Viet Vets Charge: Kerry Killed Lone, Fleeing Teenage Foe; Lied To Superiors To Gain Medal

Drudge Report ^ | 8/5/04 | Matt Drudge

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

Slaughters Animals, Burns Down Tiny Village

**Exclusive**

A veterans group seeking to deeply discredit Democrat John Kerry's military service will charge in the new bombshell book UNFIT FOR COMMAND: "Kerry earned his Silver Star by killing a lone, fleeing, teenage Viet Cong in a loincloth."

"And if Kerry's superiors had known the truth at the time, they would never have recommended him for the medal."

The book also claims to detail how Kerry personally ordered the slaughter of small animals at a small hamlet along the Song Bo De River.

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The book, set for release next week, hit #1 on the AMAZON hitparade after the DRUDGE REPORT revealed details of the book -- a book the Kerry camapign believes is the"the dirtiest of all dirty tricks ever played on a candidate for the presidency."

The Kerry campaign is planning to vigorously counter the charges and will accuse the veteran's groups of being well-financed by a top Bush donor from Texas.

The vets have launched a blistering new TV commercial questioning Kerry's honor and calling him a liar.

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George Bates, an officer in Coastal Division 11, participated in numerous operations with Kerry. In UNFIT FOR COMMAND, Bates recalls a particular patrol with Kerry on the Song Bo De River. He is still "haunted" by the incident:

With Kerry in the lead, the boats approached a small hamlet with three or four grass huts. Pigs and chickens were milling around peacefully. As the boats drew closer, the villagers fled. There were no political symbols or flags in evidence in the tiny village. It was obvious to Bates that existing policies, decency, and good sense required the boats to simply move on.

Instead, Kerry beached his boat directly in the small settlement. Upon his command, the numerous small animals were slaughtered by heavy-caliber machine guns. Acting more like a pirate than a naval officer, Kerry disembarked and ran around with a Zippo lighter, burning up the entire hamlet.

Bates has never forgotten Kerry's actions.

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UNFIT FOR COMMAND, DRUDGE has learned, claims Kerry "earned his Silver Star by killing a lone, fleeing, teenage Viet Cong in a loincloth."

ARE THE VETS TELLING THE TRUTH?

"They hired a goddamn private investigator to dig up trash!" charged a top Kerry adviser traveling with the senator late Tuesday. "This is pay for play... How low can they go?"

Kerry supporters are comparing the effort by the veterans to the Arkansas State troopers tell-all against Bill Clinton.

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John O'Neill, co-author of UNFIT FOR COMMAND, believes that "Kerry's Star would never have been awarded had his actions been reviewed through normal channels. In his case, he was awarded the medal two days after the incident with no review. The medal was arranged to boost the morale of Coastal Division 11, but it was based on false and incomplete information provided by Kerry himself."

According to Kerry's Silver Star citation, Kerry was in command of a three-boat mission on the Dong Cung River. As the boats approached the target area, they came under intense enemy fire. Kerry ordered his boat to attack and all boats opened fire.

He then beached directly in front of the enemy ambushers. In the battle that followed, the crews captured enemy weapons. His boat then moved further up the river to suppress more enemy fire. A rocket exploded near Kerry's boat, and he ordered to charge the enemy. Kerry beached his boat 10 feet from the rocket position and led a landing party ashore to pursue the enemy.

Kerry' citation reads: "The extraordinary daring and personal courage of Lt. Kerry in attacking a numerically superior force in the face of intense fire were responsible for the highly successful mission."

Here's what O'Neill and the Swiftees say: "According to Kerry's crewman Michael Madeiros, Kerry had an agreement with him to turn the boat in and onto the beach if fired upon. Each of the three boats involved in the operation was involved in the agreement." O'Neill writes that one crewman even recalls a discussion of probable medals.

Doug Reese, a pro Kerry Army veteran, recounted what happened that day to O'Neill, "Far from being alone, the boats were loaded with many soldiers commanded by Reese and two other advisors. When fired at, Reese's boat--not Kerry's--was the first to beach in the ambush zone. Then Reese and other troops and advisors (not Kerry) disembarked, killing a number of Viet Cong and capturing a number of weapons. None of the participants from Reese's boat received Silver Stars.

O'Neill continues: "Kerry's boat moved slightly downstream and was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. . . .A young Viet Cong in a loincloth popped out of a hole, clutching a grenade launcher, which may or may not have been loaded. . . Tom Belodeau, a forward gunner, shot the Viet Cong with an M-60 machine gun in the leg as he fled. . . . Kerry and Medeiros (who had many troops in their boat) took off, perhaps with others, and followed the young Viet Cong and shot him in the back, behind a lean to."

O'Neill concludes "Whether Kerry's dispatching of a fleeing, wounded, armed or unarmed teenage enemy was in accordance with the customs of war, it is very clear that many Vietnam veterans and most Swiftees do not consider this action to be the stuff of which medals of any kind are awarded; nor would it even be a good story if told in the cold details of reality. There is no indication that Kerry ever reported that the Viet Cong was wounded and fleeing when dispatched. Likewise, the citation simply ignores the presence of the soldiers and advisors who actually 'captured the enemy weapons' and routed the Viet Cong. . . . [and] that Kerry attacked a 'numerically superior force in the face of intense fire' is simply false. There was little or no fire after Kerry followed the plan. . . . The lone, wounded, fleeing young Viet Cong in a loincloth was hardly a force superior to the heavily armed Swift Boat and its crew and the soldiers carried aboard."

DRUDGE learns from UNFIT FOR COMMAND that if Kerry's superior officers knew the truth, they would never have recommended the award:

"Admiral Roy Hoffmann, who sent a Bravo Zulu (meaning "good work"), to Kerry upon learning of the incident, was very surprised to discover in 2004 what had actually occurred. Hoffmann had been told that Kerry had spontaneously beached next to the bunker and almost single-handedly routed a bunkered force in Viet Cong. He was shocked to find out that Kerry had beached his boat second in a preplanned operation, and that he had killed a single, wounded teenage foe as he fled."

"Commander Geoge Elliott, who wrote up the initial draft of Kerry's Silver Star citation, confirms that neither he, nor anyone else in the Silver Star process that he knows, realized before 1996 that Kerry was facing a single, wounded young Viet Cong fleeing in a loincloth. While Commander Elliott and many other Swiftees believe that Kerry committed no crime in killing the fleeing, wounded enemy (with a loaded or empty launcher), others feel differently. Commander Elliott indicates that a Silver Star recommendation would not have been made by him had he been aware of the actual facts."

Developing....

[Jewels1091]

I agree..to your situation given, but it sounds like there was NO reason to run after this kid and shot him in the back! He should have taken him into custody as a POW.

[section9]

I always wondered why he beached his boat. In point of fact, now I find that that was procedure, he was part of a three boat mission, and that the other Swifties maintain that infantry from another boat dismounted and engaged the enemy.

Holy Dogf*%k, private! I see what's going on. His crewmen knew what happened and are covering for him. The other officers of CoastDiv 11, however, saw with their own eyes, as well, and won't or can't keep silent.

The "AWOL" meme that Kerry pushed must have rankled a few of the Swifties.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[ConservativeMan55]

bttt

[InvisibleChurch]

kerry sez : fog of war

[AmericanInTokyo]

McCAIN plays from the SAME DAMNED CLINTON PLAYBOOK in how to deal with nasty charges of something evil in one's past.

IMMEDIATELY CHANGE THE SUBJECT. ALSO, MAKE THE CHARGE OF THE MISBEHAVIOR AS THE ACTUAL CRIME, NOT THE ACTUAL MISHBEHAVIOR ITSELF THAT IS UNCOVERED. Express outrage at the person leveling the charge, not the charges themselves. Very clever. But getting very old.

[Jewels1091]

They must be covering for Kerry because if they didn't they would have to admit that they knew he was committing war crimes and did nothing to stop him.

[Holicheese]

None of this will matter. It will be in the news as a "Look how desperate these people are!" item for about 1 day.
This will have no legs.

[Paradox]

I hope the Bush camp ignores this stuff.

I hope so too. I am sure they will ask Bush what he thinks of the controversy. I have not decided myself what is the best thing for him to say.. maybe something like "I am not going to judge him on things that happened over 30 years ago, I dont know all the details, no one really does. Let the American people decide for themselves..". Seems to me whatever he says will sound contrived..

[section9]

The Bush folks have to keep their distance from this ad, as well as from the group. Why? Every Dem will scream "Karl Rove" at the top of his lungs. This is a seperate group of pissed off Swifties, and we need to make sure that they are as seperate from the Pub Party as the 527's are from Kerry's outfit, at least.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[LincolnLover]

"The Kerry campaign is planning to vigorously counter the charges and will accuse the veteran's groups of being well-financed by a top Bush donor from Texas."

Just one? What, Charles and Sam Wyly don't count as two separate people in the eyes of the Dems?

LOL...we'll see soon enough who they claim is "bankrolling" this effort, but if there weren't groups like "Keep it Flying" and "Republicans for Clean Air" to point to in past Bush campaigns, perhaps it'd be harder for the Dems to make such accusations this time around.

[Sloth]

Kerry has always said that he committed attrocities. This isn't news.

Ask the average voter on the street if they've ever heard such a thing.

[Reagan Man]

Let's hope this isn't perceived by undecided voters as a vindictive attempt to undermine the Kerry campaign. Wishy-washy fencesitters could be turned off by this story and view it as an attempt by the Bush campaign to trash Kerry. The backlash against the Bush campaign could be significant if the story is proven untrue or exaggerated. Let's count on all the facts being revealed and the full truth being exposed. Otherwise, the damage to Bush`s reelection efforts could be extensive.

[sarasota]

My fear is that liberals and Dems don't care one whit about the truth. They just care about getting rid of W. Kerry has no campaign unless you want to call it an anti-Bush campaign. He stands for nothing. Zip. Nada.

[sarasota]

Yeah, I heard sKerry pronounce it that way. Poser.

[ProudGOP]

Because the media was running interference for Clinton. Had FR and Fox News existed in 1992, Clinton wouldn't be president.

The media will still run interference. Kerry will line up Vietnam vets for him. Others vets will line up against him. All of this will do is distract the voter from the fact that Kerry is a snobbish, liberal, candidate of very little accomplishment.

[Dr Snide]

If Rove an Co. are smart they will condem the ad but not disupte any of the claims saying instead concern about the tone on both sides, etc. (but gee, we can't make them stop, free speech and all) next Monday. It provides cover for Bush against charges of "dirty politics" and by condemming it in a few days it will get the whole thing back in the news cycle next week

[Al Simmons]

"Kerry has always said that he committed attrocities. This isn't news."

No? But before it was completely IGNORED by the liberal media; now, because Kerry and Edwards have THEMSELVES framed Viet Nam as basically his #1 credential for the Presidency, they have put the issue "in play";

And with Matt Drudge being 'all over it', and the devastating new ad by the Swift Boat Vets, the 'gig is up' for Kerry the self-admitted war criminal; look for the truth to now burst onto the 'mainstream' media radar;

Kerry is in the process of becoming radioactive, and it is all his own doing (he must have thought 'no one would DARE question my service' - WRONG!!) The Bush campaign is falling all over themselves saying they do not approve of such ads, and they don't question Kerry's service - staying well outside of the 'fallout zone'!!!;)

Do you think its too late for the 'Rats to put Dean on the ticket?

[wardaddy]

God bless matt for trying....where is the rest of the media?

[kellynla]

Marine Bump & bookmark for later reading...

I won't say "I told you so"
but for anyone to receive 3 Purple Hearts(and not spend one night in a hospital), a Bronze Star and a Silver Star in four months of combat was just too hard to believe. I only wish this information had come out in 1971 to discredit him when Ketchup was lying to the Senate committee and on television...


Semper Fi,
Kelly

[theriotcat]

We keep calling this an AD and is not. I call it a statment of fact.