Posted on 08/26/2004 12:18:03 PM PDT by lurker214
Robert E. Lambert doesn’t plan to vote for John Kerry.
But the Eagle Point man challenges claims by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that there was no enemy fire aimed at the five swift boats, including the one commanded by Kerry, on March 13, 1969 on the Bay Hap River in the southern tip of what was then South Vietnam.
Lambert, now 64, was a crew member on swift boat PCF-51 that day. The boat was commanded by Navy Lt. Larry Thurlow, a now-retired officer who questions why Kerry was awarded a Bronze star for bravery and a third Purple Heart for the March 13 incident.
"He and another officer now say we weren’t under fire at that time," Lambert said Wednesday afternoon. "Well, I sure was under the impression we were."
(Excerpt) Read more at mailtribune.com ...
Maybe they were shooting at each other.
huh?
Further in the article he says he doesn't remember meeting Kerry. How is this possible? I thought they went out as a group and came back as a group. Would have after action discussions, etc. What gives?
> Robert E. Lambert doesn’t plan to vote for John Kerry.
He's in a position to know the truth about Kerry.
> "He and another officer now say we weren’t under fire
> at that time," Lambert said Wednesday afternoon.
> "Well, I sure was under the impression we were."
He's also listed as a witness on the Thurlow citation,
and until this report surfaced, he'd been declining
comment. If the report is false, Lambert's in trouble.
> "Everybody was shooting back," ...
But the article doesn't describe any of the supposed
enemy fire, and why it apparently hit nothing.
Let's see despite being out there a number of hours recovering the boat that hit the mine, I believe the following are true:
1. No Americans wounded by bullets?
2. No Swift Boats with bullet holes in them?
I think that is pretty good evidence that they were not facing much enemy fire if any. And I am very sure they did not face enemy fire while blowing up the rice.
Comments? The article isn't clearly written, so its hard to understand if he's implying they were under fire when Rassman's boat hit the mine, or if it started afterwards, or just what he's saying.
I am also suspicious when the story starts with the "Robert E. Lambert doesn’t plan to vote for John Kerry" crap. This is code for "you can believe this guy because he has no agenda" but you can't believe O'Neill and the 200+ other Swiftees because they are all Bush hacks.
Apparently Rassman believes they were being fired upon too, but almost all the others say that they opened up on the banks after the mine blew in case it was an ambush. When they realized there was no ambush, they stopped firing, and Kerry the Chickenhearted turned his boat around and came back.
What a scathing retort...
""Well, I sure was under the impression we were."
""Anytime you are blown out of the water like that, they always follow that up with small arms fire," he said."
NONE of his statements say - WE WERE BEING FIRED UPON
But...but...but...he wasn't on Kerry's boat!
Sounds sort of like some of them thought they were being shot at because they were all shooting wildly. Doesn't sound like the Navy's finest moment. They are probably lucky they didn't shoot each other in the confusion.
The damage on the boats cited by Kerry on 13 March was that of the prior day. This guy must also be mistaken regarding the shooting. You can read clearly in the book 'Unfit For Command'!
bump to support SWIFTVETS and GEORGE W. BUSH... http://www.swiftvets.com/
Once all the boats open up, it's going to take sometime to assess the situation and issue a cease fire order. Remember, Kerry paniced, gunned the engines, struck an underwater obstacle (probably the fishing weir) and covered his butt by saying damage to his boat was due to a near miss from a mine.
As Kerry's boat was fleeing the scene leaving the other boats in the rear, his gunners were probably shooting as well but more to the rear. Bullets from Kerrys boat were likely impacting the water all around Rassman.
From the situation map provided by the Washington Post, Kerry was on the far side of the river. Fire from the other boats would be impacting the water on his side of the river and fire from his boat would be impacting the water on the side of the river near the other boats Kerry separated from.
So, there was fire that day, it's just likely it was all friendly.
Van O'Dell has repeatedly stated that the Swifties themselves were firing for minutes while they tried to figure out if the enemy were around. Then they stoped. Maybe this guy is remembering friendly fire?
O'Dell also points out that according to Kerry both sides of the river were under enemy fire for miles. No boat or Vet reported bullet injuries. It is virtually impossible under the conditions Kerry cited.
You have 4 or 5 boatsover a hundred or so yards of river, blasting away with a dozen or so machine guns, tracers flying all over and richocheting and flying up in the air, echos adding to the din....
Hell yes, most folks would believe they were under fire, absolutely.
Not to mention that the water way was only 75 yards wide.
Hell, my seven year old grandson could hit a Swift Boat at 40 yards with an AK-47 even if it was cruising at 40 knots!
"Hell, my seven year old grandson could hit a Swift Boat at 40 yards with an AK-47 even if it was cruising at 40 knots!"
Lucky thing that Kerry was attacked by the VC version of F Troop ! They didn't hit anyone or anything during his run down the 5000 yard kill zone ...
How many VC must there have been to be firing from both sides of a 3 mile stretch ?
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