Posted on 05/03/2004 3:07:25 AM PDT by kattracks
(CNSNews.com) - Hundreds of former commanders and military colleagues of presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry are set to declare in a signed letter that he is "unfit to be commander-in-chief." They will do so at a press conference in Washington on Tuesday.
"What is going to happen on Tuesday is an event that is really historical in dimension," John O'Neill, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Navy as a PCF (Patrol Craft Fast) boat commander, told CNSNews.com . The event, which is expected to draw about 25 of the letter-signers, is being organized by a newly formed group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
"We have 19 of 23 officers who served with [Kerry]. We have every commanding officer he ever had in Vietnam. They all signed a letter that says he is unfit to be commander-in-chief," O'Neill said.
O'Neill, currently a Houston, Texas, based attorney, is no stranger to Kerry. O'Neill served in the same naval unit as Kerry and commanded Kerry's swift boat after Kerry returned to the United States. Kerry's command of the PCF boat lasted four months and ended shortly after he received his third Purple Heart. According to naval regulations at the time, any soldier who received three Purple Hearts could request a transfer out of the combat zone.
Kerry and O'Neill engaged in a nationally televised debate in 1971 on The Dick Cavett Show over Kerry's allegations that many Vietnam soldiers had routinely engaged in atrocities such as raping and cutting off ears and heads of Vietnamese soldiers and citizens. Kerry was the then spokesman for the anti-war group Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
"We are going to be presenting a letter that deals with Kerry's unfitness to be commander and chief that has been signed by hundreds of swift boat sailors, including most of those who served with Kerry," O'Neill explained.
"The ranks of the people signing [the letter] range from admiral down to seaman, and they run across the entire spectrum of politics, specialties, and political feelings about the Vietnam War," he added.
Among those scheduled to attend the event at the National Press Club and declare Kerry unfit for the role of commander-in-chief are retired Naval Rear Admiral Roy Hoffman, who was the commander of the Navy Coastal Surveillance Force, which included the swift boats on which Kerry served.
Also scheduled to be present at the event is Kerry's former commanding officer, Lt. Commander Grant Hibbard. Hibbard recently questioned whether Kerry deserved the first of his three Purple Hearts that he received in Vietnam. Hibbard doubted both the severity of the wound and whether it resulted from enemy fire.
"I've had thorns from a rose that were worse" than Kerry's wound for which he received a Purple Heart, Hibbard told the Boston Globe in April.
Organizers are confident that Tuesday's event and the letter with hundreds of signatures will educate people about Kerry.
"It is one of the largest outpourings of concern about him being commander-in-chief that anybody could have in a presidential campaign and it is by the people who know him best," O'Neill said.
'Unfit Commander-in-Chief'
Swift Boat Veterans For Truth maintains that Kerry's fellow Vietnam veterans are almost uniform in their disdain for his military service and anti-war protests.
"Not only a majority of the people who served with him feel that way, but a vast and overwhelming majority," O'Neill said. He added that more than "ninety percent of the people contacted by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth responded to the request to sign their name, with only 12 declining to sign.
"Comrades who actually served with him, almost all of them, are opposed to him, and believe he would be an unfit commander in chief and intend to bring the truth of his actual record to the attention of the American people," O'Neill said.
O'Neill hopes the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth can reveal to the American people what he sees as Kerry's flawed character.
"In the military, loyalty between commanders and the troops serving them is a two-way street. We have here a guy (Kerry) that with all of us in the field [in Vietnam] -- actually fighting the North Vietnamese -- came home and then falsely accused all of us of war crimes at a time when the people in uniform couldn't even respond," O'Neill said.
"And he did that knowing that was a lie," he added.
'Real John Kerry'
B. G. Burkett, author of the book Stolen Valor and a military researcher, believes that Tuesday's event will not be dismissed easily by Kerry's campaign as a "partisan" attack.
"There are probably just as many Democrats amongst sailors who sailed swift boats as there are Republicans. What Kerry fails to realize is this has nothing to do with politics -- this has to with Vietnam Veterans who served, who have a beef with John Kerry's service, both during and after the war," Burkett told CNSNews.com.
"The American people do not know John Kerry and hopefully the swift boat crews and other Vietnam veterans will make sure that the American public knows the real John Kerry," he added.
Jim Loftus of Kerry's press office referred questions about Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's event on Tuesday to spokesman David Wade. Wade did not return CNSNews.com's requests for comment.
See Related Articles:
Kerry in 1971: 'Our Democracy is a Farce'
Kerry Still Backpedaling on Presence at 1971 Anti-War Meetings (03/24/2004)
Kerry Lying About Anti-War Past, Supporter Alleges (03/18/2004)
E-mail a news tip to Marc Morano.
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Thanks for the response...I hope this will be cleared up tonight on the news...well hopefully on FOX...
I agree. It would be nice that President Bush could run from August on with a positive message with Kerry neutralized.
Finally, if the dims do switch horses mid stream, the party as a whole will be significantly weakened. Not only will we be able to paint Kerry as a waffling flip flopper. We'll be able to paint the WHOLE DIM PARTY as indecisive flip floppers who cannot pick a viable candidate who can lead in a time of war.
Your point is excellent about weakening the WHOLE DIM PARTY. My thoughts have concentrated just on having the biggest impact on a Bush/Kerry race. Given short-term memories of voters, I previously thought it would be best after the convention. I am now convinced now is the best time. The Vets statement gives the Bush campaign an excellent issue to knock Kerry’s poll numbers down.
I sort of look like this as cutting grass. (Let’s see how this metaphor works.) The Bush campaign uses this issue in campaign ads and speeches. (Cutting the grass) Kerry’s poll number drop. [That’s if this issue has traction with voters.] The Bush campaign then stops using the issue. (The grass grows again.) Kerry’s poll numbers increase. The Bush campaign can resurrect the issue again. (Cut the grass.) If this issue really has traction with voters, the Bush campaign could go out everyday and cut the grass. You know what happens if you cut the grass everyday in the heat of summer? The grass dies. What is good about this is the Bush campaign decides when to cut the grass. They can let Kerry survive, let say that his poll numbers (I’m being optimistic now) go down to 39 to 41%. Kerry will make it though the convention with numbers that low, but he won’t make it though the convention if his numbers are in the low 30’s. The Bush campaign can decide to cut the grass every day and have Kerry die at the convention or cut the grass just often enough to insure a Bush victory. The Rats could replace him and perhaps that weakens the whole Rat Party. There is plenty of time to decide what to do with that strategy and prepare for Kerry’s replacement at the convention. Perhaps safer, and again this only works if this issue has traction with voters, is the Bush campaign could decide to start cutting the grass every day after the convention. In the heat of August, the grass dies. When October rolls around, and no one has to cut grass anymore the Bush campaign can go to a positive campaign.
We are winning ~ the bad guys are losing ~ trolls, terrorists, democrats and the mainstream media are sad ~ very sad!
Check this thread out and Call CSPAN!
Call CSPAN to air this press conference!
Regards,
TS
I'd like to point out one correction -- that is it is not the Bush campaign that is putting this stuff out now. Instead, it is a bipartisan 527 group called the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth." To my knowledge they are not coordinating with Pres. Bush's team. Having said that, the Bush campaign if they so choose could use this to go for the jugular prior to the convention. That would knock Kerry down into the mid 30s.
In my mind the question then becomes, what will make the dim party weaker -- defending Kerry's record as he twists in the wind or defending the switch they made at the convention? To be sure, both prospects are pretty grim for the dims. But which one will help the GOP win more seats in congress?
It is a tough call, but I would have to go with the switch-a-roo. Party damaging quotes like "selected not elected" and "smoke filled rooms" could be used to great effect.
In any case, our side has ammo up the yin-yang while the dims are fighting in the bushes with their homemade pea shooters.
NO - THEY MUST NOT PREVAIL!
Not if we are to remain a free country!
So, of course the network news will lead with this. </sarcasm>
free dixie,sw
If these questions aren't clearly answered and their effects clearly illustrated, then the public will likely write this off as a political stunt instead of honest assessment.
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