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.