Posted on 10/14/2004 1:55:15 PM PDT by areafiftyone
The Swift Boat Controversy: New Witnesses
October 14, 2004
John Kerry's service in Vietnam has become a campaign issue. The group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth alleges that Kerry has distorted the truth about what happened during the war and questions whether he deserved the medals he received. Tonight, you'll hear from eyewitnesses who have not spoken before: the Vietnamese who fought against him.
We've had the debates and the race is a virtual dead-heat. This is the part of a campaign when there are daily fires--issues that rise, flare, and then go away, only to be replaced by a new one the next day. But for a while, this campaign was dominated by Vietnam, a war that ended, at least the fighting, thirty years ago. John Kerry made his service in Vietnam a major part of his campaign. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth fired back. They have alleged that Kerry was not truthful about his actions in Vietnam. Then questions were raised about the group's connections to people linked to the GOP. And so the story just kept spiraling in different directions. But the polls clearly showed that Kerry was hurt by allegations that he was not candid about his actions in Vietnam.
Which brings us to an old expression: the fog of war. People, in general, are not always great eyewitnesses. Memories fade, especially as the years go by. Two people standing next to each other may have very different recollections of something that happened right in front of them. But in the whole Swift Boat controversy, there is one group that hasn't been heard from at length: the Vietnamese. Producer Andrew Morse went to Vietnam, to the coordinates taken from the U.S. military after-action report from Kerry's battle for which he won the Silver Star. And there Andrew found several people who had either witnessed the events of that day, or in some cases, had actually fought against the swift boats. And it is their accounts that you will hear tonight. Do their accounts favor one version or the other? Can these questions be definitively settled? You'll have to judge. One of the surprising stories we were told? One of the Vietnamese men in the area says he was visited by a man claiming to be a swift boat veteran and a cameraman. He says the veteran was disparaging towards Kerry's conduct in the war, and asked him in an interview about the events of that day. We do not know who that man is, or whatever happened to that tape.
Ted will be anchoring tonight, and he will be joined by John O'Neill, a leader of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and the author of Unfit for Command, a book critical of Kerry. I hope you'll join us.
Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff,br> Washington D.C.
anyone know who wrote the after action report?
OMG ... Ted is going to need a new set of knee pads after this reporting
This is crap, because none of the vietnamese,that are talking, are old enough to remember this!!
This reminds me of part of the movie "Hot Shots" with the commander retelling what really happened to Topper's father. The call sign on his helmet was "Eyewitness".
No gray hair? Hell, Im 41 and graying!!
my exact thoughts!!
After the kid died .. the fire fight continued ???
With Kerry's boat beach on shore???
And the ship and crew survived such a fire fight???
BTW ... I didn't hear Ted mention if there were any other boats in the area with Kerry
is it on now?
Nobody saw me kill him either. Where's my Silver Star?
This is a confusing report.
Next Koppel tries to skewer O'Neill.
Notice how they omitted that Kerry ordered the village burnt by saying the americans ordered it burnt. Kerry was in command.
Wouldn't you know...the ABC affiliate in Topeka would rather run Seinfeld than Nightline.
There's some kind of poetic justice in that.
Maybe I'm not listening right, but I am not hearing Koppel validate any of the after-action report.
They still have the weapons they stole from the Americans .. after all these years and they are buried in the ground under her garden ???
So far the swiftvets recall is holding up. Maybe this isn't a Kerry support news cast? I'm not holding my breath....
They just showed their investigative piece interviewing the VC. O'Neill is on next.
Of course, the Vietnamese are going to say they all ran if that's what happened... NOT. They're going to say they put up a fierce fight... just like Baghdad Bob said about the Republican Guard as they were running.
Yes I heard her say that?? What's your take?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.