It really is amazing that John Kerry burst onto the political scene by disavowing his service in Vietnam and is now trying to become president by hyping it. Decades ago, he testified in front of the U.S. Senate and said he committed war crimes. Today, he snaps a salute, reports “ready for duty” and claims to be a war hero.

So which is it? Is he a war hero or a war criminal?

If you want to make up your own mind, I suggest reading John Kerry’s 1971 book, The New Soldier.

That book is remarkably hard to come by, but you can now read it online for free.

The front cover is particularly telling: a bunch of scruffy hippies flying the American flag upside down. Yes, these are supposedly our new soldiers. (Apparently, folks in 1971 weren’t very good at predicting the future.) That image alone, upon which the the text “by John Kerry” is printed, certainly isn’t helpful to Kerry’s “forget what I said before...now I’m a war hero” political packaging. And that may be precisely why you’ll hear nothing about that book in the old media.

But you can check it out for yourself. Even if you don’t have the time to read it, at least check out the pictures. They show images that I’m sure today’s John Kerry would just assume forget.