My husband was OIC on a Swift Boat in Viet Nam at about the same time as Kerry. Oh, the horror stories he tells! I mean - My Gawd! - there were rumors of Swifties who had to go days - DAYS, I TELL YOU!! - at a time on patrol when the fridge on the boat didn't work! Imagine! Doing 24-36 hours patrols with WARM sodas!!! Now, THAT'S cruel and unusual!! And the pure physical effort and pain required to write up one's own commendations?!?! Well, you can't EVEN imagine the suffering involved!
For whatever it's worth, the Swifties don't even much care for Kerry from what we hear. We can only hope (and pray) he will ultimately be exposed for the hypocrite he really is.
Does your husband have a comment on the reason why Rassman fell out of Kerry's boat? I can easily see erratic -panic- not thinking of his crew - steering as a cause, which he then turns into a medal winning situation. He was the ranking officer present!