Forging a Paper Hero: The Mystery of Kerry’s Medals

Original FReeper research | 8/30/2004 | Fedora

[Fedora]

Will definitely add you! Thanks!

[philman_36]

Did Kerry's friend Droz get any awards that day?
Kerry's medals were deserved, says widow of slain comrade
Rood said that he, Kerry, and Droz agreed to turn their boats into an ambush and that Kerry pursued a Viet Cong with a loaded rocket launcher while the crews were under constant fire. Kerry was awarded the Silver Star for the maneuver, while Droz and Rood received Bronze Stars.

[Fedora]

Thanks for finding that! I was trying to find info on that last night.

I'm curious what the difference is in the after-action reports of what Rood and Droz did vs. what Kerry did that they got Bronze and he got Silver? I found Rood's citation here:

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:8Z_SzIiglKQJ:www.latimes.com/news/politics/2004/chi-040821kerry4-photo,1,6751493.graphic%3Fcoll%3Dla-bottom-elect2004+rood+bronze+star&hl=en

[Bob]

I don't know when it may have joined the other PCFs but there was an additional Swift present when PCF-3 was hit by the mine. Three were on one side of the river and two on the other side as they passed a fishing weir.

The five boats involved included: Kerry (PCF-94), Pease (PCF-3), Chenoweth (PCF-??), Thurlow (PCF-??), and skipper unknown/Rood? (PCF-35). Chenoweth and Thurlow were on PCFs 43 and 51 but I'm unsure which was which.

[Fedora]

"The five boats involved included: Kerry (PCF-94), Pease (PCF-3), Chenoweth (PCF-??), Thurlow (PCF-??), and skipper unknown/Rood? (PCF-35). Chenoweth and Thurlow were on PCFs 43 and 51 but I'm unsure which was which."

Here's who was on each boat:

"According to the after-action report, five boats were involved in the events: PCF-94, under Kerry’s command; PCF-3, under Lietenant Dick Pees; PCF-51; under Lieutenant Larry Thurlow; PCF-23, under Lieutenant Jack Chernoweth; and PCF-43, under Lieutenant Donald Droz."

[Bob]

"According to the after-action report, five boats were involved in the events: PCF-94, under Kerry’s command; PCF-3, under Lietenant Dick Pees; PCF-51; under Lieutenant Larry Thurlow; PCF-23, under Lieutenant Jack Chernoweth; and PCF-43, under Lieutenant Donald Droz."

Hmmmm. Something's amiss.

On page 90 of "Unfit for Command", a reference is made to Rassman falling off either Kerry's boat or PCF-35. (Rassman has told the story both ways in two separate interviews. He never specified the hull number of the other boat.)

[Fedora]

I've read some articles that make it sound like it's unclear whether four or five boats were involved. I'm not sure where that's coming from. My own summary was based on reading the after-action report in the context of this diagram:

Calcowgirl and kabar, what's your take on this from your reading of the files? Did you notice any references to PCF-35 or other discrepancies on which boats were there?

[Fedora]

Before the swiftboats.net site started experiencing server problems, I copied the data; here's what they had for PCF-35:

PCF 35
Crew e-mail Address Dates Base Comments
Mar/Apr 1966 Cat Lo first arrived in South Vietnam
Paul Nichols Bontrop Jr, LTJG, OinC Nnickbont@aol.com 66-67 Cat Lo Arlington, WA
Jacks, BM2 66-67 Cat Lo
Baggette, EN2 66-67 Cat Lo
Don Clark, RM3 donclark55@home.com 66-67 Cat Lo Bremerton, WA
Hartman, GMGSN 66-67 Cat Lo
George H. White, QMSN Seawolf72@aol.com 66-67 Cat Lo Deerfield Beach, FL
Frederick R. Green, LTJG, OinC 1/67-1/68 Cat Lo was from Detroit, MI
Gabriel Merced Vigil, GMG3 vigil1947@aol.com 1/67-1/68 Cat Lo Norwood, OH
Kelly, EN2 1/67-1/68 Cat Lo
Lucien B. Clark, RM? 1/67-1/68 Cat Lo
Billy G. Clark, SN 1/67-1/68 Cat Lo
4/6-4/20/68 Qui Nhon in country overhaul
John Rogers Roland Jr, LTJG, OinC 9/68-3/69 Cat Lo Cochran, GA
Carl R. Russell, QM2 9/68-3/69 Cat Lo
John Patrick Pank, BM3 JP2old@yahoo.com 9/68-3/69 Cat Lo Portland, OR
William Raymond Clark, EN3 9/68-3/69 Cat Lo
Richard A. Gorman, GMG3 9/68-3/69 Cat Lo
William Henry Inabnett, RD3 henryin@cbt.net 8/68-3/69 Cat Lo Springhill, LA
Charles R."Chuck" Rabel, LTJG, OinC chuckr@ddhent.com 3/69-9/69 CatLo/AnThoi/Seafloat
Glenn Michael Dohrman, EN2 3/69-9/69 CatLo/AnThoi/Seafloat Ensign, KS
John C. Brewer, BM3 3/69-9/69 CatLo/AnThoi/Seafloat Stanton, Kentucky
David Lynn Stevenson, RDSN dkstevenson@madras.net 3/69-9/69 CatLo/AnThoi/Seafloat Madras, OR
Gary Lee "Carpie" Carpenter, GMG3 biggare29@yahoo.com 3/69-9/69 CatLo/AnThoi/Seafloat 29 Palms, CA
George Martin Lambeth, QM2 lambeth@attglobal.net 3/69-7/69 CatLo/AnThoi/Seafloat Sarasota, FL
Elmo Russell Zumwalt III, LTJG, OinC 9/69-5/70 An Thoi deceased 8/13/88 --- Fayetteville, NC
Clarence William Nairmore, EN3 9/69-5/70 An Thoi Birmingham, AL
Geoffrey Charles Martin, GMG3 9/69-5/70 An Thoi Los Angeles, CA
Archie Whiting Shuford Jr, GMG3 9/69-5/70 An Thoi Hickory, NC
Harvey W. Miller, RD3 9/69-5/70 An Thoi Baltimore, MD
Donald Paul Bilodeau, RDSA 69-70 Union City, CA
??-7/16/70 overhaul at NSF Cam Ranh Bay
1 September 1970 An Thoi transferred to South Vietnamese Navy
PCF 3901


- On 15 May 1970, PCFs 35 and 692 were escorting the tug SKIPJACK to the mouth of the Bo De river, when they were taken under fire by two (2) B-50 rockets from the north bank of the Cua Lon river 13 miles NNE of SEAFLOAT. PCF-35 received one (1) hit, on the waterline amidships, causing a 1'x2' hole in the hull. Numerous shrapnel fragments penetrated the main cabin. All main cabin windows were blown out and the steel core of the rocket passed through the forward magazine, which was empty, and exited through the hull, starboard side amidships. A second rocket exploded astern and a third detonated in the water between the tug and PCF-692, neither of which caused damage. PCF-35 returned fire, cleared the ambush site, beached and commenced repairs with the OinC and a crewman jumping into the water to plug the large hole. Meanwhile, PCF-692 stopped short of the ambush site and commenced heavy machine gun and 81mm mortar suppressive fire. Believing contact was broken, PCF-692 attempted to run the kill zone and assist PCF-35. PCF-692 received two (2) rocket near misses, short and astern, before clearing the kill zone. Two nearby SEAWOLVES were directed to the area and placed strikes on the ambush area. When the battle repairs were complete, both PCFs returned to SEAFLOAT.

[kabar]

I think it is a typo. I think they meant to say PCF 3. PCF 35 is not mentioned anywhere else.

[calcowgirl]

Good Find! And very interesting! One might conclude that one of these is a forgery.
Notwithstanding content differences, here are some things I noticed in a quick comparison:

Two Citations (at least) given for same event of Feb 28, 1969
  Kerry: Silver Star
  Rood:  Bronze Star

Same Signature
  Kerry: E. R. Zumwalt, Jr.
  Rood:  E. R. Zumwalt, Jr.

Similar but different wording.  Example:
  Kerry: Underwater Demolition Team 13
  Rood:  Underwater Demolition Team THIRTEEN

Different font and/or typewriter
  Kerry: Courier ? (with serifs)
  Rood:  ? (San serifs. Font looks like one that was common
         on IBM selectric typewriters... Elite?)

Margins
  Kerry: Narrower margins (and more letters per line)
  Rood:  Wider Margins

     This is obvious in the first line of the citations:

       Kerry: The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the 
       Rood:  The President of the United States takes pleasure in 

[Fedora]

From p. 2 of the March spot report:

"4. (C) PCFS 94, 51, 23, 43, 3, MSF A404 DET, UDT DET 12, RF/PF CAI NUOC."

[Fedora]

"Good Find! And very interesting! One might conclude that one of these is a forgery."

Rood's citation was located by a Kerry-friendly newspaper in response to the Swift Boat controversy. Hmmm. . .

[Fedora]

Typo sounds like a plausible explanation. I notice the rest of that page and the following mentions PCF-3.

[calcowgirl]

I think we're confusing two different days and two different events.

Here's my observation/recollection:

3 boats were present on February 28 when Kerry earned got the Silver Star.
(94-Kerry, 23-Rood, 43-Droz)

5 boats were present on March 13 when Kerry earned got the Bronze Star.
(94-Kerry, 43-Droz, 3-Pees, 23-Chenoweth, 51-Thurlow)

After typing this, I just noted that Chenoweth and Rood have both been associated with PCF 23.
(Maybe Rood left and Chenoweth replaced him?)

[calcowgirl]

I agree with the typo theory.
I've seen no mention of PCF 35 for this event.

[Fedora]

I was talking about Kerry's Bronze Star event. However Rood's Bronze Star comes from Kerry's Silver Star event, to make sure there's no confusion on that.

At any rate, I don't see any indications PCF-35 was present for either event, apart from the reference in Unfit for Command, p. 90. Kerry's original Silver Star citation mentions 23, 43, and 94 being present.

BTW, go to the February spot reports file, p. 32 and compare Zumwalt's signature there with the one on Rood's citation.

[Fedora]

The swiftboats.net site describes Rood as with PCF-23 from 7/68-7/69. I haven't been able to find anything on when Chernoweth came aboard PCF-23.

[Original Kamaaina]

Omigod! I thought we were a couple of generations past the old "Who Promoted Peress," "Who Lost China," "GEN George Marshall the Communist Agent" stuff! Most everybody was pro-Soviet (or at least pro-Red Army) in the 40s (aka WWII). Dean Acheson was a stand-up guy against the communists after 1945. And he mocked Bobby Kennedy's timid argument against attacking Cuba in Oct 62 (Bobby: "But, it'd be like Pearl Harbor!")

[calcowgirl]

Re: Zumwalt signatures.... hmmmm.

Earlier, I compared the signatures on Rood's citation to Kerry's citation and they were almost exactly the same.

The signature on page 32 that you directed me is the one that looks a bit fishy. The letters of his signature align differently than on the citations and the 'E' and 'R' are incomplete. Also, as the signature goes outside of the signature box, the script does not go over the lower line of the box... instead, the line of the form appears to go over the signature (which would be impossible).

[Bob]

I agree with the typo theory.
I've seen no mention of PCF 35 for this event.

I'd have to agree as well. It's the only mention of a PCF-35 anywhere that I've seen in the book.