Posted on 08/08/2004 5:09:55 PM PDT by Steven W.
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN AUG 08, 2004 19:04:35 ET XXXXX
SWIFT OFFICERS AND VETS: KERRY LIED ABOUT SPENDING CHRISTMAS IN CAMBODIA
Since the early 1970s, Kerry has spoken and written of how he was illegally ordered to enter Cambodia. Kerry mentioned it in the floor of the Senate in 1986 when he charged that President Reagan’s actions in Central America were leading the U.S. in another Vietnam. Here’s what he said as excerpted from the new book, UNFIT FOR COMMAND:
I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by the Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have the president of the United States telling the American people that I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia. I have that memory which is seared--seared--in me.
DRUDGE has learned from the accounts of Swift Boat officers and Kerry’s crewmembers that Kerry was never in Cambodia. UNFIT FOR COMMAND authors charge that Kerry made it all up.
“Despite the dramatic memories of his Christmas in Cambodia, Kerry’s statements are complete lies,” according to John O’Neil, co-author and the Swift Boat commander who took over Kerry’s boat. “Kerry was never in Cambodia during Christmas 1968, or at all during the Vietnam War. . . . he was more than fifty miles away from Cambodia.”
Kerry was stationed at Coastal Division 13 in Cat Lo. Coastal Division 13’s patrol areas extended to Sa Dec, about 55 miles from the Cambodian border. . . . Tom Anderson, Commander of River Division 531, who was in charge of PBRs (small river patrol crafts] confirmed that there were no Swifts anywhere in the area and they would have been stopped had they appeared.
All the living commanders in Kerry’s chain of command . . . deny that Kerry was ever ordered to Cambodia. They indicate that Kerry would have been seriously disciplined or court-martialed had he gone there. At least three of the five crewmen on Kerry’s boat, Bill Zaldonis, Steven Hatch, and Steve Gardner, deny that they or their boat were ever in Cambodia.
O’Neill observed that the Cambodia incursion story is not included in Tour of Duty (Kerry’s recent biography). Instead, Kerry replaced the story with a report about a mortar attack that occurred on Christmas Eve 1968 “near the Cambodian border” in a town called Sa Dec and Christmas day was spent at the base writing entries in his journal.
After conducting interviews and research, authors of Unfit for Command conclude, “The truth is that Kerry made up his secret mission into Cambodia.... the lie about the illegal Cambodian incursion painted his superiors up the chain of command. . . . as villains faced down by John Kerry, a solitary hero in grave and exotic danger and forced illegally against his will into harm’s way.”
Developing...
This is why i love the Free Republic.
but how do you prove it one way or another?
I am too. Just pointing out that forces on both sides, Kerry for obvious reasons, and the GOP and like-minded political pundits for nuanced reasons, prefer this issue would go away -- the sooner the better.
Drudge is pimping for his Sunday night radio show.
Wish O'Reilly and Britt had the same stones.
Vietnam only helps Kerry, daddy. It doesn't help Bush.
Got that right! The man is certifiable.
Firefox.
There are at least two of us who looks at polls and shrug -- count me in on that. I cannot believe the "sky is falling" crowd about the polls.
When you're right you're right...and one of us probably is, I hope it's you.
Because Kerry is a Manchurian Candidate -- born and raised to serve the higher orders of globalists, humanists and socialists.
He spent his childhood in Switzerland and Berlin. He was sent to Viet Nam in order to turn right around and condemn it. He re-filmed his exploits in Viet Nam because he needed to memorize the script. He tossed his medals because he knew they were meaningless.
He is not real.
He must prove he was there.
Shame on you! Kerry's war record and the truth should come out. Kerry's character (or lack of any!) should come out now! Giving a man who could be the next leader of the free world and the world's only super power on free pass is insane and a total dereliction of one's duty as a patriotic American.
Download a free utility called "Ad Muncher." It does a much better job stopping pop ups than the Google tool bar, and it blocks the new agravation, "animated" banners. Just do a search for it, download and install it, and leave all the settings on their defaults. I first read about it in PC Magazine, and since I installed it, I haven't had a pop up in two months.
But who is going to ask him to prove it? The media has shown it doesn't like this story.
I agree 100%!
Believe we have some of the usual disruptors on this thread with some of their "doom and gloom" statements. Their comments tend to make little sense. Anyone who doesn't think the Vets stepped forward on their own, need a real dose of reality. Guess they are part of the "Blame Bush First" crowd!
I don't understand that line of thought.
For one thing, Kerry has made his time in Vietnam an issue.
More importantly, we're fighting an extremely important war right now, and the democrat candidate for president has a history of betraying his country, and lying about his time in the military, for personal gain. As a voter, I WANT to know about the character, or lack thereof, of the major candidates. These swift boat veterans are doing their civic duty, and I'm proud of them.
LOL!!! Wouldn't you love to have a dollar for everytime he or his campaign has used the words decorated Vietnam Vet? We could start thinking about retirement.
has anyone here checked the congressional record?
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