Skip to comments.
Swiftboat Crewman: Kerry Boat Under Fire
AP ^
| August 26, 2004
Posted on 08/26/2004 4:36:06 PM PDT by Shermy
click here to read article
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-60, 61-80, 81-100 ... 121-140 next last
To: tomahawk
Run with it, Hell, the MSM is calling this a total vindication for Kerry.
61
posted on
08/26/2004 5:32:31 PM PDT
by
mwl1
To: Bob
I've been looking for the thread from a couple evenings ago wherein a FReeper was commenting on on Kerry's uncanny luck with missing mines. Those near-misses, as told by Kerry, seemed a bit contrived. But this new (for me at least) bit of information would be a convenient and plausible explanation for some of Kerry's adventures. I imagine it would be difficult to sit on the shore and try to guage when a target is in the right spot. One could expect more misses than hits.
62
posted on
08/26/2004 5:33:06 PM PDT
by
Lil'freeper
(You do not have the plug-in required to view this tagline.)
To: NonValueAdded
More than likely, Rassman ended up in the water due to Kerry's gunning the engines and taking off up river. Had it not been for Kerry's actions, Rassman probably wouldn't have fallen overboard. So Kerry gets a bronze star (Rassman wanted him to get a Silver Star), for picking up a guy out of the water even though it was his fault that the guy ended up there to begin with. Then, he not only left the scene of a mine explosion involving fellow sailors, he leaves his boat, which towed PCF3 back to base, and took off on the Cutter for medical treatment.
Personally, Kerry never should have been allowed to write up the report for this incident, especially since he hadn't bothered to stay around and complete the mission, which included towing PCF3 back home. How someone receives a medal, whether under fire or not, for totally disregarding the safety and well-being of his fellow sailors, and for violating standard military procedure is beyond me.
63
posted on
08/26/2004 5:35:17 PM PDT
by
mass55th
( “Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.”)
To: Shermy
To: plain talk
What is it about this that makes you so afraid?Kerry in the White House!! What about it makes you think that the focus of this campaign should be on these refutiations?
Look, just point out Kerry's anti-war record and only the absolute things that you can irrefutably show, then fense sitters will have no doubt of what this man is about.
This back and forth between Vets just takes the focus OFF what Bush can beat Kerry hands down on.
An actual record!
65
posted on
08/26/2004 5:38:31 PM PDT
by
sirchtruth
(Do you just think I fell off a turnip truck?)
To: Lil'freeper
I imagine it would be difficult to sit on the shore and try to guage when a target is in the right spot. One could expect more misses than hits. It wouldn't have been all that tough.
At the time of the incident, the Swifts were passing around a fishing weir on both sides of it. That restricted how far side-to-side that they could have been from the mine's location. A Swift is 50 or so feet long. Unless it was going very fast, it would be fairly simple to time your detonation to occur somewhere along its length. I'm not sure how fast they were moving at the time but I suspect that they slowed somewhat to go around the weir.
66
posted on
08/26/2004 5:40:37 PM PDT
by
Bob
To: jimbo123
He's lying and afraid he'll lose his medal because the truth is coming out. His past honesty is also on the line in that he "signed off" as an eyewitness for Thurlow's Bronze Star award. I don't know what I'd do if I had a ghost like that in my closet. I'd like to think I'd clear the ghost out. Sooner is better than later, and later is better than never.
67
posted on
08/26/2004 5:41:33 PM PDT
by
Cboldt
To: RS
"I thought we were under fire, I believed we were under fire," Lambert said "thought" and "believed" does not mean you were Yes, his statment is not made with the same "certain" conviction expressed under oath, in recent affidavits, by some of the Swiftees who were also there.
68
posted on
08/26/2004 5:42:49 PM PDT
by
Cboldt
To: Shermy
"When they blew the 3-boat, everyone opened up on the banks with everything they had," he said...so with all the chatter from your own guns, how could you hear gunfire from the river banks - and with no bullet holes anywhere on any of the boats and no one wounded by gunfire, what makes you think there was enemy fire?.......
To: jonrick46
When Kerry wrote the report, he may have actually believed they were under fire, as he hi-tailed it out of there and heard the U.S. forces opening up on the shoreline after the mine went off. But he was wrong.
70
posted on
08/26/2004 5:44:56 PM PDT
by
tomahawk
To: Monster Zero
..believe me,as any vet who's been under fire can attest..
you could have jessica simpson doing a lap dance for you...you will remember if you were under fire or not,when
it happens.
Doogle
71
posted on
08/26/2004 5:45:51 PM PDT
by
Doogle
(USAF..408th MMS...Ubon, Thailand "69" ..."Wolfpack".night line delivery "Doogle")
To: Shermy
The other crewmen complained about Kerry's reckless handling of his boat. This was a case of his recklessness coming up to bite him. When it caused Rassman to fall off the boat, Kerry concocted the entire story to hide the fact that it was his rash driving that almost got someone killed. Thus, a story of a rescue under enemy fire would justify his initial attempt to flee the scene as well as justify a medal when he goes back to keep a catastrophe from destroying his naval career. Rassman has been in Kerry's pocket from day one. He knows the true story of why he fell off the boat. For some reason he went along with Kerry's story to protect Kerry from the damage it would cause to Kerry's Officer's Fitness Report.
To: NonValueAdded
Indeed, if the report about Kerry's boat being so damaged after the mine incident is true ... I think it is not. I think the damage report should say PCF-3, and that it cites PCF-94 is an error.
http://swiftboats.net/ <-- Independent Information
73
posted on
08/26/2004 5:46:24 PM PDT
by
Cboldt
To: MonroeDNA
Kerry is tanking in the polls because of the Swift Boat Vets.He is? All the polls I've seen have Kerry & Bush about even!! That should tell you folks something, the SBV ads will only invigerate Kerry's campaign because the MSM focus will be on the negative aspects of the SBV.
Drop the ads while you're ahead...
74
posted on
08/26/2004 5:47:08 PM PDT
by
sirchtruth
(Do you just think I fell off a turnip truck?)
To: Bob
I think that there would have to have been a fairly large VC force present to be willing to go up against the combined firepower of five Swifts. Interesting that there was no body count. I really can't imagine a few guys with AKs attacking five swift boats.
75
posted on
08/26/2004 5:47:14 PM PDT
by
js1138
(Speedy architect of perfect labyrinths.)
To: sirchtruth
Only if the SBV have irrefutable POOF should they continue this push, otherwise get out of the eye of the campaign. Your complaint is with the media. If the Bush campaign makes a bigger fire, people will look there, instead of here.
76
posted on
08/26/2004 5:47:35 PM PDT
by
Cboldt
To: FesterUSMC
I think the Kerry account says that Kerry returned through 5000 meters of fire.
1. Does that mean that that for the 5000 meters (5km) going out he wasn't under fire?
2. If not, does that mean that the enemy was able to spread out along the riverbank for 5km in the same amount of time it took Kerry to travel 5km in his boat so that when he turned around they'd be there strung out along the 5km between him and the scene of the mine explosion? These would have to be really, really swift VC or there would have to have already been an extremely dense VC population along that riverbank for 5km.
3. If Kerry had traveled a total of 10km (6.2 miles) at the top speed of the boat (about 32mph) assuming no wait on the turnaround (Oh, crap, Rassmann fell off! Should we go back to get him? Someone will pick him up. But that'll look really bad that we left him in the water when we took off. Oh, crap, I guess we'll have to go back.), it would have taken them at least 11.6 minutes to cover the distance. If Kerry had been traveling at a uniform speed along a river and was taking fire throughout the 5km and managed to make it back to pick up Rassmann, hang around for the time it took to hook up his boat to the damaged craft, and for Kerry to transfer to the ship carrying the wounded without his craft showing a bullet hole, then what did they have to be worried about? The VC had to have been totally lousy shots. You'd think that by luck, at least, they would have hit them. After all, they got one boat with a mine.
4. If Kerry returned through constant fire along 5km of river to the scene of the mine explosion, then those working the scene would have been hearing constant fire throughout that time. But they only reported that they opened up after the explosion to suppress enemy fire and that, after seeing none, ceased firing.
77
posted on
08/26/2004 5:48:08 PM PDT
by
aruanan
To: Bob
At the time of the incident, the Swifts were passing around a fishing weir on both sides of it. That restricted how far side-to-side that they could have been from the mine's location. Well. That's what I get for not paying close attention. Makes sense. Thank you.
78
posted on
08/26/2004 5:48:45 PM PDT
by
Lil'freeper
(You do not have the plug-in required to view this tagline.)
To: MonroeDNA
This guy knows that if Kerry's medal is bogus, so is his Of the swift boat vets who support Kerry, does anybody know how many of them received medals recommended by Kerry. If any of Kerry's medals are proved to be phony, it would cast doubt on the crew's medals as well. Just a thought.
79
posted on
08/26/2004 5:52:06 PM PDT
by
El Whino
To: sirchtruth
You make no sense. Kerry made VietNam the centerpiece of his campaign. If you don't like it take it up with him.
Kerry's poll numbers are going down because of the SWB dudes who are eyewitnesses and provide proof. Bush certainly wasn't doing it on his own for the last six months, was he? What's happening now is the public is finally focusing on Kerry. That's the last thing Kerry wants. He wants the focus on Bush and Al Garib and all this other nonsense.
What do you mean "let's just point out ..."? This SWB stuff is being independently brought out by vets. There is no "let's" to discuss. I guess you could call all 200+ of them and complain if you like and think it would do any good.
Everything you are saying is incorrect.
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-60, 61-80, 81-100 ... 121-140 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson