Posted on 08/28/2004 3:55:17 AM PDT by The G Man
Statement of RADM William L. Schachte, Jr. USN (Ret.)
August 27, 2004
As was true of all "Swiftees," I volunteered to serve in Vietnam and was assigned to Coastal Division 14 for a normal tour of duty.
I was a Lieutenant serving as Operations Officer and second in command at Coastal Division 14 when Lieutenant (junior grade) John Kerry reported to us in mid-November, 1968. Lt. (jg) Kerry was an Officer-in-Charge (O-in-C) under training in preparing to be assigned as one of our Swift Boat O-in-C's.
At some point following President Johnson's announcement of the suspension of bombing in North Vietnam in March 1968, we were directed to become more aggressive in seeking to find and destroy or disrupt the enemy in our operating area. As part of this effort, I conceived a new operation that became known as "Skimmer OPS." The concept was simple. A 15-foot Boston Whaler was sent into an area where, based on coordinated intelligence, North Vietnamese cadre and Viet Cong were expected to be meeting or where, for example, concentrations of enemy forces might be involved in the movement of arms or munitions. We were to draw fire and quickly get out of the area. This would allow more concentrated firepower to be brought against the enemy forces we had been able to identify.
These operations were carried out only in "hot" areas and well away from any villages or populated areas. A Swift Boat would tow the skimmer to the general area of operations, and the ambush team would then board the skimmer and proceed to the designated area of operations. The Swift Boat would be riding shotgun and standing off, occasionally out of sight, to provide fire support and long-range communications. The Skimmer was powered by an outboard motor, and we carried an FM radio, handheld flares, an M-60 machine gun with a bipod mount, and an M-16 mounted with a starlight scope. If the night was heavily overcast, we brought an M-14 mounted with an infrared scope. We also carried an M-79 single-shot grenade launcher. In addition to our combat gear and flak jackets, we often carried .38-caliber pistols.
The operation consisted of allowing the skimmer to drift silently along shorelines or riverbanks to look or listen for sounds of enemy activity. If activity was identified, we would open fire with our automatic weapons, and if we received fire, we would depart the area as quickly as possible, leaving it to air support or mortar fire from a Swift Boat standing off at a distance to carry out an attack.
I commanded each of these Skimmer operations up to and including the one on the night in question involving Lt. (jg) Kerry. On each of these operations, I was in the skimmer manning the M-60 machine gun. I took with me one other officer and an enlisted man to operate the outboard motor. I wanted another officer because officers, when not on patrol, were briefed daily on the latest intelligence concerning our sector of operations and were therefore more familiar with the current intelligence. Additionally, at these daily briefings, officers debriefed on their patrol areas after returning to port.
On the night of December 2-3, we conducted one of these operations, and Lt. (jg) Kerry accompanied me. Our call sign for that operation was "Batman." I have no independent recollection of the identity of the enlisted man, who was operating the outboard motor. Sometime during the early morning hours, I thought I detected some movement inland. At the time we were so close to land that we could hear water lapping on the shoreline. I fired a hand-held flare, and upon it bursting and illuminating the surrounding area, I thought I saw movement. I immediately opened fire with my M-60. It jammed after a brief burst. Lt. (jg) Kerry also opened fire with his M-16 on automatic, firing in the direction of my tracers. His weapon also jammed. As I was trying to clear my weapon, I heard the distinctive sound of the M-79 being fired and turned to see Lt. (jg) Kerry holding the M-79 from which he had just launched a round. We received no return fire of any kind nor were there any muzzle flashes from the beach. I directed the outboard motor operator to clear the area.
Upon returning to base, I informed my commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Grant Hibbard, of the events, informing him of the details of the operation and that we had received no enemy fire. I did not file an "after action" report, as one was only required when there was hostile fire. Soon thereafter, Lt. (jg) Kerry requested that he be put in for a Purple Heart as a result of a small piece of shrapnel removed from his arm that he attributed to the just-completed mission. I advised Lt. Cmdr. Hibbard that I could not support the request because there was no hostile fire. The shrapnel must have been a fragment from the M-79 that struck Lt. (jg) Kerry, because he had fired the M-79 too close to our boat. Lt. Cmdr. Hibbard denied Lt. (jg) Kerry's request. Lt. (jg) Kerry detached our division a few days later to be reassigned to another division. I departed Vietnam approximately three weeks later, and Lt. Cmdr. Hibbard followed shortly thereafter. It was not until years later that I was surprised to learn that Lt. (jg) Kerry had been awarded a Purple Heart for this night.
I did not see Lt. (jg) Kerry in person again for almost 20 years. Sometime in 1988, while I was on Capitol Hill, I ran into him in the basement of the Russell Senate Office Building. I was at that time a Rear Admiral and in uniform. He was about 20 paces away, waiting to catch the underground subway. In a fairly loud voice I called out to him, "Hey, John." He turned, looked at me, came over and said, "Batman!" We exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes, agreed to have lunch sometime in the future, and parted ways. We have not been together since that day.
In March of this year, I was contacted by one of my former swift boat colleagues concerning Douglas Brinkley¹s book about Senator Kerry, "Tour of Duty." I told him that I had not read it. He faxed me a copy of the pages relating to the action on the night of December 2-3, 1968. I was astonished by Senator Kerry¹s rendition of the facts of that night. Notably, Lt. (jg) Kerry had himself in charge of the operation, and I was not mentioned at all. He also claimed that he was wounded by hostile fire.
None of this is accurate. I know, because I was not only in the boat, but I was in command of the mission. He was never more than several feet away from me at anytime during the operation that night. It is inconceivable that any commanding officer would put an officer in training, who had been in country only a couple of weeks, in charge of such an ambush operation. Had there been enemy action that night, there would have been an after action report filed, which I would have been responsible for filing.
I have avoided talking to media about this issue for months. But, because of the recent media attention, I felt I had to step up to recount my personal experiences concerning this incident.
LOL!
Hoo boy! Reading this the 2nd time around now ... this is BAD, BAD, BAD for John Fraud Kerry.
This is the one we have been waiting for!
This is about as clear as it gets for me.
Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark! And as our former President once so eloquently told one of his rape victims ... "You better put some ice on that."
But of course, I'm sure we'll now hear all about how Adm Schachte has some unpaid traffic tickets from 15 years ago or how his cousin's best friend, knows a guy, who works with a girl, who knows this kid, who saw Karl Rove pass out at 31 Flavors one time.
It's like the old joke about offering a woman a million dollars for sex... she says yes, then you offer 10 dollars. "What kind of woman do you think I am?" she asks. "We've settled that, now we are haggling about the price."
We've settled that John Kerry got medals he didn't deserve and is a liar. Now it's the quantity we are discussing.
The question is rapidly becoming not did Kerry lie, but did Kerry ever tell the truth?
Wow! PING
BUMP!
I'm thinkin' they're pretty good.
My chance to finally return the favor ... PING!
Bump!
"HOLY FABRICATION BATMAN!"
If the guys on all of Kerry's so called 'operations' release 'their' records covering the events surrounding Kerry's misadventures...things will be illuminated...even if Kerry does not release his records...the truth will still come out...
Memo to Lt. (jg) Kerry...Always operate ALONE... that way there would have been no witnesses to anything you ever did or did not do...and you could have told 'your' story......anyway you wanted to....
And when you fudge reports....make sure the guys names you include will all lie to back up your stories 35 yrs later....
The SBVT.....GOTTCHA now......
President of the U.S.A. ?.... Commander in Chief ?.......
The Good Lord Willing....Not on our watch....
Kerry's story is coming apart like a cheap trailer in a Florida Hurricane.
"Ladies and Gentleman, when my party called me and ask me to serve as our nominee for President to defeat Bush this November, I could not shirk my responsibility. Therefore, I accept the Democratic nomination."
Lt. Schachte and Lt Cmdr. Hibbard had denied Kerry his 1st Purple Heart because the circumstances in which he receieved his 'owie' did not merit a PH
They both rotated home....yet Lt. (jg) Kerry slid the award past his next commander.....
How in the heck did he do that?....No doubt Kerry broke faith...but how did he accomplish getting approved for that PH from his new CO after being denied by his former CO without someone breaking the law....
Well, nothing really important. It's just a bit of hyperbole or 'misremembering' on Kerry's part...along with all the other lies and smears he's come up with over the years. How in God's name can RATS and the MSM think they can sell this dead fish to the voters? Every day I think he can't sink any lower, and every day he proves me wrong. Amazing.
There IS A GOD!!!!!
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