Kerry's Flying Dog

The Washington Times ^ | 08/25/2004 | John McCaslin

[Hawk44]

VC surfaces

A new four-legged angle — actually a dog named "VC" — has suddenly materialized surrounding Sen. John Kerry's swift boat service in Vietnam.

In a 2004 presidential candidate questionnaire for Humane USA, Mr. Kerry was asked whether any pets have had an impact on his life.

"I have always had pets in my life, and there are a few that I remember very fondly," Mr. Kerry replied. "When I was serving on a Swift Boat in Vietnam, my crewmates and I had a dog we called VC.

"One day as our Swift Boat was heading up a river, a mine exploded hard under our boat," he continued. "After picking ourselves up, we discovered VC was MIA (missing in action). Several minutes of frantic search followed, after which we thought we'd lost him. We were relieved when another boat called asking if we were missing a dog."

Said Mr. Kerry: "It turns out VC was catapulted from the deck of our boat and landed, confused but unhurt, on the deck of another boat in our patrol."

[Chewbacco]

Was the dog injured? Was anyone else injured?

A mine explosion is a serious event, not something that one would say, "one day a mine blew up my boat, ha ha ha, and the dog, ha ha ha, got ha ha, blown off the deck ha ha ha, give me a minute, this is so funny...

[sonofatpatcher2]

Isn't that special?

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To print out and wear as a Campaign Button, go HERE. Feel free to reuse this anywhere you wish...

[socal_parrot]

It turns out VC was catapulted

I would have thought with Kerry being French and all, that he would have used a trebuchet.

[Chewbacco]

John Kerry, a loony lunatic, is a sitting senator on a board of national intelligence?

(makes you wonder who the bigger nut is, him or the people who put him there)

He really needs some serious medical attention!

[snapperjk]

Admiral Kerry

[snapperjk]

[TC Rider]

No military records on Mr. Kerry's Web site, which aides say is a complete accounting, mention a mine exploding under his boat or any dog. The only report of a mine detonating "near" Mr. Kerry's PCF 94 was March 13, 1969, when Mr. Kerry says he was injured and a man knocked overboard.

"Yeah, that's the ticket, the mine blew Rassman into the water and the little dog off onto another boat. That mine was so powerful, it turned my lucky hat inside out. The pressure wave from that mine actually flattened out all of the bullet holes in the boats from the enemy fire we were taking. Yeah, that's the ticket. And by the way, I've slept with Morgan Fairchild, yeah, that's the ticket!"

[KeyLargo]

http://www.flyingdogales.com/

Flying dog spotted over Central Park!
http://www.dogsinthenews.com/issues/0210/articles/021005a.htm

Flying dog
http://dyer.greg.home.comcast.net/

Flying dog
http://www.expansys.com/zoompic.asp?type=user&code=381

[PBRSTREETGANG]

[Taffini]

"It turns out VC was catapulted from the deck of our boat and landed, confused but unhurt, on the deck of another boat in our patrol."


WHY doesn't anyone else remember the dogapult of VC? Isn't that something you would remember? How many guys were on his boat? How many guys were on the boat that VC, the magic-flying-dog, landed on? If I were there I think I would remember it for sure.

[Taffini]

Don't you have to document an event like a mine blowing up under your boat. Aren't there reports to file? Maybe this happened when john was still in the USA and he got it mixed up like the day MLK was killed. He can't keep his dates straight.....cambodia...seared in my memory....christmas,,,eggnog and cookies....santa..

[Taffini]

>>I believe Kerry abandoned the dog in his haste to leave Vietnam


He probably shot it like that kid and the domestic animals. He had enough practice.

[Leisler]

What is the physics of a flying dog?

In order for the dog to fly say 15 feet across water, how much must the dog be accelerated?

In order for the dog to be accelerated, how much must the 18 ton Swift boat be accelerated?

How much damage to the Swift boat from a mine, strong enough to toss a dog off the boat, through the air, across water and onto another boat? When was the damage report filed and repairs done( remember PCF-3 almost sinking?)

Certainly such a freakish event would of been well remembered in unit lore, let alone on both Kerry's boat and the receiving boat.

[Helms]

"I have always had pets in my life, and...... "

I think he means human beings.

[Helms]

FR must be one of the largest databases of political information on the web.

[radiohead]

"I have always had pets in my life, and...... "

I think he means human beings.

LOL! Good thing I'm not eating - saved myself a keyboard!

[Cuttnhorse]

As small as these 50ft boats are a mine would have destroyed it and probably killed all or most aboard.

You are so right...believe me.
PCFs 10,45,&50
1965-1966

[Leisler]

I believe the term most used by Kerry is peon, although serf, peasant, vassal and phrases such as "you there". Lastly, no appellation at all is most like used. Kerry would just say, "More Port", "Close the window", "Get the Rolls", and so forth.

[Zon]

Kerry's dog story sounds like it's right out of Apocalypse Now.  It's in the original movie and Redux. Another striking similarity, while it's logical to have occurred in real life, is where Chief Phillips says: :"Sanpan off the port bow -- sanpan off the port bow." The chief said: paraphrasing: "We have to check it out. They've been running supplies up the river". They proceeded to lose their cool and shot up the boat and innocents then found a puppy in a basket.

Later in the movie after another moment of mass confusion and return fire Lance (surfer guy) calls out: "Where's the dog?! Where's the dog?!"

[supercat]

In order for the dog to fly say 15 feet across water, how much must the dog be accelerated?

For an object launched at a 45 degree angle (ignoring air friction) to travel 9.8 meters, its initial velocity must be 14.7m/s; its vertical velocity on landing would be 9.8m/s, and its peak height would be 4.9 meters. Could a dog survive a 4.9m fall onto a hard surface without injury?

In order for the dog to be accelerated, how much must the 18 ton Swift boat be accelerated?

Ah, well this is where things get even more fun. If the dog and swift boat were rigid, for the dog to fly 9.8 meters and reach a peak height of 4.9 meters, the swift boat would also have to reach a comparable height. I think if the boat were blown that far out of the water, someone would have noticed it.

To be sure, it's possible for mechanical waves to travel through a structure without it moving significantly; the common "Newton's cradle" toys demonstrate this pretty well. Additionally, the legs of a startled dog may add some extra kinetic energy to the animal, causing it to fly further in response to a mechanical wave than would otherwise be the case. On the other hand, neither of these scenarios would allow a dog to get 'catapuleted' from one boat to another unless the boats were extremely close together (close enough that the dog could jump by itself) without the boat or other occupants being severely disrupted.

If the story were that the dog were knocked overboard by the mine and swam to another boat, that would be somewhat plausible perhaps, but the 'catapulting' story is absolutely sheer nonsense.