Posted on 08/24/2004 11:49:52 AM PDT by Stultis
OREGON CITY -- The clash between Vietnam veterans over Sen. John Kerry and critics of his war record heated up several degrees Monday as a group of vets called on a Clackamas County deputy prosecutor to resign.
"He's hurt a lot, a lot of people," Don Stewart, one of the organizers of a rally on the Main Street steps of the county courthouse, said of Alfred French. "It opens up a lot of wounds. . . . This is personal."
Stewart of Oregon City and Don Kirsch of Canby drew about 45 people to a rally to criticize French, a senior deputy district attorney who said in an affidavit that Kerry lied about his service record. French later admitted his sworn statements were based on the accounts of others.
French's comments have been used in anti-Kerry ads by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group of Vietnam veterans who have said the Democratic presidential candidate lied about or exaggerated his actions during Swift boat river duty in 1969.
The ad campaign has become a national issue, and French's admission to The Oregonian last week that his signed affidavit was not based on personal observations raised the emotional level of the veterans-versus-veterans debate in Oregon.
Respect for combat veterans
French was wrong "to disrespect fellow combat veterans," said Kirsch, 51, a disabled Marine veteran, who said he still has nightmares of his service.
John Prescott, an Army veteran who lives in the Canby area and attended the protest, criticized the anti-Kerry ads and what he called "a small group rewriting history in such a negative way."
His concerns, he said, have led him to become active in Veterans for Kerry.
Stewart, 58, a Navy veteran, estimated that the courthouse event included about 30 veterans that he and Kirsch had contacted.
During the rally, Stewart read a letter he and Kirsch wrote in which they tell French he should resign because he has lost the trust of county residents.
"We question your fitness to serve as an enforcer of the law after swearing to facts in a legal affidavit that you do not know to be true," they wrote.
They urged others during the rally to join them in signing. Stewart later said about 60 people have done so.
Kirsch said French has a right to criticize Kerry "as a concerned veteran" but should not have signed a sworn statement based on secondhand information. "He's told lies and hearsay evidence," Kirsch said.
French did not return a telephone message asking for comment.
District attorney defends rights
John S. Foote, Clackamas County district attorney, said in a printed statement that he personally disagrees with French's viewpoint, but that "all of our employees have the right to their own opinions" and to express those opinions on their own time.
Foote, who said the office had received numerous angry calls and e-mails -- many demanding that French be fired -- reiterated that French has "earned a reputation as a trusted and respected member of the office."
He added, "Sometimes good people just honestly disagree."
Dan Hortsch: 503-221-8223; danhortsch@news.oregonian.com
Ah,, never mind, i see you caught it. :-)
LOL!
I give up...........Kill me please!
heheh ROFL,, No, first you squirm, then you die!! :-)
I'm gonna get replies on this for days!
A peace agreement was signed on January 22, 1973.
The policy of Vietnamization (gradual withdrawal of US troops replaced by newly-trained ARVN troops) officially began on January 21, 1969.
I'm not sure when the last volunteer reported for active duty in Vietnam, but assuming that such volunteers stopped arriving after the peace agreement and that volunteers could legally serve at 17 with parental permission, someone could theoretically be a combat veteran of Vietnam at age 47.
The probability of such people existing is pretty low, I would think.
What part of his affidavit constitutes perjury?
I haven't found a copy of the affidavit yet. Do you have a link to it? If you could post the link or just the perjurous portion of it, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.
Written statements are regularly taken from 3rd party participants. See #21 -- In the Kobe Bryant trial, for example, the other hotel worker that the accused told about the rape has relevant information. What she said, when she said it, are all important.
French, reporting what he was told at the time, is giving valuable information about how a particular story has not changed, about a sequence of events that was in the mind of other participants at the time, and, since he was in the unit, he would have been in a position to know if any of the boats had received small arms damage.
He appears to be very careful to say he was not involved.
What are "official reports" but hearsay?
Written statements are regularly taken from 3rd party participants. See #21 -- In the Kobe Bryant trial, for example, the other hotel worker that the accused told about the rape has relevant information. What she said, when she said it, are all important.
French, reporting what he was told at the time, is giving valuable information about how a particular story has not changed, about a sequence of events that was in the mind of other participants at the time, and, since he was in the unit, he would have been in a position to know if any of the boats had received small arms damage.
He appears to be very careful to say he was not involved.
John F and Judy Prescott
Canby, OR 97013
I don't want to post his complete address, but perhaps this would help research his military record.
Why can damn lawyers attest to hearsay and I can't??
I just received this in an email....Does anyone know anything about this?
Subject: Looks Like Its Getting Deeper
Alston Never Served Under Kerry
Captain's Quarters | 8/14/2004 |
Posted on 08/14/2004 7:15:31 AM PDT by stayout
For those of you who have not been fully following the Swift Vet's story, one of Kerry's traveling entourage (David Alston) claimed he was under Kerry's command on a PBF and found Kerry to be a great leader. He even gave a speech to that effect at the Democratic National Convention, where he said the following:
I know him from a small boat in Vietnam, where we fought and bled together, serving our country. There were six of us aboard PCF-94, a 50-foot, twin-engine craft known as a "Swift Boat." We all came from different walks of life, but all of us-including our skipper, John Kerry-volunteered for combat duty. And combat is what we got.
However, one intrepid blogger now has proven that to be a lie, Alston never served under Kerry because Alston was wounded and out of action before Kerry took command of Alston's boat. Here is the final bit of proof (published early this morning), I suggest you go to Captain's Quarters to find all the previous analysis leading up to this astonishing coup de gras (pass the word):
Alston Never Served Under Kerry Thanks to reader Lori in Texas, I think we've just about pieced the record together on David Alston and his supposed service under John Kerry's command. Lori points out a sympathetic article on Dale Sandusky, one of the few Swift boat veterans supporting Kerry and one that served on his boat, specifically gives the timing on Kerry's command of PCF-94:
In January 1969, Sandusky's boat, PCF-94, came under attack during one such ambush. Lt.Ted Peck, the officer in charge, and another crewman were seriously wounded. Sandusky had to take command. The boat was sinking and on fire, but Sandusky steered it back to safety. They counted 155 bullet holes in the boat and found a live enemy rocket in the main cabin. It had come to rest in a sack of potatoes. For his actions, Sandusky would receive the Bronze Star.
With their officer headed home, the crew of PCF-94 needed a leader. And Lt. j.g.John Kerry, whose crew on PCF-44 had rotated back home, needed men to lead.
"I was sure glad he came along," Sandusky said, "because to be honest, I didn't want to take command."
From Jan. 30 to March 13, 1969, Kerry and the crew of the PCF-94 would conduct 18 missions in the Mekong Delta River system. In that time, Kerry would earn a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and add two Purple Hearts to the one he received earlier.
Bingo! Yachtzee! Alston received his serious wounds in that same exact battle that took Peck out of service. On January 29th, Alston was medevaced out to a hospital with head wounds and no records indicate that he ever returned to the unit. Kerry took command of PCF-94 the next day. Alston never served a day under Kerry's command. In fact, Kerry received a replacement, Fred Short, on 28 February as a replacement for Alston. Now what does that tell us about Kerry and his Viet Nam narrative?
1. He and Alston conspired to deceive people about Alston's service under Kerry. That conspiracy was intended to give John Kerry cover against exactly the kind of campaign he faces from the other Swiftvets.
2. The "end of January" language on Kerry's website was intentionally vague in order to fuzzy up the timeline and keep Alston's true status a secret. Obviously, Sandusky remembers the dates well enough, and Kerry could easily have gotten them from him if he wanted to be as specific as his other dates on the timeline.
3. The DNC either were saps or actively participated in the conspiracy in order to assist Kerry in his Viet Nam mythology. Otherwise, why would they have allowed David Alston to speak at the convention about his experiences serving with John Kerry on the boat?
4. Kerry's band of brothers have some complicity in this cover-up as well. Those who served on PCF-94 surely remember that Alston never served under Kerry; Sandusky specifically recalls Peck being wounded and removed from command, but he wouldn't remember that Alston left at the same time?
5. One could argue that they served on the same boat, of course, and I look forward to that Clintonian parsing used in Kerry's defense. After holding Alston up as an expert on his leadership, he'll be hard pressed to explain how that expertise came to Alston from a hospital bed miles away from Kerry and his old PCF.
If this gets out to the mainstream media, this story kills Kerry's campaign. This isn't just a guy embellishing his war record -- this is a deliberate and longstanding attempt to mislead and defraud people by creating his own witnesses after the fact.That he could have done such a clumsy job should disqualify him for higher office on that basis alone.
End of email
The boys named "sue" (as in, I gotta sue somebody) just can't wait to take someone to trial. Sue Kerry and Sue Edwards and the thousands of legal contributors to the campaign. Let's change the conversation to health care, shall we? And see how the two trial lawyers answer the charges associated with malpractice suits escalating costs and the doctors who can't afford insurance because of low lifes like Edwards.
The Us pulled out 2 years before the fall of Saigon I believe. It still leaves him with a slim time frame though.
What parts are perjurous?
Perjury must be demonstratable. Show us specifically what he signed. Signing an affidavit where he simple says, "John Kerry is unfit for command" is not perjurous.
Sounds like the DA has his head on straight. Here's hoping he doesn't cave.
It's like the whole French Resistance thing. After 1945 all the Vichy lovers who ratted out friends suddenly became members of the Resistance.
He filed nothing false.
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