Alston Never Served Under Kerry

Captain's Quarters ^ | 8/14/2004 | captain ed

[stayout]

For those of you who have not been fully following the Swift Vet's story, one of Kerry's traveling entourage (David Alston) claimed he was under Kerry's command on a PBF and found Kerry to be a great leader. He even gave a speech to that effect at the Democratic National Convention, where he said the following:

I know him from a small boat in Vietnam, where we fought and bled together, serving our country. There were six of us aboard PCF-94, a 50-foot, twin-engine craft known as a "Swift Boat." We all came from different walks of life, but all of us-including our skipper, John Kerry-volunteered for combat duty. And combat is what we got.

However, one intrepid blogger now has proven that to be a lie, Alston never served under Kerry because Alston was wounded and out of action before Kerry took command of Alston's boat. Here is the final bit of proof (published early this morning), I suggest you go to Captain's Quarters to find all the previous analysis leading up to this astonishing coup de gras (pass the word):

Alston Never Served Under Kerry

Thanks to reader Lori in Texas, I think we've just about pieced the record together on David Alston and his supposed service under John Kerry's command. Lori points out a sympathetic article on Dale Sandusky, one of the few Swift boat veterans supporting Kerry and one that served on his boat, specifically gives the timing on Kerry's command of PCF-94:

In January 1969, Sandusky's boat, PCF-94, came under attack during one such ambush. Lt. Ted Peck, the officer in charge, and another crewman were seriously wounded. Sandusky had to take command. The boat was sinking and on fire, but Sandusky steered it back to safety. They counted 155 bullet holes in the boat and found a live enemy rocket in the main cabin. It had come to rest in a sack of potatoes.

For his actions, Sandusky would receive the Bronze Star.

With their officer headed home, the crew of PCF-94 needed a leader. And Lt. j.g. John Kerry, whose crew on PCF-44 had rotated back home, needed men to lead.

"I was sure glad he came along," Sandusky said, "because to be honest, I didn't want to take command."

From Jan. 30 to March 13, 1969, Kerry and the crew of the PCF-94 would conduct 18 missions in the Mekong Delta river system. In that time, Kerry would earn a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and add two Purple Hearts to the one he received earlier.

Bingo! Yachtzee! Alston received his serious wounds in that same exact battle that took Peck out of service. On January 29th, Alston was medevaced out to a hospital with head wounds and no records indicate that he ever returned to the unit. Kerry took command of PCF-94 the next day. Alston never served a day under Kerry's command. In fact, Kerry received a replacement, Fred Short, on 28 February as a replacement for Alston.

Now what does that tell us about Kerry and his Viet Nam narrative?

1. He and Alston conspired to deceive people about Alston's service under Kerry. That conspiracy was intended to give John Kerry cover against exactly the kind of campaign he faces from the other Swiftvets.

2. The "end of January" language on Kerry's website was intentionally vague in order to fuzzy up the timeline and keep Alston's true status a secret. Obviously, Sandusky remembers the dates well enough, and Kerry could easily have gotten them from him if he wanted to be as specific as his other dates on the timeline.

3. The DNC either were saps or actively participated in the conspiracy in order to assist Kerry in his Viet Nam mythology. Otherwise, why would they have allowed David Alston to speak at the convention about his experiences serving with John Kerry on the boat?

4. Kerry's band of brothers have some complicity in this cover-up as well. Those who served on PCF-94 surely remember that Alston never served under Kerry; Sandusky specifically recalls Peck being wounded and removed from command, but he wouldn't remember that Alston left at the same time?

5. One could argue that they served on the same boat, of course, and I look forward to that Clintonian parsing used in Kerry's defense. After holding Alston up as an expert on his leadership, he'll be hard pressed to explain how that expertise came to Alston from a hospital bed miles away from Kerry and his old PCF.

If this gets out to the mainstream media, this story kills Kerry's campaign. This isn't just a guy embellishing his war record -- this is a deliberate and longstanding attempt to mislead and defraud people by creating his own witnesses after the fact. That he could have done such a clumsy job should disqualify him for higher office on that basis alone.

Posted by Captain Ed at August 14, 2004 01:25 AM

[Bob from De]

My concern is the picture regarding the silver star presentation. Sandusky and Thorson are shown with medals.
Do the others also have medals? I seem to recall, either in the book or an article, a plan to turn 3 boats into shore
and even a discussion of " what medals they would get ".
To expose Kerry they would have to expose themselves.
The question is - " Band of Brothers " or ' Band of Liars "

[claudiustg]

---According to Alston's mother, he did not return to duty after his wounds on Jan. 29---

Do you have a source for this?

[FairOpinion]

Do we know EXACTLY when did Kerry start serving on Swift Boats and which ones?

There was some earlier claim, that he served on PFC 94 from Dec to early January, then on PFC 44, then later again on PFC 94.

I understand that the claim of serving on PFC 94 earlier has been debunked, but it would be nice to have a factual, detailed timeline of exactly where he was when.

Of course, if he released his military records, that would show the truth -- on second thought, maybe that's why he isn't releasing them.

My only concern is that we need to make sure we are 200% sure, with proof, of any allegations, otherwise one mistake will give the Dems an excuse to try to claim everything the Swifties are saying aren't true either.

(As the photoshopped Kerry with Fonda, allowed the Dems to deny in one fell swoop all pictures, even the true picture where Kerry is in the same rally, sitting a bit further back behind Fonda)

[Nov3]

In his Democratic Convention speech, the Rev. Alston put himself on Kerry's boat as a witness to Kerry's action on Feb. 28, 1969 when Kerry earned his Silver Star. The March photo proves that David Alston was not on Kerry's boat that day. Fred Short was his replacement. So why is the Rev. Alston lying for Kerry? And what does this have to say about the credibility of the other crewmen who haven't complained about Alston's remarks.

Alston was wounded on Jan. 29. He was sent to a hospital. Fred Short replaced him. According to Alston's mother, he did not return to duty after his wounds on Jan. 29, so it would appear he never served under Kerry as he claims

Don't get me wrong, I am of the belief that he probably did not have serve with Kerry. That being said I don't want Lanny Davis to have some incontrovertable proof that he was in Kerry's boat and make all the evidence we have look like trash. We need something like another separate billet for Alston (the man of "God".)

Let's get the HARD evidence before we send people out in the national spotlight to run their mouths.

[decimon]

That link of yours is to an expanded picture that shows some things about Belodeau that I don't like. His right leg and Alston's left leg...well. And his feet. What is that his feet are melding with?

[TruBluKentuckian]

If this image doesn't show up bear with me, I'm trying out a image host.

[Diogenesis]

BINGO.

Also explains the merging into the ocean of the object
to Kerry's right (our left).

Gosh, could that mean Sen. Kerry or his supporters .... might lie?

[Quick_Rod]

I have to agree with the others concerning the tarp covered gun but the one thing that stands out to me is the angle of the shadows. Kerry and the guy standing next to him have shadows that make the sun appear to be up and over their left shoulders while the other three more directly up and to the right.

Also, again notice the angle of view for Kerry and the guy next to him as compared to the other three. I could be wrong but those features of this photo stand out more then anything else if this photo is to be considered bogus.

[Quick_Rod]

Sorry blood, posted my comments along the same lines before I got to your post. Didn't mean it to appear that I stole this theory from you.

[kabar]

Excerpts from the Alston speech at the convention

I know him from a small boat in Vietnam, where we fought and bled together, serving our country. There were six of us aboard PCF-94, a 50-foot, twin-engine craft known as a "Swift Boat." We all came from different walks of life, but all of us-including our skipper, John Kerry-volunteered for combat duty. And combat is what we got.

Manning the deck guns, most of us got wounded sooner or later, including Lieutenant Kerry. It would have been easiest, in an ambush, to simply rake the shore with return fire and roar on down the river to safety. But Lieutenant Kerry was known for taking the fight straight to the enemy. I can still see him now, standing in the doorway of the pilothouse, firing his M-16, shouting orders through the smoke and chaos.

Once, he even directed the helmsman to beach the boat, right into the teeth of an ambush, and pursued our attackers on foot, into the jungle. In the toughest of situations, Lieutenant Kerry showed judgment, loyalty and courage. Even wounded, or confronting sights no man should ever have to see, he never lost his cool.

And when the shooting stopped, he was always there too, with a caring hand on my shoulder asking, "Gunner, are you OK?" I was only 21, running on fear and adrenaline. Lieutenant Kerry always took the time to calm us down, to bring us back to reality, to give us hope, to show us what we truly had within ourselves. I came to love and respect him as a man I could trust with life itself.

http://www.dems2004.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=luI2LaPYG&b=131063&ct=158727

[Mr Ramsbotham]

It certainly looks like airbrushing to me.

I work in an IT shop where in our lighter moments we're always trying to doctor up a photograph for comic effect. Some come out better than others, but this one looks so contrived in places as to be absolutely obvious.

[TruBluKentuckian]

Since this picture was taken before digital cameras, a negative has to exist somewhere, or at least an "original" print. Someone needs to provide one of the two.

[Ann Archy]

Doug "Kerryshill" Brinkley is a HACK HISTORIAN!! What a lying POS, but then he's a Democrat and it looks like they ALL lie!

[Aliska]

What if Kerry's enemies doctored up the picture, if it is doctored? Could some of those strange artifacts simply be the result of a poor scan? Unless it can be traced back to Kerry's supporters, it is just a waste of time.

What bothers me is I finally found the two pictures under discussion on a Vets against Kerry site. They claim to have had other pictures up there that the Kerry campaign made them take down. If these two pictures came from them, why wouldn't they make them take them down, too?

We need to know the origin of the picture that may have been doctored. Nobody is questioning the other one.

[Number_Cruncher]

---According to Alston's mother, he did not return to duty after his wounds on Jan. 29---

--Do you have a source for this?

It comes from Captain's Quarters website.

Also why would Alston be replaced on about Feb 14 by Short if Alston had recovered from his wounds by then?

[Mr Ramsbotham]

Compare this photo with the one showing Kerry and the crew, minus Alston, supposedly taken in March of 1969. In that photo there are none of the inconsistencies seen in this supposedly-doctored one.

All this suggests that the Kerry campaign rounded up a group of so-called "Brothers," who were willing to go to bat for Kerry's war achievements, despite the fact that some of them were in no position to vouch for him.

[devolve]

                        

                  
                        

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[El Gato]

Here's a picture of the gun without the canvas cover. From PCF-45.

[calcowgirl]

>>>"From Jan. 30 to March 13, 1969, Kerry and the crew of the PCF-94 would conduct 18 missions"
= 43 days, correct?

According to the following document, I count 7 missions for PCF-94.

http://www.johnkerry.com/about/john_kerry/command_history.html

[Anti-Bubba182]

There is similar photo in Kerry's office.

I took that photo and enlarged it.

At first I saw the differences and thought somebody faked the published photo for sure, but when I enlarged the photo and noticed Alston ducking down and the changed expression on the third man, it appears that the photo may be part of a series of shots.