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Swift boat skipper: Kerry critics wrong
Chicago Tribune ^ | August 21, 2004 | Tim Jones

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.

...

(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: kerry; swiftboatvets; unfitforcommand; williamrood
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To: gilliam
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. "

The point of contention is not related in any way, shape or form to the single VC.

The point of contention is whether or not Kerry "attacked a NUMERICALLY SUPERIOR enemy WHILE under withering fire." Rood's account does not get to that point of contention. Kerry's Silver Star citation recites that ht action of Kerry beaching HIS boat directly in front of enemy ambushers resulted in routing a score of VC. The Swiftees dispute that point.

61 posted on 08/21/2004 9:31:56 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: Cboldt
From the article regarding the fleeing teen:

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.

Doesn't Kerry himself describe the VC as a teen in a loin cloth? I'm quite certain he and his supporters have but this guy Rood, while trying to say the Swifties are wrong is actually at odds with Kerry's acount of the incident and closer to the Swifties.

62 posted on 08/21/2004 9:32:49 AM PDT by NEPA (The MSM is the PR wing of the DNC.)
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To: palmer

Contribute to and support the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth at http://swift1.he.net/~swiftvet/index.php

Just sent them $25.


63 posted on 08/21/2004 9:33:27 AM PDT by schaketo (Notorious for skinny dipping in the same pond as snapping turtles)
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To: prairiebreeze
If there was enemy fire why were there no bullet holes in any of the SwiftBoats or other crewmen shot? Or were the VC just extremely poor shots that day??

You are confusing the March 13 incident (Rassmann, where the Swiftees say there was no enemny fire) with the incident of February 28, where the Swiftees say that Kerry did not beach his boat in the face of numerically superior (but firing) enemy.

64 posted on 08/21/2004 9:34:20 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: schaketo

Thanks for the bump, just sent another $25.


65 posted on 08/21/2004 9:37:43 AM PDT by palmer (Solutions, not just slogans -JFKerry)
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To: NEPA
Doesn't Kerry himself describe the VC as a teen in a loin cloth?

It doesn't matter. The single VC is not in any way a point of material contention.

66 posted on 08/21/2004 9:37:55 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: NonValueAdded

Well they are NOT making him available to the press. A hit and run statement. What would you know. I knew it was fishy from the get go. That's why the mainstream media is losing credibility. The disinterested, passionate pursuit of the truth is not their primary objective. Its to serve a partisan agenda - namely, do whatever it takes to get Kerry elected. They must think the American people are stupid if they don't notice what's going on.


67 posted on 08/21/2004 9:38:00 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop
Not only will Rood not give a statement, or submit to an interview, NONE of the veterans who publicly stand behind Kerry will. Not a single one of them! And the media doesn't even mention that, let alone question it.

The bias is obvious.

68 posted on 08/21/2004 9:40:13 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: palmer

So why is this on the Trib's front page instead of its editorial page?


69 posted on 08/21/2004 9:41:57 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
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To: Cboldt

Why won't they give a statement or interviews? What exactly are they afraid of or embarrassed about, if Kerry such a great brother in arms. You would think the media would want them available to help out their Golden Boy. TM Something does NOT compute here.


70 posted on 08/21/2004 9:43:02 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: Cboldt

Confusing incidents is just what the Kerry Campaign wants us to do. Kerry has just barely enough cover on this stuff to give his supporters in the media a reason to dismiss the Vets. Here's what I notice in this piece:

1. Doesn't mention that Rood's recollection of the "typical VC" holding the rocket wasn't conflicts with Kerry's official story in "Tour of Duty." The media has generally ignored Kerry's varying versions of events.

2. Doesn't mention Cambodia, or any of the other allegations.

3. Rood is concerned about the Swifties "impugning vets not in the media spotlight." The next logical question is asking him how he feels about Kerry's Winter Soldier BS.


71 posted on 08/21/2004 9:43:19 AM PDT by Callahan
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To: Cboldt

What are the sources for the Swift Boat Vets' account of this incident? One guy, more than one?


72 posted on 08/21/2004 9:43:27 AM PDT by Steve_Stifler
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To: Chi-townChief

Good question since its an unsourced personal opinion. It belongs on the op-ed page. Then again the partisan media's journalistic ethics stink.


73 posted on 08/21/2004 9:44:07 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: Jeff Head
So now its 254 to 10?

Uh... not exactly. Now those 'American veterans' living in HANOI are backing KERRY! How very fitting - MORE commie traitors supporting Kerry. Who'd a thunk it, right???

74 posted on 08/21/2004 9:45:20 AM PDT by Condor51 (May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't. -- Gen G. Patton Jr)
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To: Callahan

Yes, and they won't allow anything out that might compromise their unanimity of support for Kerry. The whole thing is a fraudulent public relations exercise. People will see right through it.


75 posted on 08/21/2004 9:46:07 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: palmer
Ambushes from Viet Cong fighters were common because the noise from boats, powered by twin diesel engines, practically invited gunfire. Ambushes, Rood said, "were a virtual certainty."

Oh, so that's why Swiftboats were used to insert Navy seals and CIA men in Cambodia. I always kind of wondered about that.

76 posted on 08/21/2004 9:46:35 AM PDT by 12B
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To: Condor51
Now those 'American veterans' living in HANOI are backing KERRY

My conscience and my stomach will not allow me to count them in the mix. So...by my count, still 254 to 10.

77 posted on 08/21/2004 9:47:05 AM PDT by Jeff Head (www.dragonsfuryseries.com)
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To: Steve_Stifler
What are the sources for the Swift Boat Vets' account of this incident? One guy, more than one?

I haven't read the book "Unfit for Command," but have studied Elliott's affidavits. I think that the evidence there was not a score of VC in front of Kerry's boat when he beached it comes from Kerry's biography, of all places.

78 posted on 08/21/2004 9:47:21 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: Chi-townChief

Just part of the MSM strategy I guess. Their only hope is to "discredit" the SBVT like the Washpost and WSJ did for the Rassman story. They need reference stories like this one to point to later to say that SBVT are "completely discredited". As the SBVT get more effective ads like their second one, that is the only defense that the MSM has left.


79 posted on 08/21/2004 9:51:50 AM PDT by palmer (Solutions, not just slogans -JFKerry)
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To: goldstategop
Why won't they give a statement or interviews?

The answer to that is obvious. But look at how clearly the absence of mention illustrates media bias.

The media questioned baseless allegation of AWOL Bush, but has not investigated allegations that Kerry lied to get medals. The media never mentions that Kerry's "Brothers" are unavailable for interviews, nor does it express the glaring difference in availability between the contending sides. The media never asks a question about the substance of the allegations, when it comes to Kerry. It's all smoke and mirrors.

80 posted on 08/21/2004 9:51:55 AM PDT by Cboldt
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