Posted on 08/21/2004 2:53:44 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
I do not doubt the sincerity of James Rassman.
However, my own experience and review of such part of the record as is available for review convinces me that Mr. Rassman is right about then Lieutenant John Kerry pulling him out of the water but wrong about Kerry heroically saving his life.
I was an Operations Officer for 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment during the first Gulf War.
I was on active duty U.S. Marine Corps Officer for over a decade.
I have watched how men behave under fire.
snip .
Here are my findings:
.................
(Excerpt) Read more at michnews.com ...
It is about 40 minutes long with no commercials. Steve Gardner is lucid, confident and articulate. Hancock lets him talk and he has plenty to say. He says he has sit-rep's, recently de-classified, from all five (or six) boats involved. He is highly credible IMO.
I have yet to receive my copy of Unfit For Command but the third excerpt was published in the Washington Times yesterday and it deals with this incident.
It's at:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040820-125031-5676r.htm
I found the last part, relating how Kerry left his boat to go with the injured from PCF-3 to get treated for his "wound" to be particularly interesting.
Depending on how close Rassmann was to the mine explosion I have often wondered if his hearing was impared for several hours by the blast. Also the guy is probably disoriented and afraid of being left behind. He is underwater, then clinging inverted to a net hanging from a moving boat. He is intent on finding a way to board the craft. The "battle" may not have even been in his field of vision. The swift boats are firing suppressing fire against the surrounding shore. Its easy to see why he must have thought someone must be firing on him and his buddies. I never thought the guy was lying. I always thought he was confused.
I'm convinced the media played a roll in the so called reunion in Iowa. They have already admitted they knew in advance that Rassmann would appear.........
This is indeed interesting; and the author, Grant Holcomb, is a first-class soldier and man.
But skepticism about Rassman's veracity, and motives, is warranted simply because he has not evidenced any good-faith search for truth - as for instance actually taking into consideration the very plausible circumstances noted in this article, to wit: the only weapons firing were those on the swift boats.
In fact he has resisted any good-faith search for truth by being manifestly inarticulate, if not mute, when he has appeared in person on any sort of news forum. His "articulation" seems to only occur through prepared written articles (such as the one to the WSJ - which seemed remarkedly incongruent with Rassman's demonstrated oral skills).
Moreover, Rassman has affirmed ADDITIONAL conditions and events purported by Kerry that Swift Vets state are untrue: e.g., Kerry's supposed directing his boat "to return and assist the other damaged craft and towed (sic) the boat to safety."
Then the only answer remaining is, he is a LIBERAL or a sell out.
Folks who were above the water had a better view than Rassman, so I'll go with what THEY have to say. John Kerry, looking to get his medals and get back home, wrote a glowing report about how his boat picked up Rassman, under enemy fir, being sure to mention Thurlow's rescue of the stricken boat. All of the citations from that day mention enemy fire, but none of the other commanders wrote reports on the incident. It is only Kerry's report that the Navy used for its "Official" reports, that's why the media is reporting this the way it is. They are, however, completely incurious as to why all the other vets are telling a different story than the official report.
ping
They can't handle the truth. Kerry is their ticket back into power and they don't give a damn what he did or will do, just so long as they get the reigns of government back.
thx!
If there was no enemy fire, he could not have "saved his life."
His life was not in danger at the time (unless, of course, Rassman couldn't swim).
They were just very good friends (Not that there's anything wrong with that:^)
**John Kerry Is Shamelessly Exploiting The Situation"**
I've always thought that Kerry was taking advantage of this man.
Thanks.
I thinkyou've more to tell. Go for it!
"The truth of the matter is that Rassmann himself changed the details of his story twice in the weekend he appeared in Iowa."
Could you document this very important tidbit for us? Something of this nature would be invaluable to add to the discussion.
The media has made such a big thing of Elliott's "change of statement", they never document those of their "enemies".
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