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

[Pikachu_Dad]

I hope that was an ENEMY plane going down in flame...

[woofie]

My guess is Kerry forgot all about who he served with in Viet Nam etc. He gets back to the states throws himself into the anti-war movement,parlays that into politics,rides it until he needs to look like a war hero then fishes around for folks to make him look good.....anyone will do

[dennisw]

So if (Preacherman) Alston stood up in front of God, the DNC Convention, CNN and the whole world extolling the sheer, naked heroism of J-FK and it was all fabricated - a BIG LIE - then why aren't Bill O'Reilly and Matt Drudge all over this like white on rice?

IMO Alston is one of those wacko preachers. He said Kerry is a man of God. LINK

• David Alston, Kerry Crewmate & Gunner from PCF-94: “David Alston was the gunner atop Kerry's pilot house. Kerry, he told an audience here, was a compassionate commander. ‘We were in a lot of firefights,’ Alston said. ‘You learn a lot about people. After a firefight, John would come up to me and he would put his hand on me and he'd say, 'David, are you all right?’ ‘I didn't know then that I had a man of God on my boat,’ Kerry said. ‘That's probably why I'm here today’.” [Orlando Sentinel, 1/31/04]

 

[Pikachu_Dad]

"On March 13, 1969, a mine detonated near Kerry's boat, slighting wounding Kerry in the right arm. He was awarded his third Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for valor."

"PCF (Patrol Craft Fast) 94 crew in March 1969,"


Interesting picture. What is the actual date? Before or after Kerry's last purple heart? WHERE IS THE INJURY? OR EVEN THE TWO PRIOR INJURIES FOR THAT MATTER.

We are only talking about a 4 month span after all.

[dennisw]

My guess is Kerry forgot all about who he served with in Viet Nam etc. He gets back to the states throws himself into the anti-war movement,parlays that into politics,rides it until he needs to look like a war hero then fishes around for folks to make him look good.....anyone will do

Kerry is a lying scoundrel same as Bill Clinton. Heaven help us if he gets in. It will be a cabinet full of lawyers again. And John Kerry is sure to get at least two Supreme Court appointments

[secret garden]

If you think that's funny, wait till we start on the moose and the beebers. All your jokes are belong to us. ;)

[Happy2BMe]

• Alston Commends Kerry’s Trustworthiness, Courage, Judgment & Character: “David Alston, a chemical operator at a local nuclear plant and a Baptist minister, was a cut more formal in his brown plaid suit than most of the crowd basking in 60-degree breezes around the latticed and columned front porch. Sturdy-looking and down-to-earth, Alston took the microphone, skipped the preliminaries and carried the meeting straight back to the dangerous world he once shared with Kerry, a 50-foot-long Navy ‘swift boat’ in the jungle estuaries of Vietnam. ‘Down in the Mekong Delta, we lived together, we fought together, we bled together and we survived together,’ said Alston. ‘Whether we were Democratic or Republican was not the issue,’ he said. ‘The issues at that time were trust, courage, judgment and character.’ Alston attached those attributes to Kerry and introduced his friend with no further ceremony.” [Providence Journal-Bulletin, 3/23/03]

__________________________

This guy has the aptitude to work at a nuclear plant and stands in front of people preaching the Gospel but is now being challenged on his account of Kerry being a "man of God" and saving multiple lives - yet having NEVER SERVED with Kerry.

That's the STORY, right?

Something is wrong with this picture. There should be all kinds of red flags going up over this. Alston was a keynote speaker and a cornerstone character witness to Kerry's impeccable war record and yet this story is not plastered all over the web.

What's up with that?

[texasbluebell]

Please read my post link on another thread and tell me what you think.

Does anyone know what Gardner looks like?

[the Real fifi]

He was injured on January 29. The incident in question took place on February 28. The picture of the crew in which he appears does not show any sign of injury. His mother said he returned home after his injury.

The Boston Globe pic of the men who served on the boart at the time of the Silver Cross incident is a full complement--and no Alston. Brinkley's book details the medals won by those on the boat--Kerry and(a full complement of 5 crew) and NO Alston.

I suspect the picture was taken BEFORE Kerry took command of the boat.

[texasbluebell]

Yes, good take on it.

[185JHP]

Dual use technology. Cambodia was a high-stress environment at that time, and taters provide carbs to help deal with the stress. And any you don't use as ammo, you can turn into curly fries on the way back to base.

[texasbluebell]

I would certainly like to see a photo of Gardner to know if that's him in that photo from the office wall...

Thanks for working on that a bit more -- to my eyes those look like 2 different people.

[texasbluebell]

But it's really hard to tell, since one is so blurry, and shows him smiling so broadly.

[texasbluebell]

Sorry for the earlier pings, but I think the other man in question, Gardner, is not black after all!

[Lancey Howard]

According to Newsweek's assistant managing editor Evan Thomas, "There's one other base here, the media. Let's talk a little media bias here. The media, I think, wants Kerry to win...."

Sorry. Game, set, and match - - the truth loses.

[Palladin]

Oh, what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive.

[wasp69]

Thank God Almighty for the internet.

[bjcintennessee]

ping

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The main Stream Media will keep him flying I am afraid..

[Quick_Rod]

Wrong, Kerry is tilting his head to the left and the blonde guy to the right, regardless neither would address the fact the sun would have to be in a different position to cause to the shadows to appear the way they are.