Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff | August 6, 2004
WASHINGTON -- A week after Senator John F. Kerry heralded his
wartime experience by surrounding himself at the Democratic convention
with his Vietnam ''Band of Brothers," a separate group of veterans has
launched a television ad campaign and a book that questions the basis for
some of Kerry's combat medals.
But yesterday, a key figure in the anti-Kerry campaign, Kerry's
former commanding officer, backed off one of the key contentions.
Lieutenant Commander George Elliott said in an interview that he had made
a ''terrible mistake" in signing an affidavit that suggests Kerry did not
deserve the Silver Star -- one of the main allegations in the book. The
affidavit was given to The Boston Globe by the anti-Kerry group to justify
assertions in their ad and book.
Elliott is quoted as saying that Kerry ''lied about what occurred in
Vietnam . . . for example, in connection with his Silver Star, I was never
informed that he had simply shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the
back."
The statement refers to an episode in which Kerry killed a Viet Cong
soldier who had been carrying a rocket launcher, part of a chain of events
that formed the basis of his Silver Star. Over time, some Kerry critics
have questioned whether the soldier posed a danger to Kerry's crew. Crew
members have said Kerry's actions saved their lives.
Yesterday, reached at his home, Elliott said he regretted signing
the affidavit and said he still thinks Kerry deserved the Silver Star.
''I still don't think he shot the guy in the back," Elliott said.
''It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with
those words. I'm the one in trouble here."
Elliott said he was no under personal or political pressure to sign
the statement, but he did feel ''time pressure" from those involved in the
book. ''That's no excuse," Elliott said. ''I knew it was wrong . . . In a
hurry I signed it and faxed it back. That was a mistake."
The affidavit also contradicted earlier statements by Elliott, who
came to Boston during Kerry's 1996 Senate campaign to defend Kerry on
similar charges, saying that Kerry acted properly and deserved the Silver
Star.
The book, ''Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against
John Kerry," is to be published next week. Yesterday it reached number one
on the bestseller list on Amazon.com, based on advance orders, in part
because of publicity about it on the Drudge Report.
The book seeks to undermine one of the central claims of Kerry's
campaign -- that his Vietnam War heroism would make him a good commander
in chief.
While the Regnery Publishing yesterday declined to release an
advance copy of the book, Drudge's website quotes it as saying, ''Elliott
indicates that a Silver Star recommendation would not have been made by
him had he been aware of the actual facts." Continued...
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
August 6, 2004
Page 2 of 3 -- Meanwhile, a television advertising campaign began
yesterday featuring many of the anti-Kerry veterans who are quoted in the
book, including Elliott. In the ad, Elliott says, ''John Kerry has not
been honest about what happened in Vietnam."
Asked to supply evidence to support that statement, the anti-Kerry
group provided a copy of Elliott's affidavit. Elliott said the same
affidavit had been used in the production of the book.
It is unclear whether the work contains further justification for
the assertion, beyond Elliott's statement.
Kerry won the Silver Star for his action on Feb. 28, 1969, in which
he shot a Viet Cong soldier who had been carrying a rocket launcher and
running toward a hut. All of Kerry's crewmates who participated and are
still living said in interviews last year that the action was necessary
and appropriate, and it was Elliott who recommended Kerry for the Silver
Star.
In an interview for a seven-part biographical series that appeared
in the Globe last year, Kerry said: ''I don't have a second's question"
about killing the Viet Cong. ''He was running away with a live B-40, and,
I thought, poised to turn around and fire it."
Asked whether that meant that he had shot the guerrilla in the back,
Kerry said, ''No, absolutely not," adding that the enemy had been running
to a hut for cover, where he could have destroyed Kerry's boat and killed
the crew.
The forthcoming book is coauthored by Jerome R. Corsi and John
O'Neill, a former Vietnam naval officer who in 1971 debated Kerry on the
***** Cavett show, challenging Kerry's assertion that US atrocities had
been widespread in Vietnam. O'Neill met with then-President Richard M.
Nixon for an hour before debating Kerry, and his efforts were encouraged
by Nixon's aides.
O'Neill could not be reached for comment yesterday. President Bush's
campaign denied working with O'Neill on the book or with the producers of
the television advertisement.
Meanwhile, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, urged Bush
yesterday to disassociate himself from what he called a ''dishonest and
dishonorable" attack. In response, the White House spokesman, Scott
McClellan, said, ''We have not and we will not question Senator Kerry's
service in Vietnam."
The Associated Press reported yesterday that Houston home-builder
Bob J. Perry, a major Republican donor, gave at least $100,000 to the
organization sponsoring the ad, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
The Kerry campaign spokesman, Michael Meehan, said none of those in
the ad had served on a boat with Kerry. ''Some of these men defended John
Kerry's honor on his military record in 1996 and so they were either lying
then or lying now," Meehan said. ''Either way, it is gutter politics."
The book also raises questions about the action of March 13, 1969,
for which Kerry was awarded a Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart,
according to an advance chapter of the book. Continued...
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
August 6, 2004
Page 3 of 3 -- The anti-Kerry group provided three affidavits from
veterans on nearby boats questioning aspects of the award.
On that day, Kerry rescued James Rassmann, who went overboard as a
result of an explosion. Rassmann appeared by Kerry's side during the Iowa
caucus campaign and at last week's Democratic National Convention, telling
the story of how Kerry pulled him out of the water while his boat was
under fire.
As in the case of the Silver Star, it was Elliott who recommended
Kerry for the Bronze Star. According to the recommendation signed by
Elliott, a mine exploded under a boat accompanying Kerry's craft.
''Almost simultaneously, another mine detonated close aboard
[Kerry's] PCF-94, knocking First Lieutenant Rassman [sic] into the water
and wounding Lt. JG Kerry in the right arm."
Elliott then described how Kerry ''managed to pull Lt. Rassman
aboard despite the painful wound in his right arm." Elliott concluded that
Kerry had been ''calm, professional, and highly courageous in the face of
enemy fire."
Elliott, in the interview yesterday, said that based on the
affidavits of the veterans on other boats, he now thinks his assessment
about the Bronze Star and third Purple Heart may have been based on poor
information.
In one affidavit, for example, Van O'Dell, who said he had been in a
boat near Kerry on that day, declared that Kerry had ''lied" about what
happened on that day and said that Rassmann was not under enemy fire when
Kerry pulled him aboard.
Elliott, asked about the contradiction between his recommendation
and his new questioning of Kerry's third Purple Heart, responded, ''It
makes me look kind of silly, to be perfectly honest."
But he said: ''I simply have no reason for these guys to be lying,
and if they are lying in concert, it is one hell of a conspiracy. So, on
the basis of all of the information that has come out, I have chosen to
believe the other men. I absolutely do not know first hand."
Naval documents said that Kerry ''received shrapnel wounds in left
buttocks and contusions on right forearm when a mine detonated close to
PCF 94 while engaged in operations on river. Condition and prognosis
excellent. Result of hostile action."
Rassmann, reached by telephone yesterday, said he has never had any
question that Kerry deserved the Purple Heart. He said there were two
separate events: One was earlier in the day, when he and Kerry blew up a
rice cache, and the explosion caused some of the rice to hit Kerry, and
perhaps some weapon fragments as well. The second involved a mine
explosion as Kerry and Rassmann were on patrol. The explosion, Rassmann
said, knocked him overboard and threw Kerry against the pilot house,
injuring his arm.
Rassmann said that he has always believed that Kerry got the third
Purple Heart solely for the injury to his arm as a result of the explosion
in the water.
''If he got fragments in the buttocks due to the mine, that is new
information to me," Rassmann said.
''I would say there is confusion. Maybe they did lump it together.
It was my understanding he got it for the wound being thrown across the
pilot house."
Either way, Rassmann said, Kerry deserved the third Purple Heart
because such awards are given for injuries incurred in combat, and Kerry's
arm injury qualified. He also stood by his recollection that he was under
fire when rescued by Kerry.
Those questioning Kerry's medals, Rassmann said, are ''angry about
John speaking out against the [Vietnam] war."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/06/veteran_retracts_criticism_of_kerry/
.
|
|
| User: "dreamwalker" |
|
| Title: Re: Veteran Retracts Criticism of Hairy Kerry |
06 Aug 2004 08:27:07 PM |
|
|
Boston Globe? Liberal hogsheet. Once again the libs defame and lie.
http://humaneventsonline.com.edgesuite.net/unfit_aff.html
"jews4nostradamus" <francm@mail.com> wrote in message news:cf13np015a0@enews1.newsguy.com...
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff | August 6, 2004
WASHINGTON -- A week after Senator John F. Kerry heralded his
wartime experience by surrounding himself at the Democratic convention
with his Vietnam ''Band of Brothers," a separate group of veterans has
launched a television ad campaign and a book that questions the basis for
some of Kerry's combat medals.
But yesterday, a key figure in the anti-Kerry campaign, Kerry's
former commanding officer, backed off one of the key contentions.
Lieutenant Commander George Elliott said in an interview that he had made
a ''terrible mistake" in signing an affidavit that suggests Kerry did not
deserve the Silver Star -- one of the main allegations in the book. The
affidavit was given to The Boston Globe by the anti-Kerry group to justify
assertions in their ad and book.
Elliott is quoted as saying that Kerry ''lied about what occurred in
Vietnam . . . for example, in connection with his Silver Star, I was never
informed that he had simply shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the
back."
The statement refers to an episode in which Kerry killed a Viet Cong
soldier who had been carrying a rocket launcher, part of a chain of events
that formed the basis of his Silver Star. Over time, some Kerry critics
have questioned whether the soldier posed a danger to Kerry's crew. Crew
members have said Kerry's actions saved their lives.
Yesterday, reached at his home, Elliott said he regretted signing
the affidavit and said he still thinks Kerry deserved the Silver Star.
''I still don't think he shot the guy in the back," Elliott said.
''It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with
those words. I'm the one in trouble here."
Elliott said he was no under personal or political pressure to sign
the statement, but he did feel ''time pressure" from those involved in the
book. ''That's no excuse," Elliott said. ''I knew it was wrong . . . In a
hurry I signed it and faxed it back. That was a mistake."
The affidavit also contradicted earlier statements by Elliott, who
came to Boston during Kerry's 1996 Senate campaign to defend Kerry on
similar charges, saying that Kerry acted properly and deserved the Silver
Star.
The book, ''Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against
John Kerry," is to be published next week. Yesterday it reached number one
on the bestseller list on Amazon.com, based on advance orders, in part
because of publicity about it on the Drudge Report.
The book seeks to undermine one of the central claims of Kerry's
campaign -- that his Vietnam War heroism would make him a good commander
in chief.
While the Regnery Publishing yesterday declined to release an
advance copy of the book, Drudge's website quotes it as saying, ''Elliott
indicates that a Silver Star recommendation would not have been made by
him had he been aware of the actual facts." Continued...
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
August 6, 2004
Page 2 of 3 -- Meanwhile, a television advertising campaign began
yesterday featuring many of the anti-Kerry veterans who are quoted in the
book, including Elliott. In the ad, Elliott says, ''John Kerry has not
been honest about what happened in Vietnam."
Asked to supply evidence to support that statement, the anti-Kerry
group provided a copy of Elliott's affidavit. Elliott said the same
affidavit had been used in the production of the book.
It is unclear whether the work contains further justification for
the assertion, beyond Elliott's statement.
Kerry won the Silver Star for his action on Feb. 28, 1969, in which
he shot a Viet Cong soldier who had been carrying a rocket launcher and
running toward a hut. All of Kerry's crewmates who participated and are
still living said in interviews last year that the action was necessary
and appropriate, and it was Elliott who recommended Kerry for the Silver
Star.
In an interview for a seven-part biographical series that appeared
in the Globe last year, Kerry said: ''I don't have a second's question"
about killing the Viet Cong. ''He was running away with a live B-40, and,
I thought, poised to turn around and fire it."
Asked whether that meant that he had shot the guerrilla in the back,
Kerry said, ''No, absolutely not," adding that the enemy had been running
to a hut for cover, where he could have destroyed Kerry's boat and killed
the crew.
The forthcoming book is coauthored by Jerome R. Corsi and John
O'Neill, a former Vietnam naval officer who in 1971 debated Kerry on the
***** Cavett show, challenging Kerry's assertion that US atrocities had
been widespread in Vietnam. O'Neill met with then-President Richard M.
Nixon for an hour before debating Kerry, and his efforts were encouraged
by Nixon's aides.
O'Neill could not be reached for comment yesterday. President Bush's
campaign denied working with O'Neill on the book or with the producers of
the television advertisement.
Meanwhile, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, urged Bush
yesterday to disassociate himself from what he called a ''dishonest and
dishonorable" attack. In response, the White House spokesman, Scott
McClellan, said, ''We have not and we will not question Senator Kerry's
service in Vietnam."
The Associated Press reported yesterday that Houston home-builder
Bob J. Perry, a major Republican donor, gave at least $100,000 to the
organization sponsoring the ad, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
The Kerry campaign spokesman, Michael Meehan, said none of those in
the ad had served on a boat with Kerry. ''Some of these men defended John
Kerry's honor on his military record in 1996 and so they were either lying
then or lying now," Meehan said. ''Either way, it is gutter politics."
The book also raises questions about the action of March 13, 1969,
for which Kerry was awarded a Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart,
according to an advance chapter of the book. Continued...
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
August 6, 2004
Page 3 of 3 -- The anti-Kerry group provided three affidavits from
veterans on nearby boats questioning aspects of the award.
On that day, Kerry rescued James Rassmann, who went overboard as a
result of an explosion. Rassmann appeared by Kerry's side during the Iowa
caucus campaign and at last week's Democratic National Convention, telling
the story of how Kerry pulled him out of the water while his boat was
under fire.
As in the case of the Silver Star, it was Elliott who recommended
Kerry for the Bronze Star. According to the recommendation signed by
Elliott, a mine exploded under a boat accompanying Kerry's craft.
''Almost simultaneously, another mine detonated close aboard
[Kerry's] PCF-94, knocking First Lieutenant Rassman [sic] into the water
and wounding Lt. JG Kerry in the right arm."
Elliott then described how Kerry ''managed to pull Lt. Rassman
aboard despite the painful wound in his right arm." Elliott concluded that
Kerry had been ''calm, professional, and highly courageous in the face of
enemy fire."
Elliott, in the interview yesterday, said that based on the
affidavits of the veterans on other boats, he now thinks his assessment
about the Bronze Star and third Purple Heart may have been based on poor
information.
In one affidavit, for example, Van O'Dell, who said he had been in a
boat near Kerry on that day, declared that Kerry had ''lied" about what
happened on that day and said that Rassmann was not under enemy fire when
Kerry pulled him aboard.
Elliott, asked about the contradiction between his recommendation
and his new questioning of Kerry's third Purple Heart, responded, ''It
makes me look kind of silly, to be perfectly honest."
But he said: ''I simply have no reason for these guys to be lying,
and if they are lying in concert, it is one hell of a conspiracy. So, on
the basis of all of the information that has come out, I have chosen to
believe the other men. I absolutely do not know first hand."
Naval documents said that Kerry ''received shrapnel wounds in left
buttocks and contusions on right forearm when a mine detonated close to
PCF 94 while engaged in operations on river. Condition and prognosis
excellent. Result of hostile action."
Rassmann, reached by telephone yesterday, said he has never had any
question that Kerry deserved the Purple Heart. He said there were two
separate events: One was earlier in the day, when he and Kerry blew up a
rice cache, and the explosion caused some of the rice to hit Kerry, and
perhaps some weapon fragments as well. The second involved a mine
explosion as Kerry and Rassmann were on patrol. The explosion, Rassmann
said, knocked him overboard and threw Kerry against the pilot house,
injuring his arm.
Rassmann said that he has always believed that Kerry got the third
Purple Heart solely for the injury to his arm as a result of the explosion
in the water.
''If he got fragments in the buttocks due to the mine, that is new
information to me," Rassmann said.
''I would say there is confusion. Maybe they did lump it together.
It was my understanding he got it for the wound being thrown across the
pilot house."
Either way, Rassmann said, Kerry deserved the third Purple Heart
because such awards are given for injuries incurred in combat, and Kerry's
arm injury qualified. He also stood by his recollection that he was under
fire when rescued by Kerry.
Those questioning Kerry's medals, Rassmann said, are ''angry about
John speaking out against the [Vietnam] war."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/06/veteran_retracts_criticism_of_kerry/
.
|
|
|
| User: "jews4nostradamus" |
|
| Title: Re: Veteran Retracts Criticism of Hairy Kerry |
06 Aug 2004 09:39:36 PM |
|
|
"dreamwalker" <backfromthe@dead.net> wrote in message
news:657f2$41142ff1$407628aa$13293@powerweb.allthenewsgroups.com...
Boston Globe? Liberal hogsheet. Once again the libs defame and lie.
The story has now been backed up by Reuters (below). And what online
right-wing rectum holes do you suck your "facts" out of, vacuum head? Go
and play another round of Desert Storm...oil up your gun
collection...watch the "Black Hawk Down" again...LOL.
J4N
Veteran Backs Off Attack on Kerry's War Record
Fri Aug 6, 2004 01:33 PM ET
BOSTON (Reuters) - John Kerry's commanding officer in Vietnam has backed
away from attacks on the Democratic presidential candidate, saying he made
a mistake in accusing the U.S. senator of having lied about his wartime
record.
George Elliott, who was one of Kerry's superiors in Vietnam when he was
awarded medals for heroic actions, had signed an affidavit suggesting
Kerry did not deserve the Silver Star.
In the document, Elliott said, "I was never informed that he had simply
shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the back."
But in Friday's Boston Globe, Elliott said: "It was a terrible mistake
probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one in
trouble here."
Elliott told the newspaper he thinks Kerry did deserve the medal.
"I still don't think he (Kerry) shot the guy in the back," Elliott is
quoted as saying in the Globe.
Kerry used his nominating convention in Boston in July to paint himself as
a decorated war hero capable of leading the nation in troubled times and a
man better qualified to be commander-in-chief than President Bush.
But Elliott and other members of a group called Swift Boat Veterans for
Truth, oppose Kerry.
This week they launched a television advertisement accusing the Democrat
of having lied about his service in Vietnam and hurting other veterans by
criticizing the war after returning home. Next week the group will publish
a book, "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John
Kerry."
Elliott was not immediately available for comment.
Kerry, arguing his combat experience in Vietnam qualifies him as a strong
leader on national security issues, has surrounded himself with other
veterans who have said the candidate did heroic deeds to save his own crew
mates.
The new attacks on Kerry sparked an angry response from Republican Sen.
John McCain, also a Vietnam veteran, who called the attack dishonorable
and dishonest and urged the Bush administration to also denounce the ad.
The administration distanced itself from the advertisement on Thursday but
did not condemn it.
"We have not and we will not question Sen. Kerry's service in Vietnam,"
said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=5899870
http://humaneventsonline.com.edgesuite.net/unfit_aff.html
"jews4nostradamus" <francm@mail.com> wrote in message
news:cf13np015a0@enews1.newsguy.com...
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff | August 6, 2004
WASHINGTON -- A week after Senator John F. Kerry heralded his
wartime experience by surrounding himself at the Democratic convention
with his Vietnam ''Band of Brothers," a separate group of veterans has
launched a television ad campaign and a book that questions the basis
for
some of Kerry's combat medals.
But yesterday, a key figure in the anti-Kerry campaign, Kerry's
former commanding officer, backed off one of the key contentions.
Lieutenant Commander George Elliott said in an interview that he had
made
a ''terrible mistake" in signing an affidavit that suggests Kerry did
not
deserve the Silver Star -- one of the main allegations in the book.
The
affidavit was given to The Boston Globe by the anti-Kerry group to
justify
assertions in their ad and book.
Elliott is quoted as saying that Kerry ''lied about what
occurred in
Vietnam . . . for example, in connection with his Silver Star, I was
never
informed that he had simply shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the
back."
The statement refers to an episode in which Kerry killed a Viet
Cong
soldier who had been carrying a rocket launcher, part of a chain of
events
that formed the basis of his Silver Star. Over time, some Kerry
critics
have questioned whether the soldier posed a danger to Kerry's crew.
Crew
members have said Kerry's actions saved their lives.
Yesterday, reached at his home, Elliott said he regretted
signing
the affidavit and said he still thinks Kerry deserved the Silver Star.
''I still don't think he shot the guy in the back," Elliott
said.
''It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with
those words. I'm the one in trouble here."
Elliott said he was no under personal or political pressure to
sign
the statement, but he did feel ''time pressure" from those involved in
the
book. ''That's no excuse," Elliott said. ''I knew it was wrong . . .
In a
hurry I signed it and faxed it back. That was a mistake."
The affidavit also contradicted earlier statements by Elliott,
who
came to Boston during Kerry's 1996 Senate campaign to defend Kerry on
similar charges, saying that Kerry acted properly and deserved the
Silver
Star.
The book, ''Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out
Against
John Kerry," is to be published next week. Yesterday it reached number
one
on the bestseller list on Amazon.com, based on advance orders, in part
because of publicity about it on the Drudge Report.
The book seeks to undermine one of the central claims of Kerry's
campaign -- that his Vietnam War heroism would make him a good
commander
in chief.
While the Regnery Publishing yesterday declined to release an
advance copy of the book, Drudge's website quotes it as saying,
''Elliott
indicates that a Silver Star recommendation would not have been made
by
him had he been aware of the actual facts." Continued...
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
August 6, 2004
Page 2 of 3 -- Meanwhile, a television advertising campaign
began
yesterday featuring many of the anti-Kerry veterans who are quoted in
the
book, including Elliott. In the ad, Elliott says, ''John Kerry has not
been honest about what happened in Vietnam."
Asked to supply evidence to support that statement, the
anti-Kerry
group provided a copy of Elliott's affidavit. Elliott said the same
affidavit had been used in the production of the book.
It is unclear whether the work contains further justification
for
the assertion, beyond Elliott's statement.
Kerry won the Silver Star for his action on Feb. 28, 1969, in
which
he shot a Viet Cong soldier who had been carrying a rocket launcher
and
running toward a hut. All of Kerry's crewmates who participated and
are
still living said in interviews last year that the action was
necessary
and appropriate, and it was Elliott who recommended Kerry for the
Silver
Star.
In an interview for a seven-part biographical series that
appeared
in the Globe last year, Kerry said: ''I don't have a second's
question"
about killing the Viet Cong. ''He was running away with a live B-40,
and,
I thought, poised to turn around and fire it."
Asked whether that meant that he had shot the guerrilla in the
back,
Kerry said, ''No, absolutely not," adding that the enemy had been
running
to a hut for cover, where he could have destroyed Kerry's boat and
killed
the crew.
The forthcoming book is coauthored by Jerome R. Corsi and John
O'Neill, a former Vietnam naval officer who in 1971 debated Kerry on
the
***** Cavett show, challenging Kerry's assertion that US atrocities had
been widespread in Vietnam. O'Neill met with then-President Richard M.
Nixon for an hour before debating Kerry, and his efforts were
encouraged
by Nixon's aides.
O'Neill could not be reached for comment yesterday. President
Bush's
campaign denied working with O'Neill on the book or with the producers
of
the television advertisement.
Meanwhile, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, urged
Bush
yesterday to disassociate himself from what he called a ''dishonest
and
dishonorable" attack. In response, the White House spokesman, Scott
McClellan, said, ''We have not and we will not question Senator
Kerry's
service in Vietnam."
The Associated Press reported yesterday that Houston
home-builder
Bob J. Perry, a major Republican donor, gave at least $100,000 to the
organization sponsoring the ad, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
The Kerry campaign spokesman, Michael Meehan, said none of those
in
the ad had served on a boat with Kerry. ''Some of these men defended
John
Kerry's honor on his military record in 1996 and so they were either
lying
then or lying now," Meehan said. ''Either way, it is gutter politics."
The book also raises questions about the action of March 13,
1969,
for which Kerry was awarded a Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart,
according to an advance chapter of the book. Continued...
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
August 6, 2004
Page 3 of 3 -- The anti-Kerry group provided three affidavits
from
veterans on nearby boats questioning aspects of the award.
On that day, Kerry rescued James Rassmann, who went overboard as
a
result of an explosion. Rassmann appeared by Kerry's side during the
Iowa
caucus campaign and at last week's Democratic National Convention,
telling
the story of how Kerry pulled him out of the water while his boat was
under fire.
As in the case of the Silver Star, it was Elliott who
recommended
Kerry for the Bronze Star. According to the recommendation signed by
Elliott, a mine exploded under a boat accompanying Kerry's craft.
''Almost simultaneously, another mine detonated close aboard
[Kerry's] PCF-94, knocking First Lieutenant Rassman [sic] into the
water
and wounding Lt. JG Kerry in the right arm."
Elliott then described how Kerry ''managed to pull Lt. Rassman
aboard despite the painful wound in his right arm." Elliott concluded
that
Kerry had been ''calm, professional, and highly courageous in the face
of
enemy fire."
Elliott, in the interview yesterday, said that based on the
affidavits of the veterans on other boats, he now thinks his
assessment
about the Bronze Star and third Purple Heart may have been based on
poor
information.
In one affidavit, for example, Van O'Dell, who said he had been
in a
boat near Kerry on that day, declared that Kerry had ''lied" about
what
happened on that day and said that Rassmann was not under enemy fire
when
Kerry pulled him aboard.
Elliott, asked about the contradiction between his
recommendation
and his new questioning of Kerry's third Purple Heart, responded, ''It
makes me look kind of silly, to be perfectly honest."
But he said: ''I simply have no reason for these guys to be
lying,
and if they are lying in concert, it is one hell of a conspiracy. So,
on
the basis of all of the information that has come out, I have chosen
to
believe the other men. I absolutely do not know first hand."
Naval documents said that Kerry ''received shrapnel wounds in
left
buttocks and contusions on right forearm when a mine detonated close
to
PCF 94 while engaged in operations on river. Condition and prognosis
excellent. Result of hostile action."
Rassmann, reached by telephone yesterday, said he has never had
any
question that Kerry deserved the Purple Heart. He said there were two
separate events: One was earlier in the day, when he and Kerry blew up
a
rice cache, and the explosion caused some of the rice to hit Kerry,
and
perhaps some weapon fragments as well. The second involved a mine
explosion as Kerry and Rassmann were on patrol. The explosion,
Rassmann
said, knocked him overboard and threw Kerry against the pilot house,
injuring his arm.
Rassmann said that he has always believed that Kerry got the
third
Purple Heart solely for the injury to his arm as a result of the
explosion
in the water.
''If he got fragments in the buttocks due to the mine, that is
new
information to me," Rassmann said.
''I would say there is confusion. Maybe they did lump it
together.
It was my understanding he got it for the wound being thrown across
the
pilot house."
Either way, Rassmann said, Kerry deserved the third Purple Heart
because such awards are given for injuries incurred in combat, and
Kerry's
arm injury qualified. He also stood by his recollection that he was
under
fire when rescued by Kerry.
Those questioning Kerry's medals, Rassmann said, are ''angry
about
John speaking out against the [Vietnam] war."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/06/veteran_retracts_criticism_of_kerry/
.
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| User: "Woodswun" |
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| Title: Re: Veteran Retracts Criticism of Hairy Kerry |
07 Aug 2004 07:52:33 AM |
|
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In article <cf1fdc01i9m@enews1.newsguy.com>, "jews4nostradamus" <francm@mail.com> wrote:
"dreamwalker" <backfromthe@dead.net> wrote in message
news:657f2$41142ff1$407628aa$13293@powerweb.allthenewsgroups.com...
Boston Globe? Liberal hogsheet. Once again the libs defame and lie.
The story has now been backed up by Reuters (below). And what online
right-wing rectum holes do you suck your "facts" out of, vacuum head? Go
and play another round of Desert Storm...oil up your gun
collection...watch the "Black Hawk Down" again...LOL.
J4N
Veteran Backs Off Attack on Kerry's War Record
Fri Aug 6, 2004 01:33 PM ET
BOSTON (Reuters) - John Kerry's commanding officer in Vietnam has backed
away from attacks on the Democratic presidential candidate, saying he made
a mistake in accusing the U.S. senator of having lied about his wartime
record.
George Elliott, who was one of Kerry's superiors in Vietnam when he was
awarded medals for heroic actions, had signed an affidavit suggesting
Kerry did not deserve the Silver Star.
In the document, Elliott said, "I was never informed that he had simply
shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the back."
But in Friday's Boston Globe, Elliott said: "It was a terrible mistake
probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one in
trouble here."
Elliott told the newspaper he thinks Kerry did deserve the medal.
"I still don't think he (Kerry) shot the guy in the back," Elliott is
quoted as saying in the Globe.
Kerry used his nominating convention in Boston in July to paint himself as
a decorated war hero capable of leading the nation in troubled times and a
man better qualified to be commander-in-chief than President Bush.
But Elliott and other members of a group called Swift Boat Veterans for
Truth, oppose Kerry.
This week they launched a television advertisement accusing the Democrat
of having lied about his service in Vietnam and hurting other veterans by
criticizing the war after returning home. Next week the group will publish
a book, "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John
Kerry."
Elliott was not immediately available for comment.
Kerry, arguing his combat experience in Vietnam qualifies him as a strong
leader on national security issues, has surrounded himself with other
veterans who have said the candidate did heroic deeds to save his own crew
mates.
The new attacks on Kerry sparked an angry response from Republican Sen.
John McCain, also a Vietnam veteran, who called the attack dishonorable
and dishonest and urged the Bush administration to also denounce the ad.
The administration distanced itself from the advertisement on Thursday but
did not condemn it.
I think the results of an inviestigation into this whole smear campaign would
prove very interesting. There is certainly enough smoke to indicate that this
is being spearheaded by Bush's campaign.
Woods
.
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| User: "dreamwalker" |
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| Title: Re: Veteran Retracts Criticism of Hairy Kerry |
08 Aug 2004 01:50:46 AM |
|
|
"Woodswun" <woodswun@tepidmail.com> wrote in message
news:lg4Rc.94396$yd5.28236@twister.nyroc.rr.com...
In article <cf1fdc01i9m@enews1.newsguy.com>, "jews4nostradamus" <francm@mail.com> wrote:
"dreamwalker" <backfromthe@dead.net> wrote in message
news:657f2$41142ff1$407628aa$13293@powerweb.allthenewsgroups.com...
Boston Globe? Liberal hogsheet. Once again the libs defame and lie.
The story has now been backed up by Reuters (below). And what online
right-wing rectum holes do you suck your "facts" out of, vacuum head? Go
and play another round of Desert Storm...oil up your gun
collection...watch the "Black Hawk Down" again...LOL.
J4N
Veteran Backs Off Attack on Kerry's War Record
Fri Aug 6, 2004 01:33 PM ET
BOSTON (Reuters) - John Kerry's commanding officer in Vietnam has backed
away from attacks on the Democratic presidential candidate, saying he made
a mistake in accusing the U.S. senator of having lied about his wartime
record.
George Elliott, who was one of Kerry's superiors in Vietnam when he was
awarded medals for heroic actions, had signed an affidavit suggesting
Kerry did not deserve the Silver Star.
In the document, Elliott said, "I was never informed that he had simply
shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the back."
But in Friday's Boston Globe, Elliott said: "It was a terrible mistake
probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one in
trouble here."
Elliott told the newspaper he thinks Kerry did deserve the medal.
"I still don't think he (Kerry) shot the guy in the back," Elliott is
quoted as saying in the Globe.
Kerry used his nominating convention in Boston in July to paint himself as
a decorated war hero capable of leading the nation in troubled times and a
man better qualified to be commander-in-chief than President Bush.
But Elliott and other members of a group called Swift Boat Veterans for
Truth, oppose Kerry.
This week they launched a television advertisement accusing the Democrat
of having lied about his service in Vietnam and hurting other veterans by
criticizing the war after returning home. Next week the group will publish
a book, "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John
Kerry."
Elliott was not immediately available for comment.
Kerry, arguing his combat experience in Vietnam qualifies him as a strong
leader on national security issues, has surrounded himself with other
veterans who have said the candidate did heroic deeds to save his own crew
mates.
The new attacks on Kerry sparked an angry response from Republican Sen.
John McCain, also a Vietnam veteran, who called the attack dishonorable
and dishonest and urged the Bush administration to also denounce the ad.
The administration distanced itself from the advertisement on Thursday but
did not condemn it.
I think the results of an inviestigation into this whole smear campaign would
prove very interesting. There is certainly enough smoke to indicate that this
is being spearheaded by Bush's campaign.
Woods
So what?
.
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| User: "jews4nostradamus" |
|
| Title: Re: Veteran Retracts Criticism of Hairy Kerry |
09 Aug 2004 07:27:40 AM |
|
|
"dreamwalker" <backfromthe@dead.net> wrote in message
news:f3465$4115cd4b$4076283d$22919@powerweb.allthenewsgroups.com...
"Woodswun" <woodswun@tepidmail.com> wrote in message
news:lg4Rc.94396$yd5.28236@twister.nyroc.rr.com...
In article <cf1fdc01i9m@enews1.newsguy.com>, "jews4nostradamus"
<francm@mail.com> wrote:
"dreamwalker" <backfromthe@dead.net> wrote in message
news:657f2$41142ff1$407628aa$13293@powerweb.allthenewsgroups.com...
Boston Globe? Liberal hogsheet. Once again the libs defame and lie.
The story has now been backed up by Reuters (below). And what online
right-wing rectum holes do you suck your "facts" out of, vacuum
head? Go
and play another round of Desert Storm...oil up your gun
collection...watch the "Black Hawk Down" again...LOL.
J4N
Veteran Backs Off Attack on Kerry's War Record
Fri Aug 6, 2004 01:33 PM ET
BOSTON (Reuters) - John Kerry's commanding officer in Vietnam has
backed
away from attacks on the Democratic presidential candidate, saying he
made
a mistake in accusing the U.S. senator of having lied about his
wartime
record.
George Elliott, who was one of Kerry's superiors in Vietnam when he
was
awarded medals for heroic actions, had signed an affidavit suggesting
Kerry did not deserve the Silver Star.
In the document, Elliott said, "I was never informed that he had
simply
shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the back."
But in Friday's Boston Globe, Elliott said: "It was a terrible
mistake
probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one
in
trouble here."
Elliott told the newspaper he thinks Kerry did deserve the medal.
"I still don't think he (Kerry) shot the guy in the back," Elliott is
quoted as saying in the Globe.
Kerry used his nominating convention in Boston in July to paint
himself as
a decorated war hero capable of leading the nation in troubled times
and a
man better qualified to be commander-in-chief than President Bush.
But Elliott and other members of a group called Swift Boat Veterans
for
Truth, oppose Kerry.
This week they launched a television advertisement accusing the
Democrat
of having lied about his service in Vietnam and hurting other
veterans by
criticizing the war after returning home. Next week the group will
publish
a book, "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against
John
Kerry."
Elliott was not immediately available for comment.
Kerry, arguing his combat experience in Vietnam qualifies him as a
strong
leader on national security issues, has surrounded himself with other
veterans who have said the candidate did heroic deeds to save his own
crew
mates.
The new attacks on Kerry sparked an angry response from Republican
Sen.
John McCain, also a Vietnam veteran, who called the attack
dishonorable
and dishonest and urged the Bush administration to also denounce the
ad.
The administration distanced itself from the advertisement on
Thursday but
did not condemn it.
I think the results of an inviestigation into this whole smear
campaign would
prove very interesting. There is certainly enough smoke to indicate
that this
is being spearheaded by Bush's campaign.
Woods
So what?
And, sooooo, that means that in an election year both sides will twist
facts, edit, and spin the truth to maintain or gain power. It's called
politics as usual.
And, even the "so whats?" become a common, brainless and easy retort for
those unable to grasp the manipulative realm of politics.
Imagine you're in the middle of an ocean, bobbing up and down in your
little boat, no sail, oars or engine.
J4N
.
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| User: "dreamwalker" |
|
| Title: Re: Veteran Retracts Criticism of Hairy Kerry |
09 Aug 2004 05:33:37 PM |
|
|
Imagine you're in the middle of an ocean, bobbing up and down in your
little boat, no sail, oars or engine.
No thanks.
.
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| User: "Marvin The Paranoid Android" |
|
| Title: Re: Veteran Retracts Criticism of Hairy Kerry |
07 Aug 2004 08:43:30 AM |
|
|
On Sat, 07 Aug 2004 12:52:33 GMT, Woodswun <woodswun@tepidmail.com> wrote:
In article <cf1fdc01i9m@enews1.newsguy.com>, "jews4nostradamus"
<francm@mail.com> wrote:
"dreamwalker" <backfromthe@dead.net> wrote in message
news:657f2$41142ff1$407628aa$13293@powerweb.allthenewsgroups.com...
Boston Globe? Liberal hogsheet. Once again the libs defame and lie.
The story has now been backed up by Reuters (below). And what online
right-wing rectum holes do you suck your "facts" out of, vacuum head?
Go
and play another round of Desert Storm...oil up your gun
collection...watch the "Black Hawk Down" again...LOL.
J4N
Veteran Backs Off Attack on Kerry's War Record
Fri Aug 6, 2004 01:33 PM ET
BOSTON (Reuters) - John Kerry's commanding officer in Vietnam has backed
away from attacks on the Democratic presidential candidate, saying he
made
a mistake in accusing the U.S. senator of having lied about his wartime
record.
George Elliott, who was one of Kerry's superiors in Vietnam when he was
awarded medals for heroic actions, had signed an affidavit suggesting
Kerry did not deserve the Silver Star.
In the document, Elliott said, "I was never informed that he had simply
shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the back."
But in Friday's Boston Globe, Elliott said: "It was a terrible mistake
probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one in
trouble here."
Elliott told the newspaper he thinks Kerry did deserve the medal.
"I still don't think he (Kerry) shot the guy in the back," Elliott is
quoted as saying in the Globe.
Kerry used his nominating convention in Boston in July to paint himself
as
a decorated war hero capable of leading the nation in troubled times
and a
man better qualified to be commander-in-chief than President Bush.
But Elliott and other members of a group called Swift Boat Veterans for
Truth, oppose Kerry.
This week they launched a television advertisement accusing the Democrat
of having lied about his service in Vietnam and hurting other veterans
by
criticizing the war after returning home. Next week the group will
publish
a book, "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John
Kerry."
Elliott was not immediately available for comment.
Kerry, arguing his combat experience in Vietnam qualifies him as a
strong
leader on national security issues, has surrounded himself with other
veterans who have said the candidate did heroic deeds to save his own
crew
mates.
The new attacks on Kerry sparked an angry response from Republican Sen.
John McCain, also a Vietnam veteran, who called the attack dishonorable
and dishonest and urged the Bush administration to also denounce the ad.
The administration distanced itself from the advertisement on Thursday
but
did not condemn it.
I think the results of an inviestigation into this whole smear campaign
would
prove very interesting. There is certainly enough smoke to indicate
that this
is being spearheaded by Bush's campaign.
Bush did the same thing to McCain when they were both running for the
Repugnent leadership in 2000. Which is likely why McCain was *****
with this attempt to smear Kerry.
George Bush's shear hypocrisy makes me sick ... the war-dodger, coke-head,
alcoholic should have his whole miserable life thrown on the floor and
sifted through in front of the camera's for everyone to see ...
.
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| User: "Woodswun" |
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| Title: Re: Veteran Retracts Criticism of Hairy Kerry |
06 Aug 2004 10:07:09 PM |
|
|
In article <657f2$41142ff1$407628aa$13293@powerweb.allthenewsgroups.com>, "dreamwalker" <backfromthe@dead.net> wrote:
Boston Globe? Liberal hogsheet. Once again the libs defame and lie.
In fact, the Boston Globe is one of the top newspapers in the United States and
has won many Pulitzers for its reporting.
Woods
.
|
|
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| User: "dreamwalker" |
|
| Title: Re: Veteran Retracts Criticism of Hairy Kerry |
06 Aug 2004 10:45:22 PM |
|
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"Woodswun" <woodswun@tepidmail.com> wrote in message
news:xHXQc.93798$yd5.24309@twister.nyroc.rr.com...
In article <657f2$41142ff1$407628aa$13293@powerweb.allthenewsgroups.com>, "dreamwalker"
<backfromthe@dead.net> wrote:
Boston Globe? Liberal hogsheet. Once again the libs defame and lie.
In fact, the Boston Globe is one of the top newspapers in the United States and
has won many Pulitzers for its reporting.
Woods
So has the NYT. Hahahaa.
.
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| User: "4Dw" |
|
| Title: Re: Veteran Retracts Criticism of Hairy Kerry |
08 Aug 2004 07:25:06 AM |
|
|
On Sat, 7 Aug 2004 05:07:09 +0200, Woodswun wrote
(in article <xHXQc.93798$yd5.24309@twister.nyroc.rr.com>):
In article <657f2$41142ff1$407628aa$13293@powerweb.allthenewsgroups.com>,
"dreamwalker" <backfromthe@dead.net> wrote:
Boston Globe? Liberal hogsheet. Once again the libs defame and lie.
In fact, the Boston Globe is one of the top newspapers in the United States
and
has won many Pulitzers for its reporting.
Woods
Well all that is lost on dreamwanker.. he should remove the buffalo dung from
his eyes and ears.
--
Are you part of the problem?
.
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| User: "Jean Guernon" |
|
| Title: Re: Veteran Retracts Criticism of Hairy Kerry |
06 Aug 2004 09:31:21 PM |
|
|
You don't think that this fraud (dr.blunt alias jews4Nostradamus - to
mention just the two main ones - who has absolutely no competence in
either these nicks), would ever look for the truth, do you?
J.
dreamwalker a écrit:
Boston Globe? Liberal hogsheet. Once again the libs defame and lie.
http://humaneventsonline.com.edgesuite.net/unfit_aff.html
"jews4nostradamus" <francm@mail.com> wrote in message news:cf13np015a0@enews1.newsguy.com...
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff | August 6, 2004
WASHINGTON -- A week after Senator John F. Kerry heralded his
wartime experience by surrounding himself at the Democratic convention
with his Vietnam ''Band of Brothers," a separate group of veterans has
launched a television ad campaign and a book that questions the basis for
some of Kerry's combat medals.
But yesterday, a key figure in the anti-Kerry campaign, Kerry's
former commanding officer, backed off one of the key contentions.
Lieutenant Commander George Elliott said in an interview that he had made
a ''terrible mistake" in signing an affidavit that suggests Kerry did not
deserve the Silver Star -- one of the main allegations in the book. The
affidavit was given to The Boston Globe by the anti-Kerry group to justify
assertions in their ad and book.
Elliott is quoted as saying that Kerry ''lied about what occurred in
Vietnam . . . for example, in connection with his Silver Star, I was never
informed that he had simply shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the
back."
The statement refers to an episode in which Kerry killed a Viet Cong
soldier who had been carrying a rocket launcher, part of a chain of events
that formed the basis of his Silver Star. Over time, some Kerry critics
have questioned whether the soldier posed a danger to Kerry's crew. Crew
members have said Kerry's actions saved their lives.
Yesterday, reached at his home, Elliott said he regretted signing
the affidavit and said he still thinks Kerry deserved the Silver Star.
''I still don't think he shot the guy in the back," Elliott said.
''It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with
those words. I'm the one in trouble here."
Elliott said he was no under personal or political pressure to sign
the statement, but he did feel ''time pressure" from those involved in the
book. ''That's no excuse," Elliott said. ''I knew it was wrong . . . In a
hurry I signed it and faxed it back. That was a mistake."
The affidavit also contradicted earlier statements by Elliott, who
came to Boston during Kerry's 1996 Senate campaign to defend Kerry on
similar charges, saying that Kerry acted properly and deserved the Silver
Star.
The book, ''Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against
John Kerry," is to be published next week. Yesterday it reached number one
on the bestseller list on Amazon.com, based on advance orders, in part
because of publicity about it on the Drudge Report.
The book seeks to undermine one of the central claims of Kerry's
campaign -- that his Vietnam War heroism would make him a good commander
in chief.
While the Regnery Publishing yesterday declined to release an
advance copy of the book, Drudge's website quotes it as saying, ''Elliott
indicates that a Silver Star recommendation would not have been made by
him had he been aware of the actual facts." Continued...
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
August 6, 2004
Page 2 of 3 -- Meanwhile, a television advertising campaign began
yesterday featuring many of the anti-Kerry veterans who are quoted in the
book, including Elliott. In the ad, Elliott says, ''John Kerry has not
been honest about what happened in Vietnam."
Asked to supply evidence to support that statement, the anti-Kerry
group provided a copy of Elliott's affidavit. Elliott said the same
affidavit had been used in the production of the book.
It is unclear whether the work contains further justification for
the assertion, beyond Elliott's statement.
Kerry won the Silver Star for his action on Feb. 28, 1969, in which
he shot a Viet Cong soldier who had been carrying a rocket launcher and
running toward a hut. All of Kerry's crewmates who participated and are
still living said in interviews last year that the action was necessary
and appropriate, and it was Elliott who recommended Kerry for the Silver
Star.
In an interview for a seven-part biographical series that appeared
in the Globe last year, Kerry said: ''I don't have a second's question"
about killing the Viet Cong. ''He was running away with a live B-40, and,
I thought, poised to turn around and fire it."
Asked whether that meant that he had shot the guerrilla in the back,
Kerry said, ''No, absolutely not," adding that the enemy had been running
to a hut for cover, where he could have destroyed Kerry's boat and killed
the crew.
The forthcoming book is coauthored by Jerome R. Corsi and John
O'Neill, a former Vietnam naval officer who in 1971 debated Kerry on the
***** Cavett show, challenging Kerry's assertion that US atrocities had
been widespread in Vietnam. O'Neill met with then-President Richard M.
Nixon for an hour before debating Kerry, and his efforts were encouraged
by Nixon's aides.
O'Neill could not be reached for comment yesterday. President Bush's
campaign denied working with O'Neill on the book or with the producers of
the television advertisement.
Meanwhile, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, urged Bush
yesterday to disassociate himself from what he called a ''dishonest and
dishonorable" attack. In response, the White House spokesman, Scott
McClellan, said, ''We have not and we will not question Senator Kerry's
service in Vietnam."
The Associated Press reported yesterday that Houston home-builder
Bob J. Perry, a major Republican donor, gave at least $100,000 to the
organization sponsoring the ad, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
The Kerry campaign spokesman, Michael Meehan, said none of those in
the ad had served on a boat with Kerry. ''Some of these men defended John
Kerry's honor on his military record in 1996 and so they were either lying
then or lying now," Meehan said. ''Either way, it is gutter politics."
The book also raises questions about the action of March 13, 1969,
for which Kerry was awarded a Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart,
according to an advance chapter of the book. Continued...
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
August 6, 2004
Page 3 of 3 -- The anti-Kerry group provided three affidavits from
veterans on nearby boats questioning aspects of the award.
On that day, Kerry rescued James Rassmann, who went overboard as a
result of an explosion. Rassmann appeared by Kerry's side during the Iowa
caucus campaign and at last week's Democratic National Convention, telling
the story of how Kerry pulled him out of the water while his boat was
under fire.
As in the case of the Silver Star, it was Elliott who recommended
Kerry for the Bronze Star. According to the recommendation signed by
Elliott, a mine exploded under a boat accompanying Kerry's craft.
''Almost simultaneously, another mine detonated close aboard
[Kerry's] PCF-94, knocking First Lieutenant Rassman [sic] into the water
and wounding Lt. JG Kerry in the right arm."
Elliott then described how Kerry ''managed to pull Lt. Rassman
aboard despite the painful wound in his right arm." Elliott concluded that
Kerry had been ''calm, professional, and highly courageous in the face of
enemy fire."
Elliott, in the interview yesterday, said that based on the
affidavits of the veterans on other boats, he now thinks his assessment
about the Bronze Star and third Purple Heart may have been based on poor
information.
In one affidavit, for example, Van O'Dell, who said he had been in a
boat near Kerry on that day, declared that Kerry had ''lied" about what
happened on that day and said that Rassmann was not under enemy fire when
Kerry pulled him aboard.
Elliott, asked about the contradiction between his recommendation
and his new questioning of Kerry's third Purple Heart, responded, ''It
makes me look kind of silly, to be perfectly honest."
But he said: ''I simply have no reason for these guys to be lying,
and if they are lying in concert, it is one hell of a conspiracy. So, on
the basis of all of the information that has come out, I have chosen to
believe the other men. I absolutely do not know first hand."
Naval documents said that Kerry ''received shrapnel wounds in left
buttocks and contusions on right forearm when a mine detonated close to
PCF 94 while engaged in operations on river. Condition and prognosis
excellent. Result of hostile action."
Rassmann, reached by telephone yesterday, said he has never had any
question that Kerry deserved the Purple Heart. He said there were two
separate events: One was earlier in the day, when he and Kerry blew up a
rice cache, and the explosion caused some of the rice to hit Kerry, and
perhaps some weapon fragments as well. The second involved a mine
explosion as Kerry and Rassmann were on patrol. The explosion, Rassmann
said, knocked him overboard and threw Kerry against the pilot house,
injuring his arm.
Rassmann said that he has always believed that Kerry got the third
Purple Heart solely for the injury to his arm as a result of the explosion
in the water.
''If he got fragments in the buttocks due to the mine, that is new
information to me," Rassmann said.
''I would say there is confusion. Maybe they did lump it together.
It was my understanding he got it for the wound being thrown across the
pilot house."
Either way, Rassmann said, Kerry deserved the third Purple Heart
because such awards are given for injuries incurred in combat, and Kerry's
arm injury qualified. He also stood by his recollection that he was under
fire when rescued by Kerry.
Those questioning Kerry's medals, Rassmann said, are ''angry about
John speaking out against the [Vietnam] war."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/06/veteran_retracts_criticism_of_kerry/
.
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| User: "eric davis" |
|
| Title: Hey, Larry, Curly, Where's Moe? |
07 Aug 2004 11:46:10 AM |
|
|
So two of the 3 Stooges stick up for each other reinforcing each other's
delusions. So what did you guys do to Moe? Your Leader?
eric.
P.S. Sorry numbskulls, it's true. Kerry's former commander did indeed
retract his statements. Don't cry now.
"Jean Guernon" <jguernon@globetrotter.net> wrote in message
news:Z9XQc.21303394$Of.3545795@news.easynews.com...
You don't think that this fraud (dr.blunt alias jews4Nostradamus - to
mention just the two main ones - who has absolutely no competence in
either these nicks), would ever look for the truth, do you?
J.
dreamwalker a écrit:
Boston Globe? Liberal hogsheet. Once again the libs defame and lie.
http://humaneventsonline.com.edgesuite.net/unfit_aff.html
"jews4nostradamus" <francm@mail.com> wrote in message
news:cf13np015a0@enews1.newsguy.com...
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff | August 6, 2004
WASHINGTON -- A week after Senator John F. Kerry heralded his
wartime experience by surrounding himself at the Democratic convention
with his Vietnam ''Band of Brothers," a separate group of veterans has
launched a television ad campaign and a book that questions the basis
for
some of Kerry's combat medals.
But yesterday, a key figure in the anti-Kerry campaign, Kerry's
former commanding officer, backed off one of the key contentions.
Lieutenant Commander George Elliott said in an interview that he had
made
a ''terrible mistake" in signing an affidavit that suggests Kerry did
not
deserve the Silver Star -- one of the main allegations in the book. The
affidavit was given to The Boston Globe by the anti-Kerry group to
justify
assertions in their ad and book.
Elliott is quoted as saying that Kerry ''lied about what occurred
in
Vietnam . . . for example, in connection with his Silver Star, I was
never
informed that he had simply shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the
back."
The statement refers to an episode in which Kerry killed a Viet
Cong
soldier who had been carrying a rocket launcher, part of a chain of
events
that formed the basis of his Silver Star. Over time, some Kerry critics
have questioned whether the soldier posed a danger to Kerry's crew. Crew
members have said Kerry's actions saved their lives.
Yesterday, reached at his home, Elliott said he regretted signing
the affidavit and said he still thinks Kerry deserved the Silver Star.
''I still don't think he shot the guy in the back," Elliott said.
''It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with
those words. I'm the one in trouble here."
Elliott said he was no under personal or political pressure to
sign
the statement, but he did feel ''time pressure" from those involved in
the
book. ''That's no excuse," Elliott said. ''I knew it was wrong . . . In
a
hurry I signed it and faxed it back. That was a mistake."
The affidavit also contradicted earlier statements by Elliott, who
came to Boston during Kerry's 1996 Senate campaign to defend Kerry on
similar charges, saying that Kerry acted properly and deserved the
Silver
Star.
The book, ''Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out
Against
John Kerry," is to be published next week. Yesterday it reached number
one
on the bestseller list on Amazon.com, based on advance orders, in part
because of publicity about it on the Drudge Report.
The book seeks to undermine one of the central claims of Kerry's
campaign -- that his Vietnam War heroism would make him a good commander
in chief.
While the Regnery Publishing yesterday declined to release an
advance copy of the book, Drudge's website quotes it as saying,
''Elliott
indicates that a Silver Star recommendation would not have been made by
him had he been aware of the actual facts." Continued...
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
August 6, 2004
Page 2 of 3 -- Meanwhile, a television advertising campaign began
yesterday featuring many of the anti-Kerry veterans who are quoted in
the
book, including Elliott. In the ad, Elliott says, ''John Kerry has not
been honest about what happened in Vietnam."
Asked to supply evidence to support that statement, the anti-Kerry
group provided a copy of Elliott's affidavit. Elliott said the same
affidavit had been used in the production of the book.
It is unclear whether the work contains further justification for
the assertion, beyond Elliott's statement.
Kerry won the Silver Star for his action on Feb. 28, 1969, in
which
he shot a Viet Cong soldier who had been carrying a rocket launcher and
running toward a hut. All of Kerry's crewmates who participated and are
still living said in interviews last year that the action was necessary
and appropriate, and it was Elliott who recommended Kerry for the Silver
Star.
In an interview for a seven-part biographical series that appeared
in the Globe last year, Kerry said: ''I don't have a second's question"
about killing the Viet Cong. ''He was running away with a live B-40,
and,
I thought, poised to turn around and fire it."
Asked whether that meant that he had shot the guerrilla in the
back,
Kerry said, ''No, absolutely not," adding that the enemy had been
running
to a hut for cover, where he could have destroyed Kerry's boat and
killed
the crew.
The forthcoming book is coauthored by Jerome R. Corsi and John
O'Neill, a former Vietnam naval officer who in 1971 debated Kerry on the
***** Cavett show, challenging Kerry's assertion that US atrocities had
been widespread in Vietnam. O'Neill met with then-President Richard M.
Nixon for an hour before debating Kerry, and his efforts were encouraged
by Nixon's aides.
O'Neill could not be reached for comment yesterday. President
Bush's
campaign denied working with O'Neill on the book or with the producers
of
the television advertisement.
Meanwhile, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, urged Bush
yesterday to disassociate himself from what he called a ''dishonest and
dishonorable" attack. In response, the White House spokesman, Scott
McClellan, said, ''We have not and we will not question Senator Kerry's
service in Vietnam."
The Associated Press reported yesterday that Houston home-builder
Bob J. Perry, a major Republican donor, gave at least $100,000 to the
organization sponsoring the ad, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
The Kerry campaign spokesman, Michael Meehan, said none of those
in
the ad had served on a boat with Kerry. ''Some of these men defended
John
Kerry's honor on his military record in 1996 and so they were either
lying
then or lying now," Meehan said. ''Either way, it is gutter politics."
The book also raises questions about the action of March 13, 1969,
for which Kerry was awarded a Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart,
according to an advance chapter of the book. Continued...
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
August 6, 2004
Page 3 of 3 -- The anti-Kerry group provided three affidavits from
veterans on nearby boats questioning aspects of the award.
On that day, Kerry rescued James Rassmann, who went overboard as a
result of an explosion. Rassmann appeared by Kerry's side during the
Iowa
caucus campaign and at last week's Democratic National Convention,
telling
the story of how Kerry pulled him out of the water while his boat was
under fire.
As in the case of the Silver Star, it was Elliott who recommended
Kerry for the Bronze Star. According to the recommendation signed by
Elliott, a mine exploded under a boat accompanying Kerry's craft.
''Almost simultaneously, another mine detonated close aboard
[Kerry's] PCF-94, knocking First Lieutenant Rassman [sic] into the water
and wounding Lt. JG Kerry in the right arm."
Elliott then described how Kerry ''managed to pull Lt. Rassman
aboard despite the painful wound in his right arm." Elliott concluded
that
Kerry had been ''calm, professional, and highly courageous in the face
of
enemy fire."
Elliott, in the interview yesterday, said that based on the
affidavits of the veterans on other boats, he now thinks his assessment
about the Bronze Star and third Purple Heart may have been based on poor
information.
In one affidavit, for example, Van O'Dell, who said he had been in
a
boat near Kerry on that day, declared that Kerry had ''lied" about what
happened on that day and said that Rassmann was not under enemy fire
when
Kerry pulled him aboard.
Elliott, asked about the contradiction between his recommendation
and his new questioning of Kerry's third Purple Heart, responded, ''It
makes me look kind of silly, to be perfectly honest."
But he said: ''I simply have no reason for these guys to be lying,
and if they are lying in concert, it is one hell of a conspiracy. So, on
the basis of all of the information that has come out, I have chosen to
believe the other men. I absolutely do not know first hand."
Naval documents said that Kerry ''received shrapnel wounds in left
buttocks and contusions on right forearm when a mine detonated close to
PCF 94 while engaged in operations on river. Condition and prognosis
excellent. Result of hostile action."
Rassmann, reached by telephone yesterday, said he has never had
any
question that Kerry deserved the Purple Heart. He said there were two
separate events: One was earlier in the day, when he and Kerry blew up a
rice cache, and the explosion caused some of the rice to hit Kerry, and
perhaps some weapon fragments as well. The second involved a mine
explosion as Kerry and Rassmann were on patrol. The explosion, Rassmann
said, knocked him overboard and threw Kerry against the pilot house,
injuring his arm.
Rassmann said that he has always believed that Kerry got the third
Purple Heart solely for the injury to his arm as a result of the
explosion
in the water.
''If he got fragments in the buttocks due to the mine, that is new
information to me," Rassmann said.
''I would say there is confusion. Maybe they did lump it together.
It was my understanding he got it for the wound being thrown across the
pilot house."
Either way, Rassmann said, Kerry deserved the third Purple Heart
because such awards are given for injuries incurred in combat, and
Kerry's
arm injury qualified. He also stood by his recollection that he was
under
fire when rescued by Kerry.
Those questioning Kerry's medals, Rassmann said, are ''angry about
John speaking out against the [Vietnam] war."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/06/veteran_retracts_cri
ticism_of_kerry/
.
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| User: "bollogs" |
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| Title: Re: Hey, Larry, Curly, Where's Moe? |
08 Aug 2004 04:36:00 AM |
|
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"eric davis" <ericdavisj600@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<n85Rc.49734$Vm1.1247921@news20.bellglobal.com>...
So two of the 3 Stooges stick up for each other reinforcing each other's
delusions. So what did you guys do to Moe? Your Leader?
eric.
P.S. Sorry numbskulls, it's true. Kerry's former commander did indeed
retract his statements. Don't cry now.
Strangely enough Eric I was in Malmö a few days ago and I met a big
thick yank in a pub...it actually occurred to me that it might be
pantyboy. He was from NJ too. The biggest thickest fucker you can
imagine...loved the monkey too. I had a great time taking the *****
outa him...he didn't even realise that I was taking the *****. Talk
about two planks...this yank was so fuckin' thick that it was
unbelievable. I bought the idiot a beer and half way through it he
started to go nuts...type "I'm American....you love me". "We're gonna
take those Arabs"...he was of course sitting in Malmö drinking beer
whilst his compatriots were in Iraq getting shot. He showed me his
passport and told me that it was the most valuable document in the
world...just his passport. The department of some kind of security had
told him so. I happened to have some friends with me...three of them
were Arabs who were not at all impressed with this idiot so I told him
to *****-off and went away. Then I got a load of ***** about how I
should be on his side and not the Arabs...he actually came over to the
table I was at and screamed at me that I was wrong and all Arabs were
conspiring to overthrow the govt.s of the western world.
I've noticed since I looked in here yesterday that pantyboy is
missing...could I have met the idiot in Malmö?
WH
.
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| User: "eric davis" |
|
| Title: Re: Hey, Larry, Curly, Where's Moe? |
08 Aug 2004 04:44:46 PM |
|
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"bollogs" <bollogs@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:a666e2c5.0408080135.7ec5b7e9@posting.google.com...
"eric davis" <ericdavisj600@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:<n85Rc.49734$Vm1.1247921@news20.bellglobal.com>...
So two of the 3 Stooges stick up for each other reinforcing each other's
delusions. So what did you guys do to Moe? Your Leader?
eric.
P.S. Sorry numbskulls, it's true. Kerry's former commander did indeed
retract his statements. Don't cry now.
Strangely enough Eric I was in Malmö a few days ago and I met a big
thick yank in a pub...it actually occurred to me that it might be
pantyboy. He was from NJ too. The biggest thickest fucker you can
imagine...loved the monkey too. I had a great time taking the *****
outa him...he didn't even realise that I was taking the *****. Talk
about two planks...this yank was so fuckin' thick that it was
unbelievable. I bought the idiot a beer and half way through it he
started to go nuts...type "I'm American....you love me". "We're gonna
take those Arabs"...he was of course sitting in Malmö drinking beer
whilst his compatriots were in Iraq getting shot. He showed me his
passport and told me that it was the most valuable document in the
world...just his passport. The department of some kind of security had
told him so. I happened to have some friends with me...three of them
were Arabs who were not at all impressed with this idiot so I told him
to *****-off and went away. Then I got a load of ***** about how I
should be on his side and not the Arabs...he actually came over to the
table I was at and screamed at me that I was wrong and all Arabs were
conspiring to overthrow the govt.s of the western world.
I've noticed since I looked in here yesterday that pantyboy is
missing...could I have met the idiot in Malmö?
WH
Big, Ignorant, and Stupid. Hmmm... could be Tony,
but did he have *****-Tits, and panties on his head?
eric.
.
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| User: "Cuan" |
|
| Title: Re: Hey, Larry, Curly, Where's Moe? |
10 Aug 2004 05:24:45 AM |
|
|
On 8 Aug 2004 02:36:00 -0700, (bollogs) wrote:
"eric davis" <ericdavisj600@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<n85Rc.49734$Vm1.1247921@news20.bellglobal.com>...
So two of the 3 Stooges stick up for each other reinforcing each other's
delusions. So what did you guys do to Moe? Your Leader?
eric.
P.S. Sorry numbskulls, it's true. Kerry's former commander did indeed
retract his statements. Don't cry now.
Strangely enough Eric I was in Malmö a few days ago and I met a big
thick yank in a pub...it actually occurred to me that it might be
pantyboy. He was from NJ too. The biggest thickest fucker you can
imagine...loved the monkey too. I had a great time taking the *****
outa him...he didn't even realise that I was taking the *****. Talk
about two planks...this yank was so fuckin' thick that it was
unbelievable. I bought the idiot a beer and half way through it he
started to go nuts...type "I'm American....you love me". "We're gonna
take those Arabs"...he was of course sitting in Malmö drinking beer
whilst his compatriots were in Iraq getting shot. He showed me his
passport and told me that it was the most valuable document in the
world...just his passport. The department of some kind of security had
told him so. I happened to have some friends with me...three of them
were Arabs who were not at all impressed with this idiot so I told him
to *****-off and went away. Then I got a load of ***** about how I
should be on his side and not the Arabs...he actually came over to the
table I was at and screamed at me that I was wrong and all Arabs were
conspiring to overthrow the govt.s of the western world.
I've noticed since I looked in here yesterday that pantyboy is
missing...could I have met the idiot in Malmö?
he fits the bill.
.
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