An M-79 Gernade Launcher is NOT a mortar and would be used easily in a boat...you see, libertards, the M-79 is a SHOULDER-MOUNTED weapon...
Posted on 08/27/2004 6:34:08 AM PDT by Calusa
NEW YORK -- Retired Rear Adm. William L. Schachte Jr. said Thursday in his first on-the-record interview about the Swift boat veterans dispute that "I was absolutely in the skimmer" in the early morning on Dec. 2, 1968, when Lt. (j.g.) John Kerry was involved in an incident which led to his first Purple Heart.
"Kerry nicked himself with a M-79 (grenade launcher)," Schachte said in a telephone interview from his home in Charleston, S.C. He said, "Kerry requested a Purple Heart."
Schachte, who also was then a lieutenant junior grade, said he was in command of the small Boston whaler or skimmer, with Kerry aboard in his first combat mission in the Vietnam War. The third crew member was an enlisted man whose name Schachte did not remember.
Two enlisted men who appeared at the podium with Sen. Kerry at the Democratic National Convention in Boston have asserted that they were alone in the small boat with Kerry, with no other officer present. Schachte said it "was not possible" for Kerry to have gone out alone so soon after joining the Swift boat command in late November of 1968.
Kerry supporters say that no critics of the Democratic presidential candidate ever were aboard a boat with him in combat. Washington lawyer Lanny Davis has contended that Schachte was not aboard the Boston whaler, and the statement in "Unfit for Command" that he was aboard undermines that critical book's credibility.
Schachte until now has refused to speak out publicly on this question and agreed to give only two interviews. One was a television interview with Lisa Myers of NBC News. The second was a print interview with me.
Schachte described the use of the skimmer operating very close to shore as a technique that he personally designed to flush enemy forces on the banks of Mekong River so that the larger Swift boats could move in. At about 3 a.m. on Dec. 2, Schachte said, the skimmer -- code-named "Batman" -- fired a hand-held flare. He said that after Kerry's M-16 rifle jammed, the new officer picked up the M-79 and "I heard a 'thunk.' There was no fire from the enemy," he said.
Patrick Runyon and William Zaladonis are the two enlisted men who said they were aboard the skimmer and did not know Schachte. However, two other former officers interviewed Thursday confirmed that Schachte was the originator of the technique and always was aboard the Boston whaler for these missions.
Grant Hibbard, who as a lieutenant commander was Schachte's superior officer, confirmed that Schachte always went on these skimmer missions and "I don't think he (Kerry) was alone" on his first assignment. Hibbard said he had told Kerry to "forget it" when he asked for a Purple Heart.
Ted Peck, another Swift boat commander, said, "I remember Bill (Schachte) telling me it didn't happen" -- that is, Kerry getting an enemy-inflicted wound. He said it would be "impossible" for Kerry to have been in the skimmer without Schachte.
"I was astonished by Kerry's version" (in his book, "Tour of Duty") of what happened Dec. 2, Schachte said Thursday. When asked to support the Kerry critics in the Swift boat controversy, Schachte said, "I didn't want to get involved." But he said he gradually began to change his mind when he saw his own involvement and credibility challenged, starting with Lanny Davis on CNN's "Crossfire" Aug. 12.
The next time he saw Kerry after the first Purple Heart incident, Schachte said, was "about 20 years" later on the U.S. Senate subway in the basement of the Russell Senate Office Building. "I called, 'Hey, John.' He replied, 'Batman.' I was absolutely amazed by his memory." He said they "talked about having lunch" but never did.
Schachte said he has never been contacted by or talked to anybody in the Bush-Cheney campaign or any Republican organization. He said he is a political independent who has voted for candidates of both parties.
An M-79 Gernade Launcher is NOT a mortar and would be used easily in a boat...you see, libertards, the M-79 is a SHOULDER-MOUNTED weapon...
As a 20 plus year vet and older than dirt, I have never heard of anyone awarded that many medals in so short a time. Something smells fishy.
[The Loony Lefty Interpretation] A-HA! He denied it so he must actually be part of the Bush/Cheney cabal, is a dyed-in-wool Republican, and has supported every Republican since he has been alive.
</sarcasm>
I say that with sarcasm, but I am certain that the Kerry camp and the "media wing of the democrat party" will seek to destroy this man with a similar line of reasoning. Won't be surprised to hear the same language.
And, since the threshold of a "connection" is being strained beyond credibility, I would stress that Schachte has a DIRECT connection to John Kerry, not George Bush.
<sarcasm>
...I mean look right in the story, they met in the subway and that PROVES it.
</sarcasm>
Sorry, more sarcasm, but you get the point.
Skimmers (and Boston Whalers) Displacement: approx. 1500 lbs – Skimmer [2100 lbs – Boston Whaler] loaded
Length: 13.3 feet [17 feet]
Beam: 5.5 feet [6.1 feet]
Draft: 6 inches [9 inches] Propulsion: 1 35 hp outboard [Two 45 hp outboards]; gasoline
Speed: 28+ kts
Range: Crew: 2-6 [3-7]
Weapons: Personal small arms (Skimmer); M-60 GPMG + personal small arms (Boston Whaler)
Ah...beat me to it...Good pics.
BTTT
Thanks. Google image search. I was curious too.
I gotta say those guys had to have major league 'Kahoonas' to face the VC floating on the Mekong in one'a those boats.
The End.
Here's what can happen when the lies become too outrageous. Had Lanny Davis shut his big yap, it is unlikely that Schachte would have entered the fray. Liars like Davis aren't clever enough to be satisfied with mere lies--it's much more fun for them when the lies are also character assassinations.
I think this is a class case of "going (way) too far."
Very glad to hear your recovery is going well. If I recall, the term was superhuman. lol!
Don't rip a sticth watching Rusty tear up Bristol tomorrow.
I agree. It is as if they never know when to shut up and make the sale. They apparently think that men who have fought death and won in our most terrible war, are going to be frightened into silence by people like Davis.
Most of the time the Clintonistas have won by bluffing. But bluffs don't work on true combat vets. For men such as the Swift Boat Veterans bluffs are made to be called.
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