| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Did Kerry write own report of disputed clash? |
| 2004-10-02 |
| A faded 35-year-old operations order recovered from the Naval Historical Center in Washington bears directly on the ongoing dispute between Sen. John Kerry and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth about who wrote the key after-action report that ended Kerry's service in Vietnam. The report appears in the official Navy records and is posted on Kerry's presidential campaign Web site. The report details Kerry's participation in a naval operation on the Bay Hap River on March 13, 1969, in such glowing terms that he was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for pulling Special Forces officer James Rassmann out of the water while under heavy enemy fire. This third Purple Heart allowed Kerry to cut short his Vietnam tour after only four months. The report in question described a mission of five swift boats ambushed by a mine explosion that seriously damaged one boat while the swift boats received heavy fire from both banks. The fire continued for three miles, the report said. Roy Hoffman, the admiral who commanded the swift boats in Vietnam, finds that detail alone absurd. Hoffman, a member of the anti-Kerry swift boat veterans group, says: "There was never an incident under my command in all of Vietnam where my boats were engaged by continuous fire from both banks of a half mile in length, much less three." "It is miraculous all right because it never happened," recalls Larry Thurlow, a Kerry critic who commanded the mission. Rest at link. |
| Posted by:ed |
| #4 Pretty amazing... As Frank sez, for people who could put a mortar round in your pocket at 400 yds, that all 5 boats emerged unscathed (i.e. didn't look like swiss cheese) is, indeed, remarkable. Must've been Skeery's magnificent aura protecting everyone. Written by "TE 194.5.4.4/1" - "/1" designating someone other than the commander - who says this story is bullshit... okaaaay... I guess those creative writing classes at Yale paid off, after all. To quote one of Skeery's recent critical comments on Bush, "Time and again..." If it weren't for the fact that he's pulling off one of the longest-running scams in American political history, I'd say this situation has become completely laughable. Skeery's entire military record is a joke. An inside joke, since he hasn't the stones to sign Form 180. I guess he's anything but suicidal, despite his reported heroics. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-10-02 2:07:42 PM |
| #3 damn g**ks couldn't shoot worth a damn either. 3 miles of ambush and not a single bullet hole |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-10-02 1:44:43 PM |
| #2 "There was never an incident under my command in all of Vietnam where my boats were engaged by continuous fire from both banks of a half mile in length, much less three." Guess this can be refered to as the "three mile ambush". |
| Posted by: crazyhorse 2004-10-02 1:26:43 PM |
| #1 ..Oh, THIS is good. The NHC troops (and those from the USMCHC across the street) are absolutely incredible at their jobs, and they have stuff in their archives that will knock your socks off. Wonder how many other reports they have out there?... Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-10-02 11:01:28 AM |