 |
SwiftVets.com
Service to Country
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
The bandit
Commander
Joined: 15 May 2004
Posts: 349
|
 Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 4:34 am Post subject: |
 |
|
Tom,
I just came across this little nugget:
Short, 56, wasn't supposed to be on Kerry's boat. A gunner's mate 3rd class, he was assigned to PCF 94 to replace a gunner who had been wounded. That wounded gunner, the Rev. David Alston of South Carolina, was one of the speakers at the convention Monday.
Short was with Kerry, who was called ``Skipper'' during the combat that won the man now running for president one of his three Purple Hearts and his Silver Star.
``My first day on patrol, I was in three firefights. I wondered, `What in the world are we doing here?' We're not holding any ground and it just seems to be this big firefight,'' Short said.
That could well be the 28th, the 20th did not involve more then 1 fire fight.
Also, if he wasn't suppose to be on his boat, that could mean he wasn't on it the 20th.
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/local/9260626.htm |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
ASPB
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 1680
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 5:16 am Post subject: |
|
|
Good Stuff,
I'll check in tomorrow morning. I've been up and working for about 20 hours now. Hasta manana amigo mio. Sorta working that is. 
Tomas
_________________
 On Sale! Order in lots of 100 now at velero@rcn.com Free for the cost of shipping All profits (if any, especially now) go to Swiftvets. The author of "Sink Kerry Swiftly" ---ASPB |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
The bandit
Commander
Joined: 15 May 2004
Posts: 349
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 8:02 am Post subject: |
|
|
| ASPB wrote: | Seems to me Alston could have only served with Kerry from 30 Feb 69 or later until 13 march 69. Great spokesman huh?
Ya Know we ought to start building our own timeline. Brinkley's sucks!
Tom |
His mother just solved the puzzle. Alston never served under Kerry on the PCF 94. Alston was not, could not have been Kerry's gunner. He was through after receiving his massive head wound on Jan 29. His mother pointed this out. See the massive head wound below:
That picture of him with Kerry on a boat in VN was taken before Jan 29 while he was a gunner under Peck on the 94 and kerry still on the 44. Whats more COSDIV11 does not show the 94 and 44 in any ops together during Jan.
Kerry's house of cards is in shambles. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Me#1You#10
Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 6503
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 9:37 am Post subject: |
|
|
| "30" February? You guys do need to get some sleep. Heavy lifting there bandit...now I've got to absorb it. BZ! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ASPB
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 1680
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 11:04 am Post subject: |
|
|
Bandit,
| Quote: | | That picture of him with Kerry on a boat in VN was taken before Jan 29 while he was a gunner under Peck on the 94 and kerry still on the 44. Whats more COSDIV11 does not show the 94 and 44 in any ops together during Jan. |
What picture? I haven't seen it. Where does the quote from his mother come from. citation?
It's looking like this methinks.
Peck and Alston are wounded on 29 Jan 69.
Kerry is brought down from Cat Lo to replace Peck and Short comes aboard to replace Alston. This happens sometime between 30 Jan 69 and 20 Feb 69. Alston, it appears, had been on Peck's boat for several months while Kerry was in 13 up in Cat Lo. Short was definitely on the 94 boat as tub-gunner on Feb 20, Feb 28 and maybe March 13 according to Kerry and Brinkley in "Tour of Duty". Alston was in the hospital methinks.
So.....Alston, on stage as a member of the "Band of Brothers" and who gave the convocation at the DNC never served with Kerry and probably also never met him while in Vietnam.
This is explosive! A lying preacher!
Confirm if you think I've got this right! Are you saying that Alston never returned to duty with COSDIV 11 and was sent home after he was wounded? Provide facts if you have them.
Tom
Democratic National Convention
Monday, July 26, 2004
| Quote: | BOSTON, July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a transcript of a speech
by David Alston at the Democratic National Convention on Monday, July 26,
2004:
Good evening.
My name is David Alston, and I am a minister from Columbia, South
Carolina. I join you here tonight in Boston-birthplace of the American
Revolution-to celebrate the bedrock ideals on which our nation was founded-
freedom, equality, and democracy.
I also come here tonight to honor a friend of mine, a man of courage and conviction who has fought for these ideals his entire life: John Kerry. Many of you in this hall already know John Kerry well. Others across this land are
still learning about his long and distinguished record of public service.
I know him from a small boat in Vietnam, where we fought and bled
together, serving our country. There were six of us aboard PCF-94, a 50-foot,
twin-engine craft known as a "Swift Boat." We all came from different walks of
life, but all of us-including our skipper, John Kerry-volunteered for combat
duty. And combat is what we got.
We usually patrolled the narrow waterways of the Mekong delta, flanked on
both sides by thick jungle. As our crewmate Gene Thorson put it, we were a
traveling bulls-eye. And we often came under sudden attack from the enemy,
hidden in the shadows. Machine-gun fire, rocket-propelled grenades, it all
came fast and furious, and Lieutenant Kerry had to make quick, life-or-death
decisions for the entire boat.
You have to realize, a Swift Boat isn't armored. The hull is aluminum,
about as thick as two nickels. And in the middle of a narrow river or canal,
with no cover at all, even small-caliber bullets could punch right through it
-- and often did.
Manning the deck guns, most of us got wounded sooner or later, including
Lieutenant Kerry. It would have been easiest, in an ambush, to simply rake the
shore with return fire and roar on down the river to safety. But Lieutenant
Kerry was known for taking the fight straight to the enemy. I can still see
him now, standing in the doorway of the pilothouse, firing his M-16, shouting
orders through the smoke and chaos.
Once, he even directed the helmsman to beach the boat, right into the
teeth of an ambush, and pursued our attackers on foot, into the jungle. In the
toughest of situations, Lieutenant Kerry showed judgment, loyalty and courage.
Even wounded, or confronting sights no man should ever have to see, he never
lost his cool.
And when the shooting stopped, he was always there too, with a caring hand
on my shoulder asking, "Gunner, are you OK?" I was only 21, running on fear
and adrenaline. Lieutenant Kerry always took the time to calm us down, to
bring us back to reality, to give us hope, to show us what we truly had within
ourselves. I came to love and respect him as a man I could trust with life
itself. I am a man of faith, and I did not come here tonight to glorify what we
did. I came here to share my personal knowledge of a young naval officer who
rose to the challenges and responsibilities of leadership, and who has always
shown the courage to speak truth to power.
The 27th Psalm tells us, "Though an army besiege me, my heart will not
fear. Though war break out against me, even then I will be confident" I stand
before you tonight alive, while many of our brothers never made it home. I am
grateful to have lived to enjoy my children, to see them grow up. But I stand
here before you only because almighty God saw our boat safely through those
rivers of death and destruction, by giving us a brave, wise, and decisive
leader named John Kerry.
Today, 30 years after Vietnam, American soldiers are once again fighting
and dying on distant battlefields, at war with an elusive enemy. We pray for
these brave men and women. They are our friends, our neighbors, our loved
ones. Their loss brings all of us sadness beyond measure.
In a few short months, we will choose our next President. I believe we
need to elect a man of faith, experience, and wisdom. A man who knows that
defending America means defending our most fundamental rights. A man who knows
that leadership is not just about telling others what to do, but inspiring
them to do it. A man who knows the true meaning of freedom, equality, and
democracy. And that man is my former skipper, my friend, and our next
commander-in-chief, John Kerry.
Friends, here in this city more than two centuries ago, patriots launched
a revolution that changed history. Generations since have marched, fought, and
died to defend the sacred ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness-and to make these ideals a reality for every American.
It is now our turn to defend these ideals. It is our time to speak out. It
is our duty to exercise our most precious right as Americans: the right to
vote.
So come November 2nd, join me in casting your ballot for a new,
principled, and courageous leader-America's next president-John Kerry.
Thank you. |
This is outrageous! The man is a bleaping liar......or am I missing something? Is this another smoking gun? We've got to confirm where Alston was from 29 Jan 69 to 13 Mar 69.
| Quote: | Vietnam comrade recalls Kerry as leader
Even in '69, crewmate thought Swift boat officer was going places
ANNA GRIFFIN
Staff Writer
BOSTON - David Alston spent four months alongside John Kerry, 35 years ago. But their stint together in Vietnam was time enough to convince the Columbia, S.C., minister and nuclear fuel plant worker that Kerry should be president of the United States.
Alston, 57, spoke to the Democratic National Convention Monday night about Kerry's Vietnam experience and why it qualifies him to lead the free world. He's one of more than 500 veterans in Boston this week to support Kerry, who was awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star for valor and three Purple Hearts, and the first of several Kerry crewmates who will offer prime-time testimonials.
"You could look at a man in Vietnam and tell whether there were great things in store for him, if he made it through," Alston said in an interview Monday, before his six-minute speech. "John Kerry was wounded three times. You wondered, `Is he going to make it?' You never wondered what kind of man he would be if he did survive."
Alston grew up in Rock Hill, S.C., one of five children. His family could not afford college, so he enlisted in the Navy after graduating from high school. It was 1965, and Vietnam still seemed like a small skirmish on the other side of the world.
"I knew I wasn't going to wind up on land, but I also didn't think I was going to wind up at war," he said.
Alston met Kerry, then three years out of Yale University, in 1969. They had both volunteered to serve aboard Swift boats, 50-foot aluminum crafts originally designed to patrol the coastline but put into more dangerous duty patrolling the shallow waters of the Mekong Delta. The six-man crews -- five enlisted men, one officer -- were expected to block enemy troop movements and supply lines and carry U.S. troops toward battle.
It was dangerous work, Kerry crewmates say, requiring the young commanding officers to make smart snap decisions or lose the trust of their crews.
Kerry took over command of Alston's boat, PCF-94, after a battle in which the boat's previous lieutenant had been injured. Alston was also wounded in that fight, a clean gunshot through the arm.
Members of an anti-Kerry political committee, led by a retired admiral who oversaw the Swift boat program, have accused Kerry of overstating his own daring, and being a vainglorious and arrogant officer. Alston, who manned twin .50-caliber machine guns on the Swift boat, says that's not the man he and other crewmates remember.
"John was confident, not cocky," he said. "He trusted himself and did what he had to do to keep his men alive."
Alston and Kerry both left Vietnam and the Navy in 1969. Kerry went on to become a war protester, then a prosecutor and a U.S. senator. Alston returned to Rock Hill, married and had two sons. He moved to Columbia in 1978 and today works at the Westinghouse nuclear fuel plant in Columbia. He became an ordained Baptist minister five years ago.
"Being down in Vietnam and going through the rivers, I asked God to deliver me. I prayed constantly, `Lord, if you bring me back, I will serve you faithfully,' " Alston said. "I didn't do that. I got into alcohol, and I had some problems. But the good Lord didn't give up on me, and finally he called me to serve."
Alston stayed in sporadic contact with Kerry after the war. Kerry invited him to his first wedding, to Julia Thorne in 1970, and sent Christmas cards to Alston's parents' house. Kerry aides contacted Alston in 1996, after a story in a Boston paper "accusing him of being a killer," Alston said.
"That was just false, and I was happy to tell people that," Alston said. "In Vietnam, killing an enemy soldier meant saving men's lives. It was something that had to be done."
Former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland, a Vietnam veteran who lost both legs and his right arm at war, will introduce Kerry before his speech Thursday night. Cleland and several dozen other veterans, including Alston, are appearing at various rallies and delegation meetings this week.
"We're all proud to talk about John Kerry," Alston said. "Anybody who served knows the kind of heart he's got." |
| Quote: | The Reverend David Alston
Posted by jesselee
Tuesday, July 27, 2004 at 10:37 PM
As other bloggers have noted, we are actually a bit lost in the funhouse when it comes to how all this is being displayed to the world. But a few people I've talked to have said that David Alston's speech received unbelievable praise - somebody even told me it had Scarborough on the fence on MSNBC for a bit - but that a lot of networks including cable news didn't actually show the speech. I have to say, he was probably the most powerful speaker we had, at least up to that point, and it was moving.
His transcript is actually a bit tricky to dig up, so here it is:
Manning the deck guns, most of us got wounded sooner or later, including Lieutenant Kerry. It would have been easiest, in an ambush, to simply rake the shore with return fire and roar on down the river to safety. But Lieutenant Kerry was known for taking the fight straight to the enemy. I can still see him now, standing in the doorway of the pilothouse, firing his M-16, shouting orders through the smoke and chaos.And here's what Knight-Ridder is saying about him:
"You could look at a man in Vietnam and tell whether there were great things in store for him, if he made it through," Alston said in an interview Monday, before his six-minute speech. "John Kerry was wounded three times. You wondered, `Is he going to make it?' You never wondered what kind of man he would be if he did survive."
(Go THK!) |
| Quote: | | Referring to reports this week in the Boston Globe questioning whether Kerry may have exaggerated his combat record, O'Neill told Malzberg, "This is just the first opening. They'll be many different people. But I'd prefer to let the people who were actually there speak directly." O'Neill cited a Jan. 29, 1969 firefight that Kerry claims on his campaign web site that he and his boatmates were in. "But according to the Boston Globe," said the swiftboat veteran, "Kerry was not even on the boat that night. The guy that was really on the boat was a fellow officer of ours named Ted Peck. He remembers well that fight because he was terribly wounded in three places." "There was no Kerry anywhere around," O'Neill said. "And yet it appears on his web site as some pitched battle that Kerry was involved in." |
| Quote: | For the Rev. David Alston, 57 — then a gunner's mate aboard PCF-94, the second of two swift boats Kerry skippered in Vietnam, and now a Baptist minister from Columbia, S.C. — his devotion to the candidate led to an invitation to address the convention by himself Monday night. It was something that terrified him at first.
But Alston pulled it off. "When the shooting stopped, he was always there, too, with a caring hand on my shoulder asking, 'Gunner, are you OK?' I was only 21, running on fear and adrenaline.
"It's not hard, when somebody has put their life on the line, to help him," he says. "It's not hard at all." |
Source: USA Today
Just sent an email to Captain Ted Peck with a few questions about Alston. we'll see.....he lives fairly close to me.
Freaking Explosive!
_________________
On Sale! Order in lots of 100 now at velero@rcn.com Free for the cost of shipping All profits (if any, especially now) go to Swiftvets. The author of "Sink Kerry Swiftly" ---ASPB |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ASPB
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 1680
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 4:38 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Bump
_________________
On Sale! Order in lots of 100 now at velero@rcn.com Free for the cost of shipping All profits (if any, especially now) go to Swiftvets. The author of "Sink Kerry Swiftly" ---ASPB |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
LewWaters
Admin
Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 4042
Location: Washington State
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 5:05 pm Post subject: |
|
|
maybe the good preacher should have read Kerry's account of being forced to commit atrocities so long ago;
| Quote: | | I can still see him now, standing in the doorway of the pilothouse, firing his M-16, shouting orders through the smoke and chaos. |
Kerry, 1971: | Quote: | | I used 50 calibre machine guns, which we were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people. |
I don't know about the rest of you, but I find it hard to believe anyone could confuse an M-16 with a 50.
_________________
Clark County Conservative |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tad Belknap
Seaman Recruit
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 49
Location: Florida
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 5:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Summer Soldier Investigation
_________________
27th M.A.S.H. Chu Lai
95th Evac. Hosp. Danang
"71" |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
stylin19
Lt.Jg.
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 122
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 6:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
ASBP
maybe this picture ? 
_________________
U.S.M.C. - 1969-1971
RVN- 1970-1971 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ASPB
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 1680
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 6:05 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Do you have a site for it that provides the id of the subjects of the photo? I think this may have been the 44 boat not the 94 with Alston.
CGC...Do you recognize any of these guys from An Thoi?
Thanks for your help.
Tom
Hmmm....found it at the Boston Globe
| Quote: | | Kerry and the crew of PCF 94, a swift boat that saw heavy action on the narrow waterways of the Mekong Delta, south of Saigon, under Operation SEALORD. From left, Eugene Thorson, David Alston, Tom Belodeau, and Delbert Sandusky. (Globe Photo / Michael Medeiros |
| Quote: |
On March 13, 1969, a mine detonated near Kerry's boat, slighting wounding Kerry in the right arm. He was awarded his third Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for valor.
PCF (Patrol Craft Fast) 94 crew in March 1969,
from left, Gene Thorson, David Alston, Thomas Belodeau, Del Sandusky, and John Kerry. |
This doesn't make sense if Alston was wounded and replaced with Short on 29 January 69 or shortly thereafter. Hmmmm
Bandit.....Help!
_________________
On Sale! Order in lots of 100 now at velero@rcn.com Free for the cost of shipping All profits (if any, especially now) go to Swiftvets. The author of "Sink Kerry Swiftly" ---ASPB
Last edited by ASPB on Sun Aug 08, 2004 6:39 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tad Belknap
Seaman Recruit
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 49
Location: Florida
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 6:19 pm Post subject: |
|
|
FWIW....looks like the same man to me....ID's and boats of the other 3 would go along away
_________________
27th M.A.S.H. Chu Lai
95th Evac. Hosp. Danang
"71" |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
stylin19
Lt.Jg.
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 122
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 6:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I pulled it off of kerry's web site. I didn't see any names.
_________________
U.S.M.C. - 1969-1971
RVN- 1970-1971 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ASPB
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 1680
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 6:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Tad Belknap wrote: | | FWIW....looks like the same man to me....ID's and boats of the other 3 would go along away |
What's funny is Alston was wounded on 29 January when Ted Peck still had the 94 boat. According to Tour of Duty Short replaced Alston who "recoverying from bullet wounds". Peck was wounded the same day as Alston and Kerry replaced him in Early Feb. Something's not adding up.
_________________
On Sale! Order in lots of 100 now at velero@rcn.com Free for the cost of shipping All profits (if any, especially now) go to Swiftvets. The author of "Sink Kerry Swiftly" ---ASPB |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
stylin19
Lt.Jg.
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 122
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 6:25 pm Post subject: |
|
|
got names here: Kerry Picture
scroll down a bit...based on info in this thread the date re: the picture seems wrong
_________________
U.S.M.C. - 1969-1971
RVN- 1970-1971 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ASPB
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 1680
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2004 6:29 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Ok, Thanks
Here's the caption for your photo.
| Quote: | | Kerry and crew stand together in An Thoi, Vietnam, on February 28, 1969, after presentation of Kerry's Silver Star. He also received a Purple Heart for a minor wound. From left: Del Sandusky, John Kerry, Gene Thorson, Thomas Belodeau. Kneeling from left, Mike Medeiros, Fred Short. |
This one makes sense.
Bandit...do you have those status reports and action report for 29 Jan to 20 Feb?
_________________
On Sale! Order in lots of 100 now at velero@rcn.com Free for the cost of shipping All profits (if any, especially now) go to Swiftvets. The author of "Sink Kerry Swiftly" ---ASPB
Last edited by ASPB on Sun Aug 08, 2004 6:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
