Was Rassmann even on Kerry's Boat?

FOX News | 8/13/04 | Fox News

[Jewels1091]

Fox news just reported there are questions now about where Rassmann actually was. He said he was on Kerry's boat when it got ambushed, but Kerry's web site says Rassmann was on the boat behind his. Just more questions about kerry's seemingly faulty memory.

[Kozak]

Actually that goes against the democrats "they weren't in Kerrys boat" argument because it shows that other boats were right there.

According to the SBV version, the other boat hit a mine, putting four in the water. The boats then rallied around the damaged boat and picked up 3 of the men in the water, while Kerrys boat made high speed out of the area. Then he returned, and at that point picked up the one man that had been missed by the other boats.

[rodguy911]

The word has to get out that he was basically booted out of Nam.

[Cboldt]

Then how come we can't hear it on FNC during the 6-7 hour?I don't get it.

It's simple. The media is in it for themselves. They lie too, usually by omission and innuendo.

[mwl1]

if Rassman is indeed on the Kerry/DNC payroll, then his credibility can and should be challenged more aggressively... certainly enough to counter the charge that the swiftboat vets are just GOP stooges...

[Bob]

The word has to get out that he was basically booted out of Nam.

I'm sure the word is there in "Unfit for Command", sworn to by one or more of his fellow Swift boat officers. As a best seller, I'd say it's out there. We do need, though, to ensure that it gets spread a little further.

[mwl1]

Kerry addresses the VFW next week -- he's gonna try some approach to put some of this to rest and create "healing" among the vets... it's his only recourse.

why the VFW has invited this traitor is beyond me.

[BIGLOOK]

Shotgun stories and bulldog (media) journalism. Everyone hears a different story and gloms onto the one that suits their mood at the moment. We're awash in tales now, I'm talking Tsunami.

[what's up]

This point is key for the the following reason: (perhaps this has already been stated many times on this thread...I haven't read thru the comments)

If Rassman was on Kerry's boat, they have to face the accusation from O'Neill that Kerry sped up to flee danger and, in so doing, Rassman was KNOCKED OFF KERRY'S BOAT BECAUSE OF KERRY'S COWARDICE.

That's why you will see MORE contentions from the Kerry camp that Rassmann was on another boat. I bet he was on Kerry's.

[Sir Gawain]

LOL, the campaign press release quotes a part of the medal write-up, which has a different version of events! Priceless!

[rodguy911]

I suppose there is not a chance in hell big Timmy(MTP Tim) will every get this deep into f'ings antics vis a vi the swifties, I don't think he has the stones.

[Sir Gawain]

Brinkley actually encompasses both accounts by having Rassman fall off both the boat that hit the mine (PCF-3) AND Kerry's boat, when a second mine detonates:

No, this might be incorrect. Brinkley's account can be read two ways. It never says Rassman is on Kerry's boat for the second mine. Brinkley appears to be giving the "on another boat" account like the others.

[mwl1]

The fact that Rassman was on Kerry's boat bolsters Oneil and the rest of the Swifties claim that Rassman was on Kerry's boat, and only fell overboard because Kerry fled the scene.

Let me get this straight. Kerry's book states emphatically that Rassman was not on his boat at the time of the incident, whereas Unfit for Command, along with public statements from Rassman, alleges the opposite: that Rassman was on Kerry's boat, and that Rassman fell into the water when Kerry fled the scene.

The bottom line: another lie by Kerry via Doug Brinkley. Is this correct?

[MN_Mike]

Was he or wasn't he on the boat? Let's see Kerry's 8 mm movie film for the answer.

[Sir Gawain]

When Lieutenant (junior grade) KERRY discovered he had a man overboard

The Kerry camp will use this vagueness to argue that they didn't mean Kerry's boat had a man overboard, but were using the term in the general sense.

They will then spin the rest of their stories into the more plausible explanation: he wasn't on Kerry's boat. Of course this will destroy their credibility as well. :-D

[Cboldt]

I think a case could be made that after f'ing got his third purple heart he was basically kicked out of Nam by his superiors.

His superiors are on the record, saying just that. That THEY gamed the system to get Kerry out.

Officers told Kerry to leave Vietnam <-- Link

Then Wright and like-minded boat officers took matters into their own hands, according to John B. Dwyer, a Vietnam veteran and military historian writing in the online magazine American Thinker.

"When he got his third Purple Heart, three of us told him to leave," Wright said, according to Dwyer. "We knew how the system worked and we didn't want him in Coastal Division 11.

"Kerry didn't manipulate the system," he continued, "we did."

[Rastus]

He was near Kerry's boat.

LOL. Well, you know, it was very dark, and there were no signs saying, "You Are Leaving Your Own Boat for John Kerry's."

[eeriegeno]

Does the fact that Bill O'Reilly wrote a complementary blurb for Doug Brinkley's bio of Kerry "Tour of Duty" explain why Bill O hasn't covered the Swift Boat Vets for Truth story with an open mind? Bill O has been totally pro-Kerry.

Bill O'Reilly was a former teacher (NEA member). Nuff said!

[Cboldt]

"one boat or two" is a prelude to, or a distraction from the money question. I think it is a media distraction, to tire the public out on the Swities in general.

The money question, for this incident, is whether or not there was ANY enemy fire, other than the mine. The Swifties say no. In that case, the Bronze Star was improvidently granted. Kerry and at least Rassmann go down together. Rassmann put Kerry in for this medal.

[Sir Gawain]

According to the swifties, there was absolutely no enemy fire during the Rassman event. One of the boats struck a mine. All of the other boats immediately began strafing the shoreline with gunfire(standard procedure) After a while it was apparent that there was no enemy fire. They further say that right after the mine went off, Kerry spun his boat around and bugged out of there. Rassman was on the fantail and was pitched overboad during the rapid acceleration. The other boats picked up survivers in the water, while Kerry returned and picked up Rassman.

Geez I can't keep up with all these versions. So it's only Rassman that is claiming he was on Kerry's boat recently. In that case he will just say he misspoke in the editorial. Not sure of the impact.

[Cboldt]

one boat or two is minor. My question, and the one that ought to get air time, is "Was there any enemy fire, other than the mine?" Swift boat veterans have sworn, under oath, that there was no enemy fire, other than the mine. There were no bullet holes in any of the boats involved. Without enemy fire, no Bronze Star. The Purple Heart becomes iffy too, but "so what," if the man lied about being under fire when he was not.