SwiftVets.com

[Doc Farmer]

A guy on my board (guess who his political support goes to!) has posted the information below. I have to admit that I'm not sure how to respond to this information, and would appreciate your comments either here or on my site - http://forum.chronwatch.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8646 - to either verify or debunk this data.










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Fat, Bald and Ugly - And PROUD Of It!

[FF1047]

1) Kerry more than likely wrote the after action report ...

2) The time between picking up Rassman and towing # 3 to "safety" was over an hour (if they were under small arms fire the entire time why no bullet holes in the other boats reported besides a vague reference to 3 holes in Thurlows boat)
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JJC
USNA class of 1980

[depotoo]

Could these have been doctored ( ) Look at the ink OVER the official stamp. Just wondering...
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May God Bless us all and let truth reign.

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

I've got the copies of the fitreps - those appear to be authentic.

What your opponent is missing is an understanding of officer fitness reports and reading beyond the surface. Just the placement of the X's in the top section of those pages are like big red flags for a promotion or other selection board. In the Navy of that time, 90% of the personnel ranked in the top 10% of the personnel. (I believe ADM Zumwalt first commented on this, but it was true as late as the early 80's, when an attempt was made to overhaul the fitrep/eval inflation problem.)

There is an excellent analysis of how to read John Kerry's fitreps here:
http://www.swiftvets.com/staticpages/index.php?page=Fitreps

I've never looked at the Bronze Star award recommendation and I'm not terribly interested in it - this is the "worksheet" which would have been prepared using the After-Action Reports written by..... (may I have the envelope, please?) ...... JOHN KERRY!!!!
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~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother

[NavyChief]

Doc Farmer,

see my post http://www.swiftvets.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4541

- instigator
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Working with Senator Kerry four years in the POW/MIA Office left me thinking -- when did the man ever do any work?

[ArmyWife]

Those are 2 different documents posted. The first one appears to be an award recommendation form for Kerry's Bronze Star. The second one appears to be an officer evaluation...his report card for the 4 months in Vietnam.

The award recommendation is what it is, but the supporting documentation is not here. Was the award based only on Kerry's version of the events? Rassmann's account? Anything else? That's why everyone wants Kerry to sign Form 180 and get ALL the records released.

As for the officer evaluation, Kerry's peers and commanders would have to tell you if that was a good one for the time. Nowadays, if you read Army ones, they are so full of positives and superlatives that everybody sounds like a hero. It takes reading a few to understand the difference between a good one and a bad one.

[tvaughan]

To the best of my knowledge no one has denied the fact that Kerry was awarded a bronze star.

The official account of the bronze star action is the very thing being disputed.

(Among a great deal of things, mind you)

If the official version of events is the thing in question, then the official version of events cannot be used as evidence to the accuracy of the official version of events.

It simply doesn't make any sense.

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Talking point #1: Sign 180
Talking point #2: Sign 180
Talking point #3: Sign 180

[tvaughan]

I repeated again. Sorry.
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Talking point #1: Sign 180
Talking point #2: Sign 180
Talking point #3: Sign 180