Something's fishy.

I've long thought that John Kerry's war record was phoney. We talked about it when you were here. It's mainly been instinct because, as you know, nobody who claims to have seen the action he does would so shamelessly flaunt it for political gain.

I was in the Delta shortly after he left. I know that area well. I know the operations he was involved in well. I know the tactics and the doctrine used. I know the equipment. Although I was attached to CTF-116 (PBRs) I spent a fair amount of time with CTF-115 (swift boats), Kerry's command.

(1) Kerry was in-country less than four months and collected, a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three purple hearts. I never heard of anybody with any outfit I worked with (including SEAL One, the Sea Wolves, Riverines and the River Patrol Force) collecting that much hardware so fast, and for such pedestrian actions. The Swifts did a commendable job. But that duty wasn't the worst you could draw. They operated only along the coast and in the major rivers (Bassac and Mekong). The rough stuff in the hot areas was mainly handled by the smaller, faster PBRs. Fishy.

(2) Three Purple Hearts but no limp.. All injuries so minor that no time lost from duty. Amazing luck. Or he was putting himself in for medals every time he bumped his head on the wheel house hatch? Combat on the boats was almost always at close range. You didn't have minor wounds. At least not often. Not three times in a row. Then he used the three purple hearts to request a trip home eight months before the end of his tour.. Fishy.

(3) The details of the event for which he was given the Silver Star make no sense at all. Supposedly, a B-40 (rocket propelled grenade) was fired at the boat and missed. Charlie jumps up with the launcher in his hand, the bow gunner knocks him down with the twin .50 (caliber machine guns), Kerry beaches the boat, jumps off, shoots Charlie, and retrieves the launcher. If true, he did everything wrong. (a) Standard procedure when you took rocket fire was to put your stern to the action and go (away) balls to the wall. A B-40 has the ballistic integrity of a Frisbee after about 25 yards, so you put 50 yards or so between you and the beach and begin raking it with your .50's. (b) Did you ever see anybody get knocked down with a .50 caliber round and get up? The guy was dead or dying. The rocket launcher was empty. There was no reason to go after him (except if you knew he was no danger to you - just flopping around in the dust during his last few seconds on earth, and you wanted some derring-do in your after-action report). And we didn't shoot wounded people. We had rules against that, too. (c) Kerry got off the boat. This was a major breach of standing procedures. Nobody on a boat crew ever got off a boat in a hot area. EVER! The reason was simple. If you had somebody on the beach your boat was defenseless. It couldn't run and it couldn't return fire. It was stupid and it put his crew in danger. He should have been relieved and reprimanded. I never heard of any boat crewman ever leaving a boat during or after a firefight.

Here we have a JFK wannabe who is hardly in Vietnam long enough to get a good tan, collects medals faster than Audie Murphy in a job where lots of medals weren't common, gets sent home eight months early, requests separation from active duty a few months after that so he can run for Congress, finds out war heros don't sell well in Massachusetts in 1970 so reinvents himself as Jane Fonda, throws his ribbons in the dirt with the cameras running to jump start his political career, gets Stillborn Pell to invite him to address Congress and Bobby Kennedy's speechwriter to do the heavy lifting, winds up in the Senate himself a few years later, votes against every major defense bill, says the CIA is irrelevant after the Wall (Berlin) came down, votes against the Gulf War, a big mistake since that turned out well, decides not to make the same mistake twice so votes for invading Iraq, but oops, that didn't turn out so well so he now says he really didn't mean for Bush to go to war when he voted to allow him to go to war.

I'm real glad you or I never had this guy covering out flanks in Vietnam. I sure don't want him as Commander in Chief. I hope that somebody from CTF-115 shows up with some documented facts challenging Kerry's Vietnam record.

This e-mail was written by Mike Morrison, who won a bronze star in Vietnam and who is now retired, but wrote speeches for Lee Iacocca for many years. It was sent to his brother Ed, who sent it to one of our readers who follows such matters. -Ed.-

Gotta love the wording here in that link:
"February 28, 1969:
When Kerry's Patrol Craft Fast 94 received a B-40 rocket shot from shore, he hot dogged his craft beaching it in the center of the enemy position. To his surprise, an enemy soldier sprang up from a hole not ten feet from Patrol Craft 94 and fled.

The boat's machine gunner hit and wounded the fleeing Viet Cong as he darted behind a hootch. The twin .50s gunner fired at the Viet Cong. He said he "laid 50 rounds" into the hootch before Kerry leaped from the boat and dashed in to administer a "coup de grace" to the wounded Viet Cong. Kerry returned with the B-40 rocket and launcher.

Kerry was given a Silver Star for his actions."

The VC ran behind a hut that became swiss cheese from .50 cal fire.
Kerry then runs BEHIND the hut and out of sight of his crew to shoot the already dead body.
I'd say the guy was already dead after the twin .50's raked the area, no way in h#!! the VC could be only 'wounded' from a .50 cal hit.
He'd have bits and pieces fly off, a .50 makes a darn big hole.
Kerry admitted to endangering his crew and his command in the face of the enemy as well as pretty much ABANDONING his command in front of the enemy.
There was no reason to beach the craft or charge the beach.

So, the guy has 3 PHs, 1 BS w/V, 1 SS. He was in country 4 months. Folks are suggesting this is fishy.

My take that Combat Kerry is "fishy", but trying to dissect his awards and decorations from VN is counter productive, here's why:

The 3 PHs, as Combat Kerry readily admits were each minor "wounds". They may very well have been scratches that did not even require stitches. It does not matter, PHs were handed out like aspirin in some units. 3 minor "wounds" in 4 months is no big deal. Any time someone in my platoon was treated by our medic (who was assigned to the platoon and went on missions w/us) they were eligible for a PH. They did not have to take it, they could ask doc not to submit the paperwork. But, if they wanted, they could get one. Scraping your arm diving for cover and you qualified, same as if you took a punji stake in the leg. Combat Kerry seems to have never passed an opportunity to collect a PH. A PH is only indicative of a combat wound, it does not, by itself, represent an award for valor or heroism.

The BSM w/V, This was awarded to Combat Kerry in the well publicized event where he pulled the SF guy out of the drink under enemy fire. Nothing "fishy" about this event or this award.

The SS,This award was made to Combat Kerry for the event where he beached his boat and went ashore and administered a "coup de grace" to an enemy combatant. There are some questions being raised about whether Combat Kerry acted properly and the condition of and threat posed by the combatant. There are also questions being asked about what Admiral Zumwalt may have said about Combat Kerry's behavior based on a third party's claimed quote by Admiral Zumwalt many years ago. But, the major questions associated with this event have been addressed and answered compellingly by the witnesses and individuals involved. In 1996 as part of Combat Kerry's response to a newspaper article that raised these very same questions, Combat gathered all the players and they all vouched for Combat Kerry and they all supported the specific details of the event and the award. Admiral Zumwalt was there (he is the officer who approved the SS) and he is quoted as having said he wanted to put Combat Kerry in for an even higher award, but it would have taken too long to get approved. The gunner Mr. Belodeau was there and supported Combat Kerry and even went so far as to say that previous articles had misquoted him regarding the condition of the enemy combatant. Nothing "fishy" about this award unless it can be proven that Combat, his drew, his commanding officer and Admiral Zumwalt were all in on it.

So, forget the PHs for the moment. What we really have is two separate events that have been well publicized and the witnesses and participants ALL are on the record supporting the details as reported. Two events in 4 months. I was a grunt in VN, so I don't know from Navy Swift boats, but 4 months is a long time and 2 events in 4 months is not a lot.

Regarding Combat Kerry's SS, it may be that lesser individuals (not politically connected) would have been reprimanded for beaching their boat. Combat Kerry may have been a "hot potatoe" to the Navy, because of his known connections. But it doesn't matter, the decision was made by the Navy commanders to award him the SS. Since all questions regarding this issue have been addressed and answered by the very people who witnessed the event and approved the award, there is nothing left to question on this award. Remember, these folks chose to come to Combat Kerry's side and stand shoulder to shoulder almost 30 years after this happened.

I don't think it is realistic to expect any vet organization to attack Combat Kerry on his awards. To do so would require an attack on each and every vet who participated in or witnessed these events. That ain't gonna happen, nor should it.

As frustrating as it may be, I think we should leave this alone.

Yes, I did read your posts, and you are misunderstanding his point.

"But it would be more effective coming from vets as vets, not as members of Bush's campaign."

More effective...

He never suggested that veterans are a "a designated minority sub-set of the Republican party", as you stated. I never saw him suggest "segmenting the GOP into situational usefull special interest groups..." My take on his posts is, simply, that it would be more effective if Kerry were called to task by his peers. And, as the wife of a Viet Nam vet, I agree.

"That stinks to high heaven of a Democrat mentallity."
"You both sound like poster children for former Democrats, current RINOs."

You sound like a poster child for the immature. Grow up...

Thank you for alerting me to this!

Dems will try to manipulate questions of Kerry's military service as victim of VRWC, as they portrayed Cleland's loss. However, it is Kerry who questions President Bush's service; Kerry has made his service topic A, he is lauded by the Media as a war hero.

He has opportunistically used his service record as a resume for elective office. It is fair game; as is his very public anti-military record, Congressional speeches and his charges AGAINST his former "band of brothers" that they were all war criminals.

In essence, John Forbes Kerry has now duped John Forbes Kerry into accounting for his past - his voting record, his association with Jane Fonda, VVATW, the big dig. Kerry has straddled issues forever and gotten away with in in MA and the Senate cocoon.

Should he become the nominee, he has to emerge from the Senate cocoon, the media protection and face the voter.

BTW, my money is still on Hillary as the anointed one.

"Has anyone ever found out about one of Kerry's band of brothers, the one who claims to have flown out to Iowa at his own expense to reunite with Kerry?"

Exactly.

No way that "brother" just sees Kerry on TV and, suddenly out of the blue, decides to fly to Iowa at the last minute to support is "savior."

After all, if this man was so thankful for having had his life saved, he would have called or written Kerry years ago.

Kerry was a national public figure whose picture was all over TV, etc. It's not like this guy suddenly realized that Kerry was still alive.

No, this was set up long ago, when Kerry first decided to run for President.

The thing that REALLY made me suspicious was the fact that this "brother" claimed to be a Republican, but was "so impressed" with Kerry that he just had to fly to Iowa to show his support.

It was just all too staged for my simple brain to comprehend.

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