This article has been posted to DoctorZin’s New News Blog!
Posted on 08/11/2004 6:18:11 AM PDT by adam_az
John Kerry has made a number of contradictory claims about what exactly he signed up for when he signed up for the Swift boats. I cite various primary sources in an attempt to discover what it was that Kerry actually signed up for.
In summary, when Kerry signed up for the Swift boats, they were used as coastal patrol boats and were one of the safest assignments in Vietnam. Two weeks into Kerry's Swift Boat assignment, they decided to use the boats on the Mekong river. Kerry and his supporters have made multiple contradictory claims about his Swift boat service and what exactly he signed up for. I hope to clear that all up with this posting.
Clinton lionized Kerry's service in his DNC address, in which Kerry's service was a major theme of the speech:
"During the Vietnam War, many young men, including the current president, the vice president and me, could have gone to Vietnam and didn't. John Kerry came from a privileged background. He could have avoided going, too. But instead he said, "Send me." (Cheers, applause.)"
"When -- when they sent those swift boats up the river in Vietnam, and they told them their job was to draw hostile fire, to wave the American flag and bait the enemy to come out and fight, John Kerry said, "Send me." (Cheers, applause.)"
Welllll.... Not exactly, as you will soon find out......
From the John Kerry website ( http://www.johnkerry.com/about/john_kerry/service.html ):
In 1968, John Kerry began his second tour of duty, and volunteered to serve on a Swift Boat, one of the most dangerous assignments of the war. Swift Boats patrolled the narrow inlets and canals around the Mekong Delta "to draw fire and smoke out the enemy," according to the The Boston Globe.
Well........... Not exactly!
As it turns out, Kerry joined the Swift boats hoping for an easy assignment where he would see little risk. Not quite the same as saying you were volunteering for one of "the most dangerous assignments of the war."
As he usually does, Kerry wants to have it both ways.
According to our favorite Boston Globe reporter Michael Kranish on 6/16/03, Kerry said...
"I didn't really want to get involved in the war," Kerry said in a little-noticed contribution to a book of Vietnam reminiscences published in 1986. "When I signed up for the swift boats, they had very little to do with the war. They were engaged in coastal patrolling and that's what I thought I was going to be doing."
"But two weeks after he arrived in Vietnam, the swift boat mission changed -- and Kerry went from having one of the safest assignments in the escalating conflict to one of the most dangerous. Under the newly launched Operation SEALORD, swift boats were charged with patrolling the narrow waterways of the Mekong Delta to draw fire and smoke out the enemy. Cruising inlets and coves and canals, swift boats were especially vulnerable targets."
Kerry has claimed both that he joined the Swift boats because he wanted to serve in combat, and that he joined them because he didn't want to serve in combat.
Which is it, John Kerry?
(Please credit Freerepublic.com if you cite this research in media reports)
Also, we should remember that at the time G Dub signed up for Air National Guard, the F-102 was being used in Vietnam and National Guard units were being assigned to Vietnam, so G Dub did have the very real expectation of being in combat.
The F-102 was a fairly dangerous plane to fly with nearly 10% of them winding up in crashes. Not exactly an "easy way" to stay out of combat.
Can you give me a link for this info ? I would love to jam it down some idiot liberal throats.......
Nice work Adam, but don't hold your breath.
Maybe John Edwards will represent you in the suit. </sarcasm>
I don't remember how I heard this, but I heard it a long time ago about Kerry. Maybe some military genius detective could check it out. Maybe it came from his first book, the one with the upside down flag?
Anyway, I heard he asked to go to college overseas instead of going into the military, but his request was denied. He was given a choice - enlist, or be drafted.
I'm a housewife (a girl!), so I don't know that much about how enlistment works and stuff. I wouldn't have the faintest idea how to check this out, and the old Kerry the communist sympathizer book is no longer in print.
Good one!
Fat chance.
How could anyone not notice the liberal bias? Even FOX, who's suppose to be fair, is giving the dork man a pass.
They were all over Bush because of a simple leave of absence! Now, we have major, major discrepancies, and the press goes after the messengers!
We need to start training our children for media careers. That way, at least people will get the real news instead of blatant partisanship.
And another thing. Notice how they showed the Abu prison 24/7, and constantly BLAMED BUSH! Kerry himself committed even greater atriosities, yet we haven't heard a word about what an animal Kerry is! Not one word! This guy wants to be commander and chief of the military, too!!!
bump
bump
if you haven't seen this...
Kerry's early departure meant that he was leaving behind a crew that had suffered through many bloody battles with him. Worried that crew members would be killed, he arranged for them to receive a safer assignment. When one crew member, Medeiros, tried to stay, Kerry "came and talked to me and said, `I really would like you to go. ... I'd like to know you are safe, or safer."
Does anyone know the history of his crew, whether they were reassigned or not after Kerry left? Perfect reason to back Kerry up.
Thanks for this.
This might be some good material for your website...
Not to take away from the conversation, but can anyone with picture cropping skills come up with a picture of sKerry humping Uncle Sam's leg (or perhaps John Q. Public's leg) like a dog?
(Sorry, N., but your comment just brought that picture to mind.)
Of course, then there was the crew that got rotated in because Kerry's was rotated out. I wonder how many died or were injured because of Kerry's "3 PH & out". ??????
bump to print
bump
bump to print this as well
......Yet, in 1970, he told the Harvard Crimson he first appealed to the draft board to allow him to study in France for a year........
Oh - how French of him!
I wonder if he ever did learn how to surrender??
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.