Posted on 08/10/2004 9:31:59 AM PDT by cyncooper
WASHINGTON — Part of John Kerry's (search) strategy in his White House bid is to play up his military service in Vietnam, but a group of veterans is challenging the Democratic presidential nominee's story.
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In an Oct. 14, 1979, letter to the editor of the Boston Herald, Kerry wrote: "I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian borde being shot at by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas. The absurdity of almost being killed by our own allies in a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops was very real."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Especially since BOTH are NOT Buddist holidays......
Kerry said the experience is SEARED IN HIS MEMORY.
Vietnam has(had) a large Catholic population...
You are correct.
The point raised above that you addressed handily is not the issue and detracts from the main aspect of Kerry's tall tale.
Gee, that would explain my Catholic neighbors who get drunk and shoot guns every Christmas. And I thought it was just a Southern Baptist thing.
Since my understanding is that these boats operated in close-support groups, how is it the Kerry's boat was five miles(!) inside Cambodia, yet NO other boats were nearby?
Is Kerry the only boat commander who was hand-picked to make a "stealth CIA run" into Cambodia, to check reports our Vietnamese allies secretely had rifles with a five mile range in the jungle? And a sighting system to match!
It had to take place then or never, since Christmas Eve & Christmas is the only time they would be drunk enough to let the cat out of the bag.
The answer must have been affirmative on all counts, since he did report the "drunken VN allies" were shooting AT him. Not 'at' his boat; at HIM! They must have been trying to prevent him from reporting back.
Unfortunately, even when confronted with this evidence that we KNEW they had them, we were seemingly never able to get them to share those 'super rifles' with us.
No wonder this is "seared into his brain". It was so traumatic that it made him...it would anyone, dontchya know...mix up who was President and who was only President-Elect.
Yeah, that's it! That HAS to be it. See? There IS a rational explanation...
The 1979 letter mentions Nixon by name. I'd love to see the complete text of that letter.
Me, too. I first heard it when Cameron read the above excerpt on air yesterday and sourced it. I don't know if it's maybe in the Swift Vets book or if Cameron found it on his own.
I would also like to to know if Kerry ever in his life has been challenged by anyone on his assertions regarding his Cambodian story.
Thank you!!!
LOL
The secret life of Walter Mitty John Kerry
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59559-2003May30_4.html
A close associate hints: There's a secret compartment in Kerry's briefcase. He carries the black attaché everywhere. Asked about it on several occasions, Kerry brushed it aside. Finally, trapped in an interview, he exhaled and clicked open his case.
"Who told you?" he demanded as he reached inside. "My friends don't know about this."
The hat was a little mildewy. The green camouflage was fading, the seams fraying.
"My good luck hat," Kerry said, happy to see it. "Given to me by a CIA guy as we went in for a special mission in Cambodia."
Kerry put on the hat, pulling the brim over his forehead. His blue button-down shirt and tie clashed with the camouflage. He pointed his finger and raised his thumb, creating an imaginary gun. He looked silly, yet suddenly his campaign message was clear: Citizen-soldier. Linking patriotism to public service. It wasn't complex after all; it was Kerry.
He smiled and aimed his finger: "Pow."
Drat, drat and double drat. You've figured out that Kerry was really a secret agent! And he was trying to keep it hushed up.
"Lt Kerry, your mission - if you decide to accept it, is to go up river 50 miles inside the Cambodian border on Christams and capture the VC General, Nuygen Yia Gaip while he's drunk and passed out.""As usual, if any of your IM force is caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, John."
Now the 'rest' of his Impossible Mission force will have to go public, if they're still alive that is.
John Kerry's Vietnam War journal (scroll to the bottom)
The idea of a 'secret mission' could really propel this story. There ought to be plenty of evidence/witnesses to corroborate Kerry's whereabouts, or at least determine whether he was absent from Sa Dec at the time he claimed to be in Cambodia. Were his other boat mates on this mission?
If it can be ascertained that this secret Cambodia mission was a product of Kerry's romantic imagination, then it ought to be used not in outraged anger but in derisive humor. This is how to dismantle this phony.
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I do not believe the quote above is from a letter to the editor. Rather, it is from a October 14, 1979 Boston Herald movie review of "Apocalypse Now' written by John Kerry. I just today got a copy of it which I have passed on to Swift Vets. The actual verbatim words are: "On more than one occasion, I like Martin Sheen in "Apocalypse Now," took my patrol boat into Cambodia. In fact I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas. The absurdity of almost being killed by our own allies in a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops was very real."
The Powerline blog has lots of good stuff on Kerry's Christmas in Cambodia story.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/
Hmmmmmmm if Kerry was in the CIA , wonder if he ever met this guy over there.......
http://us.gq.com/features/general/articles/040727feco_02
I have no doubt at all that we have Seal, Marine Force Recon and Special Forces in Pakistan right now. We ain't supposed to be there and the President would say we aren't there. But by gosh we need to be there and we need people willing to do it.
That is part of the responsibility of being the President of the US.
Kerry just doesn't have what it takes, a set of brass ones!
Steve Gardner
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