Posted on 08/26/2004 2:14:52 AM PDT by kattracks
CNSNews.com) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's 1971 testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reveals that the then anti-war activist admitted to writing many of the battle reports during his four months of combat in Vietnam.
Kerry told the committee on April 22, 1971, "...I can recall often sending in the spot reports which we made after each mission..."
Kerry also said that many in the military had "a tendency to report what they want to report and see what they want to see."
Kerry's comments about the battle reports came in response to a question from then Senator Stuart Symington (D- Mo.), who wondered about the accuracy of information from military sources.
According to the testimony , which is available in the Congressional Record, Sen. Symington asked Kerry, "Mr. Kerry, from your experience in Vietnam do you think it is possible for the President or Congress to get accurate and undistorted information through official military channels.[?]"
Kerry responded, "I had direct experience with that. Senator, I had direct experience with that and I can recall often sending in the spot reports which we made after each mission; and including the GDA, gunfire damage assessments, in which we would say, maybe 15 sampans sunk or whatever it was. And I often read about my own missions in the Stars and Stripes and the very mission we had been on had been doubled in figures and tripled in figures.
Kerry later added, "I also think men in the military, sir, as do men in many other things, have a tendency to report what they want to report and see what they want to see."
The 34-year-old testimony could shed light on the present debate over who wrote key battlefield reports that critics of Kerry say allowed him to win awards.
B. G. Burkett, author of the book Stolen Valor and a military researcher, calls the 1971 testimony "significant."
"What is significant about this is [Kerry] is readily admitting that he often submitted reports and he is implying that he himself exaggerated in those reports," Burkett told CNSNews.com.
"We have no way of knowing specifically which documents Kerry composed; and of the the ones he did compose -- did he in fact exaggerate or outright lie in those reports? That is the issue here," Burkett said.
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The controversy about who authored the now controversial after-action reports arose earlier this week, when the Washington Post obtained the military records of Larry Thurlow, one of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Thurlow's military records indicated that enemy fire erupted after Kerry's boat was hit by a mine explosion on March 13, 1969.
Thurlow now insists there was no enemy fire that day. The best selling new book by John O'Neill and Jerome Corsi, Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry, details the groups' critique of Kerry. Kerry has denounced the book and the Swift Boat vets and accused them of being an affiliate of President Bush's re-election campaign.
Thurlow and Kerry were each awarded a Bronze Star for heroism on that 13th day of March. Kerry also received his third Purple Heart as a result of the events of that day.
At the center of the controversy is whether or not there was enemy fire during Kerry's rescue of James Rassmann from the Bay Hap River. Kerry and Rassmann and others say there was enemy fire, while Thurlow and other swift boat veterans insist there was not.
Thurlow's own Bronze Star citation states that there was "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire" directed at "all units." But Thurlow believes his citation was based on Kerry's own account of the day.
"I am convinced that the language used in my citation ... was language taken directly from John Kerry's report," Thurlow said earlier this week. "John Kerry was the only officer who filed a report describing his version of the incident," Thurlow added.
The Washington Post summed up the controversy this way: "Much of the debate over who is telling the truth boils down to whether the two-page after-action report and other Navy records are accurate or whether they have been embellished by Kerry or someone else."
Burkett believes that Kerry stated the controversy surrounding his war record.
"Kerry thought that he could make a grand presentation of his combat record, and there would be no response, obviously, from the Republicans, considering the lack of military experience on that side of the aisle," Burkett said.
"I think [Kerry] completely misjudged the anger of Vietnam Veterans collectively and their ability to organize and have an answer to John Kerry," he added.
See Related Articles: Kerry 'Unfit to be Commander-in-Chief,' Say Former Military Colleagues (05/03/2004) Kerry Files Complaint With FEC Against Swift Boat Veterans (08/20/2004) Kerry Campaign, Liberal Group Attack Anti-Kerry Book ((08/20/2004) MoveOn Ads OK; Swift Boat Ads Not OK, Kerry Campaign Says (08/20/2004)
E-mail a news tip to Marc Morano.
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Now John F*ckin's admitted to falsifying battlefield reports. What was that again, Max Boot, about Kerry's having told ONE inconsequential lie? Every day we're learning something new about the Democratic presidential candidate.
Drip drip drip drip drip drip.....
Fascinating ... we're disgusted by Kerry's claims that American soldiers are bloodthirsty war crminals a la the armies of Ghenghis Khan. The Commies at the LA Slimes think it is no big deal. In fact, they thnk Kerry is right and probably think silently "and they're doing it again! look at Abu Gharib!!!"
Has anyone heard sKerry say the name Ghengis Khan during the campaign recently? Has he learned how to pronounce it?
he did admit to falsifying battlefield reports, but covered his butt with a collective 'we'...presumably that means the rest of the Swift Boat vets, whom he said the other day he wasn't calling baby killers and rapists...he meant all the other Americans in Vietnam, not his guys. What a piece of work. How sweet the revenge just as he thinks he's going to bag the Presidency. Kerry brought this on himself in spades. The only question left is when the MSM and RATs in collusion decide he's hopeless and give him the hook.
"I am convinced that the language used in my citation ... was language taken directly from John Kerry's report," Thurlow said earlier this week. "John Kerry was the only officer who filed a report describing his version of the incident," Thurlow added.
Thurlow and Kerry were each awarded a Bronze Star for heroism on that 13th day of March. Kerry also received his third Purple Heart as a result of the events of that day.
So, Kerry's third purple heart was awarded due to this report that Kerry embellished.
How many lies (that we now know of) does this make? I lost count.
FYI..C-span is running the entire tape of Kerry's testimony to the Senate tonite...set the VCR..
Swift boat captain O'Neill was on a local radio show yesterday. He mentioned that all the stories in 'Unfit for Command' are based on what at least TWO people witnessed. If one individual had an account, without anyone else having the same account, that story was left out of the book. O'Neill said there was PLENTY of other stories that never made it into the book.
He also said he wants as many people as possible to go to swiftvets.com and download the latest ad and pass it around. It gets the word out...
Given that Kerry had already quintupled the figures, we're talking up to 15-fold inflation!
Interesting...another lie/exaggeration?
So WHAT ELSE is on Kerry's resume from the 60's... OK, here's one from Kerry's own website...
From the summer before his Junior Year in College...
| EMPLOYMENT | |||
| MONTH AND YEAR | NAME AND ADDRESS OF EMPLOYER | REASON FOR LEAVING | |
| FROM | TO | ||
| June`64 | July`64 | First National Stores Inc. Middlesex Ave Somerville, Mass. |
Uninterested in work |
 |
|||
Now we know why he spent his life looking for wealthy widows to marry. <sarcasm
Uninterested in work. LOL. Well, at least he was honest. And hasn't changed at all!
That really irks me.....SBVs are forced to bend over backward to prove the worth of their words.
But a rank liar like Kerry can say anything he wants, crow about his Viet service, brag about his medals, and then rises up in a haughty furor if anybody questions the accuracy of his statements.
Life's not fair. Still, the sense Kerry is entitled is one that is grating on people and its by no means just conservatives who are repelled by his persona.
Carolyn
Yeah, well I think it'd be boring for a college student (with a personal butler) to walk the supermarket parking lot rounding up carriages (/sarc).
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