John Kerry's Vietnam Service Timeline

Kerry Edwards.com ^ | 8/14/04 | John Kerry Campaign Staff

[mondoman]

I began this as a reply to JohnHuang2, and it morphed into something more appropriate as a start to a thread. Please help to flesh this out with more facts pointing to inconsistencies in the Kerry claims.

Official John Kerry Time-Line from the JohnKerry.com site:

November 17, 1968
Upon completion of his training, Kerry reports for duty to Coastal Squadron 1, Coastal Division 14, Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam.

December 1968 through January 1969 Kerry commands PCF-44

December 2, 1968
Kerry experiences first intense combat; receives first combat related injury.
(Was this the "band-aid" wound?)

December 6, 1968
Kerry moved to Coastal Division 11 at An Thoi on Phu Quoc Island

December 13, 1968
Kerry moved to Coastal Division 13, Cam Ranh Bay

December 24, 1968
Kerry involved in combat during the Christmas Eve truce of 1968. The truce was three minutes old when mortar fire exploded around Lieutenant Kerry and his five-man crew. Reacting swiftly, John Kerry and his crew silenced the machine gun nest.

“I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia,” Kerry said in 1986 at a Senate committee hearing during a debate on U.S. policy toward Central America. “I remember what it was like to be shot at by the Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians and have the president of the United States telling the American people that I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia. I have that memory which is seared — seared — in me.” Kansas City Star, August 14, 2004

(There should be an after action report somewhere.)

[mondoman]

January 22, 1969
Kerry and other Swift boat commanders travel to Saigon for meeting with Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, Commander Naval Forces Vietnam (COMNAVFORV), and Gen. Creighton Abrams, Commander United States Military Assistance Command Vietnam (COMUSMACV)

(Nixon was inaugurated on Monday January 20, 1969. Could the new administration change the policy overnight to allow incursions into Cambodia?

Perhaps Adm. Zumwalt issued a set of Ultra Secret orders to Lt. Jg. Kerry for his new command: PT-109, oops I mean PCF-94, and his Band of Brothers. (sarcasm off )

Late January, 1969
Kerry joined his 5 man crew on PCF-94

Late January through Early March, 1969
Starting in late January 1969, this crew completed 18 missions over an intense and dangerous 48 days, almost all of them in the dense jungles of the Mekong Delta. Kerry's crew included engineman Eugene Thorson, later an Iowa cement mason; David Alston, then the crew's only African-American and today a minister in South Carolina; petty officer Del Sandusky of Illinois; rear gunner and quartermaster Michael Medeiros of California; and the late Tom Belodeau, who joined the crew fresh out of Chelmsford High School in Massachusetts. Others rotated in and out of the crew. The most intense action came during an extraordinary eight days of more than 10 firefights, remembered by Kerry's crew as the "days of hell."

The US invasion of Cambodia began in April of 1970, and although was a military success, was met with increasing unpopularity domestically, Remember Kent State?

The Cambodian Invasion April-July 1970 (eHistory)

mm

[TommyDale]

The Kerry Campaign has corrected the Kerry "Christmas in Cambodia" story quite well. The official stance today is that Kerry was actually thinking it was Christmas, but really it was Chinese New Year. You see, the Kerrys always celebrated Chinese New Year at home, rather than Christmas. Yeah, that's the ticket!

[bayourod]

I've heard several mentions of Kerry doing TWO tours of duty in Viet Nam. What's that about?

[mondoman]

Ping

[JustaCowgirl]

"Starting in late January 1969, this crew completed 18 missions over an intense and dangerous 48 days, almost all of them in the dense jungles of the Mekong Delta. Kerry's crew included engineman Eugene Thorson, later an Iowa cement mason; David Alston, then the crew's only African-American and today a minister in South Carolina; petty officer Del Sandusky of Illinois; rear gunner and quartermaster Michael Medeiros of California; and the late Tom Belodeau, who joined the crew fresh out of Chelmsford High School in Massachusetts. Others rotated in and out of the crew. The most intense action came during an extraordinary eight days of more than 10 firefights, remembered by Kerry's crew as the "days of hell."

Check out a very recent thread that supports the idea that Alston never served on PCF94 with Kerry. There does seem to be adequate documentation that Alston was wounded while serving under Tedd Peck in action of Jan. 29, 1969 on PCF94. Peck was seriously injured and never saw action on a Swift Boat again. Alston received a head wound and was hospitalized for a currently unspecified period of time. He certainly was not on PCF94 when Kerry took over command on Jan 30, 1969. However, it's not clear with the info currently available (that I've seen) whether and/or where Alston ever rotated back in.

[tobyhill]

Thank you Freepers,
After numerous attempts to get KC Star to run the article and numerous letters to the Head Publisher and Reader Rep, they finally gave in. This story is too important for any media to ignore. Although the story doesn't explain a lot of detail and allows the Kerry Campaign spokeperson to throw spin into it, it's a start. Kerry must provide a REASONABLE explanation for his claims and should sign the 180.
Again thank you Freepers

[1066AD]

Late January, 1969 Kerry joined his 5 man crew on PCF-94
Nice & vague.

From Jan. 30 to March 13, 1969, Kerry and the crew of the PCF-94 would conduct 18 missions in the Mekong Delta river system. In that time, Kerry would earn a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and add two Purple Hearts to the one he received earlier.

Bingo! Yachtzee! Alston received his serious wounds in that same exact battle that took Peck out of service. On January 29th, Alston was medevaced out to a hospital with head wounds and no records indicate that he ever returned to the unit. Kerry took command of PCF-94 the next day.

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/
Looks like the good Rverend never actually saw JK in action.

[genghis]

there aer a lot of unsolved problems
1- why did he enlist? my hunch is he was going to be drafted.
2- he left after 4 months. Why??
this just begs for an explanation- none exists. he did get his three purple hearts-but he never spent a day in the hospitol and was basically uninjured. But he was a menace to himself and others and my hunch is his commanding officers asked him to leave.
3- atrocities?? what villages did he burn down and why?
can he offer a more detailed version of his senate and cavett interview?
There are 90 people in qerry's press entourage are any of these hacks going to finish him off.
My hunch is anyone in the press can finish him in 20 minutes.

[TommyDale]

Why hasn't the KC Star been investigating the meeting where the Kerry anti-way group voted to assassinate four U.S. Senators? In fact, where is that story at all? If the SwiftVets video is causing Kerry damage, imaging what damage will be caused with the assassination meeting in Kansas City in 1971?

[mondoman]

I questioned it as well when I read the book "The Candidate".

His first tour was aboard a DD as Ensign: the tour include a station in the Gulf of Tonkin. He requested and received reassignment to PCF, which at the time looked easy, since they were tasked with packet duty from the fleet to shore. However, while in training, the PCF's were re tasked to a more aggressive mission up river.

IMHO, once JFK realized he was going to be in a shooting war (a lot more hazardous than most Navy roles in Vietnam, short of Naval Aviation), he started looking for a way to get out of Dodge, and found the 3-strikes-your-out provision.

JFK makes such a big deal, co-opting "Band of Brothers", but when you read the history with this title by Stephen E. Ambrose, the author makes it clear that casualties of E-Company always yearned for a way back to their "brothers in arms" and did not look for loopholes to a ticket home.

[spycatcher]

Here's a photo of Kerry's stealth swift boat used for super secret Christmas CIA missions into Cambodia

[TommyDale]

"...my hunch is his commanding officers asked him to leave."

"My hunch is anyone in the press can finish him in 20 minutes."

You have some good hunches. The first has already been confirmed by his former Commanding Officers. They sent him packing.

As for your second hunch, that would be true of any truly balanced and fair reporter. There aren't very many of those. However, blowing Kerry out of the water (pardon the pun) right now would not be good for the press. It would be better to do it right after the Republican Convention or just prior to the election, to at least give them some stories to cover for the next couple of months. If they kill the golden goose now, they would actually have to go out and FIND stories.

[tobyhill]

KC Star only caved in to run this story after severe pressure. I think they have chosen to ignore a lot in the past but are being called on it to do their job now. It's working. KC Star is owned by Knight Ridder which may explain a lot.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

"During the months of December and January in '68 and '69 (respectively), super-duper-secret-spy-soldier John Kerry worked alongside the SuperFriends: an experience which was seared -- SEARED! -- into his memory."

"You all HAVE to believe it!" a furious James Carville shrieked. "That costumed nuisance Kerry singlehandedly thwarted my diabolical master plan to transplant the mutant brain of Gorilla Grodd into the skull of KATIE COURIC! Damn Himmmmmmm -- !"

[Mr Ramsbotham]

... David Alston, then the crew's only African-American ....

So there was only one brother in the Band of Brothers? Pretty damned weak for a liberal.

[TexasCajun]

All the critique of Kerry's 4 months as a swift boat driver and his 5 medals is distracting voters from learning of Kerry's 20 years as the most liberal senator, including 6 years on the Senate Intelligence Committee where he missed 80% of its public hearings.

More attention needs to be made on his never-ending flopping and flipping, what he said and how he voted then compared to what he is saying now and how he says he will vote if he has time. Not enough was said when Kerry didn't have time get an updated intelligence briefing on new terrorist intel.

I understand the character issues revolving his military service, but let's try to publicize more of his senate record as part of the bigger issue as well.

I believe "Unfit For Command" alone will tarnish Kerry's war-protester turned hero image. And we need to keep the pressure up on Kerry to release his military record.

[ken21]

you should have seen the austin statesman yesterday!

big editorial on how evil the republicans are for even mentioning kerry's service.

and, lots of letters from vietnam service men complaining how evil the republicans are.

[claudiustg]

---However, blowing Kerry out of the water (pardon the pun) right now would not be good for the press. It would be better to do it right after the Republican Convention or just prior to the election, to at least give them some stories to cover for the next couple of months. If they kill the golden goose now, they would actually have to go out and FIND stories.---

If some reporter were to expose Alston, Kerry, and the DNC, that reporter might be looking at lifelong fame and a Pulitzer. Many reporters would out their mothers for that. The key is to get there first...

[Chieftain]

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[TexasCajun]

Regarding Kerry's military and post-military years aiding and comforting the enemy, I'd like to see our radio, television and print allies make more of an issue of Kerry's history of siding with our communist enemies. Kerry met with the N.Koreans communist in France and later Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua!

Who did I miss? Where is a good link for material on Kerry's meeting the N.Koreans in France?