Not So Swift Boater

Those of us masochistic enough to have watched the 2004 Democratic convention might faintly recall the name Captain Wade Sanders. Sanders was one of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry’s fellow Swift Boat veterans, and Sanders was the man who introduced Kerry at the convention, whereupon the candidate saluted the crowd and uttered the immortal words, “I’m John Kerry, and I’m reporting for duty.”

Sanders’s role in the Kerry campaign was small but significant. Kerry was publicly being attacked by dozens of Swift Boat veterans who served with him in Vietnam. And Sanders was one of the few​—​perhaps only​—​fellow Swift Boat vets to defend Kerry’s questionable war record publicly. While Sanders’s record as a Democratic hack suggested he might have political reasons for supporting Kerry, Sanders also had a stellar military record, having been awarded a Silver Star in 1992, and his credibility wasn’t much in question.

That’s why The Scrapbook feels compelled to point out the ignominious denouement of the Wade -Sanders career. Yes, it’s true that Sanders is currently doing time in a federal penitentiary after admitting to being in possession of child pornography. As bad as that is, it’s not nearly as remarkable as what just happened to Sanders.

On July 18, Navy Times reported that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus had revoked Sanders’s Silver Star, the nation’s third highest award for combat valor​—​apparently for reasons having nothing to do with his recent criminal conduct.

“Had the subsequently determined facts and evidence surrounding both the incident for which the award was made and the processing of the award itself been known to the secretary of the Navy in 1992, those facts would have prevented the award of the Silver Star,” Captain Pamela Kunze told Navy Times regarding the Navy Department Board of Medals and Decorations’ decision.