I don't know what happened there but Druz and Rood won Bronze Stars at the same time so the Kerry Silver Star seems overblown if he landed where the one VC was and others took on the brunt of this supposed large VC army at hotter spots of battle.
Although I don't know what happened there, I don't accept the idea that these Viet Cong interviewed on nightline are reliable witnesses that should even be listened to.
I agree. Nobody could interview them at the time and they are irrelevant to the medal citiation anyway. Most of them could simply have hidden the whole time. It is clear that someone shot at the Swift Boats, then the boats opened up, and some/most hid in their bunkers.
Koppel said that the local villagers, except one, had no knowledge of Kerry's Presidential campaign and therefore implied that there is no bias to their account. Nonsense! These villagers lost relatives, houses and friends. It is perfectly natural to put out a story of fierce resistance when probably they were hiding in holes. They still live in Vietnam and they better follow the party line.