The important tid bit is "We were extremely exposed — always shot at first....". This confirms O'neils claims that they avoided fire and contradicts Kerry's claim that they shot at unarmed civillians in free fire zones.
Seems to me the important part is that Kerry "embellished"/"conflated"/"misremembered"/"lied" when speaking to the New Republic when he suggested he was present during the engagement where Alston was wounded. Too many verbs from which to choose.