Posted on 08/05/2004 10:15:28 AM PDT by RobFromGa
Edited on 08/05/2004 2:37:58 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
they respond in writing
Quote from Drudge Report
Swift Boat Veterans For Truth Responds To Senator McCain
Thu Aug 05 2004 17:10:20 ET
"Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has more than 250 members, many of whom were wounded or highly decorated in Vietnam.
We purchased with our blood and service the right to be heard, to set the record straight about our unit, and to tell the truth about John Kerry's military service record.
We respect Senator McCain's right to express his opinion and we hope he extends to us the same respect and courtesy, particularly since we served with John Kerry, we knew him well and Senator McCain did not."
Rear Admiral Roy Hoffmann (ret.), Founder and Chairman of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
If I remember correctly McCain was the only POW to gain weight while being held by the communists.
It seemed like your post was meant to discredit them based on your own experiences even though they (Swiftvets & Kerry) were in direct contact with each other during missions.
Thats what I got from it anyhow.
Right.
1. If most of Kerry's fellow Swift veterans don't support him, then who were all those guys with him at the Democratic Convention? They made it appear that Kerry has the complete support of his "Band of Brothers" from Vietnam.
John Kerry has been able to convince about 13 men who served on Swift boats in the Mekong Delta to support him, 7 or 8 of whom were at various times crew members on his own 6-man boat. Those are the men the Kerry campaign so prominently featured at the Democratic Convention. The photograph we have posted at SwiftVets.com shows Kerry with 19 of his fellow Swift boat OICs (Officers In Charge) in Coastal Division 11. Four OICs were not present for the photograph. Only one of his 23 fellow OICs from Coastal Division 11 supports John Kerry.
Overall, more than 250 Swift boat veterans are on the record questioning Kerry's fitness to serve as Commander-in-Chief. That list includes his entire chain of command -- every single officer Kerry served under in Vietnam. The Kerry game plan is to ignore all this and pretend that the 13 veterans his campaign jets around the country and puts up in 5-star hotels really represent the truth about his short, controversial combat tour.
The Swift boats fought in groups, so the other OICs who fought alongside Kerry know him well and can accurately describe what he did and did not do. In many cases Kerry's fellow OICs had a better perspective than his own crew members, since the latter had no way to determine whether he was following orders and how well he worked with his peers. http://www.swiftvets.com/index.php?topic=FAQ
Maybe McCain thinks these vets, who fought and bled in Vietnam, haven't earned their right to freedom of speech.
Kerry would jump in and say how he brought North down singlehandedly, yada, yada. North would be destroyed all over again
Later, Kerry ordered documents detailing information on Vietnam soldiers who are still MIA to be shredded. He and McCain were partners in that venture.
The picture with 20 or so people in it (with JFK in the center of the back row) is not a picture of his crew. Those are his fellow Swift boat skippers, all officers. Swift boats had a crew of, I think, 5 enlisted men and 1 officer.
Out of the entire group, there is only one of his fellow officers who supports him. Several of the men in the picture are deceased. Several others have declined to express an opinion. The remaining ones (11 or 12, I'm not sure of the exact count) have stated publicly that kerry is 'unfit for command'.
TRANSCRIPT PLEASE.
Of course not, because Senator McCain, and ONLY Senator McCain, is the spokesman for Vietnam veterans. Any Republican mentioning Vietnam, using Vietnam in advertisements, or thinking about Vietnam, must first submit their actions and thoughts to McCain for approval. John Kerry, Max Cleland, et.al., are not required to do so. Of course, Senator McCain also declines to apply this standard to slanders against President Bush for his service in the National Guard.
When the boats were doing coastal duty, that was the case. Once they moved into the rivers, operations were different. I was a naval officer in Vietnam (1967-8) but not in Swift boats. I gather from the dates of your service that you were involved in coastal operations.
Personally, I think Kerry lied about his atrocities. He most likely adopted the scuttle butt he heard about the war so he could play to the Senate committee, the media, and the public.
iF THAT STATEMENT DOESN'T SHUT UP mClAME NOTHING WILL. iT IS POWERFUL AND mClAME SHOULD BACK OFF.
AMAZING how ready the press is to believe the flinsiest accusation against President Bush...and how ready they are to believe Kerry's fellow swift boat vets are lying?
They were really concerned about the seriousness of the AWOL charge against Bush and HAD to get to the bottom of it...they don't seem interested in getting to the bottom of the charges against THEIR candidate.
Nope. No bias there.
ROTFLMAO!
Just when I thought a great news day couldn't get any better.
Just when I thought a great news day couldn't get any better.
More than likely he did and said everything trying to get into Jane Fonda's pants. She was rich then. Not as rich as Teresa, but rich enough that Kerry would have been trying to impress her.
McCain did the Swift Boat Vets a huge favor. Now that McCain has spoken out, the lamestream media have to discuss this story.
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