[secretagent]

On page 179, there is a reference to an incident that occurred on October 14th. Page 181 begins with; "Only a few weeks later, Kerry, on a PCF-44 patrol, observed four troop battalions from the Ninth Infantry Division at Dong Tam and five Mobile Riverine Force squadrons staging an assault for the benefit of Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird. "To facilitate putting on a good show, an area was picked out for the landing where the chance of guerilla contact was minimal." Kerry sneered. "Nothing was to mess up the show for the secretary of defense." I was with River Assault Squadron 13 during this time period. Melvin Laird was the secretary of defense from January 22, 1969 to January 29, 1973.

Kerry apparently said Sec Def Laird witnessed a staged attack in October 1968, impossible since Laird didn't become SecDef until 1969.

Another CiC moment?

[Shermy]

Sounds like another lie to me.

It may have happened, but he fudged it to pin it on the Nixon administration.

[ApplegateRanch]

He doesn't actually date it. He dates something as "an incident that occurred on October 14th."

Then, he says "a few weeks later..." the 'staged landing' took place.

1,2,3,4 = ~11/14/68; 5,6,7,8, = ~12/14/68; 9,10,11 = into first week of Jan/69; 12,13,14 WEEKS is minimum those "few weeks late" could have occurred, IF Laird went to Vietnam rather than to Nixon's Inauguration.

Looks like 'a few *months* later would have been a more accurate lie.

[Bob]

Kerry apparently said Sec Def Laird witnessed a staged attack in October 1968, impossible since Laird didn't become SecDef until 1969.

Another CiC moment?

That October date doesn't fit with Kerry's time on the Swifts. He didn't report there until November 1968.