Dimsdale
Captain
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 527
Location: Massachusetts: the belly of the beast
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 Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 1:54 pm Post subject: This Swift Boat veteran will not vote for Kerry - E. Morgan |
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Hope this isn't here already! Bears repeating anyway!
In the New Hampshire Union Leader, October 28, 2004
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=46203
| Quote: | This Swift Boat veteran will not vote for John Kerry
By EDWARD J. MORGAN
Guest Commentary
Comcast
RECENTLY, my son asked me, “Dad, is it true about the Swift Boats and their men as written in the book ‘Tour of Duty’ by Douglas Brinkley?” After reading the book myself, I want to publicly answer my son, as well as family, friends and acquaintances who know I was a Swift Boat officer. It is also time for me to defend my and other Swiftees’ reputations and credibility that John Kerry, his campaign and his many media supporters continue to smear, as they falsely proclaim that we are misfits, liars and politically motivated and funded.
Swift Boat veterans are everyday Americans across the political spectrum: honorable, courageous men who earned their right to speak out. It is not about grudges or a political party; it’s about the truth.
As skipper of PCFs 52 and 5, and in company with many other Swift Boats, I patrolled coastal waters beginning Dec. 1, 1968, until going to An Thoi on April 26, 1969 and the rivers of the Cau Mau peninsula, including being part of the first boats assigned to SEAFLOAT, and patrols from Ha Tien along the Cambodian border (but not “in” Cambodia).
Had Mr. Kerry not bugged out of An Thoi in mid-March, 1969, after four months and two weeks in Vietnam, I would have had the distinction (dubious) of serving alongside of him. My final assignment was to orient new crews arriving at Cam Ranh Bay beginning Oct. 9, 1969. I returned home on Nov. 16, 1969, two weeks after leading the first 13 Swift Boats to Saigon, where they were “turned over” to the South Vietnamese navy on Oct. 31, 1969.
It is my understanding that John Kerry reserved the right to the final edit of Brinkley’s book and chose, after 30 years of hindsight, to repeat lies, exaggerations and self-serving betrayals about our unit and all Vietnam veterans. Never did my crew nor I commit, witness or hear of any war crimes or atrocities as alleged by Mr. Kerry. We helped secure areas so that villagers could live without fearing VC and NVA terror tactics against them. The South Vietnamese equated Swift Boats with protection, the delivery of food, medical teams and supplies — and not indiscriminate shooting and burning of villages, as Kerry alleged.
Kerry opened his Vietnam service to serious question by using his short time in Vietnam as the centerpiece of his campaign. I believe, as over 270 of my fellow officers and crewmen do, that John Kerry is not fit to become President. With his false allegations in 1971 and his meetings in Paris with the enemy, he dishonored those who served in Vietnam for personal political ambitions.
His version of his heroics has been seriously challenged by credible, non-partisan Swift Boat veterans. He has yet to authorize the release of his full service records to explain the discrepancies between his few “eyewitnesses,” many other fellow Swiftees who were also there, and official Navy records. He refuses to acknowledge that our POWs and returned veterans were physically or mentally hurt by his words and actions following his return.
He not only continues to stand by his words and actions of 1971 (even Jane Fonda has apologized!), but he now is using the same rhetoric in condemning our actions in the War on Terror. His lack of character, trustworthiness, integrity and his long-held disdain for our military is still evident today. Does John Kerry have any principles, shame, or credibility, and can voters honestly say that they can trust his words?
Edward J. Morgan is a retired investment banker who lives in Wilmot. He was a Swift Boat captain in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969. |
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Everytime he had a choice, Kerry chose to side with communists rather than the United States. |
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