I have been trying not to write about this story for several days...really, ever since it came out, that many of John Kerry's fellow Vietnam Swift Boat veterans were coming out en masse declaring him Unfit for Command.
What was an isolated group of soldiers disgruntled with their experience with John Kerry has now become the number one selling book on Amazon...and it hasn't even been released. You can buy it here.
This is an interesting scenario because Kerry himself has made Vietnam an issue in this election. According to Wizbang, Kerry made an amazing 14 separate references to Vietnam in his DNC speech, ship captain metaphors notwithstanding. So you know the scale, Kerry mentioned the current locus of conflict, Iraq, just five times. I do not blame him for doing so. I personally respect and admire anyone who is brave enough to lay down his or her life for my freedoms. I will not question his patriotism about this matter and I don't have any issues, to speak of, about his anti-war exploits after coming home in 1969. I have not been to war and I am certainly in no position to judge. As far as I am concerned he is a war hero. Jim Rasmussen, who served with Kerry, had this to say in an Op/Ed piece in the Washington Post this morning:
Like I said, unequivocal war hero. Those were heroic actions, and I won't be convinced otherwise unless I am convinced that they simply didn't happen. Ironically, it's events that either happened or didn't that are going to make Kerry's Vietnam experience either a very good thing for him or a very bad one.On March 13, 1969, John Kerry's courage and leadership saved my life.
While returning from a SEA LORDS operation along the Bay Hap River, a mine detonated under another swift boat. Machine-gun fire erupted from both banks of the river, and a second explosion followed moments later. The second blast blew me off John's swift boat, PCF-94, throwing me into the river. Fearing that the other boats would run me over, I swam to the bottom of the river and stayed there as long as I could hold my breath.
When I surfaced, all the swift boats had left, and I was alone taking fire from both banks. To avoid the incoming fire, I repeatedly swam under water as long as I could hold my breath, attempting to make it to the north bank of the river. I thought I would die right there. The odds were against me avoiding the incoming fire and, even if I made it out of the river, I thought I'd be captured and executed. Kerry must have seen me in the water and directed his driver, Del Sandusky, to turn the boat around. Kerry's boat ran up to me in the water, bow on, and I was able to climb up a cargo net to the lip of the deck. But, because I was nearly upside down, I couldn't make it over the edge of the deck. This left me hanging out in the open, a perfect target. John, already wounded by the explosion that threw me off his boat, came out onto the bow, exposing himself to the fire directed at us from the jungle, and pulled me aboard.
Article comments
1 - RJ
The mainstream media is strongly anti-Bush and pro-Kerry. This blatant lie by Kerry will be brushed aside as "minor" and "unimportant." Those that continue to bring it up will be accused of using "smear tactics against a genuine war hero." Etc.
As I've said before, footage could come out tomorrow of Kerry butchering a pre-teen Vietnamese girl with a smile on his face, and the liberal press would immediately begin excusing it by talking of the "fog of war" and such. Sickening.
2 - Mark Edward Manning
This is a strange phenomenon, as many of the Vets lining up against Kerry stand to lose a lot of credibility if they allege that he did not act bravely in Vietnam and that his Purple Heart awards were not so sincere.
For me, this is especially intriguing as I have given Kerry the benefit of the doubt for his service, in fact defending him against the inflammatory charges of being a war criminal. Clearly there are those out there who do believe Kerry fought bravely in Vietnam and are crying for his head.
Then again, I also know that Kerry couldn't separate himself from his "band of brothers" soon enough upon getting back from the war and his activities and Senate record since coming home from 'Nam should rightly outrage and offend Vietnam Veterans. I always doubted that all Vietnam Vets just love Kerry as much as Kerry supporters stipulate.
3 - Shark
Kerry worships Satan
4 - Hal Pawluk
MEM: in fact defending him against the inflammatory charges of...
If that was a defense, please never ever step in to defend me.
What you did in that post was a back-handed smear.
5 - Brainster
Thanks for the link. I've been walking around in a daze for a week. :)
6 - Pat Schlegel
I read your article and I have something to ad to the Cambodia escapade. You are correct that Nixon was not President then, but it is also true that Nixon had not made the speech saying no Americans were in Cambodia until Nov. 1971.
I also take issue with the medals etc. but will address one small aspect here. Generally when someone relays a personal story the basics of the story remain unchangedm especially when it was an event that could have ended your life. In the case of Jim Rasmussen, that is not the case. These are quotes that I have uncovered using the limited resources I have.
Rassmann's river patrol of Swift boats had been blown out of the water in a barrage of fire from Viet Cong AK-47s and rocket launchers. He had come up for air, taking sniper fire from both banks, sure "my ticket was punched.''
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/08/MNGKO4RLT71.DTL
On March 13, 1969, Rassmann, a Green Beret, was traveling down the Bay Hap river in a boat behind Kerry’s when both were ambushed by exploding land mines and enemy fire coming from the shore. Kerry was hit in the arm, while a mine blew Rassmann’s boat out of the water. With enemy fire coming from both sides of the river and swift boats evacuating from the area, Kerry’s crew chose to turn their boat toward the ambush to save Rassmann.
http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0117d.html
Rassmann, a first lieutenant in the Army special forces, was eating a chocolate chip cookie on Kerry’s patrol boat as it pulled back from a fire fight when a nearby boat hit a mine. During the ensuing combat, Kerry’s boat was rocked by another explosion, which injured Kerry and tossed Rassmann into the water.
http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2004/07/22/76146.php
While returning from a SEA LORDS operation along the Bay Hap River, a mine detonated under another swift boat. Machine-gun fire erupted from both banks of the river, and a second explosion followed moments later. The second blast blew me off John's swift boat, PCF-94, throwing me into the river. Fearing that the other boats would run me over, I swam to the bottom of the river and stayed there as long as I could hold my breath.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005460
The group had already lost one soldier that day. As they sped down the river, one boat was blown out of the water, and then another. An explosion wounded Kerry in the arm and threw Rassmann into the river. Rassmann dove to the bottom to avoid being run over by the other boats. When he surfaced, he saw the convoy had gone ahead.
Viet Cong snipers fired at him, and Rassmann submerged over and over to avoid being hit. The bullets came from both banks, and Rassmann had nowhere to go. He began thinking his time had come, but the fifth time he came up, he saw the convoy had turned around. Kerry had ordered the boats back to pick up the man overboard.
http://www.htmlhelponline.com/kerry/news1.html