"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?"
Hit job. NYTimes, or was it the WashPost, already had a story visting VC veterans in the "area" trying to frame them as witnesses to the "mine incident" event. It was less than certain what event they were talking about. This ABC piece is a follow-up.
In short, the Swifties said a mine exploded, but there was no shore gunfire. A couple of Americans later said they thought there was shore fire (as Rassmussen said). This "disputed point" was used to dismiss all the Swifties' claims.
The point was esoteric anyway, and had to do with the Bronze Medal for pulling Rassman out of the water. Basically arguing the valor citations is a loser, IMO. Kerry camp found the weakest link and hung on - still.
It was labeled "NYT/AP" so I'm not sure who actually did the story (probably a stringer), but they basically came up empty. None of the VC interviewed could recall being in the Bay Hap incident. But they thought John Kerry "deserved his medals".
Here's the thing: no official news organization goes into Vietnam without the express permission of Hanoi (with whom all news organizations must register) or without the consent of the local CP People's Committee. They would have escorts, official interpreters, etc. They will interview approved people who will say approved things about the war. The "veteran with the camera" was probably not a newshound but just some vet and would not be subject to these rules. ABC is.
Second point: rather than interview VC under Vietnamese government scrutiny (which they would have been with ABC), why not interview one ... or two or five .. of the 1.2 million Vietnamese-American refugees now in America.
Why just the other night I sat with 2 ex-ARVN officers who'd each served 13 years in reeducation camp, and the daughter of a Vietnamese professor who's doing his second 15-year sentence for advocating democracy and free speech.
Can't Nightline see the relevance of interviewing *one* V-A refugee on the topic of John Kerry and his behavior?
I'm confused. Are you talking about the Bronze Star incident or the Silver Star? There was no exploding mine in the Silver Star incident. I find it incredulous that Vietnamese witnesses could be found who remembered this incident more than 35 years ago.
Am I reading this right? Is ABC actually trying to convince us that former VC are CREDIBLE sources???
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!