Posted on 03/10/2004 4:02:39 PM PST by Interesting Times
There are some aspects of John Kerry's service in Vietnam which, for me, do not add up. I have seen other articles raising the same questions, but I have been unable to track down the original authors. These observations are mine, and I was there.
I commanded an Army LCM-8 in the Infantry support role in Vietnam, 1968-69. At 73 feet, 65 tons light (120tons laden), I could easily have carried a "Swift" boat as cargo. This was a Sergeant's (E-5) command in the Army. We were tasked to carry infantry on many occasions, throughout the RungSat Special zone west toward the Parrot's Beak, from many units, both US and ARVN. Eventually my 34 boat and SGT Phil Layton's 17 boat were attached semi-permanently, for several months, to the 199th Light Infantry Bde, operating in the "Pineapple area" west of Saigon, up the Vam Co Dong, and to the west of it.
The "Swift" boats, unarmored and unable to carry many troops, were tasked with offshore interdiction and maintaining river superiority in the larger rivers. They did good work, and were frequently engaged, but they typically did not work close-in. The Navy PBR campaign in the smaller rivers and streams is well known, but they, too could not carry troops. That task was carried out by the converted LCM-6s of the MRF, and on a smaller scale, by our LCM-8s attached to the 199th LIB and other units. We lived with the Infantry, supported them, maneouvered them (I could carry a full company), and extracted them if they got into trouble. We would have known of any such widespread atrocities as alleged by Kerry, and in 15 months, I saw or heard of none. We knew our rules of engagement. I have personally received fire from a village and did not return it, as that was exactly what the NVA wanted us to do.
Some of my questions are as follows:
- Purple Hearts; Kerry was awarded three Purple Hearts, yet his records reportedly show no loss of duty time. I have a Purple Heart. I was hit in the posterior with a dime-sized piece of 81mm frag, which travelled 5 inches, and was surgically removed at Bn. Aid. I could walk without problems, and voluntarily returned to the boat in a few days, but the medical report called for two weeks limited duty. In the 199th LIB, you didn't get a PH for a minor piece of frag extracted by the squad medic and covered with a band-aid, or every man in the Brigade would have about six.
- Early Out; Kerry then invoked a Naval Reg allowing an early out for those three Purple Hearts. I wonder how he told his crew. "Hey, guys, I'm going home, enjoy your next eight months." Real morale builder. Real loyalty.
- Silver Star/Bronze Star; I worked with some very active, engaged units, and have never heard of so much hardware being collected so quickly, and for comparitively "everyday" actions. For example, notwithstanding my boat's NINE watertight compartments, the NVA sank me in the Song Ben Luc with two rounds of recoilless rifle fire in an ambush. SGT Phil Layton, behind me, immediately dropped his bow ramp and drove INTO A KNOWN AMBUSH to push my sinking boat out of the kill zone. He was not written up for any award for this action, it simply wasn't sufficiently out of the ordinary in that unit. I stand in awe of the doings of some of the men of the Brigade who never received an award of any kind. They figure the CIB covers it. I guess it does.
Additionally, in later years, Major General Frederic E. Davison told me that he became so frustrated when in command of the Brigade, upon sending up reccomendations for the Silver Star or higher, only to have them downgraded to ARCOM-V, that he began awarding the Bronze Star-V, which was his highest authorized direct award, even when he felt a higher award was warranted. (SGT Layton later received one such, for another action.)
- Kerry's SS Action; As I understand it, his boat was fired upon by a B-40 (Chinese copy of a Soviet RPG), and Kerry's Fifty Cal. gunner returned fire, hitting the NVA gunner, whereupon Kerry ran the boat on the beach, jumped off, chased and shot the Enemy with an M-16, and returned with the empty launcher. Had I ever made so many bonehead mistakes in an action, I would have had a VERY uncomfortable interview with the Battalion Commander, who would have busted me to WAC apprentice, for starters.
1 - Swift and PBR doctrine would have been to turn away from a B-40, as they had the speed to open the range rapidly. We would have turned toward it, as we were slower, and the ramp was the strongest part of the boat.
2 - In my experience, a person hit by a Fifty doesn't get up. (I had two) The "high powered" AK-47 threw a 125 grain bullet at about 2400 fps, the Fifty a 700 grain bullet at 2900 fps. Do the math. Kinetic energy equals one-half the mass times the square of the velocity.
3 - I have never heard of an NVA B-40 gunner carrying a secondary weapon, Once fired, he was unarmed. This implies that Kerry killed a wounded, unarmed enemy. First, if true, this was despicable. Second, it was stupid, as a live prisoner was a highly valued prize as an intel source.
4 - I would very possibly have been brought up on charges for leaving the boat in a firefight. The boat would be leaderless while I was absent, it could not return fire, as I would be out in front, and it could not withdraw. I would have grounded the boat only to insert Infantry, should that be decided as the best course. My boat was a force multiplier, and my job was to fight my boat, not run around on my own. I am privileged to know real heroes, many of whom hold no award, but a guy who wanted to be a hero used to scare hell out of me. Still does.
John Kerry is entitled to any views he wishes to hold about the war, if anti-war, so be it. On his return, he got involved with the VVAW (See Jug Burkett's "Stolen Valor" ISBN: 096670360X). In sworn testimony to Congress, he accused the US Military of a calculated campaign of torture, atrocity, rape, and murder. All of us.
How can he be so proud of his service, having committed atrocities?
- Oh, he didn't do it?
Then, if he saw them, did he report them, as is required of a Naval officer?
- Oh, he didn't see them?
Then how could he so testify, if all he had to go on was the Leftist Big Lies of the time?
If Bush's remarks about WMDs are lies, then John Kerry's testimony certainly were lies of a much higher order. By those lies, he broke faith with me, and with all those he accused. He was disloyal to me and to us, and such disloyalty is about as low as one can go.
In outfits like the post writer's, with a CO of integrity, there was obviously a much different standard at perhaps a different time-frame than the one that concerned Kerry.
Also notice that the tiny patrol craft skippered by Kerry obviously called for an officer in command, while the Army boats, much larger, much more strategically important, and much better armed and armored, were under the command of Sergeants!! Of course the Sergreant's operational comments are absolutely correct, and if Kerry did as advertised, he deserves a court martial, not a medal.
Again, I don't know my chronolgies here, but if Kerry were already a Kennedy protege, the medal thing could have been run from DC, to which the Navy had a much more direct pipeline than anyone else, being in charge of our (scandalously compromised) communications. At any rate, my impression was that a Naval Officer recommended for any decoration was a great deal more of a "sure thing," than any recommendation for an officer from the Army or Air Force... and definitely more than any enlisted man. (Althought from time to time, I always thought the whole enterprise was so medal-happy that we'll never be able to separate medal fact from medal fancy! E.G., my PH was for VERY MINOR wounds, (cut about the face and neck by fragments and flying debris and nicely stitched up in two small places) but I was not allowed back on full duty for 10 days. And I certainly had nothing to do with awarding the medal to myself!)
At any rate, I do believe that Kerry has very adroitly removed the in-VietNam service-and-medal issue from the table up front by his attack on George's ANG service, which while entirely praiseworthy, was frankly not of "stellar" quality.
So as a practical matter, let's commend Kerry for his service while in theater, or maybe not mention it, but condemn him long and loud for his traitorous post-service career as a member of groups which advocated assassination of political and military leaders here at home and caused untold grief to people like John McCain and other POW's.
We are up against a very wily and tenacious opponent with a lot of cards up his sleeve, and with a powerful built-in media cheering section. That doesn't mean he gets to name the game all the time. The VietNam medals thing is not a winner for us...the treasonous behaviour could be if we play it right.
A double AMEN on that!
Semper Fi
Let me assure you, that is NOT the case..
The men whose actions led to their ETERNAL recognition upon that wall, will never be forgotten.
One need only visit that hollowed place in the quiet of predawn, place his hands against the cold stone - and call out to his lost brothers..
They are still there, they are now ageless and they are there to see to it that America never forgets them or ever again betray her warriors as she did during that ugly period..
Just as you still see your brothers in your mind's eye and in your night terrors --- so will America..
Semper Fi
My sincere gratitude goes to you and your family members for "showing up". You are rightfully proud!
And you are wonderful. Thank God for you and your brothers.
He "fell" into an activist role pretty darn quick did'nt he after he returned.. Wonder if he had any "help" when he was in Vietnam to pull this off.. The Kennedys push a pretty wide wake politcally.. Yeah the sailors that served with him would be a good idea.. but could be they were ringers too.. The whole dog and pony show looks fishy.. I'm pretty cynical these days but I would glad if he just got lucky.. The democrats during the nintys cured me of under estimating the sedition and veritable treason thats been common for decades in the entire democrat party not just with Clinton..
Thanks in advance.
Having a pal who is a Senator and brother of the much admired former President would be ONE OF THE BEST ways to juice things through the Pentagon. If I was a reporter seeking to understand the Purple Band-Aid Mystery, I would start with Teddy's office, and work it from there..
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