posted on September 10, 2004 08:00:21 PM new
The facts about all the war records of Bush and Kerry show one thing and one thing only. Kerry went to war and was decorated and Bush ducked out.
Now all you Bush supporters can put your spin on the records but the records show that Kerry fought and Bush ducked out.
2. Kerry has admitted committing "atrocities" in Vietnam, including the burning down of villages, and eyewitnesses corroborate his burning of a village.
3. Kerry denied being at a Kansas City meeting of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War where the assassination of U. S. Senators was discussed, and then changed his story when contradictory proof surfaced, claiming he couldn't remember being there.
6. After decades of claiming that he spent Christmas of 1968 on an illegal mission in Cambodia, Kerry changed his story when contradictory proof surfaced.
16. In March 2003 Kerry admitted, regarding the war in Iraq, that it violates one's duty to the troops to criticize the war effort when the war is ongoing. Yet, he continues to defend his leveling of outrageous charges against the American government and military in 1971-1972.
http://msnbc.msn.com/ID/4772030/
http://hnn.us/articles/3552.html
17. Yasser Arafat, Bashar Assad, and ayatollahs in Iran want Kerry to be elected.
1. Kerry had antiwar political views as an undergraduate at Yale. (p. 23)
2. Kerry decided to enlist in the Navy Reserves after his petition for a deferment to study for one year in Paris was denied by the draft board. (p. 23)
3. What Kerry calls his "first tour of Vietnam" was five weeks involving no combat that he spent far off the coast of Vietnam on the USS Gridley. (p. 23-24)
4. Kerry volunteered for service on Swift Boats because, at the time, they had little to do with the war and he thought it would keep him out of combat. (p. 25-26)
5. Contrary to Kerry's claims in Tour of Duty, officers at Cam Ranh did not after patrols in rough water "come back pissing red" and "have broken bones." (p. 27)
6. Kerry lost no duty time as a result of any injury for which he received a Purple Heart. (p. 30)
7. Kerry's first Purple Heart
a. On December 2, 1968, Kerry was on a skimmer (a.k.a. a "Boston Whaler" as an officer in command under training. The overseeing officer on board was Lieutenant (now Rear Admiral) William Schachte. The two other crewmen were William Zaldonis and Patrick Runyon. (p. 35-36)
b. Kerry ordered Zaldonis to fire on some people running from one or more sampans that were on or near a beach. After Kerry's M-16 jammed, he picked up an M-79 grenade launcher and fired a grenade too close to his vessel, causing a tiny piece of shrapnel (one to two centimeters) to barely stick in his arm. Dr. Louis Letson removed the fragment with tweezers and put a small bandage on Kerry's arm. (p. 35-40)
c. There was no hostile fire of any kind. (p. 35-38)
d. The division commander, Grant Hibbard, refused Kerry's request to recommend him for a Purple Heart. The documents produced by Kerry do not indicate how, nearly three months later, he obtained the Purple Heart that Hibbard denied. (p. 38)
8. In December 1968, Kerry was transferred over his objections to An Thoi, which involved hazardous duty of missions within the inland waterways. He complained so much that his superiors at An Thoi transferred him out within a week. (p. 44-45)
9. Contrary to what he's claimed repeatedly for decades, Kerry did not spend Christmas 1968 in Cambodia. (p. 45-48)
10. On January 20, 1969, Kerry was the skipper of Swift Boat PCF 44. His crew fired on a family of five in a sampan, killing the father and an infant. Kerry has refused to produce the after-action report for this incident, but the report of the incident in the Commander Coastal Surveillance Force Vietnam Quarterly Evaluation Report of March 29, 1969 states that five Viet Cong were killed and two Viet Cong were captured. Since this report is based on Kerry's after-action report, it shows that Kerry falsified the report, by turning the dead father into five Viet Cong, turning the mother and child into captured Viet Cong, and ignoring the dead infant. (p. 53-62)
11. In January 1969, Kerry ordered his crewmen to slaughter by machine-gun fire numerous small animals milling around a hamlet on the Song Bo De River. He then personally burned the entire hamlet with a Zippo lighter. (p. 62)
12. Contrary to Kerry's journal entry, he did not confront Admiral Elmo Zumwalt on January 22, 1969 when Admiral Zumwalt addressed the Swift Boat commanders of Coastal Divisions 11 and 13. (p. 63-64)
13. Contrary to what Kerry claimed in the debate with John O'Neill on the Dick Cavett Show, none of the Swift Boat sailors and officers were refusing to carry out orders or starting to mutiny. (p. 64-65)
14. In his biography Tour of Duty, Kerry falsely charges Captain (now Admiral) Roy Hoffman with praising and wanting to give a Silver Star to an officer in the Da Nang Swift division who allegedly slaughtered thirty innocent fisherman. (p. 66-68)
15. In a telephone conversation on March 15, 2004, Kerry told Admiral Hoffman that if he would drop his efforts to organize the Swift Boat veterans against Kerry's candidacy, Kerry would ensure that the revised edition of his biography would be fair and more accurate regarding Hoffman. (p. 68-69)
16. Officers in charge of boats that ran seriously aground were required to report the situation to Coastal Division headquarters immediately because being grounded left them totally vulnerable and left unguarded the area they were to be patrolling. Kerry's boat was once grounded on a sandbar, and rather than risk getting Kerry in trouble, they waited hours for the tide to lift them. (p. 73-74)
17. Kerry would revisit ambush locations and reenact his exploits for his home movie camera. (p. 76)
18. Kerry's second Purple Heart
a. Kerry claims that on February 20, 1969, in the midst of intense rocket and rifle fire, he was hit in the left leg by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade. (p. 77)
b. Rocky Hildreth, the officer of the accompanying boat, denies there was any intense rocket and rifle fire, and there was no damage done to any boat. (p. 78)
c. Van Odell, a sailor on PCF 93, heard Kerry's crew say that Kerry had faked a Purple Heart from his own M-79 grenade wound. In a 2002 email that he disowned after meeting with Kerry, one of Kerry's crewmen questioned this Purple Heart and indicated that it was for a negligently self-inflicted wound. (p. 78)
d. The wound was minor, and Kerry returned to duty only hours later. (p. 78)
19. In February 1969, Kerry's boat was operating with a boat commanded by Bob Hildreth. A mine went off near Hildreth's boat, and then at least five rockets were fired at Hildreth's boat. Rather than stand and fight or return and provide support, as was standard procedure, Kerry fled. Kerry then filed an operating report indicating that his boat rather than Hildreth's encountered the mine and the rocket attack. (p. 79-80)
20. Kerry's Silver Star
a. On February 28, 1969, Kerry was the Officer in Charge of PCF 94 and Officer in Tactical Command of a three-boat mission. He had prearranged with his crew and the other boats that they would turn their boats into and onto the beach if fired upon. (p. 82)
b. The boats were loaded with many South Vietnamese soldiers commanded by Doug Reese and two other advisors. When fired upon, Reese's boat was the first to beach in the ambush zone, and Reese and other troops and advisors (not Kerry) disembarked, killing a number of Viet Cong and capturing weapons. (p. 82-83)
c. After Reese's boat beached, Kerry's boat moved slightly downstream and was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade in its aft cabin. A young Viet Cong popped out of a hole holding a grenade launcher, which may or may not have been loaded, and was shot in the leg with an M-60 machine gun by Tom Belodeau, Kerry's forward gunner. (p. 83)
d. Kerry's boat was beached, and the wounded Viet Cong fled. Kerry, Michael Medeiros, and possibly others pursued the Viet Cong and shot him in the back. (p. 83)
e. None of the participants on Reese's boat received a Silver Star. Most, if not all, of the non-PCF troops received no medals for this action. (p. 82)
21. Kerry's third Purple Heart and Bronze Star
a. On the morning of March 13, 1969, Kerry sustained a minor shrapnel wound in his buttocks when being too close to a grenade that he set off in a rice cache that was slated for destruction. (p. 87-89)
b. Later that day, Kerry's boat (PCF 94) was among several Swift Boats operating jointly on a river. A mine exploded under PCF 3, a boat commanded by Dick Pease. The crewmen of PCF 3 were thrown into the water and its officers were injured and suffered concussions. (p. 89-90)
c. The only mine to explode was the one that exploded under PCF 3, and there was no other hostile fire. The boats began firing after the mine exploded but ceased after a short time because of the lack of hostile fire. Contrary to standard doctrine, Kerry's boat fled, disappearing several hundred yards away. The remaining boats stayed to defend the disabled PCF 3 and its crewmen in the water. (p. 90)
d. Jack Chenoweth's boat picked up the PCF 3 crewmen thrown into the water, an action for which Chenoweth received no medals. After falling in the water on his first attempt, Larry Thurlow was able to board and bring the badly damaged PCF 3 to a stop. (p. 90)
e. During the incident, Jim Rassmann had fallen or been knocked out of 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, reached Rassmann about twenty yards before Chenoweth. Kerry picked up Rassmann. (p. 90-91)
f. When Chenoweth's boat left a second time to deliver the wounded PCF 3 crewmen to a Coast Guard cutter offshore, Kerry hopped in the boat, leaving to others the saving of the PCF 3. (p. 91)
g. The only injury Kerry possibly suffered in the event was a minor contusion of his arm. He was never bleeding from his arm. The minor shrapnel wound (tweezer-and-Band-Aid variety) Kerry attributed to the mine explosion was from earlier in the day when he set off the grenade in the rice cache. (p. 87-92)
22. Contrary to Kerry's assertion in his 1971 appearance on the Dick Cavett Show, he very quickly, if not immediately, sought reassignment to the U.S. after his third "wound." His request for reassignment had already reached the Navy Department in Washington by March 17, 1969. (p. 94)
ANTIWAR PROTESTER
1. Ted Kennedy helped to arrange Kerry's testimony with William Fullbright, an antiwar Senator who chaired the committee before which Kerry testified. In preparing his "testimony," Kerry recruited the assistance of Adam Walinksy, a speechwriter noted for his work with Robert Kennedy. (p. 99-103)
2. In that testimony, Kerry, a leader in the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, reported as credible the results of the VVAW's "Winter Soldier Investigation." The testimony taken during that "investigation" has been thoroughly debunked. For example, eleven who claimed to have been veterans had no record of having served in the U.S. military. Others who claimed to be veterans testified under false names, pretending to be people who actually had served in the military. The VVAW did not perform thorough background checks of those testifying, did not require sworn statements, and did not require independent corroboration of the testimony. Even Al Hubbard, the executive director of the VVAW, was shown to have lied about his rank, his service in Vietnam, and his alleged injury. When the Naval Criminal Investigative Service conducted a military inquiry into VVAW's allegations, the VVAW refused to cooperate. (p. 108-116, 125)
3. In 1970, while the U.S. was at war with North Vietnam, Kerry met privately in Paris with a leading representative of the Vietnamese Communists. (p. 126-129)
4. Kerry continued as a representative of the VVAW for nearly five months after he was aware that leaders of the VVAW were actively working and coordinating with the Vietnamese Communists. (p. 130-135, 158-159)
5. In a public speech on June 29, 1971, John Kerry described Ho Chi Minh, the founder of Vietnamese Communism, as "the George Washington of Vietnam." (p. 137)
6. Despite having denied it, Kerry was present at the November 1971 meeting of the VVAW in which Scott Camil proposed that the VVAW assassinate a group of U.S. senators who supported the war in Vietnam. (p. 140-143)
7. Kerry was in the Naval Reserves, and thus receiving pay from the Navy, until July 1972 when he went on Standby Naval Reserve. While a member of the Naval Reserves, Kerry met with the enemy in Paris, falsely accused the U.S. military of implementing a criminal military policy, advocated positions of the Vietnamese Communists, and gave speeches and testimony used by the enemy in their propaganda efforts. (p. 161-165)
8. Kerry is honored in Vietnam for his role in aiding the Vietnamese Communists. (p. 167-174)
Action: December 2, 1968 while patrolling in a small foam-filled boat, known as a Boston Whaler or "skimmer" that floats silently on a river without its engines running, with three other men in the darkness of early morning. The mission, apparently, was a training patrol in an area that was known for contraband trafficking. Upon approaching the objective point, the crew noticed a sampan crossing the river. As it pulled to shore, Kerry and his fellow crew opened fire, destroying the boat and whatever its cargo might have been. In the confusion, Kerry claims to have received a "stinging piece of heat" in the arm, the result of a tiny piece of shrapnel.
Analysis: Sen. Kerry has insisted that the above action qualifies as combat and that it was one of the most frightening episodes in his life. As with any Purple Heart the basic requirement is that any wound is the result of enemy action, whether direct or indirect. Kerry's website describes it this way: "December 2, 1968: Kerry experiences first intense combat; receives first combat related injury."
The following morning after Kerry's alleged first intense combat engagement, he requested a Purple Heart from his commanding officer, Grant Hibbard (Ret.). This is what Grant Hibbard recalls of the incident:
"While in Cam Rahn Bay, he [Senator Kerry] trained on several 24-hour indoctrination missions and one special skimmer operation with my most senior and trusted Lieutenant [William L. Schachte]. The briefing from some members of that crew the morning after revealed that they had not received any enemy fire, and yet Lt.(jg) Kerry informed me of a wound - he showed me a scratch on his arm and a piece of shrapnel in his hand that appeared to be from one of our own M-79s. It was later reported to me that Lt.(jg) Kerry had fired an M-79, and it had exploded off the adjacent shoreline. I do not recall being advised of any medical treatment, and probably said something like 'Forget it.' He later received a Purple Heart for that scratch, and I have no information as to how or whom."
The question here is was Sen. Kerry's shrapnel wound the result of enemy combat action?
According to Kerry's own description in Douglas Brinkley's Tour of Duty, the December 2, 1968 incident described above was "a half-assed action that hardly qualified as combat."
Douglas Brinkley also reports in his book on page 189 that soon after Sen. Kerry turned 25 on Dec. 11, 1968, he headed out on his first mission: Kerry had wrote in his notebook, 'A cocky feeling of invincibility accompanied us up the Long Tau shipping channel because we hadn't been shot at yet, and Americans at war who haven't been shot at are allowed to be cocky'. "
Rear Adm. William L. Schachte Jr. has come out and said ”I was absolutely in the skimmer" in the early morning on Dec. 2, 1968, when Lt. (j.g.) John Kerry was involved in an incident which led to his first Purple Heart.
Schachte, who also was then a lieutenant junior grade, said he was in command of the small Boston whaler or skimmer, with Kerry aboard in his first combat mission in the Vietnam War. "Kerry nicked himself with a M-79 (grenade launcher)," Schachte said in a telephone interview from his home in Charleston, S.C. He said, "Kerry requested a Purple Heart."
Adm. Schachte described the use of the skimmer operating very close to shore as a technique that he personally designed to flush enemy forces on the banks of Mekong River so that the larger Swift boats could move in. At about 3 a.m. on Dec. 2, Schachte said, the skimmer -- code-named "Batman" -- fired a hand-held flare. He said that after Kerry's M-16 rifle jammed, the new officer picked up the M-79 and "I heard a 'thunk.' There was no fire from the enemy," he said.
Patrick Runyon was operating the skimmers engineman during this incident has said "I can't say for sure that we got return fire or how [Kerry] got nicked," Runyon is quoted as saying in Unfit for Command. "I couldn't say one way or the other. I know he did get nicked, a scrape on the arm," he added.
It should be noted that another alleged witness to Kerry's actions on December 2, 1968 is William Zaladonis. He was interviewed by NBC's Lisa Myers after Adm. Schachte had come forward in attempts to cast doubt over whether Schachte could have been confused with being with Kerry in the skimmer that night.
Pat Runyon is listed as being in Qui Nhon/Cam Ranh Bay from 10/68 to 3/69 which provides him the opportunity to have been in the right place to have been with Kerry on December 2.
Also to be noted that any skimmer training mission consisted of at least one senior officer and a junior grade with one enlisted man - an engineman. Both Runyon and Zaladonis were enginemen. There wouldn't been no need for two enginemen.
Runyon aids in confirming both Adm. Schachte and Grant Hibbard's account about the absence of any enemy fire while also clearly confirming the absence of any possible explosions from enemy rockets/grenades/mortars that could account for any flying shrapnel that had struck Sen. Kerry. If there were no enemy rocket or grenades explosions than Kerry's shrapnel most likely was the result of firing a M-79 too close.
Conclusion: This is a rather easy and straight forward issue to sort out and judge from a purely military perspective. It doesn't matter who is telling the truth or who isn't about minor recollections. The fact is Sen. Kerry was denied a Purple Heart in the issuing hours of the incident and this speaks volumes on this issue. You have someone who was supposedly wounded who visits his commanding officer -- who has no axe to grind at the time -- who was briefed within hours of the incident and determines no Purple Heart was warranted. Furthermore, Sen. Kerry seeks medical assistance for such an obviously minor wound for the sole purpose to document his insignificant wound so he may further pursue his Purple Heart from his next transfer designation.
Two Examples of injuries or wounds which clearly do not qualify for award of the Purple Heart:
• Accidents, to include explosive, aircraft, vehicular, and other accidental wounding not related to or caused by enemy action.
• Self-inflicted wounds, except when in the heat of battle, and not involving gross negligence.
There is no documented evidence of any enemy encounter at the time of Sen. Kerry's minor wound and the fact Sen. Kerry himself has cast reasonable doubt for any hostile enemy action being encountered. What was presumed to be potential enemy turned out to be non-combatant civilians. The only chance Sen. Kerry has in making a Purple Heart case is if he had been wounded in the heat of battle. But since there was no heated battle with enemy combatants he would lose this line of argument.
Sen. Kerry has released no "after action" report, as one would have been required if there was combat engagement involved.
A Purple Heart normally is not requested but is awarded de facto for a wound inflicted by the enemy - a wound serious enough to require medical attention. The Naval Historical Center keeps all documents connected to such awards to U.S. Navy and Marine personnel.
Typewritten "casualty cards" list the date, location and prognosis of the wound for which the Purple Heart is given, and they are produced by the medical facility that provides medical treatment. There are two such cards for Kerry - for his slight wounds on Feb. 20 and March 13, 1969, but none for his December 1968 claim.
Thus, it can be concluded that Sen. Kerry's Purple Heart for this incident was awarded in error due to material misrepresentation on the part of Sen. Kerry to the U.S. Navy by declaring his wound was the result of enemy action. Sen. Kerry's Purple Heart should be rescinded by the Department of Defense.
Medal: Silver Star Award, February 28, 1969
Action: On February 28 lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry was serving as Officer in Charge (OINC) of PCF-94 and Officer in Tactical Command of a three-boat mission. As the force approached the target area on the narrow Dong Cung Canal, it is alleged all units came under intense automatic weapons and small arms fire from an entrenched enemy force less than fifty-feet away. It is alleged Kerry attacked a numerically superior force in the face of intense fire that lead to a highly successful mission. His actions were said to be in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. It is further alleged that LTJG Kerry saved his boats and crews life by killing a enemy Viet Cong guerilla who was preparing to fire a B-40 rocket at Kerry's beached PCF-94 swift boat.
Analysis: A Silver Star is awarded for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action," and therefore, any analysis of February 28, 1969 must first determine what actions meet this standard. In 10 U.S.C. 6244 defines the standards for awarding anyone the Silver Star:
(1) Awarded to a person who, while serving in any capacity with the Navy or Marine Corps, is cited for gallantry in action that does not warrant the Medal of Honor or Navy Cross
(a) while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;
(b) while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or
(c) while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.
(2) The heroic act(s) performed must render the individual conspicuous and well above the standard expected. An accumulation of minor acts of heroism normally does not justify the award, but unusual or exceptional cases will be decided on their merits.
What Kerry Did
There appears to have been two ambush sites that day of February 28; separated by a distance of anywhere from 100 to 800 yards depending on who you ask who were there. The first ambush was an uneventful event according to Coastal Division 11 Command History summary. It has been almost a given fact for years that after first sweep of the first ambush site that both the PCF-23 and PCF-94 traveled together further up the narrow (width of a four lane highway) Dong Cung Canal leaving swift boat PCF-43 commanded by LTJG Droz behind at the first ambush site. At some point the two boats either detected or came under fire from an enemy initiated ambush and at this point Sen. Kerry ordered both boats to beach directly in front of the second ambush.
It cannot be determined if there was in fact any in-coming enemy fire directed at any of the boats during the second ambush (or the first ambush for that matter.) Bill Rood describes it this way: "It happened again, another ambush. And again, Kerry ordered the turn maneuver, and again it worked. As we headed for the riverbank, I remember seeing a loaded B-40 launcher pointed at the boats. It wasn't fired as two men jumped up from their spider holes."
If there was any significant gunfire received from the second ambush than Bill Rood would certainty had pointed this out in his recent recollections of the ambush. Being in such a narrow canal the boats would have suffered damage in any firefight -- especially if the boats were stationary while beached on the shoreline. There are no damage reports released to describe any boat damage from these two ambushes to support any enemy weapons fire against the boats. Because of the lack of any boat damage reports that certainty would have describe the number bullets holes the boats suffered during any of these two ambushes, and the fact no one was ever injured -- it is most likely no enemy fire was encountered during the ambush -- just the visual spotting of two Viet Cong guerillas along the canals banks.
One witness on Bill Rood's PCF-23 boat was a army advisor by the name of Doug Reese (a Kerry supporter), who indicates that the PCF-23 had beached before Sen. Kerry's boat had beached and had already begun sweeping the area with Regional and Popular Forces who were being transported by the PCF-23. It is when Sen. Kerry beached his boat some one hundred yards from the beached PCF-23 does he encounters the famous lone VC soldier with a loaded B-40 rocket launcher. The distance of 100 yards is a rough estimate based upon how far Mr. Reese says he was from Sen. Kerry when Kerry had encountered the VC guerilla with a B-40 rocket.
This account is supported by LTJG Bill Rood who recently had this to say:
"With our troops involved in the sweep of the first ambush site, Richard Lamberson, a member of my crew, and I also went ashore to search the area. I was checking out the inside of the hooch when I heard gunfire nearby....Not long after that, Kerry returned, reporting that he had killed the man he chased behind the hooch. He also had picked up a loaded B-40 rocket launcher, which we took back to our base in An Thoi after the operation."
This is still rather confusing in regards to whether the two boats (PCF-94 and PCF-23) were together when approaching the second ambush site from the first. But from what can be gathered from witness accounts is that indeed both boats traveled together from the first ambush site and at some point PCF-23 beached and begun sweeping the area before Sen. Kerry's PCF-94 had beached. Rood makes it clear where he was when Kerry had allegedly killed the VC soldier as well as Doug Reese who has repeatedly has said over the last two years that he was some 60-80 yards or more from where Kerry had killed the enemy guerilla with a B-40. Reese also goes on to say he walked over to where Sen. Kerry was standing over the dead Viet Cong within ten minutes of the shooting. Reese confirms a leg wound, but no other wounds were visible to him.
Reese also makes it clear that his observation does not rule out the possibility of another wound on the back side of the body, suggesting the dead VC was found lying on his back. In any case, Sen. Kerry and his crew clearly had engaged and killed one Viet Cong guerilla within the immediate area of their swift boat. The question now is whether Sen. Kerry had actually turned his boat into an ambush or simply spotted a guerilla with a rocket launcher along the banks and Kerry's forward M-60 gunner shot him.
Were there any witnesses to Sen. Kerry's tactic of beaching in front of a second ambush? Apparently the only witnesses was Sen. Kerry and his crew since the PCF-23 and those onboard was a distance away and members of the boat already involved in a ground sweep. Did anyone see Sen. Kerry kill the VC guerilla with a rocket launcher? Apparently not, even though the guerilla by all accounts was anywhere from 15 to 30 yards from Kerry's boat.
We do know that Sen. Kerry dealt with an already wounded Viet Cong because his forward gunner, the late Tom Belodeau said, "You know, I shot that guy. He jumped up, he looked right at me, I looked at him. You could tell he was trying to decide whether to shoot or not. I expected the guy on Kerry's boat with the twin 50s to blast him but he couldn't depress the guns far enough. We were up on the bank." Belodeau said he fired at the man, wounding him.
Sen. Kerry himself confirms the VC guerilla had already been wounded when he told the Boston Globe in June of 2003 that "Tommy clipped him, and he started going [down.] I thought it was over."
But apparently the wounded VC did not stay down and as Kerry's first Silver Star citation and Bill Rood suggests, Kerry either followed or shot the the wounded VC when he made it behind a hooch. Did anyone see Kerry kill the wounded guerilla? According to Sen. Kerry during a October 1996 press conference:
"I was never out of sight of Tom Belodeau or Mike Medeiros," Kerry said. "I went straight out from the boat to the path so I had a line of fire. I never went behind the hootch, and this is the first time in 30 years that anybody has suggested otherwise." Problem here is this is exactly what his first Silver Star citation has been suggesting for the last 30 years as it reads:
". . . Without hesitation Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry leaped ashore, pursued the man behind a hootch, and killed him, capturing a B-40 rocket launcher with a round in the chamber."
One of Kerry's crewmembers, Michael Medeiros, who by his own account was running behind Sen. Kerry and the fleeing soldier said at the same press conference that he did not see Sen. Kerry kill him but had no doubt that the senator did so. "The only one that was there was Senator Kerry."
This did not stop Tom Belodeau, who was standing beside Kerry at the same press conference to state: "The soldier that Sen. John Kerry shot was standing on both feet with a loaded rocket launcher, about to fire it on the boat from which (Sen. Kerry) had just left, which still had four men aboard," Belodeau said.
Years later Medeiros would add: "With my adrenaline racing, I started following him off the boat," Michael Medeiros recalls in Douglas Brinkley's book, Tour of Duty. "So I was right behind him. . . . As the VC guerrilla got 20 or 30 meters down the path, just about in front of a lean-to, the (future) senator shot the guy. He had been standing on both feet with a loaded rocket launcher about to fire. He fell over dead."
To add yet another twist to the to the fleeing wounded VC story is from another witness and former Kerry crewmate, Del Sandusky. He told the LA Times on August 8, 2004 that no one had a clear view of the shooting. But "next thing we know, there's Kerry with the B-40 in his hand."
Was Mr. Medeiros simply being rhetorical? It would appear so because both of his accounts are as different as night and day. What does Sen. Kerry have to say about the killing himself? Here is what he told the Boston Globe in June of 2003:
"He [wounded VC guerilla] was running away with a live B-40, and, I thought, poised to turn around and fire it." Globe writer, Michael Kranish, asked whether that meant Kerry shot the guerrilla in the back, Kerry said, "No, absolutely not. He was hurt, other guys were shooting from back, side, back. There is no, there is not a scintilla of question in any person's mind who was there [that] this guy was dangerous, he was a combatant, he had an armed weapon."
Here we have Sen. Kerry being very clear that the guy was running away and not being so clear how he shot him, like whether front or back. From the reading it appears Sen. Kerry wanted to prevent the guy from turning around to get off a last ditch shot off, and thus, really shot him as he was fleeing from behind. This of course this fits with what Doug Reese said when he said he could not observe any obvious wounds from the front side of the dead man other then the leg wound.
One other aspect of this Silver Star controversy needs to be addressed: the tactics employed that day. It has been written that Kerry may have really been awarded for his aggressive tactics of taking the fight right to the enemy. There is nothing inherently wrong with this line of reasoning provided there is some accurate intelligence of enemy strength and positions prior to employing this tactic. Sen. Kerry simply assumed beforehand if the ambushed appeared to not be a serious one they would beach their boat directly in front of the attackers.
In an interview with the New Yorker, Kerry reasoned that if he turned his boats toward the shore he would transform a long, horizontal target into a narrower, vertical one. "It would concentrate both of our machine guns directly on the point of fire and surprise the hell out of them," and it would keep the twenty soldiers each boat was carrying astern out of the line of fire, Kerry recalled.
There is several problems with this line of reasoning for the canals of the Mekong Delta. One is that the canals are too narrow, thus not allowing Kerry to reduce the exposure of his boat by turning into an ambush. Secondly, often ambushes occurred from both banks of a canal or river. You would never want your boat stationary on one bank of a canal so it would be fully exposed to rockets and machine guns from the opposite bank unless you were absolutely sure there were no enemy ambushers hiding behind the opposite bank.
Kerry was lucky that day in that this was a typical 1-4 man enemy ambush where they strike for less than a minute and then flee the scene before the swift boat guns could mow down all the vegetation within sight. This isn't the kind of tactic that would ever be employed because the enemy could easily organize a response to such tactics and end up easily destroying the boats while killing everyone onboard them.
Some might argue that Kerry's commanders were pleased and had sent congratulatory messages. This by itself means absolutely nothing. If it was felt morale was down than commander's would reap praise upon one for tying their own shoe laces. Real praise, like in Fitness Reports, comes in the form of promotion or the recommendation for promotion. Absence of promotion is a sure sign that commander's are not personally excited about you.
Summary of what can be established:
• Sen. Kerry's PCF-94 had beached alone and an estimated one hundred yards plus/minus from Bill Rood's PCF-23 boat.
• There was at least one VC guerilla with a loaded B-40 rocket launcher from where Kerry beached his boat.
• The allege guerilla Sen. Kerry killed was already wounded by Kerry's forward gunner and fleeing.
• The distance of the VC guerilla from Kerry's boat did not provide an opportunity for any chasing on Kerry's part. That is, everything happened in less than a minute because the wounded VC never got much further than 15 yards (Rood says 15 yards and Reese has estimated the distance at anywhere 60 to 100 feet.).
• Unlikely that the boats experienced any serious enemy weapons fire during the second ambush.
• Kerry's tactical plan for responding to the ambush was reckless and foolish.
Conclusion: We can debate the fine details till the end of time but such a debate would add little to what can already be clearly determined: LTJG Kerry did not exhibit any actions that rises to the level of "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action" on February 28, 1969. LTJG Kerry did not exhibit any tactical actions that would warrant the awarding of a Silver Star.
It would be advisable for the Secretary of the Navy to order an examination of all records related to this event to determine how top brass officials could approve the third highest award in two days and have presented it to LTJG Kerry in only six days. Obviously there was no investigation on part of the Navy (as required) at the time or they would have come to the same obvious conclusion presented here.
Top commanders can award anyone for almost any reason they desire -- Gen. MacArthur awarded Lyndon B. Johnson a Silver Star for simply being an observer on his first and only uneventful bombing flight -- but if such awards are ever seriously challenged than such awards deserve a investigation to insure that the award meets the basic required standards of qualification. If the award is found to be merit less or obtained through deception then the medal deserves to be revoked in order to maintain the integrity of the thousands of other awarded medals that had been held to the same standards for which the medal is authorized to be awarded.
There are cases in which it took thirty years for the Silver Star to be awarded simply because at the time there was only one recorded witness and not the required two. To simply throw a Silver Star at anyone without at least meeting the very basic of basics is a black eye to the entire awarding process and to the thousands of recipients of the Silver Star. The Department of Defense should rescind the awarding of Sen. Kerry's Silver Star on the grounds it was erroneously handed out based upon misrepresentation and the fact LTJG Kerry's actions do not meet the
qualifications for the award.
Medal: Bronze Star & Purple Heart No. 3, March 13, 1969
Action: Sen. Kerry's Purple Heart was awarded because he had "suffered shrapnel wounds in his left buttocks and a contusion (minor) on his right forearm when a mine detonated close aboard PCF-94."
Sen. Kerry was awarded the Bronze Star because "while from an exposed position on the bow, his arm bleeding and in pain, with disregard for his personal safety," he pulled a man by the name of James Rassman from a river.
Analysis: The Kerry for President Campaign has released a few official spot reports that were prepared and sent out by LTjg Kerry himself after he had returned from the March 13, 1969. We know it was Sen. Kerry who prepared the spot reports because he was the officer in charge of the four boat TE (Task Element.) Looking at the spot report we find the line that is responsible for the contents: "MARKET TIME SPOT REPORT 13/1/TE 194.5.4.4/1."
The 194.5.4.4/1 identifies the officer in charge of the four boat TE, which would had been LTJG Kerry, who also would have been responsible for all the after-action reporting. It has been mistakenly reported that the initials "JKW" at the bottom of some of the spot reports was evidence that Sen. Kerry was the author. This is false, it is just the initials of who ever had received the report at An Thoi, which in this particular case it was "JKW" who was on duty at the time LTJG Kerry was sending in his spot reports.
CTE command structure works out like this:
CTE 194 = Zumwalt
CTE 194.5 = Hoffman
CTE 194.5.4 = Lonsdale
CTE 194.5.4.4 = Elliott
CTE 194.5.4.4/1 = Kerry because he had Tactical Command of the boats.
There are other available references from Sen. Kerry that confirms he was the author of these spot reports describing the action that had occurred on March 13th. According to the authors of "John F. Kerry", "All events described were checked against official navy records, most in `spot reports' filed by commanders just after action, many of them written by Kerry." Kerry also has told a Senate Committee on April 22, 1971, "...I can recall often sending in the spot reports which we made after each mission.”
Sen. Kerry's spot report for his March 13, 1969 mission can be summarized as follows:
PCFs 3, 23 and 43 proceeded up Bay Hap River to Cai Nuoc district town and embarked 50 RF/PF troops and advisors. PCFs 94 and 51 proceeded up Bay Hap River and joined PCFs 3, 23 and 43. All units then proceeded up Rach Dong Cung and inserted troops at two locations. One MSF (Mike Strike Force) soldier was killed during this operation from a booby trap. One of the inserted MSFs was involved in a fire fight that lasted over an hour and was broken when troops were extracted. During ground operations troops destroyed 30 sampans, 5 structures and rice bins. It was during the five hour (per Kerry Bronze Star Recommendation) ground support operations that the PCFs would experience small enemy weapons fire several times.
After ground operations all five PCFs returned to Cai Nuoc district town. At 1445 Hours all five PCFs departed Cai Nuoc and proceeded down the Bay Hap River to their LST in the Gulf of Thailand.
It was during this return trip that that a mine detonated under the PCF-3 lifting it 2-3 feet out of the water. The spot report also states two other mine explosions were observed and that the boats received both small and heavy automatic weapons fire from both banks. The spot report for the incident suggests that they took incoming enemy weapons fire for 5000 meters (little over 3 miles.) PCF-94 attempted to assist the stricken PCF-3 and picked up a MSF advisor (Rassman) who fell overboard. Spot report does not say how or from what boat Rassman fell off. PCF-43 took all the wounded to the USCG cutter Spencer for medical attention. PCFs 94, 51 and 23 stayed with the stricken PCF-3 while a Bucket Brigade was brought in to help with the boats flooding. Once the flooding could be eased the PCF-94 then towed the heavily damaged PCF-3 away.
Both Sen. Kerry's Casualty Report and Bronze Star citation make it clear that he suffered shrapnel wounds in his left buttocks from a mine that had detonated close aboard PCF-94. It is this same mine that allegedly knocked Jim Rassman off the boat. However, Kerry's Bronze Star recommendation makes no mention of Kerry receiving a shrapnel wound to his buttocks, only a bruise to his arm.
In Coastal Division 11 Command History only one mine is mentioned and not three. Hand written notation on Sen. Kerry's spot report says "HF encountered plus MINE." It would seem a few had reason to believe there was only one mine involved and not the three Sen. Kerry describes.
We can be certain now that Sen. Kerry did not receive any shrapnel to his buttocks from a mine explosion. Jim Rassman in the Washington Post describes how Sen. Kerry really picked up a tiny piece of metal that day. As they were heading back to the boat, Kerry and Rassman decided to blow up a five-ton rice bin to deny food to the Vietcong. In an interview, Rassman recalled that they climbed on top of the huge pile and dug a hole in the rice. On the count of three, they tossed their grenades into the hole and ran.
Evidently, Kerry did not run fast enough. "He got some frag and pieces of rice in his rear end," Rassman said with a laugh. "It was more embarrassing than painful." At the time, the incident did not seem significant, and Kerry did not mention it to anyone when he got back on the boat. An unsigned "personnel casualty report," however, erroneously implies that Kerry suffered "shrapnel wounds in his left buttocks" later in the day, following the mine explosion incident, when he also received "contusions to his right forearm."
What is troubling about the above is why Jim Rassman has never come forward and correct the record of how Sen. Kerry became wounded when he had first hand knowledge that refutes the mine injury claim?
What makes the entire March 13th Bronze Star incident so bizarre is not so much how it is being described today in the press by the people who were there -- but how Sen. Kerry first described the entire incident back in 1998.
Kerry had the following eulogy entered into the Congressional Record on January 28, 1998 (Senate) Page S186-S187:
"There was the time we were carrying Special Forces up a river and a mine exploded under our boat sending it 2 feet into the air. We were receiving incoming rocket and small arms fire and Tommy was returning fire with his M-60 machine gun when it literally broke apart in his hands. He was left holding the pieces unable to fire back while one of the Green Berets walked along the edge of the boat to get Tommy another M-60. As he was doing so, the boat made a high speed turn to starboard and the Green Beret kept going--straight into the river. The entire time while the boat went back to get the Green Beret, Tommy was without a machine gun or a weapon of any kind, but all the time he was hurling the greatest single string of Lowell-Chelmsford curses ever heard at the Viet Cong. He literally had swear words with tracers on them! "
Sen. Kerry makes it clear in his eulogy that it was his boat that directly hit a mine and lifted 2 feet out of the water and that Jim Rassman fell overboard not because of a mine, but because of a high speed turn. Note also that Sen. Kerry never mentions multiple mines and that he suggests that the "entire time while the boat went back" is a indication that Sen. Kerry's boat continued past the ambush for some distance, a scenario supported by another Kerry crewmember below who was on Kerry's boat that day: Michael Medeiros.
Kerry Describes a Non-Typical Ambush
It is rare for river ambushes to last more then one minute. Generally you have 1-4 Viet Cong involved in a ambush who may have wired a under water explosive device to activate when a boat travels either over it or near it. Once the mine is detonated ambusher's may jump up and fire off some AK-47 rounds and rockets and then flee quickly before the boats guns can turn on them. It would be especially rare and unusual for ambusher's to hang around and take pop shot's of someone in murky water being pushed along by the river's flow with the fire power of three swift boats there on the scene.
Sen. Kerry suggests there was a 3 mile gauntlet of enemy weapons fire along the river. If this was true, the Viet Cong would had to have a at least two full size battalions available to them to place along the river. If this was the case there would have been much boat damage and injuries reported from enemy fire.
PCF-94 Damage Report
On March 14, a CASREP was prepared and sent outlining the damage and condition of Kerry's PCF-94 and PCF-3. Only page two describing the PCF-94 damage was released by the Kerry Campaign. The PCF-94 was declared unable to continue Market Patrol due to a host of damage that included steering problems; loss of RPM in both engines and curled and chipped propellers. If the PCF-94 never hit a mine then how was it damaged?
Michael Medeiros, a former Kerry crew member who was there that day provides us with a clue when he recently suggested in a interview with the Washington Post: "When the mine went off, we were still going full speed," he recalled. Medeiros said Kerry's boat raced off down the river, away from the ambush zone.
Del Sandusky, another Kerry crewmate who was on Sen. Kerry's boat that day believes there was never a second mine explosion but more likely a rocket or rocket-propelled grenade, as a mine would have inflicted more damage. Mr. Sandusky is correct about not being a mine explosion, but it wasn't a rocket -- but a obstacle in the river that the boat had run over at high speed as they were fleeing the ambush site. A rocket would not had curled and chipped the boats screws. This explanation explains the boats damage and what some might have mistaken for a mine explosion.
It should be noted that other damage the CASREP describes are non-critical to a swift boat's operation and easily could have been caused weeks earlier during other missions. We know that some forward windows were damaged a day earlier from another ambush according to Coastal Division 11 Command History which describes the damage suffered the day before on March 12 as "minor."
The Rescue
Sen. Kerry's Bronze Star recommendation makes no mention of Sen. Kerry being under enemy small arms fire. Here is how his Bronze Star recommendation describes the rescue: "LTjg KERRY from his exposed position on the bow of the boat, managed to pull RASSMAN aboard despite the painful wound in his right arm."
Jim Rassman claims he was the one who recommended Sen. Kerry for a award, originally recommended Kerry for the Silver Star that later was reduced to a Bronze Star. However, Sen. Kerry's Bronze Star recommendation only lists one eyewitness for the rescue of Jim Rassman: Kerry for President supporter, Del Sandusky.
This is the same Del Sandusky who told CNN NewsNight on May 31, 2004 that "John, shot and bleeding, laid down and pulled up Rassman by his belt."
Conclusion: It has been demonstrated that Sen. Kerry was never wounded in his buttocks by a enemy mine. It has also been demonstrated that Sen. Kerry knowingly filed a false casualty report for himself. Sen. Kerry's Purple Heart for the March 13, 1969 incident was not caused by enemy action, but from a careless act of destroying rice for which one eyewitness thought was more funny than serious.
Sen. Kerry has been shown in one account of the mine incident to have described his boat as directly hitting a mine and being lifted out of the water several feet knowing very well this wasn't possible. The PCF-94 damage report supports the conclusion that Sen. Kerry had run over an under water obstacle as he kept going at full speed after the PCF-3 had struck a mine, and it was this impact that caused the screws to be curled, chipped and what appeared to the crew to have been the result of a mine explosion.
It would appear that Sen. Kerry wanted to use the illusion of a enemy mine explosion to account for shrapnel to his buttocks instead of being self-inflicted.
The entire event as described by Sen. Kerry in his spot reports and by his supporters who were on his boat for the March 13, 1969 incident is exaggerated and riddled with inconsistencies and factually incorrect events. The Department of Defense should rescind the awarding of both Kerry's Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for the March 13th incident due to the above and knowingly making material false statements to the U.S. Navy.
On the cover of "The New Soldier" by John Kerry and Vietnam Veterans Against The War, hippies clad in a mismatch of military uniforms are pictured [b]mocking the legendary image of Marines raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi in the 1945 battle for Iwo Jima[b]. Today, the Iwo Jima image is a memorial statue that sits above Arlington National Cemetery and honors all Marines killed in action since 1775. It is one of the most recognized and visited sites in our Capitol City.
"The New Soldier" never made it on the reading list at our military academies. In the cover photo that ridicules the Marine Corps Memorial, one of Kerry's cronies is tugging on our flag, which is hung upside down as the ultimate symbol of sedition and treachery to all veterans who rallied behind our flag in battle. On the day of that shameful photograph and with its mass circulation on the cover of "The New Soldier", at least 6,821 Marines who died at Iwo Jima turned over in their graves.
Of all the reasons why John F. Kerry will not become President of the United States, the biggest reason has to be that, once he returned home from Vietnam, he betrayed his fellow servicemen who remained at war. Kerry not only allied with the likes of Hanoi Jane Fonda, but, before the United States Senate in 1971, Kerry went as far as to belittle the bravery of embattled troops by generalizing their every action in Vietnam as an atrocity.
No one questioned General George S. Patton, III, when he accused Kerry of treason in giving aid and comfort to the enemy, especially when it was revealed that North Vietnam incorporated Kerry's exploits into its communist propaganda machine. However, because of the prevalence of treason at the time and the monumental task of prosecuting Kerry and his proclaimed "revolutionaries," Kerry's actions went unpunished and the associated advances of communism went unhindered.
Fortunately, today's veterans and Americans who overwhelmingly support our armed forces tend to disparage those who dishonor military service and then pretend to be capable of our country's highest office. This political reality afflicted Bill Clinton, whose anti-military past kept him from winning any more than forty-nine percent of the popular vote. No wonder Kerry's presidential campaign is doing its best to subvert his estrangement from veterans and service people in general.
The tact of Kerry for President looks a lot like Clinton-Gore's approach to deceiving voters that such an obvious liability is really the opposite. When Kerry marched in the Veteran's Day parade in Phoenix last year, in tow behind him were a few people carrying "Veterans for Kerry" placards. Some placard carriers looked like the ragtag types on the cover of The New Solider in that they were unshaven, wearing circa 1971 clothes and appeared disoriented.
The ongoing insult is that "Veterans for Kerry" is supposed to represent the veteran community's support of Kerry, when the reality is that very few veterans support him. Most veterans cannot forgive Kerry for Vietnam Veterans Against The War and its promotion of communism when we were fighting communists. As far as U.S. Marines are concerned, we ought to ensure that Kerry is forever banished from the White House for dishonoring our Memorial on the cover of "The New Soldier".
------------
Yeah, kerry is a decorated vet. A decorated vet who is having his awards reviewed for illegalities that will result in criminal sanctions agains him.
John Kerry, the man who told us electing a certifiable draft dodger as president in 1992 was the right thing to do, now tells us it's time to dump George Bush and Dick Cheney because they did not volunteer to serve in Vietnam.
Kerry told the nation it was wrong for George H.W. Bush to make Clinton's ducking of military service an issue 12 years ago.
In a CNN interview Sept. 15, 1992, he said it was time to move on, talk about issues of the present and the future and stop dwelling on the past.
"I think it's important to put them [issues of Clinton's draft dodging] into perspective, because 20 some years later, a lot of Americans are looking at this and scratching their heads and saying, 'Hey, wait a minute, I thought that this election was about the economy and the job I lost, or about schools and drugs and other problems,'" Kerry told host Catherine Crier.
He even suggested Clinton, who never served a day and wrote that he "loathed the military," had actually "put himself at risk" by submitting to the draft, after not submitting himself to the draft.
"But the fact is that in 1969, Bill Clinton's name was drawn in the lottery, and he was lucky enough to draw a high number," Kerry explained. "If he had drawn a low number, as many young people did, he would have seen service at the end of his deferment in 1970. People forget the war went on through 1970, 1971, 1972, into 1973. And the fact is, a lot young people who drew low numbers who weren't as lucky as Bill Clinton who did submit to the draft went to serve."
In twisted logic, he continued: "So the fact is that he has explained. He didn't want to go initially, he did take advantage of the deferment, as many Americans did. He didn't like his decision. He made another decision; he submitted his name to the draft, and he was lucky. Now, I think we've got to move on."
Kerry even said back then that it was not unusual to do what Clinton did.
"No. It was not only unusual – it was not only not unusual, it was exactly where America was at that point in time," Kerry said. "By 1969, we'd had the death of Robert Kennedy in '68, Martin Luther King's assassination, riots, protests, assassinations, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers. The country was really lost on this issue of the war."
But, as on so many issues of the day, Kerry has changed his mind about the meaning of service in Vietnam. Now he's attacking Bush and Cheney for not serving in Vietnam – even though neither dodged the draft.
"I'm not going to have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq," he said.
Now, Kerry, who wanted to "move on" in 1992, has chosen again and again to make his 16-week Vietnam service the centerpiece of his campaign. At the same time, he seems to think it is off-limits for anyone to raise questions about that service – or how he betrayed his comrades and countrymen when he returned to the states.
"We all saw the anger and distortion of the Republican Convention," Kerry said. "The vice president even called me unfit for office last night. I guess I'll leave it up to the voters whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty."
But it wasn't Cheney who brought up Kerry's much-hyped service record. It wasn't Bush who raised the subject. In fact, they have done nothing but commend Kerry's military record – such as it is.
On the contrary, it was Kerry who made it not only an issue but the issue.
Why was it OK to elect a draft dodger president in 1992, but not OK to re-elect a president who served honorably in the Air National Guard?
Only Kerry, with his twisted moral relativism, could come to such a conclusion.
posted on September 10, 2004 08:48:45 PM new
And bush is a spineles coke snorting, coward who never went to Vietnam.....he doesn't lie about his service because there WASN'T ANY!
HE was a traitor by aiding the enemy by being too cowardly or too drunk to fight.
posted on September 10, 2004 09:48:49 PM new
Man, this campaign is getting dirtier everyday! I cant wait till its over with! then maybe we can focus on some issues that might really matter to people.
..
..
~~ Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues(forces)of life..Proverbs 4:23~~
posted on September 11, 2004 06:03:37 AM new
SORRY REPUBLICANS, FACT REMAINS KERRY WENT TO WAR AND BUSH DUCKED OUT. SPIN IT ALL YOU WANT BUT FACTS ARE FACTS. ITS TOO BAD THAT SOME DEMENTED PEOPLE JUST CAN'T FACE THE FACTS.
JUST LOOK AT HOW SOME BLIND REPUBLICANS LIKE BEAR REACT TO THE TRUTH!!!!!
FOUR MORE YEARS OF BUSH. WILL GET YOU FOUR MORE YEARS OF THE RICH GETTING RICHER AND THE MIDDLE CLASS AND POOR GETTING POORER.
SORRY REPUBLICANS NO WAY CAN YOU DISPUTE THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO MILLIONS OF AMERICANS UNDER BUSH.
SPIN IT ALL YOU WANT BUT YOU CAN'T DISPUTE THE FACTS.
ALL AMERICANS NEED TO THINK REAL HARD BEFORE THEY VOTE THIS YEAR. YOUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT.
THIS COUNTRY NEEDS A NEW LEADER BEFORE ITS TO LATE.
posted on September 11, 2004 06:57:51 AM new
Bigpeepa
Posting according to the title of your thread, Bear1949 did a heluva job posting what I am sure is just a sampling of everything known about Kerry's war records and all that you have to say is SPIN IT ALL YOU WANT BUT YOU CAN'T DISPUTE THE FACTS.
Ok fatmouth what facts, lets see some of your facts rather than your insane blather. Lets see some of Bush' war records, afterall that is what the title of this thread suggests is forthcoming.
posted on September 11, 2004 10:13:39 AM new
ONCE AGAIN PEOPLE JUST LOOK AT HOW THESE REPUBLICANS ACT WHEN CONFRONTED WITH THE FACTS. THEY JUST CAN'T STAND THE SIMPLE TRUTH ABOUT BUSH.
FACT IS JOHN KERRY WENT TO WAR AND GEO BUSH DUCKED OUT.
FACT IS JOHN KERRY WON MEDALS GEO BUSH DID NOT.
FACT IS MOST OF BUSH'S HIGH RANKING CABINET DID NOT SERVE IN THE MILITARY AT ALL.
FACT IS BUSH AND MOST OF HIS HIGH RANKING CABINET ARE NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF CHICKEN HAWKS. THAT DIDN'T SERVE ANYONE BUT THEMSELVES THEN AND NOW.
ALL I ASK IS BEFORE YOU VOTE THINK REAL HARD ABOUT WHAT AND WHO YOU ARE VOTING FOR.
posted on September 11, 2004 02:40:26 PM new
Your title is misleading, Bigpeepa, George Bush doesn't have a war record. Only Kerry fought for our contry.
The spineless wimp, girlie-man Bush hid his cowardly butt in a bottle during the war.
He didn't have to speak out against the war like MILLIONS OF OTHER PEOPLE DID because he never had to face combat.
He IS very good at sending OTHERS to a sure death for nothing.
What a flip-flopper, first he didn't like war, now he does!
posted on September 11, 2004 04:40:51 PM new
crowfarm & dave, its plain and simple. Fools that can't defend Bush start trying to cloud the issue. They just BLAH BLAH BLAH.
NAM AND IRAQ WERE AND ARE BOTH BAD WARS.
BUSH 1 HAD SOME SENSE AND PULLED OUT OF IRAQ WHILE HE COULD. THE DUMBER THAN DUMB BUSH 2 AND HIS CHICKEN HAWK ADVISERS ARE SINKING IN THE EVER INCREASING MUD IN IRAQ.
Some people don't know that during the late 60s and early 70S. Over 1/2 of the American people knew that Nam was a bad war and Kerry was one of them. He also had the balls to say it was a bad war just like Iraq is a bad war now.
Thirty years later we are trying to normalize relations with the still communist country of Viet Nam. So like Iraq all those American troops that died there for what? I guess because the greedy republican run companies can make cheap sneaks there and export more American jobs.
posted on September 11, 2004 05:01:38 PM new
Kerry could take his same testimony before the House Foreign Relations Committee and simply exchange the word "Vietnam" with "Iraq" to support the end of another needless war.
"We wish that a merciful God could wipe away our own memories of that service as easily as this administration has wiped away their memories of us. But all that they have done, and all that they can do by this denial, is to make more clear than ever our own determination to undertake one last mission: To search out and destroy the last vestige of this barbaric war; to pacify our own hearts; to conquer the hate and fear that have driven this country these last ten years and more. And more. And so, when, thirty years from now, our brothers go down the street without a leg, without an arm, or a face, and small boys ask why, we will be able to say "Vietnam" and not mean a desert, not a filthy obscene memory, but mean instead where America finally turned, and where soldiers like us helped it in the turning."
posted on September 11, 2004 07:00:08 PM new
Gee Helen, could we expect anything less from the queen of blame america first club... how anti-american can you get?
posted on September 11, 2004 07:06:21 PM new
PooBear says, "FACT IS KERRY TRIED TO EVADE ACTION BY JOINING THE SWIFT BOATS. BY HIS OWN ADMISSION HE NEVER WANTED TO BE IN COMBAT "
How bloody stupid can you be?
The job of the swift boats was to DRAW FIRE! It was one of the most dangerous assignments!
How dangerous was the bar stool that was permanently attached to Bush's butt ?? ANSWER ME THAT!
Bear you keep attacking Kerry but you NEVER address the fact your favorite girlie man Bush CHICKENED OUT of FIGHTING ALTOGETHER!
What do you have to say (or grunt) about THAT! HUH? C'mon...what ? what?
Gee, you sure get quiet about what a lowlife, spineless, coke snorting druggie coward your hero is !!
Got an answer? C'MON BEAR haven't heard it yet???????????
Haven't heard ANYTHING in his defense from ANY of the neonazicons on this board YET! C'mon cowards ...Bring it on ! ANSWER!
posted on September 11, 2004 07:17:00 PM new
ahhh the liar crowfart chimed in... can't even keep her own word and has the gall to question others.... how amusing.
posted on September 11, 2004 07:58:32 PM new
America needs to wake up, and see the White House for what it is... The Bush Administration has lost all social, moral, ethical and Constitutional Bearing.
They do not see Voters as Americans, but either republicans or the Enemy. They have hijacked the Political and Military infrastructure of this Great Nation to a Agenda based on Lies, cover ups, fraud and worse.
The GOP dips its hands in the blood of Honorable men and women dying in the middle east, as if somehow their sacrifice transfers Honor and Courage to this Administration. IT DOES NOT.
Maggie
posted on September 11, 2004 08:02:03 PM new
Twelve, get over yourself...shouldn't be too hard there's not much to get over.
What are you trying to prove,linda?
I see you still can't say anything intelligent?
YOU can't answer my questions so you just dribble down your double chin...oh, excuse me, you probably don't have any chin.
You sniveling coward, no wonder you like bush...gee, are you a drunk, too, or a coke head ?? Or a whiney little baby who needs daddy to get him out of any real life issues?
Or just too chicken to answer a question.
What was YOUR military experience....school crossing guard?
posted on September 11, 2004 08:26:38 PM new
Y'all come back to
vote now. Ya hear?
(Sung to the tune of
"The Beverly Hillbillies"
Come and listen to my story 'bout a boy named Bush. His IQ was zero and his head was up his tush.He drank like a fish while he drove all about.But it didn't really matter 'cuz his daddy bailed him out.DUI, that is. Criminal record. Cover-up.
Well, the first thing you know little Georgie goes to Yale.He can't spell his name but they never let him fail.He spends all his time hangin' out with student folk.And that's when he learns how to snort a line of coke.Blow, that is. White gold. Nose candy.
The next thing you know there's a war in Vietnam.Kin folks say, "George, stay at home with Mom."Let the common people go to get maimed and scarred.We'll buy you a spot in the Texas Air Guard.Cushy, that is. Country clubs. Nose candy.
Twenty years later George gets a little bored.He trades in the booze, says that Jesus is his Lord.He says, "Now the White House is where I ough! ta be." So he calls his daddy's friends and they call the GOP.Gun owners, that is. Falwell. Jesse Helms.
Come November 7, the elections runnin' late.Kin folks say, "Jeb, give the boy your state!""Don't let those colored folks get into the polls."So they put up barricades so they couldn't punch their holes.Chads, that is. Duval County. Miami-Dade.
Before the votes are counted five Supremes step on in.They tell all the voters "Hey, we want George to win.""Stop counting votes!" is their solemn invocation.And that's how George finally goes and gets his coronation.Rigged, that is. Illegitimate. No moral authority.
posted on September 11, 2004 08:46:10 PM new
Hee Hee... a catchy little tune isn't it.. one that stays in your head for days.. ha..
Crow did you read the craiglist thread.. lol... maggie
posted on September 11, 2004 10:21:51 PM new
Hey Twelvetoes and Bear-mindless. Looks to me like ya-all better go back to your bunkers and play with your man toys. You both are getting the stuffings kicked out of ya on this post. Its become to easy to bait you guys so you come out and make simple fools of yourselves. Bye Bye you big strong Girlie men and have sweet dreams in your bunker.
P.S. To enlighten your minds. Try doing some research on Lacrosse. You will see a Lacrosse connection to Kerry and Edwards. Maybe you can find something there to spin and go Blah Blah about. I can't wait to hear what you guys come up with about Kerry,Edwards and Lacrosse.
as an officer in command under training. The overseeing officer on board was Lieutenant (now Rear Admiral) William Schachte. The two other crewmen were William Zaldonis and Patrick Runyon. (p. 35-36)
[ edited by Bear1949 on Sep 10, 2004 08:39 PM ]
