| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Kerry rejects claims that he was a coward |
| 2004-03-15 |
| US SENATOR John Kerry last night fought off accusations he was a coward and had made strategic mistakes in battle during the Vietnam War. The Democratic challenger for the White House was embroiled in fresh controversy after one of his former crew members accused him of being someone "who ran from the enemy". Itâs that french blood of his. It was reported last night that Steven Gardner, a gunnerâs mate on the first patrol boat commanded by Kerry in the Mekong Delta, contradicts accounts of the senatorâs military career that depict him as a brave and aggressive lieutenant who won three Purple Hearts, which are a key element of his campaign against George Bush. He personally killed a Viet Cong fighter in one action and was wounded three times, though not seriously. Or, so he says. He was ranking officer and wrote his own award nomination. However, in an interview with the Boston Globe, which contacted him about the presidential candidate, Gardner claimed: "He [Kerry] absolutely did not want to engage the enemy when I was with him. "He wouldnât go in there and search. That is why I have a negative viewpoint of John Kerry. "His initial patterns of behaviour when I met him and served under him were of somebody who ran from the enemy, rather than engaged it." Gardner also claimed that in an incident in 1968 in which he was slightly wounded, causing Kerry to abort the boatâs mission, he said: "Lt Kerry, Iâm fine, nothingâs wrong. I got a little flesh wound here. "But Kerry was already backing out of the canal, getting ready to run for it." "Evinrude, donât fail me now!" Gardner has refused to join the tight-knit group of Vietnam veterans who are staunch supporters of their former comradesâ White House bid. Kerry had his boat crew, his "Band of Brothers", appear with him in the past. Boston Globe, a liberal paper if I ever read one, counted heads and came up one crewman short. They went looking for him, not the other way around. However, Kerry has described his the former crewmanâs version of events as "made-up". "Itâs sad," he told his biographer, Douglas Brinkley, "but thatâs the way it goes in war, and especially in politics." If you disagree with Sen. Kerry, you must be wrong. Right? Gardnerâs portrayal of a timid Kerry are at odds with the accounts of other crew members. Yes, we noticed. Either Gardner is just a troublemaker who doesnât like Kerry, or Gardner may have been a hard-charger who wanted to fight. Kerryâs crew may have been a group who wanted to stay as far away from any real fighting as possible. It would not have been hard, small crew on a small boat, cruising off by themselves. Patrol reports could have been "enhanced", decorations awarded for actions that didnât happen, etc. John Hurley, the national director of the Vietnam Veterans for Kerry, said: "John was shocked by this. They all think heâs way off base. What about the Vietnam Veterans against Kerry? Anyone in the media ask them? |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #8 No, John Kerry is not a coward. Remember, he actually served in Viet Nam, unlike just about everyone in the Bush Administration (with the exception of Powell, who really doesn't count as a Bushie anymore). Also, Kerry got his Purple Hearts for minor wounds caused by shrapnel. He got his Silver Star for beaching his boat and rushing into the jungle and killing a Viet Cong who was firing rockets at his boat. Oh, and he got his Bronze Star for turning his boat around in the middle of a firefight in order to personally fish a member of another crew out of the water. |
| Posted by: Thomas Pruitt 2004-3-15 9:23:18 PM |
| #7 B - Lol! And now I find the same game afoot in the Skeery story about Logan Airport, but there may just be fire behind the smoke in that one... and that story could have Congressional Inquiry legs... Perhaps the Bush people have decided to actually fight back - after all the BS spewed on them in the Jackass primaries... |
| Posted by: .com 2004-3-15 9:19:26 PM |
| #6 I love the headline!! That's what the Big Media has been doing to the right for YEARS - it's about time we do it back. Hey, you don't even have to lie - afterall- it's just reporting the FACT that the accused rejects the premise. Big Media rejects it's funded by Saudi Money. Katie Couric rejects she is annoying. Democrats reject that they are logically challenged. |
| Posted by: B 2004-3-15 8:06:12 PM |
| #5 Newsflash -- Kerry |
| Posted by: cingold 2004-3-15 3:15:42 PM |
| #4 Crazyfool, I'm pretty sure he took one in the head. Latter he took a chest wound and still latter, while hard charging, he got another slug in the gut. Luckily they had band-aids on board each time and no scaring took place. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-3-15 2:26:38 PM |
| #3 Are you questioning his patriotism? /sarcasm off |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-3-15 1:26:01 PM |
| #2 I am still waiting for Kerry to open up his military record. Some questions I 1) How did Kerry manage to get three purple hearts in the 5 months he was there? 2) What were the specifics of the wounds which earned him is purple hearts. 3) What exactly happened that earned him his silver star? Did he get it for rushing and finishing on an already dead VC? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-3-15 1:04:18 PM |
| #1 More from UK Telegraph: John Hurley, the national director of Vietnam Veterans for Kerry, told the Telegraph: "John was shocked by this. Gardner said that John used to take the boat four or five miles offshore 'every single night' so that it would be out of harm's way. John doesn't remember that and neither does the rest of the crew. They all think he's way off base." Relations between the two men reached their low point after a Vietnamese boy was killed in an encounter with a fishing boat. The Kerry crew opened fire believing their craft was under attack. According to Mr Gardner, Lt Kerry blamed him for the tragedy. "Kerry threatened me with a court-martial, screaming: 'What the hell do you think you're doing?' " said Mr Gardner. "Thankfully the whole crew verified there were weapons being shot at us. That was the end of it." Sen Kerry described Mr Gardner's version of events as "made up". "It's sad," he told his biographer, Douglas Brinkley, "but that's the way it goes in war, and especially in politics," a reference to Mr Gardner's apparently Republican sympathies. "I've spent hours on the phone to him [Gardner]," said Mr Hurley. "But he won't back down on his story, even though the crew disagree with him." Mr Brinkley, who interviewed Mr Gardner for an hour last week, said afterwards: "It essentially boils down to one word: politics. Gardner is sickened by the idea of Kerry as president." An angry Mr Gardner, however, insisted: "I never made the first call to anyone. Until someone called me, I kept it all to myself." More from Mens News Daily: But, according to the Boston Globe, one of Kerryâs former crewmembers, Steven M. Gardner, does not see the former lieutenant as ever being heroic. âHe absolutely did not want to engage the enemy when I was with him,â said Gardner. âHe wouldnât go in there and search. That is why I have a negative viewpoint of John Kerry.â Gardner, who served with three additional skippers on Swift boats, felt he had seen enough to make such a comparison. Gardner also recalls a shooting incident when his Swift boat came across a sampan in the darkness. There was a curfew and sampans were not allowed on the rivers at night. Gardner, who was in a machine gun 'tub', shined a spotlight on the sampan and was answered with gunfire. He fired his machinegun at the boat and saw one person fall overboard. All of the Swift boat crewmembers fired upon the sampan, with the exception of Kerry. When the firing ceased the crew examined the sampan and found one woman alive and a boy who was dead. Kerry started âscreaming at the top of his lungsâ, says Gardner. âHe threatened me with a court martial. âWhat the hell do you think youâre doing? I ought to have you court-martialedâ, he yelled.â Gardner claims the only thing, which quieted the incident, was the other crewmembers telling Kerry that the sampan had been firing upon themâ¦and that they too had returned fire. Story is spreading in overseas press, but no "major" US media. Well, it's not like he missed a Guard meeting or anything. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-3-15 12:22:08 PM |