Posted on 08/05/2004 7:24:08 PM PDT by Oblongata
No, the camera remained boxed until he returned. We also found the reel to reel tape recorder that he purchased.
Frankly, I don't think that there would have been room to store anything extraneous on a swift boat. My husband was on a CG Cutter, with two PBF crews and one PBF based at the mouth of the Delta. He arrived in Dec 67 and left there the following fall.
No, I believe he was an army officer. He was along for the ride. I believe there was one other man in a similar circumstance as well.
I think Rassman was a Lt., so therefore was able to put skerry in for a medal.
I've heard that day, the LEAD boad was hit by a mine, not skerry's. THE LEAD BOAT. I've also heard, skerry ordered his boat upriver where they saw a sampan filled with rice. kerry ordered his swiftboat alongside the sampan and threw a hand grenade into the rice. The rice blew, kerry turned his back and got a butt full of rice, therefore earning his 3rd purple heart.
Like most DemoSocialistMarxistLyingLiberal politicians...Kerry probably had it stuffed in his pants.
FRegards,
www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0723b.html
John Kerry Served in the U.S. Navy and is a Combat Veteran of the Vietnam War: Kerry first learned the importance of national service from his father who volunteered for the Army Air Corps in World Ward II. Kerry volunteered for the United States Navy after college and served from 1966 to 1970 rising to the rank of Lieutenant, Junior Grade. Afterwards, Kerry continued his military service in the United States Naval Reserves through 1978. Kerry served two tours of duty in Vietnam--one tour as commander of a Navy Swift Boat in the Mekong Delta. Kerry's action during the Vietnam War resulted in his being awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with Combat "V", three Purple Hearts, the Presidential Unit Citation for Extraordinary Heroism, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, three Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medals and the Combat Action Ribbon. (Selective Service System HQ)
Jim Rassmann, Says Kerry Risked His Life to Save Him: "Rassmann was 21 at the time, a Special Forces lieutenant in charge of a company of American and Chinese fighters. On that day, they traveled on a convoy of five patrol boats led by the 25-year-old Kerry, a Navy lieutenant - and they were on the run, being chased down the Bay Hap River by enemy soldiers firing guns and rockets. The group had already lost one soldier that day. As they sped down the river, one boat was blown out of the water, and then another. An explosion wounded Kerry in the arm and threw Rassmann into the river. Rassmann dove to the bottom to avoid being run over by the other boats. When he surfaced, he saw the convoy had gone ahead. Viet Cong snipers fired at him, and Rassmann submerged over and over to avoid being hit. The bullets came from both banks, and Rassmann had nowhere to go. He began thinking his time had come, but the fifth time he came up, he saw the convoy had turned around. Kerry had ordered the boats back to pick up the man overboard. Kerry's boat, under heavy fire, sidled up to the struggling soldier. Rassmann tried to scramble up a cargo net at the bow but was too exhausted to make it all the way. He clung to the net as bullets whizzed past. 'Next thing I knew, John came out in the middle of all this,' Rassmann says. 'I couldn't believe it. He was going to get killed. He ran to the edge, reached over with his good arm (Kerry had been wounded in his right arm) and pulled me over the lip.' Rassmann later recommended Kerry for the Silver Star, and was upset when the Army instead awarded Kerry a lesser Bronze Star with a 'V' for valor." (Los Angeles Times, 3/13/04)
Thanks!
Google search on combat action ribbon for Vietnam resulted in:
http://www.cursor.org/venturawatch/combat_action_ribbon.htm
Thanks, that explains it!
The Oregonian, August 08, 2004
GOP fires another shot at Kerry's boat
DAVID SARASOHN
On Thursday Rassmann, who reconnected with Kerry at the start of this campaign year, responded to the charges on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and on Fox News twice. Friday, he was back on the radio and scheduled to reappear on CNN.
On CNN's "Inside Politics," Rassmann appeared opposite Larry Thurlow, who was on a different Swift boat on the mission where Kerry won a Bronze Star for pulling Rassmann out of the river under enemy fire. Thurlow said he now remembered the trip as a peaceful roll down the river.
On TV, Rassmann -- who filed the request that Kerry be decorated -- flushed and called Thurlow's version "disingenuous." The next day, he was blunter. "These guys say there was no fire. That's nonsense," he said. "I really did believe I was going to die.
"I'm very grateful to all the guys, especially John Kerry, for dragging me out of the water."
Was Gardner ther that day?
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