Posted on 08/11/2004 6:45:03 PM PDT by Jeff Blogworthy
Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry has waffled again, this time on his own recollections of a supposed mission to Cambodia on Christmas of 1968.
On the Senate floor on March 27, 1986 (Congressional Record, page S3594), Sen. Kerry said:
I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what is was like to be shot at by Vietnamese and Khme Rouge and Cambodians, and have the President of the United States telling the American people that I was not there; The troops were not in Cambodia…I have that memory which is seared--seared--in me....
In an October 14, 1979, letter to the Boston Herald, Sen. Kerry wrote of his vivid memories of his Christmas Eve spent in Cambodia (quoted in Unfit for Command, page 46):
I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas. The absurdity of almost being killed by our own allies in a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops was very real.
But today, on Fox News' "Fox and Friends," Kerry Campaign Advisor Jeh Johnson had this to say to the show's co-host Brian Kilmeade:
JOHNSON: John Kerry has said on the record that he had a mistaken recollection earlier. He talked about a combat situation on Christmas Eve 1968 which at one point he said occurred in Cambodia. He has since corrected the recorded to say it was some place on a river near Cambodia and he is certain that at some point subsequent to that he was in Cambodia. My understanding is that he is not certain about that date.
KILMEADE: I think the term was he had a searing memory of spending Christmas - back in 1986 in the senate floor in Cambodia.
JOHNSON: I believe he has corrected the record to say it was some place near Cambodia he is not certain whether it was in Cambodia but he is certain there was some point subsequent to that that he was in Cambodia.
Yes! dems lie, lie, lie! They just have to do it!
He just needs to see his proctologist and ask for a lobotomy?
John Kerry “Apocalypse Now" on Oct 14, 1979 in the Boston Herald.
The Kerry Campaign has now admitted that this was a fabrication. This is far from a slip of the tongue this is a well thought out written attack on a President and country that not only impugned them, but the Ex-Government of South Vietnam. This soon became the basic prejudice of the history of the Vietnam War. The damage by this statement and further statements shamed an entire generation of men who gave their heroic service to their country and turned it to humiliation.
John Kerry came back from the war a decorated hero and soon parlayed that into the most decorated witness of war crime atrocities committed by the United States and South Vietnam. Nobody would question his truthfulness because he had chest full of medals and had no motivation to lie. Anybody who questioned him was quickly painted as a war criminal and a tool of the military. He was quickly announced as the only moral person in an immoral war and this is exactly why this lie is so sickening.
We have now found and John Kerry has admitted that he was never in Cambodia on Christmas Eve or any other time. He never violated Cambodia’s sovereignty and neither did the South Vietnamese Army. Forget that President Nixon was not in office in 1968, but he never ordered any American Troops into Cambodia. President Nixon was telling the truth and John Kerry, decorated war hero was lying. President Nixon had to surrender to the North Vietnamese in shame and went to his grave a war criminal because of these lies. President Nixon we find four decades later, was telling the Truth.
His testimony and this story was the foundation of the Vietnam scar on America’s military. The stories of torturing prisoners and villagers became the visual of Viet Nam. The indiscriminate incursions into Cambodia and Laos was common knowledge. Because of these stories the soldiers came back from Nam to be spit on by American public. Now we find out these stories were all the fantasy of a young John Kerry who managed to keep his fabrications in the America’s consciousness. Vietnam became the club that hammered our military, over and over again. All of this was built off of the Cambodia lie and his false testimony in Congress.
John Kerry was still telling these lies as of last year when he showed off a hat he brought back from this Cambodia incursion. This he claimed was his lucky hat, given to him by a CIA agent?? What kind of dementia is this man suffering from? Did he actually believe any of his lies or did he enjoy being Mr Macho who steered his boat into another country during combat? Did he enjoy being Blood and Guts Kerry or was there something more sinister??
Because of this lie both Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon became the pyrias of American politics. Both went to their graves as accused war criminals, violating the sovereignty of innocent countries. As we find out that they were the innocent victims of a smear campaign led by John Kerry. John Kerry painted himself as the only moral person in an immoral war. As we find out the military was indeed fighting this war morally and the only immoral person in this story was John Kerry. Because of this lie two Presidents were made war criminals and an entire generation of soldiers were spit upon. What can John Kerry offer to repair his damage he has done to America?? The very least he can do is finally come clean, apologize for his atrocious lies and resign from the race!
Pray for W and Our Troops
Aren't you UNDER OATH when you testify?? Sheesh, another Dem lying under oath and committing perjury.
Absolutely priceless!
Maybe his conscience, rather than his memory, is the place it is seared....?
The Night Before Christmas (Cambodian Version)
Twas the night before Christmas and we were afloat
Somewhere in Cambodia in our little boat.
While the river was lightened by rockets red glare
No one but the President knew we were there.
The crew was all nestled deep down in their bunks,
While the Spook and I watched the sampans and junks.
Our mission was secret, so secret in fact,
No one else would remember it when we got back.
When out on the water there arose such a clatter
I leaped down from the bridge to see what was the matter.
The incoming friendly was starting to flash
And I knew that the ARVN's were having a bash.
The snap of friendly fire on the warm tropic air
Convinced me for sure no one knew we were there,
On a clandestine mission so secret it's true
That I'm still convinced only Tricky Dick knew.
While I huddled for safety in the tub on the bow,
I thought of a title, "Apocalypse Now."
To give to the films I was I making each day
To show all the voters when I made my big play.
As I sat there sweating in my lucky flight jacket,
Spook said, "Merry Christmas!" and tossed me a packet.
And what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a new lucky cap, which I still have right here.
I keep it tucked here, in this leather brief case,
Just sharing with the press its secretive place
As I regale them again with my senate refrain,
That Christmas in Cambodia is seared into my brain.
Don't bother to quibble with history my friend,
By pointing out Johnson was President then.
Don't listen to Swiftees who try to explain,
For I tell you that night is seared into my brain.
Down Hibbard, down Lonsdale, and you too O'Neill,
So you don't remember? Well it's something I feel.
I don't need all you Swiftvets to support my campaign,
Cause Christmas in Cambodia is seared into my brain,
Into my brain, into my brain, into my brain...
Russ Vaughn
2d Bn, 327th Parachute Infantry Regiment
101st Airborne Division
Vietnam 65-66
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