Kerry's PCF (Swift) Boats Records [Where Is He?]

Swift Boats Net ^ | Composite

[Hon]

Kerry commanded his first swift boat, No. 44, from December 1968 through January 1969. He received no medals while serving on this craft.

Kerry experienced his first intense combat action on Dec. 2, 1968. He was slightly wounded on his arm, earning his first Purple Heart.

In late January 1969, Kerry joined a five-man crew on swift boat No. 94 completing 18 missions over 48 days, almost all of them in the Mekong Delta.

Kerry earned his second Purple Heart after sustaining a minor shrapnel wound in his left thigh on Feb. 20, 1969.

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February 28, 1969: When Kerry's Patrol Craft Fast 94 received a B-40 rocket shot from shore, he hot dogged his craft beaching it in the center of the enemy position. To his surprise, an enemy soldier sprang up from a hole not ten feet from Patrol Craft 94 and fled. The boat's machine gunner hit and wounded the fleeing Viet Cong as he darted behind a hootch. The twin .50s gunner fired at the Viet Cong. He said he "laid 50 rounds" into the hootch before Kerry leaped from the boat and dashed in to administer a "coup de grace" to the wounded Viet Cong. Kerry returned with the B-40 rocket and launcher. Kerry was given a Silver Star for his actions.

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Kerry and crew stand together in An Thoi, Vietnam, on February 28, 1969, after presentation of Kerry's Silver Star. He also received a Purple Heart for a minor wound. From left: Del Sandusky, John Kerry, Gene Thorson, Thomas Belodeau. Kneeling from left, Mike Medeiros, Fred Short.

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On March 13, 1969, a mine detonated near Kerry's boat, slighting wounding Kerry in the right arm. He was awarded his third Purple Heart. PCF (Patrol Craft Fast) 94 crew in March 1969, from left, Gene Thorson, David Alston, Thomas Belodeau, Del Sandusky, and John Kerry.

PCF 44
Crew	e-mail Address	Dates	Base	Comments
		17 April 1966	Cam Ranh Bay	first arrived in South Vietnam
Leland M. Mills, LT, OinC		4/66-??	Cam Ranh Bay	??Glenview, IL??
George Hoover, BM2		4/66-??	Cam Ranh Bay
David Franklin Parsons Jr, RM3	brenda.parsons@version.net	4/66-??	Cam Ranh Bay	Lakeland, FL
Francis Joseph "Sonny" Buchta, EN3		4/66-5/66	Cam Ranh Bay	Dayton, TX
Cox, GMG3		4/66-??	Cam Ranh Bay
Wayne Watkins, SN		4/66-??	Cam Ranh Bay
Lucian Gale Jewell, EN1		5/66-1/67	Cam Ranh Bay	Dawson Springs, KY
James A. Colombo, LT, OinC	Midnightvette@cs.com	??-6/67	Cam Ranh Bay	Hagerstown, MD
James Stephen Matheny, RMSN	jsm4914@peoplepc.com	3/67-6/67	Cam Ranh Bay	Granite, IL
Michael Gene Cosper, GMG3		??-6/67	Cam Ranh Bay
Gary Earl Nolan, RM3		??-6/67	Cam Ranh Bay
Ralph E. Duerre, LTJG, OinC		?/67-12/67	Cam Ranh Bay	was from Ithaca, NY
Joseph R. LaVoie II, QM1	JLavoie101@.aol.com	67-68	Cam Ranh Bay	Kent, WA
W.P. "Sonny" Taylor, RD2	tnfayette@aol.com	5/67-3/68	Cam Ranh Bay	Oakland, TN
		12/27/67-4/30/68		overhaul in Sasebo, Japan
Robert T. Grace, LTJG, OinC		5/68-??	Cam Ranh Bay	Virginia Beach, VA
MacKinnon, QM2		5/68-??	Cam Ranh Bay
Goss, BM3		5/68-??	Cam Ranh Bay
Anthony, EN2		5/68-??	Cam Ranh Bay
Donald J. Shaw, RD2		5/68-7/68	Cam Ranh Bay	Northbrook, IL
Robert Allen Kreyer, GMG2	bkreyer@egcrc.net	5/68-8/68	Cam Ranh Bay	Novoto, CA
John Everet Repshire, EN1	russpr@st-tel.net	6/68-??	Cam Ranh Bay	Russell Springs, KS
Peter V. Carey, LTJG, OinC			Cam Ranh Bay	was from Farmington, CT
Thomas Williams Wright III, LT, OinC	twright3@hotmail.com	11/68-4/69	An Thoi	Savannah, GA
James T. Thompson, EN2		11/68-4/69	An Thoi
George E. Bobb III, RD3		11/68-4/69	An Thoi	Westerville, OH
William J. Newman, BM3		11/68-4/69	An Thoi
Donald Eugene Kinser, BMSN		11/68-4/69	An Thoi
Frederick  J. Nastasuk, GMGSN		11/68-4/69	An Thoi
Michael A. Adkins, LTJG, OinC		6/69-5/70		La Mesa, CA
		31 October 1969	Saigon	transferred to South Vietnamese Navy
PCF 3851

- PCF 44 and 6 other swifts were delivered to Cam Ranh Bay, from Subic Bay, PI, onboard the USS Tortuga, LSD-29 on 17 April 1966.   While offloading, at night, from the LSD, one (1) boat suffered a damaged screw and four (4) others damaged skegs.

- PCFs 43, 44 and 47 stopped an infiltration attempt by taking an enemy arms trawler under fire and destroying it, 29 February 1968.

- In August 1969, a ceramic gunshield was installed on mount 52 for evaluation.   The disadvantages of restricting the movement of the .50 caliber mount, with the after pin removed, the restricted viewing area, due to the height of the shield, and the fact that it was a one shot item, that would have to be replaced after any damage, ruled out any further installations.

PCF 94
Crew	e-mail Address	Dates	Base	Comments
		October 1966	An Thoi	first arrived in South Vietnam
Thomas S. Winslow, LTJG, OinC		5/67-5/68	An Thoi	Oakland, CA
Quint, RM1		5/67-5/68	An Thoi
Carlyle John Brown, EN2	johnbrown578@aol.com	5/67-5/68	An Thoi	Watervliet, MI
Guraltemo, GMG2		5/67-5/68	An Thoi
James L. Brookshire, BM3	jbrook1029@aol.com	5/67-12/67	An Thoi
Mike ????, SN		5/67-5/68	An Thoi	Navajo Indian
Thomas M. Herritage II, OinC		3/68-3/69		Novi, MI
Larry James Balok, OinC	seascow@msn.com	7/68-11/68	An Thoi	Bradenton, FL
James L. Miller, RD1	jlmiller@tscnet.com	7/68-11/68	An Thoi
Kenneth Poole, EN2		7/68-11/68	An Thoi
Vern Radcliff, GMG3		7/68-11/68	An Thoi
		11/9/68-1/17/69		overhaul at NSF Cat Lo
Edward Robert "Tedd" Peck, LTJG, OinC	tpeck49@cableone.net	1/69-1/69	An Thoi	Santa Rosa, CA
Delbert Sandusky, QM1		1/69-1/69	An Thoi
Eugene Kenneth "Thor" Thorson, EN2		1/69-1/69	An Thoi	Ames, IA
Michael Richard Eugene Medeiros, QM2		1/69-1/69	An Thoi	San Leandro, CA
Stanley E. Jenereski, RD2	Jenereski@aol.com	1/69-1/69	An Thoi	Southborough, MA
Daniel Salinas II, LTJG, OinC		1/69-??	An Thoi
Joseph Edward Muharsky, RD2	ndc@mwwed.com	1/69-4/69	An Thoi	Mentor, OH
Larry G. Potter, QM2		1/69-??	An Thoi
James Barry Bogart, EN3	bogey67401@yahoo.com	1/69-8/69	An Thoi	Salina, KS
Dalmas K. Coates, BM3	dalyeame@midusa.net	1/69-??	An Thoi	Wamego, KS
Chris Whalen, GMGSN		1/69-??	An Thoi
Henry "Buddy" Berman, QM2	buddyb@atlantic.net	5/69-7/69	An Thoi	DeLeon Springs, FL
Alfonso Abrego Garza, RD3	algarza@earthlink.net	6/69-6/70	An Thoi/Cat Lo	Richmond, TX
John Ellis O'Neill, LTJG, OinC	oneilljohn@copn.com	9/69-3/70	An Thoi/Cat Lo	Houston, TX
Harry George McConnell, LTJG, OinC	hmcconnell@daytonalaw.com	12/69-11/70	Cat Lo	Ormond Beach, FL
Bradford Miles Slepicka, RD3	ElbowG97@aol.com	9/70-10/70	Cat Lo/Sa Dec	Katy, TX
		1 October 1970	Cat Lo	transferred to South Vietnamese Navy
PCF 3915

- On 29 January 1969, PCFs 5, 72, 93 and 94, together with units of COSDIV 13, conducted operations in the Cua Lon river.  PCFs 72 and 94 came under fire while probing a side canal resultings in 3 USN WIA and light damage to PCF 94.

- PCF-94, in company with PCFs 22, 35 and VNN PCF-3806, 14 January 1970, were supporting a troop sweep when PCF-94 was hit by a claymore mine resulting in two (2) friendly WIA and damage to the hull and one engine.

- While patrolling on the Rac Giang Thanh, 25 April 1970, PCFs 3 and 94 came under heavy AK-47 and B-40 rocket attack.  Three (3) B-40 rockets detonated close aboard PCF-94, causing shrapnel damage, the starboard bow was also hit by 9 AK-47 rounds.  One crewman on PCF-3 was wounded.  The PCFs suppressed the fire and then spotted for a SEAWOLVES strike on the surrounding area.

[12B]

Frankly I think it's pretty weak to go after Kerry on his combat experiences. I don't see anything here but a bunch of conjecture about what, exactly, he may or may have not done.

Hit the guy for all its worth on his post-war hippie protesting and his loopy-lefty politics. But during the war he seems to have done his job and caught some frag a couple of times. That's pretty much good enough for me. Hell, I never got wounded except for a couple of pull-tab incidents.

[onyx]

Thank you, backhoe. You ARE the best.

[Hon]

"Which one of these events describes JFKerry pulling aboard that wounded Republican?"

None that I can see. But to be fair, they're pretty sketchy about things.

But it is remarkable the stuff they do mention--since some of it sounds quite mundane.

[backhoe]

Thank you- and I see my complaint about laffercurve at #21 got answered, too. Life is good.

[dalebert]

I thought that strange also.

[VadeRetro]

Sure, but this was a coup de grace.

OK, I see what you're going for with the "by definition." Nevertheless, you don't make a war crimes tribunal out of some writer's perhaps unintentionally incriminating turn of phrase unless that writer was Kerry himself in the after-action report.

[T'wit]

It's up there on February 28.

My correspondent insisted he should have been court-martialed for beaching his boat.

[Hon]

"Probably because he was too close to safely fire, he turned around and ran. Kerry jumped off the boat, ran after him and shot him before he could fire the B-40. His action likely saved the boat and crew."

I'm a little surprised at the twist this discussion has taken, but so be it.

There are numerous descriptions of Kerry's SS event, including the one you give. What I find surprising, is that in all of them he is described as RUNNING after the VC.

This was supposed to have taken place very shortly after his supposedly most serious wound--shrapnel in the thigh--which he claimed cost him two service days in the hospital. (His CO said he lost no duty days from his wounds.)

What was he doing running after VC when he had just been wounded in the thigh?

[Just mythoughts]

WEAK. Apparently you have missed the new standard set forth over the past couple of weeks.

Only military records proves what one claims. Until JFKerry makes his records public we cannot believe anything he says.

Should be no big deal for the Senator to release his military records after all he wants to be president and that is what presidents are required to do now, release their military records, that gives credibility.

[onyx]

LOL! Yes, #21 is deleted. That bad, huh?

[Fenris6]

A rocket launcher and one rocket round were recovered, brought back to the boat by Kerry. Thus, the VC soldier must be assumed a threat to destroy the boat unless one of the .50 cal rounds took him out.

Agreed. But 50 cal has tremendous knockdown power. Wouldn't be surprised to discover the victim laying yards away from his weapons after being sprayed by 50 cal.

I can't prove Kerry didn't shoot a dead or dying man, or a man trying to surrender. Kerry is the only one still alive who saw what happened inside the "hooch."

Right. But using the media's new "Bush standard", Kerry should at least be grilled on this: "Did you murder a helpless enemy for your Silver Star?" BTW - if Kerry went to the hooch alone, who wrote him up for the medal? Usually you need a witness to submit it. Or did Kerry write himself up for his own medal?

[cajun-jack]

if he was their CO, you can bet your last pair of clean socks they will remember him. I served with a lot of great guys, but over time, have trouble remembering their names or where exactly they were from.

BUT i can damn sure name every butterbar i ever had to deal with!!!!

[PhiKapMom]

What we need to do is have some people start demanding the citations along with the write-ups for the Silver Star of Kerry. They are in his records and he should be releasing them. I would like to know just who signed off on that Silver Star and what it was awarded for since the RATs have made a huge deal out of his medals.

Would say request under the Freedom of Information Act but Pres Bush will be out of office after serving four more years before that ever gets processed and records turned over.

[sonofatpatcher2]

Re: Sure? I specifically remember being told during 50 cal training that it was against the Geneva Convention or something along those lines to use it on personnel - because I recall alot of us rolling our eyes when we heard that. But maybe I've got it mixed up with the 25mm APDST.

Where in the world did you get this training? F-Troop?

The Geneva Convention does not say that about .50 cal nor 25mm nor 155 Howies. Gad, to claim that is a crook of horse hooey...

[Admin Moderator]

Hit reload and the bad stuff will go away.

[yatros from flatwater]

More in mining the data, of the captioned sailors in the pictures posted:

QM2 Medeiros appears in the crew of PCF 94 in 1/69, and sometime after on PCF 66 concurrent with the Kerry listing.

RDSN Belodeau and GMG3 Short appear on the crew of PCF 66 only and not PCF 44 or 94, similar to LtJG Kerry.

[Hon]

I believe Kerry's Silver Star citation has been made public--it gets quoted here and there.

But his MEDICAL RECORDS, which would show the extent of these three wounds--which got him Purple Hearts and a ticket out of VN, have not been released.

The Boston Globe asked Kerry to waive his privacy rights and allow them to be released--but he has REFUSED.

"Kerry declined a request from the Globe to sign a waiver authorizing the release of military documents that are covered under the Privacy Act and that might shed more light on the extent of the treatment Kerry needed as a result of the wounds."

http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/kerry/061603.shtml

[Poodlebrain]

Isn't it interesting that the U.S. Navy can make clerical errors as to the unit assignments of its officer corps with full-time personnel assigned maintain such records, but the Texas and Alabama National Guard are expected to have perfect personnel records with part-time personnel.

[Dustoff45]

Kerry leaped from the boat and dashed in to administer a "coup de grace" to the wounded Viet Cong. Kerry returned with the B-40 rocket and launcher. Kerry was given a Silver Star for his actions.

I am just somewhat troubled by this report. I was an Army "DustOff" pilot for 12 months in VietNam, mostly 1968, I and II corps. We moved patients from the battle-field to the hospital.

I seemed to remember carrying quite a few Viet Cong suspects. Maybe this VC (running away at the time) turned and aimed his grenade launcher at the young Lt., but putting a wounded person out of their misery, who had given up the fight, does not seem to warrant a Silver Star.

Also, there were many opportunities to obtain Purple Hearts. One troop, running to the bunker during a mortar attack, tripped and fell, earning himself a purple heart. Hopefully he used that later to gain extra points toward a job.

My father came back from WWII disabled and I have been around Disabled American Vets (DAV) much of my life. When I think Purple Heart, I usually think, missing/maimed limb, disfigurement, blindness, not a minor shrapnel wound where the medic pulled out the frag with a pair of tweezers. My big question - Why did young Lt. Kerry come home so soon.? Most Vets served 12-13 months. Some extended their initial tour. Toward the end many were sent back for 2nd and 3rd tours.

[VadeRetro]

Right. But using the media's new "Bush standard", Kerry should at least be grilled on this: "Did you murder a helpless enemy for your Silver Star?"

This I can agree with. It's absolutely not the way things ought to be done but it's absolutely what the presstitutes do without shame to Republicans.