What Happened in Kerry's Vietnam Battles?

ABC News ^ | Oct. 14, 2004 | ANDREW MORSE

[ThanhPhero]

Hey i like Pho...no skin, no fat...and most of all no fish sauce....lol

The only Vietnamese food that I do not love is duck eggs. I ate them because I had determined before I went back that I would eat anything put in front of me at least once. Other than that, it is the world's best food and finest cuisine. Pho, like most things that need a bit of salt is nicely enhanced with nuoc mam, especially mixed with herbs and peppers. Nuoc mam (fish sauce) is to the Vietnamese what soy sauce is to the Chinese, and I never liked soy sauce at all.

[Poodlebrain]

When I read the ABC story a few questions immediately sprung to the fore that lead me to doubt the veracity of the storytellers. First, this firefight took place over 36 years ago. The local Viet Cong commander who is now 54 would have been 18 at the time of the fire fight. Isn't it odd that one so young would not defer to village elders?

Second, he claims that they were recently reinforced with troops from higher headquarters raising their strength by 150%, but higher HQ sent no one to observe the utilization of those forces who outranked an 18 year-old. This is pretty odd behavior for a military organization.

Third, why no mention of any other casualties then Ba Thanh? If the village was leveled by the small arms fire as claimed, there surely should have been additional casualties other than one memorable B-40 operator.

Fourth, if ABC had such difficulty getting approval to visit the area for their story how did the swiftboat crewman and cameraman get permission to visit six months earlier? And why would that visitor explain the Kerry controversy to Nguyen Van Khoai, as he seemed pretty much aware of the situation?

[ThanhPhero]

One "actually" also remembers Kerry? My BS detector is off the scale

It is likely that someone would remember Kerry. At six feet four, he was a giant who was noticeably taller than the other giants.In those days 5'4" was a tallish stature for Vietnamese, especially the rural folks. Hey vets, you remember those tiny people?

[ThanhPhero]

those little shits never lie about nothing.

They are Asians and their priorities and concept of honesty are Asian. They will tell unrelated people, outlanders,strangers, pretty much what they want to hear. The Asian speaks this way because of the underlying belief that giving a stranger true information about oneself or one's family is giving that stranger power over oneself and family, power that will be used for the advantage of the stranger and the disadvantage of one's own.The Vietnamese are less grounded in that than other Asians because of the influential Christian presence for the last 4oo years. The Arabs and the Hindus are the deepest in that worldview. The Viets who come to America lose it and their children have it not at all. Arabs who immigrate never lose it, though some of their children and some more of their grandchildren will.

Vietnamese in Viet Nam very quickly accept an American into their world who is not trying to "get something" from them. But a film crew with an agenda? No, they will pick up on what the interlopers want and will put on that mask.

[ThanhPhero]

I detect some Insight here.

[BreitbartSentMe]

I like how the Vietnamese woman recalled that their village was totally destroyed, there was absolutely nothing left. Does that mean the sKerry and the gang torched the place, after he killed that guy? Was that in the report?

[dennisw]

Pho, like most things that need a bit of salt is nicely enhanced with nuoc mam, especially mixed with herbs and peppers.

I will try that next time. You are a much finer connoisseur of Vietnamese cuisine. I don't dump the bean sprouts etc into the soup. I always eat the broth first then eat what's left (meat and noodles) with the raw bean sprouts, basil leaf, lime, raw hot pepper.

The people in Vietnamese restaurants are much nicer and more personable than in Chinese restaurants. Perhaps because they don't have in the back of their mind that they are the children of the glorious Middle Kingdom.

[Congressman Billybob]

ABC sends people to Vietnam to interview the relatives of the people who were fighting on the other side. But it doesn't bother to look at the headers on the official Navy documents to see who WROTE those documents, namely Lt. John Kerry.

And we are supposed to believe what they come up with? Yeah, right.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column, "America Fails the 'Global Test' "

If you haven't already joined the anti-CFR effort, please click here.

[Grassontop]

I wonder if your bulldog would just bite the hell out of Kerry and all his family?

[fo0hzy]

I swear I searched!! I couldn't find this article posted, before I posted it... I'm pretty much a posting no0b to FP.

Any, this caught my eye:

None of the villagers seems to be able to say for a fact that they saw an American chase the man who fired the B-40 into the woods and shoot him. Nobody seems to remember that. But they have no problem remembering Ba Thang, the man who has been dismissed by Kerry's detractors as "a lone, wounded, fleeing, young Vietcong in a loincloth." (The description comes from "Unfit for Command," by Swift boat veteran John O'Neill.) "No, this is not correct," Nguyen Thi Tuoi, 77, told ABC News. "He wore a black pajama. He was strong. He was big and strong. He was about 26 or 27." Tuoi said she didn't see Ba Thanh get shot either, but she and her husband say they were the first to find his body. They say they found him a good distance from his bunker, though she could not confirm that Kerry — or anyone else — had pursued him into the bush.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Exactly. The Swift Boat Vets are "discredited", but the honorable VC who fought our despicable, imperialistic forces in that awful Nixon war are clearly straight shooters.

That is the impression I get.

I am sure that this impression comes from my evil capitalist, imperialistic little heart and not from anything the good pure commie scum at ABC might have said or done.

[gitmo]

Nah. He'd jump on Kerry and try to climb in his lap. Only if Kerry tried to attack my wife or kids would he even growl. Bullies love everybody.

[DmBarch]

Let’s read the report from that day, most likely written by LTJG Rood, who now supports Kerry. Go to:

www.swiftboatarchives.com

Click on documents, go to FEB69 Market Time Spot Reports Operation Sea Lord. Look at the last three reports at the bottom of the page.

The 281130Z 28FEB69 report seems to be Kerry's summary of what happened that day and sure looks to be puffed up compared to the next report 281225Z 28FEB69. This report seems to be written by LTJG Rood, who now is a supporter of Kerry. It verifies that Kerry ran after the man wounded by the M-60 (.30 Caliber) gunner from his boat, as told by the Swifties. It also mentions 60 South Vietnamese troops and Underwater Demolition Team 13 (Navy Seals) who were on the mission.

The report does not state that PCF 94 beached on the first attack, and it seems that all the VC except for the one caught near the beaching site (#2)of PCF 94 bugged out, except for the three killed by the first suppressive fire. The one guy was who Kerry killed and the captured B-40 and the total of 4 KIA (Kerry's makes four) tie in the reports. This report is so far different from the Silver Star award citation to be almost laughable.

Why this isn't part of the story and Rood asked if he wrote this report is one of the reasons many feel the media is slanted. NONE of the reports claimed as false or puffed-up that were the basis for Kerry's medals have been proven to be written by anyone but Kerry. The Swiftees are doing the tougher job of trying to prove that ONLY Kerry could have or did write those reports. It is pretty convincing for the Bronze Star action as Kerrry and a badly wounded officer were the only ones who went aboard the ship that sent the message.

[DmBarch]

Oops - I meant that PCF 94 was not the first to beach at the initial site.

[Jackson Brown]

I told them what I thought of them joining the DNC Media Corps -- anyone else interested?

niteline@abc.com

[blue-duncan]

Let's see here. The village is completely destroyed by withering fire. Kerry is an antiwar hero to the North Vietnamese. His picture hangs in their hall of fame. He, as Senator, normalizes relations with North Vietnam, thereby abandoning the MIAs and giving Vietnam access to our loans and markets, Now he is running for President and ABC asks the Vietnamese government if they (ABC) can verify Kerry's record in the face of the swift-vets' allegations. The Vietnamese government refuses and then allows them to visit the "village" and there happens to be people who don't know Kerry but remember enough of what happened 35 years ago to cast doubt on the swift-vets' charges just before the "Unfit to Command" is shown and three weeks before the election. Right, and of course they checked the background of the people they were interviewing.

[ThanhPhero]

The people in Vietnamese restaurants are much nicer and more personable than in Chinese restaurants.

Vietnamese people are much nicer and more personable people than Chinese people, even outside of restaurants.

[Tunehead54]

Very good point. ;-)

[rwfromkansas]

Well, I had hoped otherwise, but this is TONIGHT'S NIGHTLINE SMEAR.

DISGUSTING.

Andrew.morse@abc.com

Sick.