The first thing I was told when I was a kid by my uncles who were in Vietnam was not to ask people about what they did and that real war heroes don't go around talking about how heroic they were.
This obnoxious gigolo son of a bitch LIED about being under fire when he pulled Rassmen out of the water.
24 people who were there including four other OFFICERS say so.
He is going down.
Statement by Navy Veteran Van Odell, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in Rebuttal to Michael Dobbs, Washington Post, August 19, 2004
A courageous, soft spoken man of the Midwest, Larry Thurlow has a heart bigger than the great plains and a commitment to truth and honesty that is boundless. He is under attack, because John Kerry is feeling the heat of truth at the hands of this honest man and others like him.
The Kerry Campaign is attacking the truthfulness of this man and the Bronze Star he so richly deserves for his actions on March 13, 1969. I was there. I saw what happened.
The mine's detonation lifted PCF-3 completely out of the water just yards ahead of me. All boats commenced suppression fire in case enemy small arms fire ensued. None did.
All boats came to the aid of PCF-3, except one: John Kerry's boat. Kerry fled.
Larry Thurlow piloted his boat straight toward the mine-damaged PCF-3 from which thick, black smoke billowed. He jumped aboard and personally led damage control operations that saved the boat and rescue operations that saved the lives of badly wounded men. Larry's leadership was in the highest traditions of the naval service. His leadership allowed the other men and boats of the mission to exit the river safely. This single act of meritorious service -- the chief requirement of the Bronze Star -- should be honored, not ridiculed, by the Kerry campaign and its allies in the mainstream media.
To reiterate, only one enemy weapon was deployed that day -- the command-detonated submerged mine that disabled PCF-3. Larry Thurlow's citation contained references to "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire," because that was the language chosen by John Kerry who penned the spot report on the action that day.
There was no "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire" received that day. John Kerry's report was fiction -- a hoax on the entire chain of command. Larry Thurlow's heroism and meritorious service, however, is real.
"This obnoxious gigolo son of a bitch LIED about being under fire when he pulled Rassmen out of the water."
A bit off point, but did anyone hear the caller to Bill Bennet's show today say that Rassman is probably glad he wasn't in Vietnam with the OTHER Senator from Massachusetts? Said that the other Senator doesn't pull people out of the water.