Swift Boat Accounts Incomplete And Flawed, Clashes Roil Kerry Campaign.

WashingtonPost ^ | 08/22/04 | Michael Dobbs

[sissyjane]

Simple-They weren't under fire. They were firing out.

[Cboldt]

Kerry refused the request for the interview. That should make the press curious to what he is hiding?

ALL of Kerry's "Band of Brothers" have refused to be subjected to an interview. The absence of press mention of this fact is damning of the press, in its own right.

[Political Junkie Too]

To me, the photo of Kerry and others looks like a made up composite...Maybe photo experts on FR can give opinions.

The photo was discussed in this thread over a week ago.

-PJ

[tobyhill]

It's my understanding that Skip and Kerry's crew members have signed a nondisclosure agreement. I think it's for a future movie deal by Kerry's friend George Butler?

[carl in alaska]

Yes, Kerry will use the lie, deny, and discredit strategy all the way to election day. But I predict that this strategy is going to backfire on him because the Swift Boat vets have too many truthful accusations against him by too many credible men. Kerry is (french) toast.

[tuesday afternoon]

On the count of three, they tossed their grenades into the hole and ran.

Evidently, Kerry did not run fast enough. "He got some frags and pieces of rice in his rear end," Rassmann said with a laugh... An unsigned "personnel casualty report," however, erroneously implies that Kerry suffered "shrapnel wounds in his left buttocks" later in the day, following the mine explosion

Is this the shrapnel in his leg referred to in his current ad?

[Chode]

not to mention no reported NEW holes in his boat!!! this POS is taking on water faster than a submarine with screen doors

[federal]

Well unless he was wounded twice in the ass on the same day it is. And no one including Kerry has claimed he was wounded twice that day.

These contradictions (between his book and his medal citation) have been known for a long time yet the media has never even investigated it at all

[mondoman]

In his book, Brinkley writes that a skipper who remains friendly to Kerry, Skip Barker, took part in the March 13 raid. But there is no documentary evidence of Barker's participation. Barker could not be reached for comment.

Brinkley had to revise his historical reference to Kerry in Cambodia on Christmas due to the contradictions raisded by the Swift Boat Vets for Truth

[mondoman]

Brinkley, who is director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans, did not reply to messages left with his office, publisher and cell phone. The Kerry campaign has refused to make available Kerry's journals and other writings to The Washington Post, saying the senator remains bound by an exclusivity agreement with Brinkley. A Kerry spokesman, Michael Meehan, said he did not know when Kerry wrote down his reminiscences.

Where is the primary source material supporting Kerry and Brinkley's story?

[freddiedavis]

BUMP FOR SWIFT VET AD2... http://www.swiftvets.com/

[mondoman]

I love this one, buried in the article. Everyone should start asking to see the "shrapnel from JFK's posterior"

As they were heading back to the boat, Kerry and Rassmann decided to blow up a five-ton rice bin to deny food to the Vietcong. In an interview last week, Rassmann recalled that they climbed on top of the huge pile and dug a hole in the rice. On the count of three, they tossed their grenades into the hole and ran.

Evidently, Kerry did not run fast enough. "He got some frags and pieces of rice in his rear end," Rassmann said with a laugh. "It was more embarrassing than painful." At the time, the incident did not seem significant, and Kerry did not mention it to anyone when he got back on the boat. An unsigned "personnel casualty report," however, erroneously implies that Kerry suffered "shrapnel wounds in his left buttocks" later in the day, following the mine explosion incident, when he also received "contusions to his right forearm."

Aren't Purple Hearts awarded for injuries sustained under enemy fire?

[Oztrich Boy]

do you know where it has been positively show Alston was gunner on 3/13?

Alston was wounded in the January 29 action (under Lt Peck) and replaced as the black guy by Fred Short for Febraury

According to Short, who supports the Kerry candidacy and appeared alongside Alston with Kerry at last month's convention, Alston was gone during the month of February and did not return to the boat until March. Short remembers going on his first patrol on PCF-94 on February 18, 1969 — he recalls the date clearly because it was his birthday. Short remembers taking part in his last operation on PCF-94 around March 4. He believes Alston returned a few days later.

[mondoman]

Anti-Kerry veterans have accused Kerry of conflating the two injuries to strengthen his case for a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Kerry's Bronze Star citation, however, refers only to his arm injury. [which was a BRUISE!!!]

On the core issue of whether Kerry was wounded under enemy fire that day, thereby qualifying for a third Purple Heart, the Navy records clearly favor Kerry. Several documents, including the after-action report [primary source; who signed it?] and the Bronze Star citation [Secondary source] for a Swift Boat skipper who has accused Kerry of lying, refer to "all units" coming under "automatic and small-weapons fire...."

[Cold Heat]

Kerry's Silver Star citation also recites that a score of VC were routed as a direct result of Kerry beaching his boat, just to give an idea of the meaning of "numerical superiority."

Yeah, he kept that typewriter very busy!

The problem with many of these guys who support Kerry is that their own medals are in question as well as I see it.

The very few who support Kerry are not as willing to admit the truth as are the swift vets. This is a hard thing to do after 35 years. I understand the difficulty and I understand what is at stake.

It is quite possible that some may defect from the Kerry camp and put this matter to it's final rest. At least I hope so. None of the vets wanted to air this dirty laundry in public. If Kerry had stayed in Massachusetts, they would have given him a pass. But now he wants to be Commander in Chief. This fact changed everything. I don't think the press and the public understand the reasoning behind the Swift vets activities very well. I hope that changes.

[tobyhill]

All these Vets who are Kerry supporters did learn something from Vietnam; Confuse, Distract and then Retreat. This is making it hard for the press to pin them down even if they wanted to, which they don't.

[AndrewC]

The medal commendation itself says Kerry was wounded and bleeding from schrapnel from the mine explosion.

Yes the medal citation states that, but the paperwork sent up states otherwise.

Bronze Star recommendation

"LTJG Kerry, from his exposed position on the bow of the boat, managed to pull LT. Rassman aboard despite the painful wound in his right arm."

The "bleeding" came from somewhere else. Plus, how was he wounded when he was inside of the pilot house?

[rolling_stone]

He believes Alston returned a few days later.



..doesn't sound too positive to me...JMO..

[conservative in nyc]

This article is supposed to be on the front page of SUNDAY'S edition, the most read:

Swift Boat Accounts Incomplete And Flawed
Clashes Roil Kerry Campaign

By Michael Dobbs
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 22, 2004; Page A01
I didn't think the article was that bad. It dings both sides, but Kerry comes off as fleeing the scene and not going to help PCF-3. And it calls on Kerry (and the Swiftees) to release their records, noting that KERRY was the only person who refused to be interviewed.

[AndrewC]

Here is more information on Kerry's medal taken from Chicago tribune. The reference for his last purple heart says he got it for shrapnel[probably rice grains --AC] wounds in the left buttock and contusions to his right forearm.