Evidence Suggests Kerry's Silver Star Was Not Earned

May 5, 2004 | The Bandit

[Cuttnhorse]

Good job Bandit!

You are exactly correct about several items, especially the standing order about leaving the boats while in a combat zone. I was on Swifts, in fact was in the same op areas as Ketchup Boy, (Crew #17) but was there a couple years before Kerry graced the theater with his presence.

While I was there, we were doing such a good job at stopping all contraband and arms shipments up and down the coast, the word from intelligence was that the VC were trying hard to capture a boat, or certainly sink a few...they wanted us further off shore. I helped pull the bodies of 4-shipmates out of the water after a mine sank PCF #4, in Feb. 1966, after it had just relieved us from patrol. We were forbidden to leave the boats while on patrol, for any reason! In fact, PCF 4 was sunk by a mine that was detonated from shore...the mine was attached to a Viet Cong flag which was flying from a bamboo pole in shallow water. When the boat eased in close to retrieve the trophy flag...blam!

The Navy was also very anal about any damage done to the boats. I recall on our first solo patrol in the An Thoi area, after a very brief training and orientation period, while returning to base we mistook a shallow passage for the main channel and ran PCF #10 hard aground. I recall to this day me sitting on the deck in the pilot house shouting out the depth readings from the depth finder right up till the boat stopped moving. An 85-foot Coast Guard boat had to pull us off the sand bar, doing a lot of damage to the screws and shafts of the Swift.

You would have thunk we ran an aircraft carrier aground! We had a preliminary hearing at base headquarters, then they shipped the entire crew to Saigon for a formal hearing! I thought the skipper was going to be court-martialed! Needless to say, he never rose above the rank of Lt.(jg) the entire tour.

Also, Kerry's description of the "free-fire" zones are completely different than what I recall. As I recall, it was permissable in these designated zones to return fire when fired upon without obtaining approval from Saigon...the rest of the time, believe it or not, we had to call in and receive permission from Saigon before we could open up....free-fire zones were not shooting galleries.

One last thing...you are exactly right about Kerry's BS description of surprising the 20-troops...right!...with twin Jimmy diesel-marine V-12 engines it's easy to sneak up on someone.

Best regards,
Cuttn
PCFs 10, 45, 50
1965-66

[Cuttnhorse]

Bump

[drq]

btt

[Sacajaweau]

What I found interesting in today's news was that KERRY filmed all their escapades including a bunch of them standing around the huts as they burned. At one point he said "Here's where I put the camera down" yet the film continues...so he passed the camera, not put it down.

[Pearls Before Swine]

"Reporter Charles Sennott once wrote that Senator Kerry was so "focused on his future ambitions," that not long after the fight, he bought a Super-8 movie camera, returned to the scene, and reenacted the skirmish on film.

WHAT??? This is most abnormal. It rates a 4-star WTF!