SwiftVets.com

[tford60]

very interesting indeed! Does anyone remember the old saying "follow the cigar smoke, find the fat man" I would wonder why this individual is "not available for comment", and thus un-available for questioning. It would seem to me to be too convenient for this gentleman to suddenly have guilt feelings, and suddenly come out for Kerry at this late state of the fight. Where was he when all this first started?, why now?

Well you all know that the main streem press will look upon him as the second coming, but maybe we can find out what's going on anyway!
_________________
Tom

[Michael Wright]

There is a documentary called Be Happy Smile Pretty Mr. Rood is interviewed extensively about the death of Lt. Glen Droz and swift operations in general.

Fair warning Kerry is in it as well. Might be something in it that jogs the memory one of those of you who were there.

[Herb]

You know there's not much chance but if someone authoritative sent the two reporters (VERY QUICKLY) some VERY POINTED questions like:

"How many were in this numerically superior force of ONE MAN?"


Then even if they are not HONEST, they MIGHT enjoy spicing up their story with some of the THORNY truth.

(Yes, I know a bunch of people will tell you why this won't work.)

You cannot assume that such simple tactics won't work when it costs NOTHING to try.

I am a BELIEVER in trying -- surprisingly you get GOOD RESULTS in a large percentage of times.
_________________
Herb

[tford60]

Might be worth looking into, thanks for the information.
_________________
Tom

[N. Righteous]

Just like the Dems...they hold back until the last minute, and then unleash a cowardly attack. Just like Kerry, they turn their boats right at us, and start firing their weapons!

Since our vets for truth have spun their stories a couple of times in response to the craven stubborness of Kerry, it should not be a problem to get our guys to create some new affidavits. Since our current line of defense is based upon parnoia and a incredible conspiracy theory, we really don't need to do anything special to refute Rood. His only claim to fame is how our attacks on Kerry result in collateral damage to other vets who were awared for valor. Buy hey, this is a war, and some innocent vets may need to go down for the cause!

Semper fi!

[joe_madeup]

Wanted to try to summarize the state of this.

Kerry's citation for the Silver Star (p. 81 of UFC) says:
1) Three boats were cruising up the Dong Cung river, came under heavy fire.
2) Kerry "unhesitatingly" beached in front of the ambushers and routed "a score" (20) of them.
3) Kerry took PCFs 94 and 23 upriver; after another 800 yards, they came under a second attack; Kerry again beached and personally charged, again routing a numerically superior force.

Meanwhile, UFC says:
1) Three boats pre-agreed to beach if they got attacked; were cruising up the river, and sure enough came under heavy fire.
2) Doug Reese, an Army guy, along with many other Army soldiers in the boats, beached first - Kerry beached second, and also Kerry did not disembark at all. The Army guys did most of the fighting and routed the ambushers.
3) Kerry drifted slightly downstream; got slammed by an RPG; a single Viet Cong popped out of the hole, got wounded in leg by Kerry's gunner, then shot in the back by Kerry as he was fleeing. Kerry handled it right, but not quite Silver Star material.

Meanwhile, Rood says:
1) yes, preplanned
2) yes, the Army guys disembarked and routed VC
3) Kerry went upstream intentionally (didn't float downstream), and the shore party was under fire from >1 VC, although it still doesn't sound like any large number. Kerry killed 1 VC which Rood did not personally witness.

I agree that Rood largely agrees with UFC on the facts. But Rood takes great offense at UFC's calling the beaching tactic "stupid" (page 84) or UFC trying to make a thing about Kerry being irresponsible or overly "impulsive" as he calls it.

Finally, in the bits of Rood's account at the start of this thread, somebody (either Rood or the wire reporter) seems to be re-emphasizing how Admiral Hoffman sent them all a Bravo Zulu at the time, right after the action, which goes along with Kerry's Silver Star. And UFC *agrees* with that point entirely (once again), and goes on to explain that only in 2004 did Hoffman learn the real facts about the single Viet Cong guy - to Hoffman's great shock and dismay.

Long story short, I think Rood ends up supporting UFC more than Kerry on the facts - Rood is just trying for a different spin. He also mentions a bunch of crewmen's names that, in fairness, were apparently not consulted for the UFC book?

Overall, I think this controversy helps SBVT in the long run by just drawing more attention to SBVT. It does probably hurt SBVT in the short run, because the smug Kerry supporters can go "Ah, see, they've devastated that malicious UFC book again". But so be it. Careful readers and reporters will figure it out. Kerry is still a big embellisher - not to say liar. He still greatly embroidered this incident for his Silver Star and the campaign trail - as all others. On the facts (leaving aside interpretations about stupidity etc.), Rood is much nearer to UFC's account than he is to Kerry's account.

The real story about Kerry's medals, I guess, is how he got into a pattern of embellishing himself and diminishing (or eliminating) others in his reports he wrote himself, that still constitute the official record. The media don't seem to be getting that (or more likely, they don't WANT to get it) that whenever they quote Hoffman in 1969 or the citation in 1969 or whatever, they are only re-quoting Kerry in 1969 on himself. Effective tactic on the young Mr. Kerry's part!

[dodguy]

[quote]"My intent is to tell the story here and to never again talk publicly
about it."
William Rood's complete account will appear in the Sunday, August 22
edition of the Chicago Tribune, available Saturday in Chicago and online at
chicagotribune.com.

NOTE: William Rood will not be available for further comment or
interviews. Deputy Managing Editor George de Lama and reporter Tim Jones are
available.
[/quote]

If this guy is not willing to sign an affidavit and be cross examined, his story should be discounted. As it is, this is pure hearsay!

[dodguy]

[quote]"My intent is to tell the story here and to never again talk publicly
about it."
William Rood's complete account will appear in the Sunday, August 22
edition of the Chicago Tribune, available Saturday in Chicago and online at
chicagotribune.com.

NOTE: William Rood will not be available for further comment or
interviews. Deputy Managing Editor George de Lama and reporter Tim Jones are
available.
[/quote]

If this guy is not willing to sign an affidavit and be cross examined, his story should be discounted. As it is, this is pure hearsay!

[Beldar]

For what it's worth, I've blogged at my usual longwinded length about Mr. Rood's memoir, http://www.beldar.org/beldarblog/2004/08/chitribs_willia.html ....

[joe_madeup]

Yeah Beldar - very nice article, I saw it after I posted mine, would have saved me the bother!! Although I am still glad I worked it out for myself as an exercise.

[Herb]

[Marine4life]

I am disappointed in you guy's for missing the obvious, He was in another boat right? Well under Kerry's own definition of served with, this guy did not serve with Kerry and is therefore a liar. End of story. Semper Fi.
_________________
Helicopter Marine Attack Squadron 169 which is now HMLA-169. They added Huey's to compliment the Cobra effectiveness. When I served we just had Snakes.

[Herb]

[gilliam]

Kerry Defender Rood Contradicted by Crewmate

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/8/21/215620.shtml