SwiftVets.com

[Me#1You#10]

More Taranto on Kerry...

[mtboone]

Vietnam was after my service and I have little knowledge of the subject of "free-fire zones", but my understanding is that they were defined by the DOD and were meant to accommodate the general policy of international law which enjoins armies to avoid targeting any but military objectives and assures protection to civilians, in almost any circumstance.

These were the Rules of Engagement and in a Free fire zone, it was expected that anyone in that area were not friendly. It made one cautious of seeing anyone in those areas but it did not mean you could just start shooting. It meant, that if you received incoming then no permission had to be requested that you return their fire.

In non Free fire zones, if you received incoming then the OinC had to request permission to return fire at the coordinates and then be authorized to return fire. This was to prevent friendly fire fights. I do not know if this was a Navy requirement and Bob Shirley could expand and explain better than me, he was an Officer and knew the rules better than me. But, this was the rules as I understood them at the time.
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Terry Boone PCF 90
Qui Nhon 68-69

[wwIIvetsdaughter]

One year later I am reminded to thank God sKerry lost the election.

[LewWaters]

Currently on The Drudge Report

[kimberly]

[kimberly]

[Deuce]

Again, SVPT is the best site to find reality after one of sKerry's fantasies hits the press! Always on target! Here's one from Boortz nuze today:

[GM Strong]

Lurch stepped in a pile of excrement on Sunday and it isn't going to be easy to clean up.
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8th Army Korea 68-69

[Doll]

[Essayons]

Since Kerry served (briefly) in the Mekong Delta here is an overview of the 9th Infantry Division (68/69 Mekong Delta) rules about free fire zones. The Navy probably used different rules of engagement.

By mid 1968 the VC/NVA could not easily move supplies and soldiers during the daytime and had to resort to night time operations. The Mekong Delta is laced with branches (9) of the Mekong River and a significant number of French built canals which were the transportation routes of choice used by the VC/NVA.

The Mekong River is a tidal river which also reverses flow direction based on the incoming tide and the distance from the sea – at Ben Luc we had to double anchor (upstream and downstream) the temporary float bridge that connected QL4 across the Song Vam Co Dong, a northern branch of the Mekong River. Go to [url]http://15thengineer.50megs.com/personal_stories [/url]for more information. Also on this page are two riveting personal stories – one titled “FSB Cudgel” is the story of a Medal of Honor recipient as told by one of the soldiers saved by him and the other is “FSB Jaeger” as told by a 1/84th Artillery medic. And you thought we were just a bunch of marauding Genghis Khan look-alkies based on Kerry’s 1971 Senate testimony.

First, almost all free fire zones (Army) were in effect from dusk until dawn and most of the Mekong Delta was a free fire zone at night. Kerry would have you believe otherwise.

Second, we did not have to ask permission to return fire if fired upon – day or night. The only exception to that was if a sniper was firing from a village.

I seriously doubt that any South Vietnamese in the Delta did not understand the risk they took by traveling at night. By late 1968 the 9th ID had brought its sniper school online and many snipers operated at night and they were very successful, especially notable is the 4/39th Battalion lead by the then LTC David Hackworth. (Read COL Hackworth’s book, “Steel My Soldiers’ Hearts” for more information regarding snipers and combat in the Delta).

Kerry was a traitor during the early 1970s and has not changed his stripes. He disonored me in 1971 but he will not be allowed to dishoner our current military. Once is enough!

Regards,
Dick
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Essayons - Let us try - the code of the Army Engineer. Sappers First, the code of the Combat Engineer.

[Schadow]