`This is what I saw that day'

Chicago Tribune ^ | 8/22/04 | William B. Rood

[DustyMoment]

This story is being reported as Rood and Kerry being the only ones (surviving) there on that day. NOT TRUE!!! Even Rood admits that he and Kerry are the only surviving OFFICERS that were there that day.

The liberal elitism of that statement is galling to me as though to impugn the integrity of the enlisted folks who were present as well. Does Mr. Rood suggest that the enlisted men who were there were incapable of seeing what happened? That their version is inherently false and should be disregarded? That, as officers, only he and Kerry are capable of honestly reporting the events?

[John Thornton]

If you do a Google search for Rood, you will find him on many left wing boards. In fact, one of the books out there refers to Rood as a highly partisan Democrat even during the Vietnam war. It seems pretty obvious that Kerry has been holding him in reserve until this very moment.

[LandOfLincolnGOP]

He has no say in this matter he was not in the same boat as kerry,he said he was in the boat next to him.

But by that logic, most SBVT members have no say either, right?

[boxerblues]

Thats the logic kerry is using

[jimboster]

Rood says in the article
"I can't pretend those calls had no effect on me, but that is not why I am writing this. What matters most to me is that this is hurting crewmen 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."
If this is true, shouldn't he be upset that one of Kerry's crew members, David Alston, has been lying about being on his boat on February 28, 1969- and Kerry is being silent about it? Doesn't this hurt the crewmen who were really there that day?

[pabianice]

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.

How convenient.

[LowNslow]

May be Kerry just called to verify information in the DNC/Hilary FBI files.

[ArmyBratproud]

...Unmentioned by Rood in his Chicago Tribune report is the account of Tom Bellodeau, who, unlike Rood, was actually aboard Kerry's boat when the VC in question leveled his grenade launcher at them.

"You know, I shot that guy," Bellodeau told the Boston Globe during a 1996 interview, correcting an earlier Globe report that echoed Kerry's claim that he alone had neutralized the enemy ambusher. ""

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/8/21/215620.shtml