| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"NotBush2004" |
| Date: |
25 Aug 2004 05:29:30 PM |
| Object: |
Navy's records say Swift Boat Hypocrites are LIARS! |
Who do you believe, the Navy's records or a bunch of partisan Republican
smear artists? Tough choice.
Now someone prove that Bush isn't AWOL by showing us the records proving he
was fulfilling his commitment to the military during war time.
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Navy Report Backs Kerry Role in Incident
8/25/2004
By Matt Kelley
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A Navy report filed five days after a disputed incident in
Vietnam supports John Kerry's version and contradicts critics who say the
Democratic presidential nominee never came under enemy gunfire when he won
two medals.
The Navy task force overseeing Kerry's swift boat squadron reported his
group of boats being fired on during the March 13, 1969, incident. Some of
Kerry's critics, including several men who were on other boats that day, say
there was no enemy gunfire during the incident that won Kerry a Bronze Star
and his third Purple Heart.
The March 18, 1969, weekly report from Task Force 115, which was located by
The Associated Press during a search of Navy archives, is the latest
document to surface that supports Kerry's description of the event. Crew
members on Kerry's boat and a Special Forces soldier Kerry pulled from the
water that day insist there was enemy fire, and they have appeared on behalf
of the Kerry campaign.
The task force report twice mentions the incident and both times calls it
"an enemy initiated firefight" that included automatic weapons fire and
underwater mines used against a group of five boats that included Kerry's.
Task Force 115 was commanded at the time by retired Rear Adm. Roy Hoffmann,
the founder of the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which has been
running ads challenging Kerry's account of the episode.
A member of the group, Larry Thurlow, said he stood by his assertion that
there was no enemy fire that day. Thurlow, the commander of another boat who
also won a Bronze Star, said task force commanders probably relied on the
initial report of the incident. Thurlow says Kerry wrote that report.
The document, part of thousands of pages of records housed at the Naval
Historical Center, is one of several that say Kerry and other servicemen
were shot at from the banks of the Bay Hap River on March 13, 1969.
The anti-Kerry group has not produced any official Navy documents supporting
its claim.
Kerry has denounced the assertions from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth as
lies made as part of a Republican smear campaign. Most of the group's
members and early financial backers are Republicans.
Bush campaign lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg resigned Wednesday, a day after
acknowledging he had given legal advice to the anti-Kerry group. One member
of the group who appeared in an ad, Ken Cordier, was a volunteer member of
the Bush campaign. The campaign cut its ties with Cordier last week.
President Bush (news - web sites) has said his campaign had nothing to do
with the veterans group and that all advertising by outside groups should
cease. An anti-Bush group has run television ads saying Bush shirked his
duty in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.
Kerry highlighted his Vietnam service during the Democratic convention last
month, recounting the March 13 incident and having the Special Forces
officer, Jim Rassmann, join him on stage.
On that day in 1969, Kerry's PCF-94 swift boat was part of a five-boat group
heading downriver. An underwater mine exploded under another boat, PCF-3,
injuring its crewmembers. Kerry's boat was then hit by another explosion
that knocked Rassmann, an Army Green Beret, into the water. Kerry hurt his
right arm in the explosion.
Kerry turned his boat around to rescue Rassmann, pulling the soldier into
the boat with his injured right arm, while the other boats rushed to help
PCF-3. All the official Navy reports on the incident say the boats were
under heavy fire from the riverbanks at the time. Those records include the
official after-action report, citations for Bronze Stars awarded for heroism
that day and now the Task Force 115 report.
The weekly report cites the incident twice, referring to its code name of
Sea Lords 358. The first reference says the boats "encountered an enemy
initiated firefight with water mines and automatic weapons fire." The second
reference also mentions "an enemy initiated firefight ... with water mines
and automatic weapons."
Thurlow, the commander of another swift boat who won a Bronze Star for
helping the crew of PCF-3, insists there was no enemy gunfire during the
incident. The citation and recommendation for Thurlow's Bronze Star,
obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, also mention enemy fire,
however.
Thurlow's medal recommendation, for example, says he helped the PCF-3 crew
"under constant enemy small arms fire." That recommendation is signed by
George Elliott, another member of the anti-Kerry group. It lists as the only
witness for the incident Robert Eugene Lambert, an enlisted man who was not
on Kerry's boat who also won the Bronze Star that day.
Thurlow says his Bronze Star documents are wrong.
Kerry's campaign has released copies of the after-action report and Kerry's
Bronze Star nomination and citation for the incident, but not the weekly
report.
http://tinyurl.com/43vqo
(http://news.yahoo.com/newstmpl=story&cid=694&u=/ap/20040825/ap_on_el_pr/ker
ry_vietnam_records&printer=1)
*****
Kerry's Viet Nam Medals
1 - Silver Star
1 - Bronze Star
3 - Purple Hearts
What part of bravery and leadership don't you understand?
Tell us about Bush's medals.
*****
Swift Boat Veterans For Hypocrisy
Indeed, a veterans group (Swift Boat Veterans For Truth) supporting the
President holds as it's mission: "We believe it is incumbent on ALL
presidential candidates to be totally honest and forthcoming regarding
personal background and policy information that would help the voting public
make an informed decision when choosing the next president of the United
States." It is in that spirit that I offer the following.
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/04/08/con04325.html
*****
Purple Heart Number Three
The Boston Globe June 6, 2003 --. . . On March 13, 1969, a mine detonated
near Kerry's boat, wounding Kerry in the right arm, according to the
citation written by [Navy Admiral Elmo "Bud"] Zumwalt. Guerrillas started
firing on the boats from the shoreline. Kerry then realized that he had lost
overboard a Green Beret who is identified only as "Rassman."
"The man was receiving sniper fire from both banks," according to Kerry's
Bronze Star citation from that day. "Lt. Kerry directed his gunners to
provide suppressing fire, while from an exposed position on the bow, his arm
bleeding and in pain, with disregard for his personal safety, he pulled the
man aboard. Lt. Kerry then directed his boat to return and assist the other
damaged craft and towed the boat to safety. Lt. Kerry's calmness,
professionalism and great personal courage under fire were in keeping with
the highest traditions of the US Naval Service," Zumwalt's citation said.
.
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| User: "TeeInnTee" |
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| Title: Nope..That Article Has Been Proven To Be False...Sorry!!! |
25 Aug 2004 07:53:39 PM |
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| User: "NotBush2004" |
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| Title: Empty head, empty rebut. | Re: Nope..That Article Has Been Proven To Be False...Sorry!!! |
25 Aug 2004 09:32:00 PM |
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Note the date of the article.
Now prove by Bush's military records that he wasn't AWOL during the Viet Nam
war.
----------------------------------------
Navy Report Backs Kerry Role in Incident
Wed Aug 25, 4:50 PM ET
By MATT KELLEY
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A Navy report filed five days after a disputed incident in
Vietnam supports John Kerry's version and contradicts critics who say the
Democratic presidential nominee never came under enemy gunfire when he won
two medals.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&u=/ap/20040825/ap_on_el_pr/kerry_vietnam_records&printer=1
*****
'w' sez: "I continued flying with my unit for the next several years"
And Bush himself, in his 1999 autobiography, "A Charge to Keep," recounts
the thrills of his pilot training, which he completed in June 1970. "I
continued flying with my unit for the next several years," the governor
wrote.
But both accounts are contradicted by copies of Bush's military records,
obtained by the Globe. In his final 18 months of military service in 1972
and 1973, Bush did not fly at all. And for much of that time, Bush was all
but unaccounted for: For a full year, there is no record that he showed up
for the periodic drills required of part-time guardsmen.
Bush, who declined to be interviewed on the issue, said through a spokesman
that he has "some recollection" of attending drills that year, but maybe not
consistently.
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/bush/articles/2000/05/23/1_year_gap_in_bushs_guard_duty?mode=PF
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| User: "Werner Hetzner" |
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| Title: Re: Navy's records say Swift Boat Hypocrites are LIARS! |
25 Aug 2004 10:00:29 PM |
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NotBush2004 wrote:
Who do you believe, the Navy's records or a bunch of partisan Republican
smear artists? Tough choice.
I think it is a tough choice. VIP kids do get special treatment. It
doesn't matter if they are Republicans or Democrats.
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