Posted on 08/18/2004 8:24:34 PM PDT by Callahan
Newly obtained military records of one of Sen. John F. Kerry's most vocal critics, who has accused the Democratic presidential candidate of lying about his wartime record to win medals, contradict his own version of events.
In newspaper interviews and a best-selling book, Larry Thurlow, who commanded a Navy Swift boat alongside Kerry in Vietnam, has strongly disputed Kerry's claim that the Massachusetts Democrat's boat came under fire during a mission in Viet Cong-controlled territory on March 13, 1969. Kerry won a Bronze Star for his actions that day.
But Thurlow's military records, portions of which were released yesterday to The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act, contain several references to "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire" directed at "all units" of the five-boat flotilla. Thurlow won his own Bronze Star that day, and the citation praises him for providing assistance to a damaged Swift boat "despite enemy bullets flying about him."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
How do you know he lied. Unless he wrote the after action report, nothing he has said about the events that day is contridicted here. If Kerry wrote the after action report, and said they were fired on, but no one else remembers them being fired at, than either Kerry remembers something they don't, or Kerry lied.
Oh, and I question the timing of this.
Has Kerry's after action report been released? If not why not?
The military susally reads the citation to you when they present the medal to you.
Paragraph after paragraph from the Wash ComPost in the effort to denigrate Thurlow but nary an objective comment about sKerry nor mention of the many other Swifties and their allegations.
The attack on the messengers continue while the bad guy gets to keep riding on his horse.
Prairie
Worst case, for the record, let's throw out that one allegation against Kerry.
How are they going to disprove the other several dozen?
No, and it depends.
The record is of Thurlow's Silver Star citation. Unlike Kerry, Thurlow did not author his own document. He still contends that the reference to small arms fire originated from Kerry.
Who wrote the citation??? I have a feeling that the WaPo ever decides to go after Kerry's records and not just his critics, we'll find that he was acting as his own hagiographer. I'll hang on for more. The last time the Swifties took a hit from the Boston Globe, there was more to it.
ping
These poor military guys are getting beat up, just because they want to do the right thing.
I thought the Swifties were mainly disputing the first Purple Heart, from Dec. 2, 1968, which Kerry got for supposedly getting a shard of his own M-79 casing in his arm.
Until I read the fricking Unfit for Command book, I will continue to be confused.
WHERE can I buy a book? The local stores don't have it, and I'm not sure how long it will take Amazon to ship via mail.
Judicial Watch Calls For Investigation Into Kerry’s Medals, Anti-War Actions
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the first story the Post has done about this whole affair? Speaks rather ill of them, it seems to me...
The MSM's whole response seems to attack the word of the Swiftees for Truth and give Kerry a pass. Business as usual.
Kerry is protected from FOIA by FFIA.
ping
The media just confirmed that these guys served with Kerry. Shot down one of the Kerry campaign's objections, and they didn't even realize it!!!
In a telephone interview Tuesday evening after he attended a Swift Boat Veterans strategy session in an Arlington hotel, Thurlow said he lost his Bronze Star citation more than 20 years ago. He said he was unwilling to authorize release of his military records because he feared attempts by the Kerry campaign to discredit him and other anti-Kerry veterans.
The Post filed an independent request for the documents with the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, which is the central repository for veterans' records. The documents were faxed to The Post by officials at the records center yesterday.
Thurlow and other anti-Kerry veterans have repeatedly alleged that Kerry was the author of an after-action report that described how his boat came under enemy fire. Kerry campaign researchers dispute that assertion, and there is no convincing documentary evidence to settle the argument. As the senior skipper in the flotilla, Thurlow might have been expected to write the after-action report for March 13, but he said that Kerry routinely "duked the system" to present his version of events.
For much of the episode, Kerry was not in a position to know firsthand what was happening on Thurlow's boat, as Kerry's boat had sped down the river after the mine exploded under another boat. He later returned to provide assistance to the stricken boat.
Ok, if they can get this guys records without his permission, why can't they get Kerry's? And I wouldn't be too surprised if Kerry was involved in getting the 'under small arms fire' added to the report.
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.