Rasmann Got a Purple Heart on Same Day as Kerry?

The Kerry Spot ^ | 8/26/2004 | Jim Geraghty

[x1stcav]

Kerry Spot [ jim geraghty reporting ]

RASSMANN GOT A PURPLE HEART, TOO? ON THE SAME DAY? [08/26 01:52 PM]

Has it been reported elsewhere that Jim Rassmann, the man John Kerry fished out of the river, was awarded a Purple Heart “for wounds received in connection with military operations against a hostile force” on the day he was rescued by John Kerry?

Have any of the accounts of that day listed an injury on the part of Rassmann? The descriptions, including Rassmann‘s own, don‘t mention this injury. The Kerry Spot is not charging Rassmann with not being injured; but it seems like an important point that’s been ignored by previous accounts.

If Rassmann were injured while he’s bobbing in the water after falling off PCF-94, that makes the story of his rescue even more dramatic. If his Purple Heart was awarded for being shot, that would appear to strengthen the argument that the boats were under fire. And yet neither the Globe’s account, nor “Unfit for Command,” appear to mention an injury to Rassmann, and I haven’t seen any reference to this in “Tour of Duty.”

The next question is who put in the paperwork for Rassmann’s Purple Heart medal.

Lt. JG John Kerry?

Would it weaken the case that Kerry earned his medals in that March 13, 1969 incident if the man recommending him for those medals was being recommended for medals of his own by Kerry?

Now, we shouldn’t read too much into this. The recommendation for Rassmann’s purple heart could have come from some other sailor or soldier out there. Even if it came from Kerry, this does not definitively prove that either one of them is lying, or shading the truth in any way.

But it does seem odd that this medal has been left out of all of the accounts so far.

(Thanks to Kerry Spot reader Lars for noticing this.)

[x1stcav]

Either that or you get fleas.

[xzins]

Rtd seems to be the bottom line about all his injuries, doesn't it?

[ohioconservative]

hey leave rassmann alone- he's a republican ya know.

I understand. No disrespect intended. In the media, it's just been raining purple hearts lately.

[sweetiepiezer]

Bring it on baby. Bring it on.

[Bob]

"When Kerry "tucked tail and ran", throwing Rassman overboard"

I don't think Rassman was on Kerry's boat. Seems like, way back, I heard he was on someone elses boat but Kerry pick him up.

Rassman has himself told two different stories as to which boat he was on when the mine hit PCF-3 in two separate interviews. In one, he was on kerry's boat; in another, he was on a boat behind kerry's. I really don't know which was really the case.

[RottiBiz]

I definitely believe that Rassmann is lying.

"The boats had begun firing after the mine exploded but they ceased after a short time because of the lack of hostile fire." (p. 90 Unfit For Command)

Chenoweth had already picked up the others in the water and was about to pick up Rassmann when Kerry came back.

The firing had to have ceased by then. Thurlow said in a TV interview that the shooting only lasted "seconds or a minute or two."

[henbane]

Kerry had "bugged out" from the scene of the mine explosion under Boat 3, and didn't return to pick up a man that had fallen from his boat until he was certain there was no further danger to his own sorry ass.

Even the graphics from the anti-Bush Washington Post makes it clear that Kerry bugged out on the PCF3 when it hit a mine.

Of course, theWashPost conjured up a weird "unidentified" explosion out of thin air for Kerry's boat--but the graphic shows Kerry fleeing 3 miles down river before turning around to pick up Rassman. The graphic even had to show a physical break across the river because Kerry booked so far , so fast.

All the other boats are shown clustered around the stricken 3Boat--while Kerry's is the only one that ran upriver like a scalded cat.

How the hell can you earn a Silver Star for tossing a crewmate out of your craft due to a panic throttle-up--and then later cutting in front of another rescue boat that was just about to fish Rassmann out.

Kerry rushed back only to avoid being reported for "abandonment of crew" in waters that--after the initial mine detonation--were "like a millpond." So quiet that all the boats stayed on scene for three hours to pick up all the PBF3 crew, bail out and stabilize the mined boat and transfer the wounded to a hospital ship off-shore.

Kerry's own 94 boat towed the 3boat back--without Kerry--who abandoned his own boat to jump on the boat transferring the wounded.

Kerry was going to cash in on his bruised shoulder/side and the rice in his butt from the oafish grenade toss that morning.

Yeah--the guy's a real Eisenhower and will make a great Commander in Chief.

The horror!

Free Republic Home · Browse · Search

Pings · Mail

News/Activism Topics · Post Article

---

Skip to comments.

The River, The Mission, The Ambush
Washington Post ^ | 8-21-2004 | Thorp, Spirito, Kirkman

Posted on 08/22/2004 1:48:37 AM EDT by XHogPilot

The Mission, The River, The Ambush. On March 13, 1969, John F. Kerry participated in the mission that has become a centerpiece of his campaign for the presidency- and his account has been disputed by some fellow Swift boat veterans. The dispute focuses on when and how Kerry was injured on the mission, and whether the force of five Swift boats came under Vietcong fire after one was hit by a mine on the Bay Hap River. Here are the events of the mission and ambush, according to eyewitness accounts and U.S. Navy reports:

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...

---

TOPICS:

[RottiBiz]

"Unfit For Command" is extremely well-documented and, according to the author, John O'Neill, has at least two eye-witness accounts for everything in the book.

"During the incident, Jim Rassmann had fallen or been knocked off either Kerry's boat or PCF 35. When he was spotted in the water, Chenoweth's boat, with the PCF 3 crew aboard, went to pick him up. Kerry's boat, returning to the scene after its flight, reached him about twenty yards before Chenoweth." p. 91

[brazzaville]

Good afternoon.
Why should we not go after Rassmann? He is supposed to have offered his support to john kerry's campaign after being a lifelong Republican. He is part of a very small group of folks who prop up kerry's house of cards. If kerry is a fraud and a traitor, then Rassmann is probably a liar. We have given him the benefit of the doubt because he is a vet. Tom Harkin is a vet, John Hurley is a vet, Max Cleland. Why should we believe Rassmann's version of the story?
Michael Frazier

[thelastvirgil]

The question that needs to be asked and answered is: How many of Kerry's own men -- those that served on HIS Swiftboat -- were ever recommended for medals for heroic action. It seems only logical that, if Kerry could earn five medals in a short 4-month tour of the rivers of SE Asia, at least some of those under his command would have earned some recognition, too.

It is possible, I suppose, that no one else on Kerry's boat was ever given the chance to perform acts of heroism. Maybe with SuperJohn onboard, the chances of anyone else having to go to extraordinary lengths to save another's life or otherwise perform above and beyond were just too limited; Kerry being a big hero, and all.

I do, however, think it would be interesting if someone could research the records of the Kerry crew members for citations to include dates, details, medals awarded, and the name of the person recommending the awards.

Can some Freeper do this kind of research? Is this worth persuing?

[Hildy]

I could be wrong about this, but didn't I read somewhere that Rassman wasn't part of the squad? Does anyone know what he was doing on the boat that day?

[river rat]

What is becoming more amazing as more and more information is revealed -- is how in the hell Kerry escaped being killed by friendly fire....Simply as a form of self preservation......by his division mates...

I realize now, just how incredibly blessed we were to have been so magnificently led by USMC Officers and Noncommissioned Officers... Blessed, and alive!

Semper Fi

[TC Rider]

Kerry was too slow, according to Rassman, and got caught in the blast of puffed rice.

It was the cereal that's shot from guns.
(Hummed to the tune of the "1812 Overture")

[Riley]

Heh heh..I remember that.

[RottiBiz]

LOL! Maybe, at the Dem convention when he saluted, he should have said,

"I'm John Kerry -- Returned to duty."

[landerwy]

I just want truth. No attacking, just truth!!!

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Ramsey Clark to Join Panel for Saddam’s Defense

arabnews press release 25 August 2004

NOTE :
Ramsey Clark is pictured below with Kerry and
Vietnam phony vet Al Hubbard
Who was head of the
Vietnam Veterans Against the War movement.



NEW:
FReeper smith288 has an online version of
Kerry's "The New Soldier"
You can read it without downloading pdf files!
CLICK HERE

From Kerry's "The New Soldier":
Al Hubbard Sgt., 22 Troop Carrier Squadron Aug. ’65-June ’66

Emotions: Walking down the flight line at Saigon past stacks of aluminum cases containing American bodies and past stacks of aluminum luggage containing American currency. Seeing the tight, sad face of an Airman loading the bodies aboard a dirty Air Force Transport and the wide smiling face of a stewardess greeting the passengers aboard a clean Pan American Clipper Jet. Hearing a Vietnamese beg you to leave his country and an American colonel tells you to bomb his country. Hearing a Vietnamese invite you to live in his home, after the war and an American explain why you can’t live in his block, after the war. Flying over barren, brown, safe American held terrain and over lush, green unsafe enemy terrain. Feeling happy to be leaving a country in which you do not belong and sad to be returning to a country in which you are not allowed to belong. Sacrificing a portion of your consciousness so you won’t have to deal with being there and building mental blocks so you won’t have to deal with having been there.

- Al Hubbard, proven fraud who never set foot in Viet Nam. The only Vietnamese he ever met was when he was collaborating with the North Vietnamese in Paris
on the American Communist Party's nickel.
John Kerry's explanation: "He (Hubbard) simply exaggarated his particular position.
But nobody knew it at the time. And those things happen."

The New Soldier, (46 pages)
By John Kerry
and Vietnam Veterans
Against the War
PART I (pdf file)
PART II (pdf file)
PART III (pdf file)

Kerry hopes everyone
in the USA gets this book!

NEW:
“Without question,
we were held captive longer
because of the anti-war people,
the Kerrys, the Fondas and Haydens,
the names we knew over there -
they encouraged the enemy to hang on.”
Excerpt from “Stolen Honor” website
- Leo Thorsness
Former Vietnam POW
CLICK HERE



Send this url for the online version

http://ejsmithweb.com/fr/newsoldier/

Send this url for the Stolen Honor website

http://www.stolenhonor.com/

Print this out (46 pages) and disribute it,
especially to the liberals you know.

Copy and paste the links to everyone you know.

http://nomayo.mu.nu/archives/New%20Soldier%20Inro.pdf

http://nomayo.mu.nu/archives/New%20Soldier.pdf

http://nomayo.mu.nu/archives/New%20Soldier%20Epilogue.pdf

[The Old Hoosier]

Whoa, boy. This could mean big trouble for Kerry.

[TC Rider]

Yeah, they said we kids in the 50s didn't have any culture, but every kid could recognize the "1812 Overture" and the "William Tell Overture". (we just didn't know the right names!)

[cricket]

"I always thought it would be worthwhile checking Rasmann's 201 file to see if he and Kerry had a reciprocal arrangement for putting each other in for awards."

Rassman strikes me a man, easily used. I doubt Kerry 'used' him more than once however; but if he did get the PH 'that day' having been fished out of the water; would bet that Kerry wrote the report for him.

He has already stated - prefaced - his kerry ad; that memories get muddled after thirty years; also; the man could not see to easily 'WHAT' was going on; no doubt just trying to keep his head above water. . .