Was Rassmann even on Kerry's Boat?

FOX News | 8/13/04 | Fox News

[Jewels1091]

Fox news just reported there are questions now about where Rassmann actually was. He said he was on Kerry's boat when it got ambushed, but Kerry's web site says Rassmann was on the boat behind his. Just more questions about kerry's seemingly faulty memory.

[TomGuy]

Johnkerry.com needs to set up a poll.

Question: Which lie do we go with regarding Kerry's Christmas in Cambodia story?

[List the 9 or 10, so far, versions]

[kabar]

Unfit for Command doesn't say for sure. He was either on Kerry's boat or another one. On pages 91-92, "During the incident, Jim Rassman had fallen or had been knocked off either Kerry's boat or PCF-35,"

[OldFriend]

I heard two distinctly different versions of his rescue from Rassmann too. What a bunch strange folks.

[kabar]

Great work. You should send this around to the media.

[get'emall]

Do campaigns have to report their employees/payroll when they accept federal election funds? If so, is this information available to the public?

[DallasMike]

bump

[OldFriend]

Since Kerry made sure everyone knew of his Kennedy connection you can be sure there is no really negative stuff out there on him.

[Sir Gawain]

I thought that Rassman was blown off the boat by the mine. Now by Kerry's own words in the Congressional Record he says the guy fell off when he made a "high speed" turn. It may be that this was a diffent event and different guy who was falling off his boat but this story differs greatly from the Rassman story.

Good catch.

[Jim_Curtis]

Geez I can't keep up with all these versions.

Did you ever hear this one?

One day as the swiftboat was heading up a river, a mine exploded under the boat; after picking themselves up, the crew discovered that VC was missing. After several minutes of frantic searching, the crew concluded that they had lost him. "We were relieved when another boat called asking if we were missing a dog," Kerry said. "It turns out VC was catapulted from the deck of our boat and landed confused, but unhurt, on the deck of another boat in our patrol."

[kabar]

It may be humorous, but just imagine how the others guys feel when Kerry says that they are the ones who ran and he saved Rassman under fire. The other guys didn't get a medal and he used the incident to get two after he combined the rice in the butt with his contusion. What a scumbag.

[Cboldt]

Do campaigns have to report their employees/payroll when they accept federal election funds? If so, is this information available to the public?

Couple of good questions. I don't know the answer to either one of them tho'.

I'm inclined to think the Kerry campaign would not put Rassmann on the payroll. Rassmann would "come along" if he's given an expense report. And, if Rassmann lied when he put in for Kerry's Bronze Star, then Rassmann is vulnerable to blackmail by Kerry.

[bootyist-monk]

John "Snake" Kerry on a Secret Mission somewhere in Alaska...

[Sir Gawain]

My question, and the one that ought to get air time, is "Was there any enemy fire, other than the mine?"

Hopefully this question won't get ignored.

[kabar]

Can someone tell me if Kerry ever received a wound that broke the skin surface on this outing? I have heard that all he had was a good sized bruise/ or contusion on his forearm.

From that incident yes, just a contusion. But Kerry used the spearate rice in the butt incident and combined the two to get a purple heart making it seem like he suffered the wound to the buttocks during this incident. If you read Kerry's casualty report dated March 14, it states that "LTjg Kerry suffered shapnel wounds in his left buttocks and contusions on his right forearm when a mine detonated close aboard PCF-94.

[kabar]

His superiors are on the record, saying just that. That THEY gamed the system to get Kerry out.

Not his superiors, his peers led by Wright.

[Niks]

It seems you get what you pay for. Rassmann is doing a lot more than recanting the "rescue" story. He is impugning the motives of others who remember things differently. He gets on these shows and doesn't just tell his "Kerry saved my life" story, but attacks other vets who remember it differently. He says he's an ex-cop. So where's he getting the money to permanently attach himself to Kerry? I've seen him in every town Kerry visits that is covered by the news.

Maybe next time Kerry should buy someone who memorizes the story better.

[Cboldt]

Not his superiors, his peers led by Wright.

Thank you for the correction. I read the story, and didn't take time to make the accurate associations between names and relative position in the whole scheme of things.

[kabar]

whereas Unfit for Command, along with public statements from Rassman, alleges the opposite: that Rassman was on Kerry's boat, and that Rassman fell into the water when Kerry fled the scene.

Unfit for Command doesn't say for sure. He was either on Kerry's boat or another one. On pages 91-92, "During the incident, Jim Rassman had fallen or had been knocked off either Kerry's boat or PCF-35,"

[TomGuy]

Kerry needed a PT-109-type heroism story for his future Presidential run. It seems the more scrutiny that is applied to his 4 months in VietNam, the more diminished his 'heroics' seem to become.

[Cboldt]

Rassmann is doing a lot more than recanting the "rescue" story. He is impugning the motives of others who remember things differently.

That's a good point. If there really just an honest difference of recollection, and he had respect for those who were serving with Kerry that day, he would refrain from impugning their motivives and making up stories about their association with the GOP. He's acting as though he has a dark secret, something that must be protected.