Here's Mother Jones' rundown of Kerry's service around that time.
November 17, 1968: Kerry arrives in Vietnam, where he is given command of Swift boat No. 44, operating in the Mekong Delta.You don't want to see their comparison with BushDecember 2, 1968: Kerry gets his first taste of intense combat, and is wounded in the arm. He is awarded a Purple Heart.
January, 1969: Kerry takes command of a new Swift boat, completing 18 missions over 48 days, almost all in the Mekong Delta area.
From 'Band of brothers' fight for man who saved them in Vietnam,Telegraph (UK) By David Rennie in Washington (Filed: 12/02/2004)
Mr Sandusky first turned out for his commander in 1996 when the Boston Globe suggested that Mr Kerry won his Silver Star with a war crime, alleging that the guerrilla he killed was unarmed.Mr Kerry called on his crewmen from PCF-94, who testified that the enemy soldier was still holding a rocket launcher when he was killed. [snip]
Mr Sandusky, who is from the Chicago suburbs, knows he is a precious asset to the Kerry campaign. "We establish his credibility. We were there when he got the medals," he said. [PCF 94 Crewmember Sandusky's] interview with The Telegraph was monitored by the Kerry press operation. But he insisted that he is his own man. He said: "I'm not getting paid. The campaign doesn't tell me what to do.
This is from an article about Kerry and Sandusky -- Elgin tie to presidential race
The pair met in 1969, when Kerry was the officer leading the PCF 44 riverboat and Sandusky was serving in the PCF 94 boat.Sandusky's officer was injured in an ambush and had to be sent home; Kerry's crew had been rotated out of duty.
"He was an officer without a crew, we were a crew without an officer, so we just kind of blended together," Sandusky said.
For 4 1/2 months [????? I thought it was 48 days] they ran their boat up and down the Mekong Delta, encountering gunfire at least two or three times a day, trying to outrun people trying to kill them. In that time, Sandusky formed a deep bond with Kerry.