Posted on 09/01/2004 12:39:52 AM PDT by dennisw
This book is bull!, August 30, 2004
I never got past the chapters of Kerry's experiences on the USS GRIDLEY. Since I served with him the entire year, I can assure readers that it is filled with exaggeration and fantasy. Kerry makes himself out to be Master and Commander when he was just a goofy boot Ensign. There are a number of things that are just plain not true and lots of exaggeration. It is not a serious work but clearly a piece of campaign fluff.
Reviewer: Philip W. Carter "Gridley Sailor" (Slingerlands, NY) - See all my reviews 
Don't waste your money unless you are Democratic to the core and need some fluff to get you excited!
WHO IS PHIL CARTER? ---->>>> http://home.nycap.rr.com/pwcarter/the%20kerry%20page.html
That looks like a still from John Kerry's Super 8 war movies
Swift bump
Anybody have a clue what Kerry has on his upper left chest? Looks like a can of some sort. Anyone else ever carried their weapon that way?
The commenter on the book was an RD2. I've stood many a watch in CIC as an EW tech. He is right, you get to know your officers. If you are doing port/stbd you go watch from midnight till 06:30 and again from 13:00 to 18:30. The midwatch is really long, and often dead boring. If you had a cool officer, which we had quite a few of the watch would go by quickly. A snot ensign like Kerry made life miserable for all of us. As it turns out my least favorite was an Ensign with a law degree from Mass. We got even with him when after the air search radar had been down for a week, we told him we found a shorted fuse. (This ensign was also the EMO - Electronics Maintenance Officer) He dutifully reported it to the Captain, who happened to have a PhD from Standford in EE, as the ship had become a research vessel for Office of Naval Research. We got chewed out by the CO, but he did laugh a lot about it. Was a really good Capt.
FYI.
While he was protesting against the war, many of us were still fighting in it. Many of us felt betrayed that one of our own, a decorated hero, would give comfort to the enemy by such actions. Think what you want about the wisdom in getting involved in that war, two presidents, both Democrats, committed the armed forces they commanded to fight it. Make no mistake; actions by the likes of Fonda and Kerry were damaging to our morale, gave aid and comfort to the forces we were fighting and altered the eventual outcome in a manner less favorable to the United States than if they had kept their mouths shut. The time for anti-war protests is before the war starts.
I agree. I protested against the first Gulf War (and Kosovo), but I stopped protesting when the war started, cheered wholeheartedly for a swift victory, and strongly believed that the only way to end it was to capture or kill Sadam Hussein. (It should have been called "Operation Liquidate Saddam".) Thank God that George W. Bush finally summoned the courage to take care of his father's unfinished business.
Now it's time for the Vietnam Vets Kerry left behind to finish their business with him.
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