Free Republic

CHICAGO, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- The Chicago Sun-Times criticized the rival Chicago Tribune Tuesday, questioning the timing of an editor's recall of fighting with Sen. John Kerry in Vietnam. On Sunday, Tribune editor William Rood wrote a first-person account of his memories of serving in a Navy Swift Boat, as the Democrat presidential candidate did. Kerry received two purple hearts and a bronze star for bravery, which has come under dispute by one Republican-leaning veteran's group. In a Sun-Times editorial Tuesday, the newspaper called into question Rood's motives as he "said nothing and did nothing until the campaign came looking...

Kerry Spot reader Barnaby observes that the article by former Swift Boat commander William B. Rood creates a new problem for John Kerry. Rood's bronze star citation says he earned the medal "while serving with friendly foreign forces" and "Underwater Demolition Team THIRTEEN and Vietnamese Regional and Popular Force personnel." Kerry's Silver Star citation makes no mention of Underwater Demolition Team THIRTEEN, and the friendly foreign forces aren't credited with any role in the battle. The description makes it sound like Kerry and his crew saved the day. This inconsistency bears out one of the Swift Boat Vets's objection to...

Journalist Breaks Silence to Defend Kerry Against Swift Boaters By E&P Staff NEW YORK A Chicago Tribune metro editor who commanded a boat alongside John Kerry in Vietnam broke a 35-year silence on Saturday to say that stories told by Kerry's "Swift Boat" detractors are untrue. William Rood wrote on the newspaper's Web site, and in an article published Sunday, "There were three swift boats on the river that day in Vietnam more than 35 years ago -- three officers and 15 crew members. Only two of those officers remain to talk about what happened on February 28, 1969. "One...

Fudging Breaks Out: Alert reader A.F. notes close reading reveals that the pro-Kerry eyewitness account of Pat Runyon--like the pro-Kerry eyewitness account of William Rood--contains some seemingly clever wording. In Runyon's case, it fudges the issue of whether Kerry was actually under fire in the incident for which he won his first Purple Heart: Runyon said Kerry was wounded after one vessel tried to avoid an inspection. "Lt. Kerry said, 'I'm going to pop a flare, and when I do, I want that engine started,' " Runyon said. But the outboard would not crank. Meanwhile, the sampan's crew steered it...

Short and to the point for the media How come when Swift Boat Vets speak you shut them up with "Where you ON Kerry's boat?" And then attack them. So have you attacked William B. Rood also because he was not ON Kerry's boat.?

There were three swift boats on the river that day in Vietnam more than 35 years ago--three officers and 15 crew members. Only two of those officers remain to talk about what happened on February 28, 1969. One is John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate who won a Silver Star for what happened on that date. I am the other.

WASHINGTON -- The co-author of the best-selling book "Unfit for Command" says today's statement by a Chicago Tribune editor and former swift boat commander does not substantively contradict his findings about John Kerry's Silver Star. William Rood, 61, said he decided to break his silence today about the Feb. 28, 1969, mission because recent reports of Kerry's actions in that battle are incorrect and darken the reputations of veterans who served with Kerry, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune. However, the account of the incident is different from the one presented in "Unfit for Command" by John O'Neill...

In a development that the establishment press is treating like bombshell news, former Swiftboat commander William B. Rood has stepped forward to defend John Kerry against the charge that he exaggerated his valor during the Vietnam War in descriptions of a foiled Feb. 1969 ambush on his boat. But unmentioned in coverage of Rood's story so far is one salient fact: His account is sharply contradicted by one of Kerry's own crewmates, who complained eight years ago that Kerry took credit for bravery he didn't deserve - in an action that earned him the Silver Star. In Sunday editions of...

Kerry's Silver Star incident is supposed to be told with such bravado you'd think Rood could come up with something more colorful to justify its awarding. An ambush without much action and a couple-few if any more fleeing, if even that's to be believed, or even minor activity described as being from the other side of the river aside ... Here is how Kerry's citation describes the incident (Unfit for Command pages 81-82): On a request from U.S. Army advisors ashore, Lieutenant (junior grade) KERRY ordered PCFs 94 and 23 further up river to suppress enemy sniper fire. After proceeding...

A Chicago Tribune editor who served with Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry during the Vietnam War as the commander of a Navy swift boat on a 1969 mission is challenging the attacks on Kerry's account of the event. William Rood, 61, said he decided to break his silence Saturday about the Feb. 28, 1969 mission because recent reports of Kerry's actions in that battle are incorrect and darken the reputations of veterans who served with Kerry, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune's Sunday editions. Before the 1969 mission, Kerry told Rood and another officer to attack ambushers if...

WASHINGTON -- The co-author of the best-selling book "Unfit for Command" says today's statement by a Chicago Tribune editor and former swift boat commander does not substantively contradict his findings about John Kerry's Silver Star. William Rood, 61, said he decided to break his silence today about the Feb. 28, 1969, mission because recent reports of Kerry's actions in that battle are incorrect and darken the reputations of veterans who served with Kerry, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune.

Former swift boat officer, William Rood, has broke 35 years of silence about the Feb. 28, 1969 mission that he, as skipper of the PCF-23, had participated alongside Sen. Kerry's swift boat (PCF-94) that had lead to Kerry receiving a Silver Star by killing an enemy soldier while preparing to fire a B-40 rocket at their beached swift boat. The reason Rood, 61, has broken his 35 years of silence is because Kerry had personally contacted him and other crew members in recent days asking that they go public with their accounts of what happened on that day he...

CHICAGO (AP) - A Chicago Tribune editor who was on the Vietnam mission for which John Kerry received the Silver Star is backing up Kerry's account of the incident. William Rood, 61, said he decided to break his silence about the Feb. 28, 1969, mission because reports by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are incorrect and darken the reputations of veterans who served with Kerry, according to a report in the Tribune's Sunday editions. Rood, an editor on the Tribune's metropolitan desk, said the allegations that Kerry's accomplishments were overblown are untrue. Kerry came up with an attack strategy...

The single best development for Sen. John F. Kerry during the past two weeks is the just-published first-person account from former Swift Boat skipper William B. Rood of the action on February 28, 1969, that resulted in Kerry's Silver Star. Mr. Rood's memoir, entitled "Anti-Kerry vets not there that day," deserves a respectful and careful reading from anyone interested in the SwiftVets vs. Kerry controversy. It provides context and some credible opinions that are unquestionably favorable to Sen. Kerry. But neither it, nor the companion news article by Rood's Chicago Tribune colleague Tim Jones, directly contradicts the SwiftVets' principle allegations...

THE MILITARY RECORD A Vietnam veteran who had served with Senator John Kerry in a Swift boat group broke a 35-year silence this weekend to back Mr. Kerry's version of events from their mission together, and to chastise veterans critical of the senator as having "splashed doubt on all of us." The veteran, William B. Rood, is now an editor at The Chicago Tribune, which ran a first-person article in which he recounted the day on its Web site yesterday. His account added to a growing debate over the most serious claims from the group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth....

Feb. 28, 1969: ON THE DONG CUNG RIVER There were three swift boats on the river that day in Vietnam more than 35 years ago—three officers and 15 crew members. Only two of those officers remain to talk about what happened on February 28, 1969. One is John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate who won a Silver Star for what happened on that date. I am the other. For years, no one asked about those events. But now they are the focus of skirmishing in a presidential election with a group of swift boat veterans and others contending that Kerry...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. John Kerry's campaign released a video Saturday comparing the controversy over Kerry's Vietnam service to attacks on John McCain during the 2000 Republican primaries. The video, sent via e-mail to supporters, says, "George Bush is up to his old tricks" and shows then-Texas Gov. Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain at a debate in February 2000. McCain, sitting next to Bush, says that when "fringe veterans groups" attacked him at a Bush campaign function, Bush stood by and didn't say a word. McCain says a group of senators wrote Bush a letter that said: "Apologize. You...

Aug. 21, 2004, 4:49PM Witness breaks silence - backs Kerry's story Associated Press Associated Press William B. Rood, a night city editor for the Chicago Tribune, and who served with John Kerry during the Vietnam War, talks Friday about his time as a Swift Boat commander. CHICAGO -- A Chicago Tribune editor who was on the Vietnam mission for which John Kerry received the Silver Star is backing up Kerry's account of the incident. William Rood, 61, said he decided to break his silence about the Feb. 28, 1969, mission because reports by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are...

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - An American journalist who commanded a boat alongside John Kerry in Vietnam broke a 35-year silence on Saturday and defended the Democratic presidential candidate against Republican critics of his military service. Weighing in on what has become the most bitterly divisive issue of the 2004 campaign for the White House, William Rood of the Chicago Tribune said the tales told by Kerry's detractors are untrue. "There were three swift boats on the river that day in Vietnam more than 35 years ago -- three officers and 15 crew members. Only two of those officers remain to talk...

CHICAGO, Aug. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- "There were three Swift Boats on the river that day in Vietnam more than 35 years ago -- three officers and 15 crew members. Only two of those officers remain to talk about what happened on February 28, 1969. "One is John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate who won a Silver Star for what happened on that date. I am the other." (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-a http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-b http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-chttp://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-d ) So begins William Rood's compelling account of events that happened more than 35 years ago. The article appears in the Sunday, August 22 edition of the Chicago...