Posted on 08/19/2004 2:00:49 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CNSNews.com) - A member of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has alleged that John Kerry's own report 35 years ago was the basis for the military records that the Washington Post used in an article Thursday seeking to discredit the veteran, Larry Thurlow.
At issue is whether Thurlow, Kerry and others were subjected to hostile gunfire on Vietnam's Bay Hap River on March 13, 1969, as military records obtained by the Washington Post indicate.
Thurlow currently asserts that there was no gunfire, a contradiction of the military records cited in the Washington Post article. The Post was not able to show the source of the information for the military records.
Thurlow believes Kerry wrote the after-action reports that served as the basis for the military records, including the ones applying to Thurlow. He told CNSNews.com that Kerry routinely asked to write the reports, which, Thurlow said, exaggerate and falsify Kerry's actions. He said an examination of those reports reveals that Kerry was often portrayed as a hero, when that wasn't necessarily the case.
"In all honesty, knowing John wasn't reliable and wasn't trustworthy, I didn't expect him to do this," Thurlow said. "If he wanted to embellish his own account a little bit, I could even live with that because a lot of people are that way."
Both Thurlow and Kerry were awarded the Bronze Star medal for their actions on the Bay Hap River.
Kerry's own account is that during the Bay Hap River incident, he rescued another veteran, Jim Rassmann, while coming under fire from the Viet Cong. Rassmann backs up Kerry's version of events. But Thurlow said the awards, including his own, may have been inappropriately handed out as a result of a false report filed by Kerry.
"We were never under hostile fire," Thurlow told CNSNews.com as he recalled the events of March 13, 1969. "And if that's something that has to happen for me to get that Bronze Star, then I have had it all these years under false pretenses. I'll be happy to return the thing. I don't want the thing under fraudulent circumstances."
As reported by the Washington Post, the Navy award recommendation of March 23, 1969, indicated that Thurlow and Kerry had been subjected to "small arms and automatic weapons fire" along the Bay Hap River. Thursday's article in the Post used that statement, included in Thurlow's military records, to contradict Thurlow's current claim that there was no gunfire.
"The hostile fire is based entirely on [Kerry's] report," Thurlow said. "My contention, both then and now, is that there was no hostile fire."
Thurlow continued: "I had no clue, though, that he was building the centerpiece of his run for the presidency on it. There's no way I could have. Despite the fact he was known to have told several people that he was going to be president of the United States when he grew up, anybody could say that. John, it turns out, was very serious."
A spokeswoman for the Kerry campaign didn't immediately return CNSNews.com's request for comment. But Kerry denounced the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, of which Thurlow is a member, during a speech Thursday.
"They're a front for the Bush campaign," Kerry said. "And the fact that the president won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything that you need to know - he wants them to do his dirty work."
When asked about the personal attacks he's endured since coming forward, Thurlow expressed disappointment. He said he merely wants to the truth about Kerry to be documented.
"What they're trying to do is discredit us," Thurlow said of the Kerry campaign. "If they can make anyone think we're not factual and not telling the truth, they've won that round."
If he could go back to Vietnam and do anything over again, he said he wouldn't have allowed Kerry to write the after-action reports.
"Back then, John would actually volunteer to write them up," Thurlow said. "He wouldn't be the officer in tactical command very often because he was fairly junior in the sense of who had been in country the longest.
"Nobody wanted to write these things," he added. "You're already drained from hours out on whatever the situation was. You wanted to clean up, get something to eat and get some sleep. John would say, 'I'll write this up.' [We'd say], 'Go for it, John.'
Proving that Kerry falsified reports is difficult, Thurlow acknowledged. He said higher-ranking commanders often gave a rubber-stamp signature to the reports because they trusted their officers to be honest.
"We accepted, whoever did it, to do it accurately," Thurlow said. "I myself expected him to do the right thing. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have even let him do it. But at that time, I was more than happy to let him do it. I know something now that I did not know then."
See Related Story:
Kerry Says Bush Letting Others Do His Dirty Work (Aug. 19, 2004)
E-mail a news tip to Robert B. Bluey.
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That whole segment was VERY interesting! Brit is really getting into details. Go Brit!
Was clinton pointing his finger when he made those statements? That's what he does when he tells a BIG LIE!!!! (I've seen him do the finger-pointing routine not only in the "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" scene, but also when lying about the Serbs.)
The REAL reason why these 30-year-old military records are an issue in this campaign is that Kerry has been a complete dud and 75% absentee as a Senator!!!! So he has no record during the past 20 years to talk about.
Besides that, Kerry is a mere puppet of that master New World Order manipulator, George Soros. Giving supreme power to Soros, working through his Manchurian Candidate, would be a DISASTER for America and for the rest of the world!!!!
Yes we are!
PCFs 10, 45, & 50
1965 - 1967
My typing skills came in handy for me too in Vietnam in '68. I was assigned to an Artillery unit in the central highlands and when the Battery clerk went on R&R I was brought in from the bush to replace him temporarily (I was supposed to be clerk but they had two clerks and only one slot and since I was junior I was sent to a howitzer section that needed a gun bunny and the other guy got the base camp job.). Anyway, I got a week of hot showers, clean clothes and eating off a table and I got to see the personell officer and the adjutant put themselves in for purple hearts and bronze stars because a mortar round landed in the street outside and made their ears ring. The Battalion CO refused to sign the paperwork and chewed both of them out loud enough for all of us in the quonset hut to hear. From my week in the personell office I gathered that the base camp officers tried to get medals for themselves everytime a trip flare went off or a mortar round landed near the compound.
I posted on another thread that a caller to Sean's radio show said the a Borders store in New Jersey told her the book was unavailable due to the fact that it was being recalled because the content was lies.
This is very interesting!
Did you hear the military fellow on Brit Humes show say that John Kerry had one of his citations embellished and signed by the Sec. of the Navy under Reagan?
Who wouldn't vote for impeachment. Wouldn't I love to know what Clinton's have on him.
I happened to be listening on my car radio and I am sure that is true. If so, indeed the place should be given some negative publicity. I will bet a dollar to doughnuts they have books by Michael Moore, and probably all the other DNC bomb throwers books laced with lies about W!! What do you think??
BUMP FOR SUPPORT SWIFTVETS HERE... http://www.swiftvets.com/
SCARED!! LOL - Gotta love it! Man, oh man, the publicity Swift Boat Vets have gotten in a matter of 2 weeks...ain't it SWEET!!
Even though they held a major press conference in May, 2004 when ALL the major stations snubbed them. LOL!! Coming to fruition now!
And I think MANY Freepers deserve a big hand in spreading the word!
I heard that too! Couldn't believe my ears!!
All Freepers check out the new swift boat ad.
If this doesn't move you, I'm questioning your patriotism.
http://humaneventsonline.com.edgesuite.net/unfit_video2.html
Want to join in the fun? Click the logo to donate to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth!
Bump!
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