Posted on 03/10/2004 4:02:39 PM PST by Interesting Times
But the consensus among crewmates is that he bridged the differences and connected with his crew immediately. In combat, eight of nine of them say, he was daring and unflinching, never tentative. The ninth, Stephen M. Gardner, an avowed Bush supporter, recently told Brinkley: "Whenever a firefight started he always pulled up stakes and got the hell out of Dodge." Once, famously, Kerry -- in violation of regulations -- beached his boat and went after the enemy, chasing down and killing a Viet Cong guerrilla carrying a rocket launcher."I didn't want to just react and respond. I wanted to win," Kerry said. "I went there with a purpose, and that was to be successful on the missions."
Medeiros, who in 1969 was a crewmate of Kerry's, said Kerry "wanted to be aggressive."
"I liked him immediately. . . . He was a strong leader willing to take calculated risks. We were the seasoned ones; he respected that. He took the approach that we didn't have to prove anything to him. He had to prove something to us," Medeiros said.
I don't know... but one of his uncles (Brice Lalonde) is a Socialist who ran for President of France and was Mitterands enviro-guru. His extended family connections are enough to make me cringe.
G. Forbes Martineau, aunt Brive, France I. Armstrong, aunt Cambridge, England Monica Pudney, aunt London, England --------- Then, from a Boston Globe obituary for Kerry's mom (Nov 2002): "In addition to the senator, Mrs. Kerry leaves three other children, Peggy of New York City, Diana of Manchester, and Cameron of Brookline; three sisters, Monica Pudney of England and Eileen Pailleux and Fiona Lalonde, both of France; and two brothers, Alastair and Ian Forbes, also of France." --------- So... two aunts changed both first and last names... flip-flop? Whatever. Anyway.. Monica Pudney turns out to be the second wife of John Pudney, a poet and author, most famous for writing the WWII War Poem 'For Johnny'. Fiona Lalonde is the wife of Brice Lalonde from what I can determine. (There may also be a Brice Jr.? as some articles talk about a cousin, vs. an uncle.) Fiona appeared to be into horse breeding (ironic when I think of JF'nK's face, lol). I can't figure out who Armstrong, Martineau, or Pailleaux are ... and I didn't (yet) try to track down his Forbes Uncles.
You AND your family have a right to be proud! I am proud of you also and thank you ALL for your extensive and genuine service to our nation.
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