Henry, I usually agree with most of what you post but I disagree on the Swiftboat ads. I think they raise issues the public needs to know about, such as Kerry meeting with the North Vietnamese, his testimony to Congress, his accusations regarding war crimes being committed by U.S. soldiers and marines, and the impact his testimony had on our POWs. I also have a lot of problems with Kerry's Vietnam record.
--Going back to pick up the special forces officer is meeting the requirements of the job. He should not have left him in the water in the first place. He should have stayed on station to retrieve the man at the time it happened. I was an artillery forward observer with U.S. and Australian special forces in 1968 and if I had ever cut and run leaving them without artillery support they would have hunted me down and shot me. You don't get medals for staying with your men and defending them. It is a requirement of the job as a commander. It is basic leadership.
--Three purple hearts for scratches? There isn't a marine or army lieutenant alive that wouldn't have a couple of dozen purple hearts under Kerry's criteria. I got all kinds of crap like that plus I had amoebic dysentary for three months dropping to 155 pounds yet never was pulled off my assignments as an FO for special forces, LRRPs, Korean infantry and ARVN Rangers. We had fire fights almost every day. You only got a purple heart if you took a bullet or major shrapnel and got medi-vac'd out. Otherwise, antiseptics and butter fly stitches and continue the mission.
--Putting in for your own Bronze Star and Silver Star by writing embellished situation reports is repugnant. I received a Bronze Star. The recommendations came to my Battalion Commander from the units I supported. You don't put in for your own awards.
--The movie videos. Have you seen the one with Kerry walking around the vietnamese village? Who the hell took that? Did Kerry bring a movie camera to document his work so it could be used for his political agendas one day? I never saw a movie camera in Vietnam. I didn't even have a still camera, it was stolen from my jeep trailer when I was out on an operation. This was planned, he wanted movie pictures for his future plans. And he looked like such a newby, you don't walk around a potentially hostile village like that. Look at these kids in Iraq watching every damn thing that moves, thats a soldier and a marine. He was posing for the movie camera.
--Getting out in four months because of three wounds. I had never heard of that "guideline" ever and I had guys in my automatic weapons unit that would have qualified for that. I was in the 1968 TET offensive as a platoon leader in Heavy Automatic Weapons (Dusters/Quad 50s) running convoy escort up into the Central Highlands to Pleiku. In that one week period I could have sent half my unit home on that rule. I think it is highly possible he is the only person ever to invoke that guideline during Vietnam. How did he even find out about it. Or was it made up just for him?
--Then he gets a state side job as an AA to an Admiral and in Washington to be close to the political action. But it gets worse, he tells the Admiral he doesn't want to be in the Navy any more so they let him out early! And he started on Bush and the National Guard? I couldn't even get out of Vietnam for Christmas when my year ended on Dec 31st. I flew a combat mission the day I left for the states calling in air strikes and artillery as a Forward Air Controller and this bastard leaves after four months and gets an early-out. Not only did I put in my two years of active duty with a full year in Vietnam, I was then called up to an active reserve unit when I was told Vietnam vets weren't going to get called up so I did another two years of active reserve duty. Where was Kerry? Giving false congressional testimony.
--But then he co-founds Vietnam Vets against the war and tells everyone I, and all my marine and army peers, are war crimes criminals while he meets with the enemy, throws his medals away and hangs out with Jane Fonda. I loved his testimony with his phony accent sounding like an Episcopalian high priest.
How he thought he was going to get away with this charade is beyond me. When he graduated from Yale he was quoted as saying he was going to try to become President. It seems every move he made was calculated to cover all bases. Spend some time in Vietnam, get some medals and awards, don't get too dirty, be a war protester, make contacts, have some movies and documentation, tell lies to Congress.
All the Swiftboat vets have been doing is to try and expose some of this charade and it needs to be exposed. Bush was blasted for getting favorable treatment. No one has had more favorable and special treatment than John Kerry. To that end, virtually no Vietnam vet that I know, and I am in veterans organizations, supports John Kerry for his actions during that phase of his life and for the most part do not intend to vote for him.
No spin here folks, this is not my opinion it is my actual life experiences.