Posted on 05/28/2004 6:32:58 PM PDT by Jeff Head
I know many people have seen this quote...but I believe it deserves a thread of its own that can be referenced, ping'ed, commented on, forwarded in emails, pointed to and referenced during the upcoming campaign.
This quote was made at a press conference by Rear Admiral Roy Hoffman, USN (retired) who is the chairman of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, on May 4, 2004. Senator Kerry We write from our common heritage as veterans of duty aboard Swift Boats in the Vietnam War. Indeed, you should note that a substantial number of those men who served directly with you during your four month tour in Vietnam have signed this letter. It is our collective judgment that, upon your return from Vietnam, you grossly and knowingly distorted the conduct of the American soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen of that war (including a betrayal of many of us, without regard for the danger your actions caused us). Further, we believe that you have withheld and/or distorted material facts as to your own conduct in this war. We believe you continue this conduct today, albeit by changing from an anti-war to a "war hero" status. You now seek to clad yourself in the very medals that you disdainfully threw away in the early years of your political career. In the process, we believe you continue a deception as to your own conduct through such tactics as the disclosure of only carefully screened portions of your military records. Both then and now, we have concluded that you have deceived the public, and in the process have betrayed honorable men, to further your personal political goals. Your conduct is such as to raise substantive concerns as to your honesty and your ability to serve, as you currently seek, as Commander-in-Chief of the military services. It is vital that the American public have as much information as possible about candidates for President of the United States. In various ways, you have rightly called upon President Bush to be fully accountable and to provide full disclosure. In the same spirit, now that you are the presumptive nominee of your Party, we believe it is incumbent upon you to make your total military record open to the American people. Specifically, we the undersigned formally request that you authorize the Department of the Navy to independently release your military records (through your execution of Standard Form 180), complete and unaltered, including your military medical records. Further, we call upon you to correct the misconceptions your campaign seeks to create as to your conduct while in Vietnam. Permit the American public the opportunity to assess your military performance upon the record, and not upon campaign rhetoric. Senator Kerry, we were there. We know the truth. We have been silent long enough. The stakes are too great, not only for America in general but, most importantly, for those who have followed us into service in Iraq and Afghanistan. We call upon you to provide a full, accurate accounting of your conduct in Vietnam. "I do not believe John Kerry is fit to be Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United States. This is not a political issue. It is a matter of his judgment, truthfulness, reliability, loyalty and trust -- all absolute tenets of command. His biography, 'Tour of Duty,' by Douglas Brinkley, is replete with gross exaggerations, distortions of fact, contradictions and slanderous lies. His contempt for the military and authority is evident by even a most casual review of this biography. He arrived in-country with a strong anti-Vietnam War bias and a self-serving determination to build a foundation for his political future. He was aggressive, but vain and prone to impulsive judgment, often with disregard for specific tactical assignments. He was a 'loose cannon.' In an abbreviated tour of four months and 12 days, and with his specious medals secure, Lt.(jg) Kerry bugged out and began his infamous betrayal of all United States forces in the Vietnam War. That included our soldiers, our marines, our sailors, our coast guardsmen, our airmen, and our POWs. His leadership within the so-called Vietnam Veterans Against the War and testimony before Congress in 1971 charging us with unspeakable atrocities remain an undocumented but nevertheless meticulous stain on the men and women who honorably stayed the course. Senator Kerry is not fit for command."
The Swift Boat Vets for Truth organization collectively sent a letter to John Kerry which many of you have also seen. 19 of 23 officers who served with him and every commanding officer he ever had in Vietnam signed that letter that says he is unfit to be commander-in-chief. Here is the text of that letter, which can also be found at the Swift Boat Vets for Truth Web Site.
FYI...good info here.
The book that Kerry wishes would just go away. |
HanoiJohnKerry.com is a blog with a primary purpose. That purpose is to counter the preposterous claims of Sen. John Forbes Kerry (D-MA) that he has any legitimate claim to any sort of "brotherhood" among combat veterans of the War in Vietnam. While it is generally supposed that his service as a Naval officer on a "Swift Boat" in that theater was adequate and honorable, there is much to question regarding his readiness to allow the accolade "war hero" to be applied to him. Likewise, it is not at all uncommon for more senior Naval officers to raise an eyebrow at the swiftness and relative comfort by which Lt. JG Kerry attained those medals, and who is available to vouch for the efficacy of his being awarded them (since, as boat commander, it would be his own task to make recommendation for awards for all personnel, including himself, on the Swift Boat). But most egregious was his conduct, words and associations upon his early-out (from SEA) return to the USA and discharge from the US Navy. His leadership role with the radical pro-Communist (inaccurate to deem this group "anti-war") group called "Vietnam Veterans Against the [Vietnam] War" (hereafter VVAW). |
It was while climbing the social and political ladder of the pro-Soviet Left as a principle of VVAW that John Kerry found his political soul-mate in Hanoi Jane Fonda. Granted, these politically formative years for Kerry were prior to the more outlandish acts of Fonda that earned her that name, but it is easily documentable that Fonda did not under go any radical transformation in belief or character from the time she and Kerry were working the same side of the street to the time she traveled to Hanoi, NVN and entered US history as the most overt traitor to ever NOT be charged, tried and executed. John Kerry went to his own overt extremes to demonstrate that, politically, socially and in lowness of character, there wasn't a nickel's worth of difference between he and Fonda. Thus, in the spirit of fairness and accuracy, we are reasonably certain that he will be agreeably flattered by calling him Hanoi John Kerry. |
Here, testifying before the Fulbright Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is where John Kerry, spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War, cemented his position and moniker as "Hanoi John" Kerry. This was the occasion where US troops still in the field in Vietnam learned from one of their FORMER brothers-in-arms that they were heinous murderers and war criminals. HJK would now like to call on them for support in his bid to be the new Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Perhaps the most preposterous hypocrisy of all. |
I'd rather suck my shotgun, than serve under President Kerry.
Senator Kerry is not fit to take out the trash.
Thanks for including all of that info on this thread Tonk...the Admiral says it all, and your own quote in this regard should also be included whenever people speak of Kerry's disservice to our Republic.
On my car now...
Senator Kerry is the trash. I pray we never have to be in the position with him, like we were with Clinton, to have to struggle and work so hard to take that particular trash out.
Says it all.
Americans that were Drafted, subject to the UN. I'm surprised he wasn't shot by his own troops in 'Nam.
May the good citizens of Massachusetts vote OUT TeddyK before he dies of a massive coronary...MUD
If he dwells on what it means to actually be in the President's seat and how much you must buck up your courage, because you become 24/7 a target, Kerry's knees may buckle, or short of that, he will strike out at the innocent.
In other words, he may not have the courage to tough it out through the time that it takes to distinguish friend from foe.
Indeed, that may explain his kneejerk reaction to have somebody else always relieve him of personal responsibility on serious matters, such as the U.N. and "foreign negotiations" in lieu of himself having to take the lead and be on point.
The track record indicates that he cannot do it.
Maybe he can; maybe has gained some salt; but he does not seem to be the kind of guy who, when in command, commands.
He is much more a university consensus bureaucrat talking tough from behind the ivy league wall --- yeah, that wall.
The country would not survive another such onslaught.
Kerry is a nutcase. Like some kind of odd "JFK" scavenger hunt I think Kerry went to Vietnam and got himself on a swift boat for four months to "be" John F. Kennedy. If you look at Kerry's life he has been a bit nutty about Kennedy.
Good info bump
GREAT sticker!
Actually it was given to me by my special forces buddy who was in SF for 23 years and sends me lots of good info. He is in daily touch by email with the SF community and they are all united in their opinion of the POS.
The guy was a nutcase, anti-American traitor then...nothing I have seen (despite the sheen they try to put on him) indicates to me that he is any different now.
Admiral Hoffman was on Hannity's show tonight.
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