Posted on 08/21/2004 8:28:40 AM PDT by palmer
The commander of a Navy swift boat who served alongside Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry during the Vietnam War stepped forward Saturday to dispute attacks challenging Kerry's integrity and war record.
William Rood, an editor on the Chicago Tribune's metropolitan desk, said he broke 35 years of silence about the Feb. 28, 1969, mission that resulted in Kerry's receiving a Silver Star because recent portrayals of Kerry's actions published in the best-selling book "Unfit for Command" are wrong and smear the reputations of veterans who served with Kerry.
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(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
...because his guy might be going down in flames.
It's not rocket science.
Okie dokie Mister Liberal Media. How much is Mama T paying for your lie?
No body is questioning the honorable service of our vets. We're questioning Kerry's misuse of that service for his personal political gain.
Too little. Too late.
But we are beginning to see the outline of the MSM-DNC spin on this election, how it was stolen by Bush dirty tricks. They're beginning to set up their anti-Bush rantings for the next four years.
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Don't worry, no one will question a purple heart from someone who doesn't write their own reports or have an agenda to run for office before he enters military service.
Yes, this only deals with the Silver Star incident. There were 3 boats involved. William Rood seems to be the skipper of one of them. The skipper of the 3rd boat has died.
"In the book, O'Neill and Corsi said Kerry chased down a "young Viet Cong in a loincloth … clutching a grenade launcher which may or may not have been loaded."
Rood recalled the fleeing Viet Cong was "a grown man, dressed in the kind of garb the VC usually wore." There were other attackers as well, he said, and his boat and Kerry's boat took significant fire. "
O'Niell rebuts the contentions of the article adequately. The bottom line of the article is merely another MSM ad hominem attack, albeit well-couched in pseudofactual statements.
This has nothing to do with the James Rassman incident.
For heroic achievement while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in armed conflict against Viet Cong communist aggressors in the Republic of Vietnam.
On 28 Februrary 1969, Lieutenant (junior grade) ROOD was serving as Officer in Charge of Patrol Craft Fast 23 in conjunction with two other Patrol Craft Fast, Underwater Demolition Team THIRTEEN and Vietnamese Regional and Popular Force personnel who were involved in an operation on Ca Xau Peninsula as part of Operation SEA LORDS.
While transiting the Bay Hap River, these units came under a barrage of enemy small arms fire from the river bank. The three Patrol Craft Fast immediately responded an charged the Viet Cong positions, taking the enemy under devastating fire. The Viet Cong, caught completely off guard by this tactic, stood up and began running from their positions. The fleeing Viet Cong were taken under fire by the three Patrol Craft Fast and three enemy were killed prior to the insertion of Regional and Popular Force troops.
While Regional and Popular Force personnel conducted a sweep of the area, Patrol Craft Fast 43 remained to provide fire support and Patrol Craft 23 and 94 moved upstram to investiage an area from which gunshots were coming. Arriving at the area, both of the Patrol Craft Fast came under heavy automatic/semi-automatic weapons fire from well fortified positions along the river bank. Patrol Craft Fast 23 and 94 turned and charged directly into the enemy fire while summoning Patrol Craft Fast 43 to come to the area and provide additional firepower.
... (to be continued)
Kerry SMEARED the reputations of men like Rood. Nobody else smeared Rood.
Maybe Rood can clarify whether the wounded 15 year old with the broken rocket launcher was a numerically superior enemy.
when I think of how this story might make other people wonder whether or not its legitimate because of how easy this story makes it seem to get one fraudulently, it tears me up inside.
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I understand what you are saying, and the swift vets story does cause more pain to more people who are trying to keep painful Vietnam memories way back in their minds.
But these men are entitled to make their concerns public about a man who came home and TRASHED his fellow military "brothers" in a disgusting way for years.
The net result is your father's service is dishonored by Kerry, and honored by the swiftees.
The great thing about the 2nd Swiftvet ad is that we won't have any of this silly, "my word against their word" stuff going on.
It's Kerry's testimony pure and simple, and how it made the POW's feel when they were imprisoned in Vietnam.
One pretty powerful statement in the ad about Kerry giving the Viet Cong "for free", what the POW took torture for not saying.
Rood's comments are as I expected. It is not a refutation of a material point of contention. It is a minor quibble regarding an irrelevant detail.
The material point of contention is whether or not there was a NUMERICALLY SUPERIOR enemy force. Kerry's Silver Star citation recites that the flotilla routed SCORES of VC. That means at least 20 (one score) enemy force. Does Rood assert there were 20 or more VC? How many? I think his article sas "a few." Oops - he agrees with the Swiftees.
"This story" is Kerry's doing not the Swifties. Why should honorable men who've been blasted as neanderthal baby killers let him get away with his fraud?
Your dad knows how he got his Purple Heart, that's all that matters. Sometimes we worry too much about what other people think.
Kausfiles said the Chicago Trib, so this must be the article that the kerry camp expects to kiss his booboo and make it all better.
Won't work.
Yes, its a disagreement over the details. Rood contends there was enemy fire. The Swiftees insist there wasn't. I'm inclined to side with the majority view.
Good grief where was this guy when Kerry mega-slimed them all?
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