold up play and also had some memorable moments in the blue shirt of Birmingham, such as his turn and finish away at West Ham in 2002; his last minute equaliser at Villa Park in the Birmingham derby; and his last minute goal away at Millwall which put Birmingham through to the Playoff Final in 2002. He then scored one of the penalties in the play-off final shootout to help them get promoted to the Premier League. Popular with the Birmingham fans for his goals, he nonetheless fell out of favour with management, and was sold to Coventry City on 14 September 2004.

Coventry City
In his first season with Coventry, John finished second in team scoring with 12 goals despite starting in barely half of Coventry's games.

Derby County
At the start of the 2005–06 season, following the signing of James Scowcroft, John found himself outside of manager Micky Adams's first-team plans. As a result, he was loaned to Derby County on 16 September 2005. He rejoined Coventry three months later.

Sunderland
On 29 January 2007, John was transferred to Sunderland for an undisclosed fee. The signing was Sunderland manager Roy Keane's sixth signing of the 2006–07 season January transfer window. He scored his first goals against Southend United in a 4–0 victory on 17 February 2007.

Southampton
On 29 August 2007, John moved to Southampton as part of a deal that took his international teammate Kenwyne Jones in the opposite direction.

He scored his first goals with two in a 3–2 win against West Bromwich Albion on 6 October 2007. From then on he scored regularly for "The Saints", with nine goals in his first fifteen appearances, including a second half hat trick against Hull City on 8 December 2007. He finished the 2007–08 season fourth highest scorer in the Championship with 19 goals for Southampton. (He had also scored once for Sunderland in the Premier League prior to his transfer.) Before being sent off for a second bookable offence, John scored two goals, including the match winner, in Southampton's final game of the season against Sheffield United, as the Saints narrowly avoided relegation to League One.

Bristol City
John was loaned to Bristol City in October 2008 until the end of the 2008–09 season. John made his first Bristol City appearance, coming on as a substitute, against Barnsley in a 0–0 draw. John scored his first goal for Bristol City in a 4–1 defeat to Reading at Ashton Gate Stadium on 1 November 2008.

Crystal Palace
On 29 July 2009, John signed for Crystal Palace on a year-long deal after turning down an offer to stay at Southampton. He made his debut on the opening day of the season against Plymouth Argyle, he had to come off after 35 minutes due to an injury. He returned in mid-October, but joined Ipswich Town on a one-month loan at the end of November. He scored his first goal for Ipswich in a 3–2 win over Coventry City on 16 January 2010. Upon his return to Palace he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win at Watford on 30 March 2010. New Palace manager George Burley had hoped to discuss the player's future at the end of the season, but no discussion occurred, and John left the club.

Solihull Moors
In August 2012, after two seasons out of English football, John returned, signing for Solihull Moors. He did not make an appearance in any competition for the club.

WASA FC
John retired and moved back to his native Trinidad and Tobago after his spell at Solihull Moors. He came out of retirement a second time in order to join WASA FC of the National Super League of Trinidad and Tobago in January 2014. He scored on his debut

Central F.C.
John came out of retirement once again in 2016 when he was appointed as player-coach of Central F.C. in the TT Pro League.

International career
John made his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago national team on 15 February 1995 against Finland in a friendly at the Queen's Park Oval, scoring one goal on his debut. He was a vital player for the "Soca Warriors" and remains the team's all-time leading scorer with 70 goals in 115 caps. He was also the 7th highest international goalscorer at the time of his retirement in 2011. He is also the all-time top CONCACAF goal scorer.

John was instrumental in helping his country qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and played in all three of his country's World Cup group matches at Germany 2006. In Germany, he scored an offside goal. He was also named Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation Player of the Year in 2002. John is currently the second most capped Trinidad and Tobago international behind former teammate Angus Eve. He was the only player to score in 12 consecutive international matches, from 1998 to 1999.

Coaching career
On 9 November 2020, John become the new manager of the Anguilla national team. On 23 May 2022, the Saint Lucia Football Association announced that John had taken over as head coach of the Saint Lucia national team.

Personal life
As a member of the squad that competed at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, John was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Gold Class), the second highest state decoration of Trinidad and Tobago.

International
Source:

 * Scores and results list Trinidad and Tobago's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each John goal. ''

Honours
Columbus Crew
 * U.S. Open Cup runner-up: 1998

Birmingham City
 * Football League First Division play-offs: 2001–02

Sunderland
 * Football League Championship: 2006–07

Trinidad and Tobago
 * Caribbean Cup: 1996, 1999, 2001

Individual
 * MLS Golden Boot: 1998
 * MLS Best XI: 1998
 * MLS All-Star, 1998, 1999
 * Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation Player of the Year: 2002

Medals
 * TTO_Chaconia_Medal.png Chaconia Medal Gold Class: 2006

title: Stern John


text:
Globe GC-1 Swift

The Globe GC-1 Swift, also known as the Globe/Temco Swift, is a light, two-seat sport monoplane from the post-World War II period.

Design and development
The Swift was designed by R.S. "Pop" Johnson in 1940, despite the fanciful story which has now entered into popular mythology surrounding the Swift's origin (that a Culver Cadet was obtained as a "template" aircraft). The design was financially secured by John Kennedy, president of the Globe Medicine Company, to be built by his new Globe Aircraft Company. World War II interrupted their plans, however, and the 85 hp GC-1A Swift advertised as the "All Metal Swift" re-designed by K.H."Bud" Knox, received its type certificate on 7 May 1946. Two prototypes were built but essentially, the design remained the same as the type which entered production. Globe built about 408 GC-1As.

Later that year, the Swift received a more powerful engine of 125 hp, making it the GC-1B. Globe, together with TEMCO, built 833 GC-1Bs in six months. Globe's production outpaced sales of the Swift; as a result Globe was forced into insolvency. TEMCO, the largest creditor, paid $328,000 to obtain the type certificate, tooling, aircraft, and parts allowing them to continue production in late 1947 hoping to recoup their losses. TEMCO built 260 more aircraft before ending Swift production in 1951.

The type certificate for the Swift was obtained by Universal Aircraft Industries (later Univair) along with all production tooling. Spare parts continued to be built until 1979 when the Swift Museum Foundation under the leadership of President Charlie Nelson purchased the Type Certificate, parts and tooling.

Operational history
The most unusual variant of the series became a separate design, the TEMCO TE-1 Buckaroo which was built in a short-run first as a contender for a USAF trainer aircraft contract, and was later transferred to foreign service as a military trainer. Several of these trainers have since returned to the civil market.

title: Globe GC-1 Swift


text:
Talk:Ploughman's lunch

Etymology?
The article on "Ploughman's lunch" states flatly that the term is "a late 1970's invention of the UK catering industry."

If this is so, why can I find US newspaper cites dating from 1964, talking about "ploughman's lunch" and describing the meal. It was almost certainly a pub meal. I have no doubt that the pubs invented the phrase in the 20th century, but certainly the "UK catering industry" in the late 1970's had no part in it's inception.

Sam Clements —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.166.33.12 (talk • contribs) 02:43, 1 October 2004

I'm not expert, but I thought a ploughman's lunch includes a stiff ale. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.239.210.166 (talk • contribs) 22:31, 3 October 2004

The late 1970s is two decades off the mark. The ploughman's lunch, as I stated years ago in Talk, was created by the Milk Marketing Board in the UK in the late 1950s/early 1960s due to a surplus of dairy products/milk at that time - the oft-quoted "Dairy Mountain." Many people who studied marketing and business at university in the 1980s will be familiar with this, and it is verifiable in text books I no longer have. Surely someone can cite one? Guv2006 (talk) 09:05, 6 July 2013 (UTC)

The Milk Marketing Board
I'm fairly sure that the Ploughman's Lunch was invented in the 1960s by the UK Milk Marketing Board in an effort to increase cheese sales. This explains its total absence outside the UK (compare other traditional fayre such as fish and chips or roast beef, which you can find outside the UK).

--Smallbone10 20:48, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

You are one hundred per cent correct. Guv2006 (talk) 09:06, 6 July 2013 (UTC)

Ham?
Why is there a pic of a pair of horses? Pretty useless pic tbh. 131.111.200.200wikibaron131.111.200.200

meat?
I think that slices of meat and some lettuce is normally includes also. Alan2here (talk) 16:35, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Pickle
I think we need to be careful in this article to clarify what is meant by "pickle" or "pickles", as either of these could refer to relish (which is called "pickle" in the UK, such as that made by Branston) or a pickled cucumber (which is called a "pickle" in the US and Canada). Are pickled cucumbers ever used in ploughmen's lunches, in the same way that pickled onions are? As it is, this remains unclear in the article, and I don't know either way. leevclarke (talk) 21:45, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

I'm not convinced that British pickle is quite the same as "relish" in other countries. Do we have a consensus? 86.5.68.172 (talk) 18:00, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

Apologies, last comment by me Gavinayling (talk) 18:01, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

 * Well, it fits the definition of relish perfectly. Relish is different in different countries though. Logical Cowboy (talk) 18:54, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

 * Still, right now the article is including pickles in the main definition as chutney. I think the US version of a ploughman's lunch usually DOES involve a pickled cucumber, with cheese and bread. I realize this article is mostly about the UK version; the call for clarification by Leevclarke was quite perspicacious; still, I'd support using pickle in the initial definition, followed by a more detailed explanation of pickled cucumbers, pickled onions, or pickled-vegetables-made-into-chutney later on in the article. 76.179.173.45 (talk) 05:48, 19 May 2013 (UTC)

Worms
The statement "The feast may also include worms" is, I suspect, vandalism. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.79.100.238 (talk) 14:20, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Served with a pint of beer
"It is a common menu item in English pubs, where it is served with a pint of beer."

This makes it sound as if you automatically get a beer as part of the meal. I've never seen it included as such - I've always had to buy my beer (or cider, etc) separately Wardog (talk) 19:47, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

If that was the case, you wouldn't want every member of your family getting a ploughman's, would you? Maybe the five-year olds in this scenario would be automatically downgraded to a shandy? (joke). Guv2006 (talk) 09:10, 6 July 2013 (UTC)

Ploughboy?
Surely this is vandalism?

"A comparable meal, popular prior to World War II, was also known as 'ploughboy's lunch".

If there had been something called a "ploughboy's lunch" prior to World War II, why would the Milk Marketing Board have felt the need to invent the ploughman's? This seems to be a complete fabrication. Guv2006 (talk) 21:19, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

Variants
Also strange - and suspect - are the almost endless and silly variants listed in the main article. Are people just adding ingredients for fun? For example, would this be acceptable?

Thick slice of cheese; half a loaf of crusty bread; six small pickled onions; a raw carrot to dunk in a pot of salad cream; a small serving of Hula Hoops; some cold chips; and a pickled gherkin on a cocktail stick? Washed down with a flagon of Tizer, obviously. It seems to me that people have been adding ingredients for a laugh. Guv2006 (talk) 21:36, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

What is the "Cheese Bureau"?
Is that like a ministry of cheese? Or more like a secret sevice agency? I find the thought of these chuckle worthy. Or is it just some part of a dairy compony? Anyway I couldn't find anything about it, so maybe it could be explained or rephrased in the article?! --Xario (talk) 08:54, 1 May 2015 (UTC)
 * Well, you can't have looked far, because the CB clearly existed. Nick Cooper (talk) 10:50, 1 May 2015 (UTC)
 * Appreciated. And in my defense, google:"Cheese Bureau" did not look promising. --Xario (talk) 15:37, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 one external links on Ploughman's lunch. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20070717061408/http://www.oed.com/bbcwordhunt/ploughmans-lunch.html to http://www.oed.com/bbcwordhunt/ploughmans-lunch.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20070708181211/http://oed.com/bbcwords/ploughman-new.html to http://www.oed.com/bbcwords/ploughman-new.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers. —cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 19:43, 18 October 2015 (UTC)

Onion? Really?
Very surprised to see onion mentioned as a prime ingredient, as I’ve rarely seen it served. Pickle always, though. I’ll change the article accordingly in a few days or so unless there are objections. Boscaswell  talk  00:56, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Bread, cheese and onions (fresh or pickled) are the consistent basic ingredients and also link the meal to the food typically served in pubs in the early 20th century and earlier. Sources: "The authentic ploughman's lunch comprises a chunk of Cheddar cheese, pickled onion and bread" (Hotelier and Caterer) or Adrian Bell's "good square hunk of bread, a lump of butter and a wedge of cheese, and pickled onions", another one: "a ploughman's lunch is made up of fresh bread, hard cheese, onion and pickles" ; "The Ploughman's Lunch of bread, cheese, onions and ale..." (Hessayon).Svejk74 (talk) 15:53, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

Baguette? Really?
The photo shows a ploughman's with, somewhat incongruously, a decapitated Baguette. Baguettes are French. They are as British as Chow Mein. A photo of a "texbook" ploughman's should really have a few "trenchant" slices of a traditionally British loaf, particularly the rustic types such as a Cottage Loaf rather than this Gallic interloper. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.93.146.80 (talk) 16:49, 11 March 2023 (UTC)

Girl Dinner
Sorry if this is silly, but it seems like the modern term "girl dinner" is very similar to the idea of a ploughman's lunch- is it worth noting that? perhaps there could be a section including other cultures' cold lunches made up of assorted items, or modern interpretations of this- maybe even the lunchable. Ellacution (talk) 22:03, 8 June 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Ploughman's lunch


text:
USS Ludlow (DD-112)

USS Ludlow (DD-112) was a Wickes-class destroyer built for the United States Navy during World War I.

Description
The Wickes class was an improved and faster version of the preceding Caldwell-class destroyer. Two different designs were prepared to the same specification that mainly differed in the turbines and boilers used. The ships built to the Bethlehem Steel design, built in the Fore River and Union Iron Works shipyards, mostly used Yarrow boilers that deteriorated badly during service and were mostly scrapped during the 1930s. The ships displaced 1202 - 1208 LT at standard load and 1295 - 1322 LT at deep load. They had an overall length of 314 ft, a beam of 30 ft and a draught of 9 ft. They had a crew of 6 officers and 108 enlisted men.

Performance differed radically between the ships of the class, often due to poor workmanship. The Wickes class was powered by two steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 27000 shp intended to reach a speed of 35 kn. The ships carried 225 LT of fuel oil which was intended gave them a range of 2500 nmi at 20 kn.

The ships were armed with four 4-inch (102 mm) guns in single mounts and were fitted with two 1-pounder guns for anti-aircraft defense. Their primary weapon, though, was their torpedo battery of a dozen 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes in four triple mounts. In many ships a shortage of 1-pounders caused them to be replaced by 3-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft (AA) guns. They also carried a pair of depth charge rails. A "Y-gun" depth charge thrower was added to many ships.

Construction and career
Ludlow named for Augustus C. Ludlow, was laid down 7 January 1918 at Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California, launched 9 June 1918; sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Ludlow Chrystie, a descendant of Lieutenant Ludlow; and commissioned 23 December 1918. Following west coast shakedown, Ludlow embarked on the continuous training program. On 17 July 1920 she was reclassified as a light minelayer and redesignated DM-10, A change of home ports followed 19 January 1921 when she arrived at Pearl Harbor for eight years with Mine Squadron 2, Fleet Base Force.

Ludlow joined in gunnery practice, mining operations antisubmarine training, and fleet battle problems in the Hawaiian Islands and off the United States West Coast, and in 1929 trained Naval Reserves. Leaving Pearl Harbor 16 November 1929, she arrived San Diego on 26 November 1929, and there decommissioned on 24 May 1930. Struck from the Navy list on 18 November 1930, she was scrapped and her metal sold 10 March 1931.

title: USS Ludlow (DD-112)


text:
Category:Czech artists

zh:Category:捷克艺术家

title: Category:Czech artists


text: Category:Riemann surfaces

title: Category:Riemann surfaces


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Al-Gebra

Al-Gebra
Apparently Ed Poor has now taken to wasting the time of legitimate editors by posting bogus lame joke pages. Great.
 * Point of order. Shouldn't the nomination be signed, and a specific reason given ("even though you may think it should be obvious?") After signing the nomination and giving a reason, the nominator is encouraged to remove this comment. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 16:20, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete to bjaodn.. — David Remahl 02:54, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * BJAODN! - RedWordSmith 03:02, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Redirect to Algebra - it is actually a legitimate transliteration of the arabic. The Recycling Troll 03:10, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete to bjaodn. Gazpacho 03:11, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * BJAODN at best. Not even a new joke, probably a copyvio. Ed, this is a f---ing waste of time, you should know better. Any reason we can't just speedy-delete as blatant nonsense, this sort of thing damages our credibility. -- Jmabel 03:13, Oct 1, 2004 (UTC)
 * bjaodn. i agree though, it isn't original as i have seen it elswehere before this. Codywilson 03:15, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Ambi 03:35, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Redirect to Algebra, and "The Recycling Troll" did so already -- Chris 73 Talk 03:40, Oct 1, 2004 (UTC)
 * Speed deleted as patent nonsense. If someone wants to see a redirect to algebra, they're more than welcome to make one. Wile E. Heresiarch 14:04, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Copied to Father of the bride of bad jokes and other deleted nonsense. Recreate as redirect. —No-One Jones (m) 16:27, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Although this article should be deleted, and although I don't want to waste everyone's time by restoring it for the duration of VfD, I do not think this meets the definition of "patent nonsense" and do not think it should have been speedily deleted. It's not nonsense at all. It is patently false, or patently jocular, but neither of those are justifications for speedy. For the curious: content is a shown below: [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 16:25, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Al Gebra is a terrorist movement which has reportedly infiltrated American schools. It began at the undergraduate level and has spread to secondary schools, according to US Attorney General John Ashcroft. Academics dismiss the Ashcroft's accusations as pandering to the lowest common denominator of anti-Arab prejudice.
 * The web of deception was first uncovered at New York's Kennedy Airport when an individual claiming to be a school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, protractor, set square, slide rule and calculator. At a morning press conference, Attorney General John Ashcroft, said he believes the man is:
 * "a member of the notorious al-gebra movement. He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction." A SNIE reveals that al-Gebra uses use secret code names like 'x' and 'y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', and the CIA has determined they belong to an axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.
 * As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, "there are three sides to every triangle."
 * Comment: Ed, Don't disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 16:20, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete and add to BJAODN Fire Star 20:04, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Agree with Bpbsmith. Delete but this was not eligible to be a speedy under the current rules. Rossami 03:35, 2 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Original content was useless (except as a contribution to BJAODN); keep the redirect. -- Mike Rosoft 20:15, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Hehe, Al-Gebra was a joke made up somewhere on the net! http://www.rfcafe.com/miscellany/humor/al-gebra.htm WhisperToMe 22:06, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)


text:
Wikipedia:NP

Wikipedia:NP typically refers to Special:Newpages, a special page that lists newly created pages.

Wikipedia:NP may also refer to:

 * Notability (people)
 * What Wikipedia is not
 * Neutral point of view
 * No page
 * No personal attacks
 * Not plot
 * WikiProject Nepal
 * New pages patrol
 * Namespace

title: Wikipedia:NP