Posted on 09/01/2004 7:46:05 AM PDT by mtntop3
Wednesday, September 01, 2004 — Time: 8:03:41 AM EST
Vietnam vet saved by Kerry coming to town
By JESS MANCINI
PARKERSBURG - A Vietnam veteran saved by presidential candidate John Kerry will be joined Thursday in Parkersburg with a Medal of Honor recipient from West Virginia.
Jim Rassman, a Green Beret lieutenant in 1969, will be at the War Memorial at 10 a.m. at City Park in Parkersburg, not Veterans Park as stated Tuesday morning by the Kerry-Edwards campaign. Rassman is spending two days in West Virginia on behalf of Kerry, the Democratic Party's nominee for president, as part of a tour of battleground states between Kerry and President Bush.
Kerry's service in Vietnam has been tainted by the self-proclaimed Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in television ads questioning the candidate's war record. The ads have been denounced by Democrats and some Republicans, including Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam prisoner of war.
Kerry served two tours in Vietnam and was awarded a Bronze Star with Combat V, a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts.
He was awarded the Bronze Star for an incident in March 1969 while on patrol in the Mekong Delta. Rassman was blown out of a boat and Kerry, who ordered suppressing fire into the shore, pulled him out of the water.
Rassman is traveling by bus and will arrive in West Virginia on Wednesday, said Amy Shuler Goodwin, Kerry-Edwards campaign spokeswoman for West Virginia.
Rassman today will be in Williamson, Henlawson and Madison during the day and Charleston in the evening, said Samantha Dallaire, another Kerry campaign spokeswoman in Charleston.
He will be at Parkersburg City Park at 10 a.m. for roughly 90 minutes before he goes to Clarksburg and then Wheeling, Dallaire said. No tickets or other special dispensations are needed to attend, she said.
''Everything is open,'' she said.
Rassman will be joined by Woody Williams, a Medal of Honor recipient from World War II; Don Kinnard, a recipient of the Navy Cross; and Frank Goff, who served in Korea with the 1092nd Engineer Battalion.
Williams is chairman of the West Virginia Veterans for Kerry-Edwards. Kinnard is vice chairman.
''I would think there will be a lot of veterans,'' Jean Grapes, executive director of the Wood County Democratic Party Executive Committee.
Rassman is sponsored by the Kerry campaign and the local party is not organizing the visit, other than publicizing it, Grapes said.
West Virginia has been dubbed a battleground state by the Bush and Kerry campaigns. Both have established campaign organizations.
Bush was in Wheeling on Sunday.
The president returns to West Virginia on Sunday afternoon in a campaign event in Parkersburg at a location yet to be determined. Stadium Field is a possible venue and tickets are available by calling the Republican National Committee office at 865-1237 in downtown Parkersburg, not the county Republican Party office on Emerson Avenue, said Rocky Peck, chairman of the Wood County Republican Party.
Ironically, "Woody" Williams, who is accompanying Rassman, received the Medal of Honor for his actions with the Marines on Iwo. He is chairman of the West Virginia Veterans for Kerry-Edwards. He is W.Va.'s only living Medal of Honor recipient. Woody is a very good man, but terribly mistaken on Kerry. Woody will be with Rassman - I, and hopefully others, will see to it that Woody is handed a copy of the cover of Kerry's book.
Kerry is very worried about WV. He sends Edwards there while he's windsurfing and re-arranging the deck chairs of his campaign peons and Edwards draws maybe 300.
Sending Rassman right after is a pretty good indication that Kerry knows WV is ripe for picking after he's had it in his column for most of the summer (by most polls).
If Bush produces a fitting end to the rising crescendo so far in New York, Kerry will so many states in play he won't know where to go first.
Will someone please ask Rassman if he's on the Kerry Campaign payroll?
"Kerry served two tours in Vietnam "
Now this is an outright lie. Kerry served 1/3 of a tour in Viet Nam.
Where did this truly DIM kool-aid drinker get his info from.
"Kerry served two tours in Vietnam "
Now this is an outright lie. Kerry served 1/3 of a tour in Viet Nam.
Where did this truly DIM kool-aid drinker get his info from.
Why does the scene from "Weekend At Bernie's" come to mind, where they're trying to escape Hampton Island in the boat and Bernie's corpse is jarred loose and falls in the water, banging into the channel markers as the two morons unknowingly drag it along?
Folks
I live just three miles from Madison and I went down there. There were hardly any people there besides the newsmen and a few vets that showed up out of obligation.
It was pretty sad, to be honest.
Wasn't there a Seinfeld episode about this guy and his 'Rassman' personalized license plates?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.