Posted on 08/03/2004 4:52:10 AM PDT by Niks
Edited on 08/03/2004 6:08:28 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Thomas Wright was one of John F. Kerry's fellow Swift boat officers in Vietnam. Since Wright outranked Kerry, he was Kerry's sometime boat group Officer-in-Charge, so Wright had occasion to observe Kerry’s behavior and attitudes, and the circumstances surrounding his early departure from the war zone. The intervening years have not dimmed his memories.
“I had a lot of trouble getting him to follow orders,” recalls Wright. “He had a different view of leadership and operations. Those of us with direct experience working with Kerry found him difficult and oriented towards his personal, rather than unit goals and objectives. I believed that overall responsibility rested squarely on the shoulders of the OIC or OTC in a free-fire zone. You had to be right (before opening fire). Kerry seemed to believe there were no rules in a free-fire zone and you were supposed to kill anyone. I didn’t see it that way.”
It got to a point where Wright told his divisional commander he no longer wanted Kerry in his boat group, so he was re-assigned to another one. “I had an idea of his actions but didn’t have to be responsible for him.” Then Wright and like-minded boat officers took matters into their own hands. “When he got his third Purple Heart, three of us told him to leave. We knew how the system worked and we didn’t want him in Coastal Division 11. Kerry didn’t manipulate the system, we did.”
I've also read that, but it doesn't get enough 'play' IMO. In effect, Kerry was 'kicked out' of Vietnam by his 'Band of Brothers'.
:-)
Kerry was the type of cowboy you did not want to have giving orders in a combat area. He got off lucky. There were other ways we dealt with those guys who were there to punch their ticket, get their medals and promotions.
It is highly uncharacterstic for someone to film their own actions, real or re-enacted. I find it very telling that his command chain found him having a hard time understanding 'free fire zone', and then he comes back and accuses us all of war crimes. Perhaps he is still working on his own guilt.
It is hard to describe the degree of loathing I feel for someone to exploit his service in this way, on the backs of his brothers-in-arms. There are just some things you don't do.
And you never will.
Cute, very cute.
Credit goes to Boazo who did a marvelous job!
I will vote for W, while holding my nose (or holding a toke)! I will be voting early, by absentee ballot.
My wife and I got the idea of taking a Caribbean cruise in late October, through the 12th... We will have to watch the results, on CNN, onboard the ship! We're even visiting Jamaica, mon!
I am also a veteran of the VietNamese disagreement! (Oh, yeah, that's where I learned all about the devil weed!)
"Lt. Kerry" has the same ring to me of "Lt. Calley" of Me Lie fame (spelled wrong, but that spelling is more appropriate).
It seems funny to me that Kerry has 3 Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star, yet I believe he never rose above a Lieutenant junior grade.
Can any Navy vets comment on this?
My son - also in the 101st - has the same colorful phrase LOL:)
you are right! we live on a military post that also has alot of Marines training here, and ive not seen ONE kerry sticker, amen! it seems when people here chat about the upcoming election, most people support Bush. the only exceptions are minorities, and women who have a husband deployed to Iraq. Then, a few want to have Bush lose the election, and i tell them kerry isnt gonna bring the troops home either, and we will be back to 1.4 percent payraises, like those so generously bestowed by our former pres, bill clinton.
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