Posted on 08/28/2004 3:32:01 PM PDT by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
"...I can cite many, many instances, sir, as in combat when these men refused to fight with us,
when they shot with their guns over tin this area like this and their heads turned facing the other way.
When we were taken under fire we Americans, supposedly fighting with them, and pinned down in a ditch,
and I was in the Navy and this was pretty unconventional,
but when we were pinned down in a ditch recovering bodies or something
and they refused to come in and help us, point blank refused. I don't believe they want to fight, sir..."
So is this BS in Tour of Duty
GRIDLEY Website page on John Kerry
http://home.nycap.rr.com/pwcarter/the%20kerry%20page.html
Other crew members speak about John Kerry
(Looks like Kerry's shipmates, who did serve with him,
say he lied and told whoopers about his time on the GRIDLEY.
Remember these are not Swift Boat Vets,
BUT Kerry's crewmates who served with him on the GRIDLEY)
Examples follow:
"As everyone must surely know by now, John F. Kerry came on board
GRIDLEY as a boot Ensign when we returned from our 1967 Westpac
Cruise. He remained on GRIDLEY through the 1968 cruise. Politics
aside, shipmates of the time who have read TOUR OF DUTY, the
authorized campaign biography, will have something to say about the
chapter on GRIDLEY. "
1. Kerry never talked about his time on GRIDLEY. He says on page
74 that it is because “nothing much of note” happened while
he was
onboard. He uses words like monotony and tedious, when, despite
being a boot ensign he was given every opportunity for responsibility
by Captain Slifer and Commander Kelly (XO). He came aboard
designated for Electrical Officer (80100), a grunt position in the
Engineering Department and spent four months in that position. He
was assigned duty as First Lieutenant, as Commander Kelly recalls,
because of his knowledge of seamanship and his experiences with small
boats and sailing. Besides being responsible for the decks of the
ship, the First Lieutenant is also responsible for the ship’s
small
boats. He also was assigned collateral duties as Public Affairs
Officer. Despite all the responsibilities he was given, he gives the
impression that serving on GRIDLEY was somehow beneath him. He
certainly had less of an opportunity to collect “gongs” there.
2. Page 78 – “motivate 400 swabbies” – The First
Lieutenant is
responsible only for the personnel of 1st Division, not the entire
crew. 1st Division had a roster of about 30 in 1968. To the extent
that other divisions had responsibility for deck space, their
officers would have been responsible for motivating them.
3. Page 87 has Kerry “shuttling sailors and provisions”
between
GRIDLEY and KITTY HAWK in a small motor whaleboat out in the Gulf of
Tonkin. The regular method of travel between the two ships was via
helo. That is how I went over to the KITTY HAWK. If such an event
did occur, it would have been unusual and hardly a shuttle.
4. Later on page 87 Kerry talks about Olongapo in the Philippines.
He talks about bloated corpses floating in the river and starving
women with babies dying of malnutrition. Now Olongapo was a wild and
wooly town that existed solely for the entertainment of the US Navy,
but in over three years of calling there, I never saw a single
instance of either thing happening. Kerry uncovered this in his
first visit. If this was from his letters home then he was certainly
writing for dramatic effect. Balderdash.
5. The trip to Danang – GRIDLEY went into Danang for briefings
before going to Northern SAR. This section is so full of hyperbole
that the urge to giggle is almost uncontrollable. “The panic and
pressure onboard GRIDLEY, strapping on a .45, wondering if I would
have to use it, B-52’s howling overhead”. A B-52 over Danang
would
have been so high that only contrails would have been visible, cloud
cover permitting. David Simons confirmed my recollection that during
our brief stay in Danang Harbor, the sky was overcast to the point of
being ominous.
More seriously, no one can remember John Kerry going ashore. I was
part of the shore party that went to Monkey Mountain. We were taken
in a screened in truck (to protect against grenades being tossed in)
and made to unload our .45’s. The driver said that he did not
want
us newbies to shoot anyone by accident.
Neither Commander Kelly nor LCDR Rueckert (Kerry’s immediate
boss)
can recall approving a trip ashore for Ensign Kerry. The author uses
remarks of David Simons IC2 as a lead in to the Danang section. I
spoke to David and he has no personal knowledge of Kerry going ashore
at all. He did talk to a researcher and made some generic remarks
about Danang but had never discussed Danang with Kerry. He recalls
arguing with the researcher because he tried to put the
words “cowboy” in his mouth, which ended up in the book.
There is no mystery about the “gruesome site of a pile of dead
VC.”
We saw no sign of anything like this. However, our escort to Monkey
Mountain did tell us how the VC bodies were stacked up on the
LZ’s
after the TET Offensive, which had been several months before.
Ensign Kerry would have been told this story by members of the shore
party.
If, indeed, he got to the pier, because he was in charge of the
motor whaleboat, it certainly would not have been within his purview
to wander Danang, eating dog meat and drinking beer in a bar (under
arms). It also seems amazing that he had all these observations on
Vietnam in such a brief visit.
6. In command – Again with the hyperbole. Kerry makes much
about
being “in charge” of the ship after the Captain and XO. The
OOD is
in charge of the operation of the ship during his four hour watch but
hardly in charge of the ship. Kerry qualified almost immediately as
OOD(P), in port OOD but that is a given. For much of his time
onboard he would have been Junior Officer of the Deck when underway.
Although his fitness report as of 22 March says "he is qualified as
OOD(I) now" (Independent steaming – with no ships or land
anywhere
near) , only OOD(P) is listed under duties. His Fitness Report from
July 1968 lists two months as OOD(I) which would mean he qualified
after leaving the war zone.
See post 17. John Kerry wasn't in a ditch when he recovered the Ruff Puff's body, but according to Brinkley, John Kerry recovered the Ruff Puff's body on March 13, 1969 before the Bronze Star action downriver. He was allegedly pinned down in a ditch on his way back to the boat on the recovery mission.
Douglas Brinkley has been proven to be a BS "historian"
Where is the officail after action report?
Maybe Al Hubbard will vouch for Kerry?
Head of Kerry's Vietnam Vets Against the War was Vietnam Vet phony
"Many of the stories were later shown to be fictional. Other so-called Vietnam veterans, such as the executive secretary of VVAW, Al Hubbard, a self-styled poet ("See what you've become, Amerika," ends one of his Vietnam odes), turned out to have no record of service in Vietnam."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20040313-103742-2364r.htm
By Kerry and the Media's own standards as applied to the SBVT, if these people Kerry is referring to were not in his boat, than he could not know what they were doing.
I find it hard to believe that with only 3 months in combat he saw so much...BS
This one is Treason!
You just do not realize how sick jfk is until you read this.
VVAW worked with the NV to get US not to bomb NV troops during an attck by NV.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1201299/posts
And this one go to 54
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1201386/posts
It's much easier to come by in tracking his Senate career, for the time span is so much longer than his stint in Vietnam.
When I see that picture...I think of Big Foot!
thanks
Maybe he was in Cambodia?
"...For Kerry, his Yuletide mission was an epiphany: the moment when he realized his government was lying to the people about what was going on. This is the turning point, the moment that set the young Kerry on the path from brave young war volunteer to fierce anti-war activist.
And it turns out it's total bunk."
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
August 15, 2004
http://www.suntimes.com/output/steyn/cst-edt-steyn15.html
bump for bookmark
You are doing one hell of a job!!!
Thank you,
Tom Eaker
"It's the March 13 after-action report. There's no specific mention of Kerry's role in the extraction, but it does say "ONE MSF KIA BY BOOBY TRAP", and that there was a fire fight."
"but when we were pinned down in a ditch recovering bodies or something"
Direct Quote from the Senate hearings.
NOTE "WE"and "Bodies"
Bookmark for later.
I heard him say this on C-Span the other night
I was just waiting for the exact text of his "speech"
I'll say!
Having trouble keep'n up with all the threads he's ping'n!!
Nice job Tonk!
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