Kerry's 1st PH is really the one that could hang him. The other two were phony, but we have the paperwork for those. Kerry's immediate boss, LCDR Grant Hibbard refused to recommend him for the the PH because there was no hostile fire (the wound was self-inflicted) and the treating doctor, Louis Letson described it as a tiny fragment barely embedded in his arm. The "wound" was smaller than a rose thorn prick. Schachte was in the boat at the time of the incident and wrote no after action report, which is required if you encounter hostile fire and to support the awarding of a PH.
No one knows how Kerry received the first PH. Kerry had been transferred to another command and received the PH months later. He has not released the paperwork for the award.
That is an AMAZING interview. Schachte, who DESIGNED and was in OPERATIONAL COMMAND of the missions, directly contradicts the the testimony of Kerry and his 2 alleged crewmates...(emphasis mine)
The boats were manned by two officers and one enlisted person. Officers because officers were briefed daily. We had daily intelligence briefings seven days a week, with the latest intelligence from the area. Or in the patrolling boat – officers would come back and debrief their area. So, the officers had a good feel for everything that was going in our area of operation and our sectors. The enlisted person operated the motor. Now, this was my idea. And I went on each one of these – in command of each one that we did up to and including the night with Lieutenant Junior Grade Kerry. I did that because it was my idea and people volunteered for this. And I didn't think it was right having one of these operations and being on a swift boat or back at Operations Center or something like that.Marvin Kalb has his work cut out for him...