This is Photoshop fake.
Those on the left had the sun on their left side.
Those on the right had sun on their right side.
The shadows indicate fraud OR that Earth had two suns that day.
Posted on 08/14/2004 7:15:31 AM PDT by 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.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.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.
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
If Alston was replaced on 28 February 1969, how does he end up back on the boat two weeks later?
The picture gives the impression of heat. Two of the men are in T-shirts, two are without shirts. Alston is wearing a black T-shirt and a camoflaged shirt. It just appears odd.
Hmmm? An article that gives credence to the doctored photo theory.
Clearly the man on the far left is without his tags and it appears that Kerry is also without his tags.
Of course, it may just be that they were being 'sensitive'.....who knows.
This is Photoshop fake.
Those on the left had the sun on their left side.
Those on the right had sun on their right side.
The shadows indicate fraud OR that Earth had two suns that day.
ping - like minds
It does not prove that Alston NEVER (as in February or March 1969) was part of Kerry's crew, or that Alston was NEVER on a mission with a flotilla of Swift boats, one of which Kerry skippered.
It appears that Kerry and Alson served together, using an appropriate defintion of the word "served." That is, even if Alson was never part of Kerry's crew, or was never on a boat in a flotilla that had Kerry in it, he can still serve with Kerry, much as many of the Swiftees did.
Or there was a flashbulb.
Right next to a crate of oranges. All swift boats carried these provisions so the crew wouldn't get scurvy on long voyages.
That detail strikes me as a little strange, too. Prehaps they were on their way home from the grocery store when they were attacked.
Yes, he is.
How many "clarifications" does this make for Mr. Brinkley now?
Why would this surprise anybody? He took people who never even served in Vietnam to testify before Congressional committees.
I want to know who pays those guys' expenses.
That's true regarding the Swift boat vets but wouldn't you agree that kerry and Alston's service together is a fairly visible part of kerry's campaign? He is, after all, part of kerry's "Band of Brothers". I believe that Alston has made more than a few very passionate speeches about his service with kerry.
Could this be just one more piece of a totally fraudulent campaign?
The photo is consistent with a picture being taken with the subjects looking directly into the sun.
All this speculation does is make it easier to discredit this.
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. We need records that indicate that Altson was elsewhere from 30 Jan to 28 Feb. Since he'd suffered a head wound, it's certainly reasonable to conclude that he'd not be returned to duty for 4 weeks, but we need proof.
Another thing which this brings to mind is the question of how the hole left by Alston was filled until 28 Feb. It's possible that people were borrowed from other boats on a mission by mission basis. IIRC Alston was the forward gunner, just as Stever Gardner was. Gardner says he served on Kerry's boat while Kerry was OIC. Was it during this period? If it was, that would explain why records do not show Gardner assigned to Kerry's boat, he could have been a loaner. Perhaps his boat was down for repairs or something and so he was loaned to Kerry's crew to fill in for Alston? It's an interesting possibility at least.
Not to mention the fact that 3 of them have regular fatigues, Alston has on one type of camo and the guy in the white t-shirt is wearing sand colored camo (which I don't think was used in 'Nam.
No I don't think this photo is doctored.... but look at the circumstances of the picture.
You have Alston standing there in his full uniform (BDU's), while the rest of the crew is in a very relaxed state of dress.
To me it looks like the swift boat crew just came back from patrol, saw their friend Alston on the dock and said "hey, let's get a picture Alston."
Yancy
That detail strikes me as a little strange, too. Prehaps they were on their way home from the grocery store when they were attacked.
Oranges I could easily understand. You wouldn't need any kind of galley for the crew to eat oranges while out on a patrol. But potatoes?? As I said, this makes no sense to me whatsoever.
Maybe that grocery store was in Cambodia. (yeah, that's the ticket.)
No I don't think this photo is doctored.... but look at the circumstances of the picture.
You have Alston standing there in his full uniform (BDU's), while the rest of the crew is in a very relaxed state of dress.
To me it looks like the swift boat crew just came back from patrol, saw their friend Alston on the dock and said "hey, let's get a picture Alston."
Yancy
Thanks, Stayout.
Sorry, bud - I wanna believe that Kerry is faking photos - because that would be a great bombshell, but I think your analysis is wrong.
The sun appears to been above and in front of the subjects. That is, if you look at the picture on your computer screen while standing up, the sun is probably somewhere near your eyes.
Based on the specific angle that each man is standing at, the shadows *appear* to be caused by light sources coming from different directions. The subjects on the left side of the picture are angled with there right shoulders forward. The subjects on the right side have their *left* shoulders slightly forward. The guy in the middle is facing almost directly forward, so his shadow falls directly below his chin.
Finally, you can tell they are facing into the sun because they are all squinting to some extent.
So - no dice on the Photoshop fake.
But the evidence supporting the assertion that Alston never served under Kerry is not perfectly water tight, IMO.
For example, it's possible that Alston served sometime between January 29 and February 28 (when Fred Short was onboard and described as an replacement for a wounded David Alston), and that his absence on Feb 28 was for "routine" follow up treatment, or treatment of a complication such as infection. Likewise, the fact that Alston was not on Kerry's boat on March 13 only proves March 13.
I don't discount the theory, mind you, and am inclined to think that the Alson served under Kerry story is a lie, that was to have been supported by the January 1969 Spot Reports. Kerry's campaign web site had January 1969 action listed, and creditied Kerry with being there (he was not). The Alston connection may be a minor piece of the lie that just wasn't tied up when the other material was removed.
Oh, what tangled web we weave ...
A flashbulb would 1) make shadows BEHIND them
and 2) would lessen the shadows.
Ergo, it is a fake, consistent with Kerry and his ilk.
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