Posted on 08/05/2004 4:08:05 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
The spin on this from the CBS website and NY times is just ridiculous...very biased against the vets because "none of them ever served with Kerry."
That is the Kerry campaign line, and instead of being journalists and checking it out (I recall the saying "if your mother says you loves you check it out" from J1 class), they just accept it as gospel.
Disgusting.
BTW, one did serve with Kerry on his boat, Stephen Gardner.
Oh.....and the issue of how many were on Kerry's boat is not that important, as all but one commanding officer who did serve with him oppose him, as well as numerous folks who were on other swift boats, people who saw Kerry often likely because the boats were close together.
The second and much larger Band of Brothers are fellow officers who skippered other PCFs at the same time as Kerry as well as his superior offiers and enlisted personnel. The picture of Kerry and the other 19 officers is the one where only one officer, Skip Barker, supports Kerry. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is a much larger group of over 200 PCF sailors, officers and enlisted, who are against Kerry.
It should be noted that the PCFs did not operate independently but in groups of three or more depending on the mission. Despite Dem claims to the contrary, these Swift Boat personnel served with Kerry even if they were not on his boat. The PCFs operated within yards of one another.
That's a very good summary.
Though Kerry does raise an issue that needs exploring....why the guy who treated Kerry's injury did not sign the record about it. But oh well.
If anyone has ever seen squid in formation while scuba diving or snorkeling, they seem to have telepathic communication, swimming, stopping, turning, darting away, in perfect formation
This is how I visualize the missions of the Swift boats. The skippers almost had to act with one mind. I bet Kerry was just as out of touch with the thinking of the other skippers on the mission as he is with the thinking of 'average' Americans today.
I also believe that his superior officers were delighted to give him his ticket home.
The man is so totally unable to interact with others that it verges on the clinically pathological.
The Doc was on my local talk Radio on the other day
He said that after Kerry had his wound looked at .. he the walked straight over to command to ask about his purple heart
Though Kerry does raise an issue that needs exploring....why the guy who treated Kerry's injury did not sign the record about it.
Likely because the "wound" was so minor that it didn't merit comment! Besides, as I understand it, the doc knew that the "wound" was self-inflicted and not a result of enemy fire.
"If Kerry wants the leadership campaign to be about his time in Vietnam, he and his emissaries should be careful about impugning the motives of his veteran detractors. As one of them said, "We didn't lose the war on the ground in Vietnam, we lost it at home, and at home John Kerry was the field general."
and there it is...
An interesting comment from a veteran pilot on this discussion page
http://www.command-post.org/2004/2_archives/012084.html
The Live Thread during the SwiftVets press appearance on May 4, 2004
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1129629/posts?q=1&&page=1001
Do they have a right to be heard? Yes.
But why should we pay any special attention to them? Because John Kerry put them on stage. He's the one who stood up in front of their picture, intimating that they supported his candidacy and his account of his actions in Viet Nam.
He did so again, just last week - after having received a "cease and desist" letter from those vets, who objected to that portrayal.
John Kerry put these vets pictures on the national stage, and John Kerry who asked us to ask the vets about what they thought of him.
He has absolutely no grounds for complaint if the vets choose to express their opinion.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.