Posted on 08/18/2004 8:24:34 PM PDT by Callahan
I have my suspicions on how this came to be myself. Someone here a couple of days ago was "focused" on Thurlow's Bronze Star. He was like a dog with a bone. My radar went up .
Said it was coming from leftist sites and no one could answer his question about what Thurlow's citation said. He was posting on many of the bloggers sites that were following this story, as well and always asking about Thurlow.
He went on and on that this would be the breaker and that we needed to know what Thurlow's citation said.
The problem here is that this story is becoming too complex for "regular" folk, who don't spend their nights cruising the blogs and FR.
It is disgraceful that the WP fails to mention Kerry's non-disclosure while they go after Thurlow. Masterful spin, as it even had me on the ropes for a minute.
Thanks. I'm already on one of those JW threads. Forgot about it though.
HUGE GRIN
Republican 'dirty tricks'? What goes around, comes around!
I am still fairly new to free republic (may 04) so maybe I will just have to get used to all the griping about the MSM and how unfair they are. Its like saying the sun rises in the east, or roseanne bar is fat, or kerry is a liar....seems like just a waste of words and time.
We are after the truth and that is all that should matter. The MSM is out to get Kerry elected and that is all that matters to them. The swifties knew this when they started their campaign against Kerry and should be well prepared to handle the glitches such as the Thurlow record.
I believe the swifties. However, i believe that above all else, this matter needs to be fully investigated. The WaPo article is a step in the direction of investigation. Yes, the MSM will twist it all up but at least they are giving the matter attention rather than stuffing it.
I am not the least bit discouraged by the article, I agree with others that ultimately it is a good thing because it gives the swifties more publicity and more interest in their book.
If the Post could get medal citations under the "Freedom of Information Act" then any media source should be able to get the ones of Kerry's Supporters? See if any other Bronze Star citations for that day was written the same way? One would be able to see if it came from a single source if the wording is the same.
Maybe Mr. Dobbs needs to be encouraged to look at the after-action reports rather than the other documents which were written later.
If that is all the info we had I would agree with you. However, Kerry embelishes the story in Tour of Duty. He claims it was done under fire, which contradicts the other boat OICs' accounts. Kerry still hasn't released all the info on the awards do it is hard to say what part he had in authoring the award or the bogus after action report, which claims that Kerry suffered wounds to his buttocks and arm from the mine.
to add to that - Hurley, the former VVAW guy was debating O'Neill the other evening (Scarborough as I recall) and actually made a big deal about how badly Kerry's boat was - repeated the tale of a 2nd mine taking out his screws and rendering it inoperable - and then towed the PCF-3 boat.
And note that Thurlow has not filed for a 180 BECAUSE HE FEARED JOHN F KERRY!
To: Tawiskaro
Third Party (General Public)
Just as any veteran has the right to display and/or wear duly authorized awards and medals, private citizens have the right to be sure that the person wearing those awards truly earned them. Certain information of any service members official military records are available under FOIA to the general public, with or WITHOUT that veteran's consent. These include:
Name
Service Number
Rank
Dates of Service
Awards and decorations
Place of entrance and separation
If the veteran is deceased:
Place of birth
Date and geographical location of death
Place of burial
Generally there is no charge for obtaining these records for the veteran, family members, or the general public. All requests must be made in writing and duly signed (cursive signature) within the previous year. While the Standard Form (SF 180) is NOT required in requests for information, it is recommended as it contains all pertinent information. The NPRC maintains records for more than 70 million individuals at NPRC-MPR, so the more information (Full Name, DOB, SSN, etc.) you provide, the easier it will be to locate the records for the correct individual. The form should be mailed to:
National Personnel Records Center
(Military Personnel Records)
9700 Page Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63132-5100
http://www.homeofheroes.com/verify/replacement_medals.html
6 posted on 08/17/2004 8:28:57 PM PDT by rolling_stone
I still support them and I bought the book and gave money. I think they will lose a lot of support now unless they come up with a better answer. Not from Freepers, but the undecided.
Typical WP hit piece. They will still have a hard time burying this story. Kerry has a lot to answer for besides the Bronze medal.
I think what you are seeing is the press saying "well this is fuzzy and that is fuzzy and it was a long time ago and no one knows for sure what happened" They are good at that
I think we, collectively, need to keep our eye on the ball, and not let the liberals sidetrack the focus.
The point is that if Kerry released ALL his military records, those would be the best to disprove the allegations of the SwiftVets. Why isn't the media demanding THAT?
Any sensible person can figure out, that the accusations against Kerry, bad as they are, must be less damaging, than if the truth would come out in form of actual proof, from Kerry's records.
So the truth must be much worse than what the SwiftVets are saying.
Otherwise, Kerry would have released his records long ago, and showing them to everyone.
The issue is NOT Thurlow, the issue is KERRY.
Even if you throw out one accusation, that doesn't invalidate the dozens of others.
This is what the SwiftVets have said - after the PCF-3 boat hit a mine the two boats which stayed laid down a lot of fire as standard operating procedure. They received no return fire. After things calmed down Kerry came back. Rassman, by his own admission, repeatedly stayed under the water. All he knew is that men (on the two remaining boats) were firing.
The man who just spoke on Special Report, and is on the campaign trail with John Kerry as one of the "Band of Brothers", said that John Kerry did leave the scene and return to the other Swift Boats who were firing everything they had at both shores.
The above statement by one of John Kerry's own crew members is in direct conflict with John Kerry's own account.
I'll bet you're right
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