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    This book is bull!, August 30, 2004 Reviewer:   Philip W. Carter "Gridley Sailor" (Slingerlands, NY) - See all my reviews    I never got past the chapters of Kerry's experiences on the USS GRIDLEY. Since I served with him the entire year, I can assure readers that it is filled with exaggeration and fantasy. Kerry makes himself out to be Master and Commander when he was just a goofy boot Ensign. There are a number of things that are just plain not true and lots of exaggeration. It is not a serious work but clearly a...

The timeline in "Unfit for Command" for John Kerry's deployment on the USS Gridley doesn't match the ship's operations as listed in Kerry's Fitness Reports. "Unfit for Command"'s timeline indicates that Gridley departed Vietnam January 2, 1968 and, travelling via Australia, returned to Long Beach on June 8. Missing from this account is an additional period of Gulf of Tonkin SAR duty in the time period April 1 - May 5, 1968. This information appears in Kerry's Fitness Report for the period of March 23 - July 20, 1968. Regarding kerry's MLK assassination story, I believe that it's possible for...

"I commanded a naval gunboat patrolling the Mekong Delta. Then when I came home after two tours of duty, I decided that the same sense of service demanded something more of me." - John Kerry, A Call to Service, page 3.

Below is a letter to the editor of the US Naval Institute Proceedings from Kerry's superior in Vietnam (Executive Officer USS Gridley) in response to an interview with Kerry’s biographer (Douglas Brinkley) in the May issue. I have emphasized certain areas for your review and consideration. Their website is http://www.navalinstitute.org “Interview: Douglas Brinkley” (See p. 56, May 2004 Proceedings) Captain James F. Kelly, U.S. Navy (Retired)---Every candidate for public office probably has some excess baggage to carry that he’d rather not have. With Senator John Kerry, it’s undoubtedly his anti-Vietnam War activism that followed his heroic naval service in Vietnam....

Why does John Kerry not mention the USS Gridley CG-21 Shipmates that actually served with him, on the same ship, at the same time remember him.So since John Kerry is on the campaign trail I'll remind him.

Every candidate for public office probably has some excess baggage to carry around that he’d rather not have. With Senator John Kerry, it’s undoubtedly his anti-Vietnam War activism that followed his heroic naval service in Vietnam. John Kerry and I were shipmates in the guided missile cruiser USS Gridley (CG-21) in 1967 and 1968. He served as First Lieutenant, the officer in charge of the deck division, and I was Executive Officer, or second in command. I remember him as a serious and intelligent young ensign, seemingly mature beyond his years. The skipper and I were mightily impressed with him...

Every candidate for public office probably has some excess baggage to carry around that he’d rather not have. With Senator John Kerry, it’s undoubtedly his anti-Vietnam War activism that followed his heroic naval service in Vietnam. John Kerry and I were shipmates in the guided missile cruiser USS Gridley (CG-21) in 1967 and 1968. He served as First Lieutenant, the officer in charge of the deck division, and I was Executive Officer, or second in command. I remember him as a serious and intelligent young ensign, seemingly mature beyond his years. The skipper and I were mightily impressed with him...

John Kerry wants us to believe that he is qualified to be President of the United States and commander-in-chief of our nations armed forces simply because he was a junior lieutenant in the Navy. Oh, and, he keeps mentioning serving two tours in the Vietnam war. Note, now, that Kerry does not want us to scrutinize what he did (and did not do) in all his years as a Senator. Kerry is running for office as a Naval officer -- as a war hero. On Kerry's Senate web site[1], he clearly states: "As a Vietnam veteran, I have experienced firsthand...

Here are the comments of Phil Carter, RD2, on some of the items in the TOUR OF DUTY coverage of Kerry's time on GRIDLEY. He urges everyone to read it for themselves. I was an E-5 radarman on the USS GRIDLEY and was onboard from 1965 until May of 1968. My principal role in 67 and 68 was to prepare intelligence information to brief the rescue helo pilots and the ship’s officers. I received a commendation from CINCPACFLT for this activity. I stood quite a few CIC watches with Ensign Kerry where we discussed many things, including the war. I...

We know the media shills for the democrats, but it's about time some one of the VERY FEW honest media get on this point and two others:We want to know about those famous wounds that he takes credit for......(I'm not saying I would want them, but he is making big claims about his service) but we have a right to see the records.All my friends had to spend 12 months in Nam....why did ketchup boy only serve 4 months and then come home and fight the war and call those poor guys without deferments baby killers and war criminalsI am...