YES to all!
I spent 3yrs on a destroyer in the Navy from
'66-'69 as a Gunners Mate, GMG3.
USS CORRY DD 817 '68-'69 Gulf of Tonkin Yacht Club Member.
http://www.uss-corry.com/
Home port was Norfolk Virginia
and sailed with her in the North Atlantic,
Caribbean,(dealt with Cuban gunboats off of Havana in Jan '68)
thru the Panama Canal, across the Pacific to Viet Nam and back.
I was there the same time Kerry was.
I was there Oct'68-Apr'69 on the destroyer USS Corry DD-817
which supplied PCF's and PBR's
and provided gunfire and gunfire support
in North AND South Viet Nam.
My ship may have even supplied
Kerry's boat in the Mekong Delta
Although there are many similarities between naval gunfire support
and Operation Sea Dragon (which ended Nov '68), they differ in two important areas:
naval gunfire support is normally fired at the request of troops ashore,
while Sea Dragon's mission is the interdiction of supplies and destruction
of military targets; and naval gunfire support is always conducted in South Vietnam,
while Sea Dragon missions are fired only above the demilitarized zone.
29 US Navy ships received gunfire from Viet Cong shore batteries.
My ship DID not get hit by the VC.
In Feb '69 my ship was part of Operation Bold Mariner
which was the largest amphibious assault since Korea.
DNC rules there was no leash and no panties so no foul.......
Stay Safe Tonk !
This may be off topic, but I'm wondering if it is possible to find out just how many people took the advantage of the "3 Purple Hearts and I'm out".
Why can't the Bush campaign or 527 surrogates put together an ad that will play Kerry's testimony in front of the Senate subcommittee where he accuses US Vietnam vets of atrocities? Surely the audio is public record, even if the liberal media might refuse to allow the video to be played? I can't imagine a more damning testimony to Kerry than what he said and never recanted. Or do people think this kind of ad is a MOAB-type assault against Kerry that is being held back until the last weeks of the campaign?
John Kerry is either a "war hero" or a "war criminal"
"why didn't he report the crimes he saw?"
----because he couldn't do that before he had the Purple Hearts and the other medals to use AS LEVERAGE, once he was safely OUT of the Military and free to pursue his "political career". As this issue has played out ,Dems and their nominee have NO CHOICE but to try and have it both ways and hope nobody much notices the contradictions and thundering hypocrisy of the "War Criminal/War Hero" paradox.
Has any reporter ever asked Kerry whether he really did set the village on fire and shoot that kid in the back?
That at least deserves to be asked.
Of the 4 moths of his tour how many of those days were spent "filming"?
Isn't is STRANGE that the MSM is NOT calling for the release of Effingkerry's Medical and Service records? Of course the POTUS was hounded for months/years for his, but that is different......right? Right!
Hold his feet to the fire Tonk.
Lying, coward, yellow-bellied turncoat war criminal. Ask me how I REALLY feel!
BTTT.
We are finally taking control of the reality of our experience and history.
Kerry will have nothing to say or stand on once this central (and only) foundation of his candidacy goes up in smoke.
I despise him.
Thanks for your post -- and your service.
I am proud of this -- I got banned from DU last night (where I was happily Trolling) because I kept asking them to tell me how I could tell my "conservative friends" how Mr. Heinz could possibly lead the country after having only 130 days of service?
I also asked how "we" (them) can run on an anti-war platform if "our" (their) candidate was so against it after so short a time.
Their answer: Ban me.
You rock Tonk!
This is a trick question, right?
I won't call him a war crimminal but he is a treasonous lying POS.
Let's start prosecution proceedings!