Sent this to Letter to the Oregonian. Doubt they will publish it.
"As a Vietnam Vet who also served with the River Raiders (3/34 Arty 9th Infantry) up and down on the rivers and canals in delta region of South Vietnam during the same time as Sen. Kerry, I too can say, based on my own experience, there is much about Kerry's own account of his actions (let alone the actions of others) which simply does not pass the smell test.
What bothers me the most is his own account of the post-fact filming episode we now see in the news story's and in his political adds. He obviously placed his own men (without authorization) at completely unnecessary risk for his own personal reasons. Anyone who has been in combat knows this sort of behavior was a serious mistake and that if allowed to continue enlisted men had a way of taking care of it on their own initiative. To me it makes perfect sense why Kerry's commanders might want to turn a blind eye to gaming procedure and rule bending over Kerry's purple heart medals (3rd is your ticket home), as a sure way to get him out of their command and out of country....without having to be questioned at the time. "
news stories and political ads..
spellcheck....