Something's fishy.

The Essex Soapbox ^ | February 17, 2004 | Mike Morrison

[Bubba_Leroy]

I've long thought that John Kerry's war record was phoney. We talked about it when you were here. It's mainly been instinct because, as you know, nobody who claims to have seen the action he does would so shamelessly flaunt it for political gain.

I was in the Delta shortly after he left. I know that area well. I know the operations he was involved in well. I know the tactics and the doctrine used. I know the equipment. Although I was attached to CTF-116 (PBRs) I spent a fair amount of time with CTF-115 (swift boats), Kerry's command.

Here are my problems and suspicions:

(1) Kerry was in-country less than four months and collected, a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three purple hearts. I never heard of anybody with any outfit I worked with (including SEAL One, the Sea Wolves, Riverines and the River Patrol Force) collecting that much hardware so fast, and for such pedestrian actions. The Swifts did a commendable job. But that duty wasn't the worst you could draw. They operated only along the coast and in the major rivers (Bassac and Mekong). The rough stuff in the hot areas was mainly handled by the smaller, faster PBRs. Fishy.

(2) Three Purple Hearts but no limp.. All injuries so minor that no time lost from duty. Amazing luck. Or he was putting himself in for medals every time he bumped his head on the wheel house hatch? Combat on the boats was almost always at close range. You didn't have minor wounds. At least not often. Not three times in a row. Then he used the three purple hearts to request a trip home eight months before the end of his tour.. Fishy.

(3) The details of the event for which he was given the Silver Star make no sense at all. Supposedly, a B-40 (rocket propelled grenade) was fired at the boat and missed. Charlie jumps up with the launcher in his hand, the bow gunner knocks him down with the twin .50 (caliber machine guns), Kerry beaches the boat, jumps off, shoots Charlie, and retrieves the launcher. If true, he did everything wrong. (a) Standard procedure when you took rocket fire was to put your stern to the action and go (away) balls to the wall. A B-40 has the ballistic integrity of a Frisbee after about 25 yards, so you put 50 yards or so between you and the beach and begin raking it with your .50's. (b) Did you ever see anybody get knocked down with a .50 caliber round and get up? The guy was dead or dying. The rocket launcher was empty. There was no reason to go after him (except if you knew he was no danger to you - just flopping around in the dust during his last few seconds on earth, and you wanted some derring-do in your after-action report). And we didn't shoot wounded people. We had rules against that, too. (c) Kerry got off the boat. This was a major breach of standing procedures. Nobody on a boat crew ever got off a boat in a hot area. EVER! The reason was simple. If you had somebody on the beach your boat was defenseless. It couldn't run and it couldn't return fire. It was stupid and it put his crew in danger. He should have been relieved and reprimanded. I never heard of any boat crewman ever leaving a boat during or after a firefight.

Something is very fishy.

Here we have a JFK wannabe who is hardly in Vietnam long enough to get a good tan, collects medals faster than Audie Murphy in a job where lots of medals weren't common, gets sent home eight months early, requests separation from active duty a few months after that so he can run for Congress, finds out war heros don't sell well in Massachusetts in 1970 so reinvents himself as Jane Fonda, throws his ribbons in the dirt with the cameras running to jump start his political career, gets Stillborn Pell to invite him to address Congress and Bobby Kennedy's speechwriter to do the heavy lifting, winds up in the Senate himself a few years later, votes against every major defense bill, says the CIA is irrelevant after the Wall (Berlin) came down, votes against the Gulf War, a big mistake since that turned out well, decides not to make the same mistake twice so votes for invading Iraq, but oops, that didn't turn out so well so he now says he really didn't mean for Bush to go to war when he voted to allow him to go to war.

I'm real glad you or I never had this guy covering out flanks in Vietnam. I sure don't want him as Commander in Chief. I hope that somebody from CTF-115 shows up with some documented facts challenging Kerry's Vietnam record.

I know in my gut it's wildly inflated. And fishy.

This e-mail was written by Mike Morrison, who won a bronze star in Vietnam and who is now retired, but wrote speeches for Lee Iacocca for many years. It was sent to his brother Ed, who sent it to one of our readers who follows such matters. -Ed.-

[longtermmemmory]

Is it out of copyright? It would be a perfect candidate for an e-book.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I'm alerting my husband - his group on Military.com has some really good investigators - they come across frauds all the time..... perhaps someone there can do some more intensive research

[Shooter 2.5]

Thanks.

The dems have really scrapped the bottom to run this guy. A divorced[Yeah, I can say it] guy who married wealthy women, admitted war criminal, a senator who's never at the Capitol to vote and a guy who's to the left of Teddy, the swimmer.

The only thing I can think of is as long as the media is feeding information to an ignorant public, the race will be a close one.

[bray]

Yaaaawn Cash & Kerry mentions his tour in VN about every third sentence, yet nobody asks about his medals. The guy is a bigger hero than Sgt Murphy and nobody asks. Maybe he is as big a phony as we all think he is???

Pray for W and The Truth

[Frank_Discussion]

Thanks, Howlin.

I just read this, and I feel it goes beyond simple opinion. The number of disconnects do not connect very well at all. If you try to string enough of Kerry's claims, it's like trying to stack marbles in a corner.

There are a number of things to consider, and one that has stuck out in my mind is when he went after the rocketeer on the beach, after having carved him up with a fifty-cal, he may have seriously broken the rules of engagement. Plus, he had immediately anchored his boat and crew to the location, figuratively, putting them in needless danger. I am not a military man, but it seems this to me is not a very pretty thing for Kerry to hang his hat upon.

[Big Horn]

Makes sense to me. I can't believe Kerry's war record.

[Mo1]

Does anybody know wat his family background really is? Does he have any senators or D.C. power players in his family tree?

His mother is a Forbes .. and he once dated Jackie Kennedy's step sister

[Petronski]

Can we get verification of these claims from our Freeper Vietnam Vets?

[Texagirl4W]

My brother served in Vietnam in 1966 and 1971 - both time for a year - both times leaving a wife and 4 children at home. But to get him to talk about it later was like pulling teeth. He just did what needed to be done.

He passed away in November 2000 and was buried the day we elected George W. Bush president, November 7, 2000. He didn't have to talk about his tour of duty in Vietnam for you to know he was a great man. I miss him so much.

I wish john kerry would shut up. He doesn't know the first thing about serving honorably.

[nutmeg]

bump

[ridesthemiles]

I read that Kerry had his records sealed.

How can he do that? Who does he apply to? Who grants that happening? Now, it sounds even more fishy.

[nicmarlo]

BTTT

[GeronL]

where is that link to the picture of YOUNG Kerry with the real JFK on the boat???

[Samwise]

bump

[longtermmemmory]

Do we want to eliminate kerry before Supertuesday? What about edwards?

[Intolerant in NJ]

Was Kerry such a pain in the a$$ to his superiors - protesting the use of "free-fire" zones, refusing to follow orders, and all - but so well connected, that they paid him off with a medal or two and arranged a trip out of their command with three negligible combat wounds?........

[Doc On The Bay]

Nearly Everyone with a Combat Medal I have encountered has Declined to Discuss the "Medal Incident!!"--EXCEPT "J.F.Kerry!!"

Hmmmmmm.

Doc

[Mo1]

How can he do that? Who does he apply to? Who grants that happening? Now, it sounds even more fishy.

When the Boston Globe did their story they requested to see his military records and Kerry denied the request

It's my understanding that because of personal information that are in these records they can't just be released to anyone

[eddie willers]

Sneaky....if you aren't locked out this would be a great time to come back.

I'd sure like to get your take on this.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Didja see this?