Posted on 08/11/2004 6:58:57 PM PDT by bwteim
Swifty boats and purple hearts
by Ed Iverson
http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040811/Opinion/108110009
August 11, 2004
Kerry is busily featuring his Vietnam military record. Everyone knows that Bush is committed to a strong national defense and that as long as the focus is on the military threat to our country, Bush wins. I can only assume that Kerry is attempting to convince us poor schlubs that he is a fine warrior-guy; and that the nation will be safe with him as commander in chief. Verrry tricksy!
The following information is from a piece I read back in February. The source is reliable and it is confirmed by the recent complaints and revelations of former Swift Boat sailors. I pass it along now because Kerry has invited an examination of his military record by making it a central issue in the campaign. The following points at least deserve an explanation from the Kerry bunch.
Kerry's Vietnam tour lasted less than four months. In that very short time he collected a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts. This is a record unmatched by any Swift Boat personnel and would be extremely rare for units where commendations are much more common (The SEALs, the Sea Wolves, and The River Patrol Force, etc.). Just last week, we heard former Swift Boat sailors argue that collecting that much hardware so fast, and for such pedestrian actions, simply lacks credibility.
Three Purple Hearts but no limp! His injuries were so minor that he lost no time from duty. Amazing luck! Was he putting himself in for medals every time he bumped his head on the wheel house hatch? What! Combat on the boats was almost always at close range. Sailors 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. Lucky Jack Kerry? Still, very fishy.
The details for which Kerry received the bronze star make no sense. He beached the boat after taking fire and went ashore to dispatch a combatant that, according to the report, had to have been already dead. According to existing rules of engagement, he did everything wrong. Military procedures for Swift Boats prohibited beaching the boat and going ashore during or after a fire-fight. He should have been relieved and reprimanded. Instead, he was put up for a bronze star. Something is 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 heroes don't sell well in Massachusetts in 1970 so reinvents himself as Jane Fonda, and throws his ribbons in the dirt with the cameras running to jump start his political career.
He winds up in the Senate a few years later where he takes every possible opportunity to gut defense spending, and is on record as saying that the CIA is irrelevant after the Berlin Wall came down.
If all this is does not create anxiety about Kerry "reporting for duty," then consider this: He voted against the Gulf War...a big mistake since that turned out well. He decided not to make the same mistake twice so voted to invade Iraq in 2003. 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 certainly don't want this guy reporting for duty as our commander in chief. Do you?
FOFL!
Three other guys were fished out by two other boats during that action -- none of the personnel on them got any medals.
It comes down to who do you trust with your life
A known liar like Kerry
Or a known leader like Bush
I pick President Bush
True, and Klinger DID have integrity, a foreign concept to John F'n.
Where's your sense of adventure, Mo? You mean you don't like the thought of having terrorists blow up the mall where you're shopping with the kids? John F'n will talk to them and encourage them to dialogue. Of course, I don't either, but I thought maybe it was just me. < /sarcasm >
Good idea, lawgvr.
jigsaw, new tagline!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1188088/posts
That seems to be the case. All show, no go - or a magician whose tricks always flop (see 14)
Kerry's thinks we should hug a terrorists.. peace love not war
Sorry .. I'm sticking with the cowboy ..
bttt
Very good. Thank you.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.