Chicago Tribune Editor and Former Swift Boat Commander Breaks Silence; Says Kerry Critics Wrong

Chicago Tribune ^ | 08/21/04 | Chicago Tribune

[Pikamax]

    CHICAGO, Aug. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- "There were three Swift Boats on the
river that day in Vietnam more than 35 years ago -- three officers and 15 crew
members. Only two of those officers remain to talk about what happened on
February 28, 1969.
    "One is John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate who won a Silver
Star for what happened on that date. I am the other."
    (Photo:  
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-a

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-b http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-c

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-d )

So begins William Rood's compelling account of events that happened more than 35 years ago. The article appears in the Sunday, August 22 edition of the Chicago Tribune. Rood, now night city editor for the Chicago Tribune, earned a Bronze Star for his part in the operation. Rood has chosen to break more than three decades of silence in defense of the men who served alongside him. "It's gotten harder and harder for those of us who were there to listen to accounts we know to be untrue, especially when they come from people who were not there," Rood writes. "What matters most to me is that this is hurting crew men who are not public figures and who deserved to be honored for what they did. "My intent is to tell the story here and to never again talk publicly about it." William Rood's complete account will appear in the Sunday, August 22 edition of the Chicago Tribune, available Saturday in Chicago and online at chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune Managing Editor James O'Shea said Rood has refused all interview requests up to now, including some from the Tribune's reporters. "Bill is a modest man and he didn't want his harrowing combat experiences to become engulfed in a political campaign. "As the coverage of Senator Kerry's war record has intensified, though, Rood decided to come forward with his story, primarily, he says, because Kerry's critics are telling stories that Rood knows to be untrue. The false accounts are casting doubts on the actions of those men who served with and under Rood, men who are not public figures running for president but brave, ordinary Americans, war veterans whose courage, Rood believes, should not be diminished by a heated political campaign."

NOTE: William Rood will not be available for further comment or interviews. Deputy Managing Editor George de Lama and reporter Tim Jones are available.

SOURCE Chicago Tribune
Web Site: http://chicagotribune.com
Photo Notes: NewsCom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-a
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-b
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-c
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-d AP
Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org AP PhotoExpress Network:
PRN1 PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

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[McGavin999]

So what does the silver star have to do with the bronze star? They were two different actions. The silver star was questioned because of the change between the original citation and the one that was re-issued in later years.

This guy's comments don't add or subtract much of anything.

[Maria S]

See if there are any OTHER names that you recognize funding the film:


Funding was provided by

William and Lilli Tragos
David and Judy Keyes
Dorothy Lee Droz
Karen and Richard McCann
The Women in Film Foundation Film Finishing Fund
Sally Benson and Stephen Nichols
John N. and Kathleen S. MacDonough
Atterbury Family Foundation
Christopher & Carol McGuire
Daniel W. Susslin
Gary R. Blinn
John F. Kerry
Stephen A. McFeely & Jacqueline Jauregui
Swift Boat Sailors Association, Inc.
Frank Droz and Francine Droz
Timothy and Sigrid Herr
W. Daniel Clinton
Ralph and Jean Kimberlin
Steven R. Winkel and Barbara W. Sahm
Michael R. Bernique
Richard and Ann Costello
Bonnie K. Gibson
Gary and Lou Ross
Roisman, Redding & Henel, LLP
Ronald A. Hellstern, M.D.
Terry S. Dunaway
William B. Rood, Jr.
Penn State AXO pledge sisters, class of 1964
Beth Colt and P.K. Simonds
Peter and Maria Upton
Barbara and Don McCoy
Sally Ann Marks
Paul and Peggy Droz
And additional funders

[jimbo123]

Rood's employers at the Chicago Tribune told him to obfuscate the stories and he's just following orders. The truth is not of importance to Rood and his bosses at the Chicago Tribune.

[No Surrender No Retreat]

Probably another comic book hero kerry bribed to CYA. It's vey amusing to see kerry pull monkeys from his butt. The communist manifesto "Play Book", of the DNC crowd.

[spunkets]

Here's what bozo Kerry and his obfuscator apologists should answer and address:

JOE PONDER (wounded 1968): The accusations that John Kerry made against the veterans who served in Vietnam were just devastating ..."

KERRY: "... randomly shot at civilians ..."

PONDER: "... more than any physical wounds I had."

KERRY: "... cut off limbs, blown up bodies ..."

KEN CORDIER (former POW): "That was part of the torture, that you had to sign a statement that you committed war crimes."

KERRY: "... razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan ..."

PAUL GALANTI (former POW): John Kerry gave the enemy for free what I and my comrades in the prison camps in North Vietnam took torture to avoid saying."

KERRY: "... crimes committed on a day-to-day basis ..."

CORDIER: "He betrayed us in the past. How could we be loyal to him now?"

KERRY: "... ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam ..."

GALANTI: "He dishonored his country and, more importantly, the veterans he served with. He sold them out."

So as far as the event itself and the documentary. The family never heard any of Rood, Kerry, or the others address the matter of Kerry's lies about what they were doing and what they were fighting for.

[blake6900]

NOTE: William Rood will not be available for further comment or interviews. Deputy Managing Editor George de Lama and reporter Tim Jones are available.

The fact that this guy Rood won't comment beyond what he's written and two schmucks that weren't there will puts Rood's credibility right where it belongs...in the crapper. It's interesting that William Rood would hide behind a premise as a Kerry supporter that he would never consider as a reporter if in fact he is a credible journalist at all. Throwing a statement out without an opportunity for questioning is right out of the Kerry playbook.

I don't know whether or not this man is being truthful but I'm becoming increasing disgusted with this notion that the only Vietnam Veterans capable of telling the turth in the first place are the ones who are siding with Kerry. All others are liars? Nonsense.

'Christmas in Cambodia' never happened. So whether or not John Kerry is a liar is not in question. That's been established. All we want to know now is how much of a liar is he. I sincerely doubt that 'Christmas in Cambodia' was an isolated incident. After all, didn't he lie about throwing away his medals?

[blue-duncan]

You may be right, and if that is the case he is "damning with faint praise."

[happydogx2]

Joesnuffy

Why do you bring up the name Dong Tam - I was there.
Kerry was further south.

happydog

[happydogx2]

Different incident.

happydog

[KeyLargo]

COASTAL SQUADRON ONE

Swift Boat Crew Directory

(Last updated 8/16/2004)

http://swiftboats.net/

William B. Rood Jr, LTJG,
OinC

WRood@aol.com

7/68-7/69 DaNang Naperville, IL

WRood@tribune.com

Metro Assistant Content Editor

Call Signs

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Officer-in-Charge

Call Sign Name Comments
Alpha Potato William B. Rood Jr.