Purple Heart News: William Schachte speaks. [Statement of RADM William L. Schachte, Jr. USN (Ret.)]

National Review ^ | August 28, 2004 | RADM William L. Schachte, Jr. USN (Ret.)

[quidnunc]

Editor's Note: A new voice has been added to the debate over the circumstances surrounding Sen. John Kerry's first Purple Heart. William Schachte, who was a lieutenant in the Navy during Kerry's Vietnam tour — and who later rose to the rank of Rear Admiral — has released a statement describing the events of December 2-3, 1968, when Kerry received a minor shrapnel wound for which he was awarded the Purple Heart. What follows is Schachte's statement, in full. – Byron York

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.

-snip-

[Puddleglum]

Powerful stuff - detailed, forth right, and damning to Kerry's version of events.

[SandRat]

Hey gang check this out! Another torpedo in the Kerry Junk!

[AgThorn]

Readers digest condensed version:

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.

[35 years or so later]

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.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Lurker]

Looks like another person is shooting holes in the good ship John F'ing Kerry.

L

[68skylark]

I heard that Admiral Schachte once passed by a restaurant where Carl Rove once ate. So this is obviously more ultra-right-wing slime coming from a desperate Bush campaign.

[Chieftain]

Tired of the lamestream media and the DemocRATS 'smear the messenger' campaign?

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT - SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE SWIFTEES!

Do what Reagan did - GO AROUND THEM AND GO DIRECTLY TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!

Get your own "EXPOSE KERRY'S FRAUD SWIFT BOAT VETERANS FOR TRUTH" STICKER!

I put this sticker on my truck the other day. I get lots of honks and 'thumbs up'!

The sticker serves 3 purposes:
1 - Shows visible support for "Swift Boat Veterans For Truth" to passing motorists, (encourages our side discourages the libs).
2 - Gets the swiftvets.com website visible to the public, so they can and find out more about 'Hanoi John' Kerry.
3 - Circumvents the lamestream media BIAS filter!

Made by fellow FReeper disabled vet who has a bone to pick with Kerry, like we all do!
Large (24" Wide 12" Tall) $20 (like mine above)
Small (12" Wide 6" Tall) $10
Profits go to SwiftVets.com

Ping your FRiends, let 'em know about this!

FReep mail / private reply for details on how you can get one for your vehicle!

[Alamo-Girl]

Indeed. I'm very glad the stories didn't all come out at once - so there would be maximum exposure.

[Cboldt]

See also ...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1201593/posts <-- Schachte Statement

[Steel Wolf]

Ouch! That one's gonna leave a mark!

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

There is no documentation per se that proves Schachte is right, but the lack of documentation proves Kerry is wrong.

There is no AAR because there was no combat. Kerry was not in command because he was in training. Kerry had to circumvent the chain of command to push paperwork through that he had no supporting documents for. This lack of documentation, coupled with Kerry's persistance in going behind people's backs, is clear evidence that Kerry scammed the system.

Hear that, Mediocre Skilled Media? It's not what's in Kerry's records, it's what's NOT there.

[concerned about politics]

"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. "

Kerry is such a dork!

[freddiedavis]

bump TO SUPPORT THE NEW SWIFT VETS AD AND GEORGE BUSH... http://swift2.he.net/~swift2/gardner2.mpg

[CHICAGOFARMER]

RearAdmiral William L. Schachte, Jr. USN (Ret.) August 27, 2004 is wrong about the number of purple hearts Kerry has earned.

Kerry as over one dozen, shooting himself in the foot numerous times in the last 3 weeks..

[Prost1]

"I've never done an Honest thing in my Life!"

J.F. Kerry, "quotes" from 1968-2004

[Wild Irish Rogue]

" I took with me one other officer and an enlisted man to operate the outboard motor."

This conflicts with Patrick Runyon and William Zaldonis-who both claim they were the only ones on the boat with Kerry.
(Page 72- " John F Kerry,By The Official Biography By The Boston Globe Reporters Who Know Him Best ")

More conflict:
RADM Schachte-" On each of these operations, I was in the skimmer manning the M-60 machine gun. "

Zaldonis said he was manning the M-60 (Page 72 Ibid.)

Patrick Runyon said he was operating the engine.
They claim that Kerry was in command, saw men on shore running from a nearby sampan who refused to halt.
Kerry gave the order to fire.

However, neither Runyon nor Zaldonis was willing to say that they received return fire.

Zaldonis- " I assumed they fired back."
Runyon told the Boston Globe authors -
" I can't say for sure that we got return fire or how Kerry got hurt."
" I couldn't say one way or the other."
"I know that he ( Kerry )did get nicked, a scrape on the arm."

As an aside, I went back and reviewed last Monday night's World News Tonight interview with Runyon.
Jake Tapper desperately shilling for Kerry, tried to bolster Kerry's first PH.
But, what Tapper did was to combine quotes from Runyon about this incident ( Runyon told Tapper he remembers Kerry firing his gun) and quotes from O'Neill about the Bronze Star incident and he mushed them together, as if both men were discussing the same incident.
The report made no sense, but, the impression Tapper tried to convey was that yes,John Kerry is a hee row.

[concerned about politics]

Someone on another thread HEARD AT WORK that Kerry rescinded one of his purple hearts. Anyone else hear it?

There's been so many people proving it should not have been awarded. I'd really, really, like to know if he did. "Inquiring mind would like to know".

[sonofatpatcher2]

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[RightWingMama]

Thanks for the ping.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

SINK VIET CONG SHIP
HANOI KERRY PING
"MOUNT 52 : REPEAT"