*bump* Good article. The findings are well done. Also, giving Rassmann a greaceful "way out" of his story is fully appropriate.
Yes it is.
Way out, sure, but even a Green Beret must have learned what his weapons sound like when they are lit off.
I was never in combat, but I did own an AR-15 and an AK-47 once, and I fired them together many times, and there is a different sound when the round goes off.
The sounds this Green Beret heard, he would have learned by then what sound was what weapon.
So, since NONE of the stories tell of his distinction between sounds, which is what a combat vet would use to defend his actions and thoughts at that moment, the sounds he heard, not just his emotions; I am unsure of his story being true.
Also, the return trip to base, when all the swift boats would have completed the rescue, Rassmussan would have been talking with the guys on the boat and learned from them it was just a mine, not RPG fire.
Once back at the base, the off load of the wounded and the debriefing, the comments on there just being a mine or weapons fire from the shore would have been a topic of discussion between crew members, what happened, who did what, who wet their pants, who spit at the VC the hardest, who hit their target with their weapon when they returned fire.