SwiftVets.com

[TroyS]

I wrote a letter to the editor this morning and was stunned when I got a reply but almost fell off my chair when I read it. Unless I am misunderstanding something she is saying that even she is frustrated with the medias(which she is a part of) bias and one-sidedness. Maybe some cracks are starting to form in the medias boycott of the truth and these regional papers and stations will attempt to start reporting more fairly. I won't hold my breath but at least I can hope.

Too bad this was the most even-handed article she could find because they left so much out. Maybe people could give me suggestions for a letter back to her.

This is the response:

I share your frustration about this particular issue. However, I have found what I believe to be about as even-handed an examination as we're likely to see. It was prepared by the Dallas Morning News, which is staunchly pro-Bush. That is why I believe they're credible. I've copied it below.
Susan Squires
Op-ed editor

Fact check: Kerry vs. swift boat vets

The Dallas Morning News


DALLAS - (KRT) - A group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has launched an ad accusing John Kerry of lying about his military service. The group is focusing on whether he deserved his three Purple Hearts and other medals. The Kerry campaign calls the ad a typical Republican attack. Here is an examination of the people behind the ad, the points they make and information from other sources that disputes their allegations:

The ad implies that the veterans served with John Kerry, but none of the 13 men featured were crew members on Patrol Craft Fast 94, or the other boats that Lt. John Kerry commanded.

However, several were on boats that accompanied Kerry's on various missions, including three men on the mission for which Kerry received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. The men say Kerry either exaggerated or lied about the events that led to his medals and Purple Hearts. Several of the other men in the ad are former Navy officers who were in Kerry's chain of command.

Men who served under Kerry, and who appeared with him at the Democratic convention, rejected the accusations and say he was a brave and honorable commander.

Rear Adm. Roy Hoffmann says in the ad that Kerry was not honest when he alleged in the 1970s that atrocities were committed by U.S. forces. Kerry and other officers questioned Hoffmann, through the chain of command, about the use of swift boats for river patrols.

The account is detailed in "Tour of Duty," a book by Douglas Brinkley. The historian also cites Hoffmann's "cowboy" reputation, calling him similar to the "rough-hewn colonel in the movie `Apocalypse Now.'" Kerry has since said that he wishes he had been more careful in his choice of words but that he stood by his account of U.S. troops' actions.

Swift Boat Veterans members contend that Kerry's boat wasn't under enemy fire for the incident that earned him the Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart. Those who were on the boat say that's wrong.

In the ad, three veterans say that Kerry lied about sailing back into enemy fire to pull a Green Beret out of the water. Instead, they contend, a mine exploded, and Kerry returned only after it was clear there was no fire.

None of the veterans making those claims were on the boat. The official citation report for Kerry's medal states that his boat was under enemy fire. And Kerry's crew mates - including Jim Rassmann, the soldier pulled from the water - say there was enemy fire.

As for the Purple Heart - which allowed Kerry to request to leave Vietnam because it was his third - the group says that it was received for shrapnel wounds to his buttocks and bruises on his arm. One veteran, Larry Thurlow, contends that the wound was a result of a grenade Kerry threw too close to his vessel.

Kerry acknowledged this to Brinkley, but he has said that he was also hurt when an explosion rocked his boat. The Navy casualty report backs up both injuries, and the Bronze Star citation refers only to the arm injury. Still, even "friendly fire" injuries can result in a Purple Heart, according to military regulations.

The veterans also question Kerry's first Purple Heart. One, Dr. Louis Letson, says he treated Kerry for the arm wound that earned the medal and that it was the result of a mortar accident, not enemy fire. Medical records do not mention Letson.

_SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research

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Capt. George Elliott, who accuses Kerry of unspecified dishonesty, appears to have changed his story several times.

After the ad aired, The Boston Globe quoted Elliott on Friday as saying he had made a "terrible mistake" in signing an affidavit saying Kerry did not deserve his Silver Star. Elliott, the commanding officer who recommended Kerry for the Silver Star, released another affidavit the same day, saying that he had been misquoted by The Globe. The paper stands by its story.

The Silver Star was awarded for Kerry's actions on Feb. 28, 1969, when his boat was ambushed and he shot a fleeing Viet Cong guerilla carrying a rocket launcher. The anti-Kerry group says the guerilla was shot in the back, but reports from Kerry's crew members indicate otherwise. The citation for the Silver Star notes that the incident uncovered a large Viet Cong rest and re-supply area that was destroyed.

In the new affidavit, Elliott says: "I do not claim to have personal knowledge as to how Kerry shot the wounded and fleeing Viet Cong." And USA Today reports that in an interview this year, Elliott said: "I don't know how anyone would have taken the risks he took in combat just for the glory of running for office."

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© 2004, The Dallas Morning News.

Visit The Dallas Morning News on the World Wide Web at http://www.dallasnews.com

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

-----Original Message-----
From: Troy Strodthoff
Sent: Friday, August 13, 2004 8:21 AM
To: APC-letters dg
Subject: Letter to the editor


No media bias?

Case in point: for months the press screamed in headlines and newscasts that President Bush was "AWOL" from the National Guard.

Were these charges brought by fellow serviceman? No, of course not, it was the DNC. Even though it was an obvious smear by the Democrats and unsubstantsiated the media pursued it vigoursly and "demanded" the President release his military records. So the President complied and what did they find, nothing. In fact they found nothing for the third time.

Did the media then claim the Democrats were smearing the President by claiming he was "AWOL" without any proof to back their claims? No, they just dropped the story and let the cloud hang over the President's head still allowing the DNC to make their dubious claims as if they are fact.

Now come different accusations.

This time they are about John Kerry and brought forward by "The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth". These accusations against Senator Kerry are brought forward by eye-witnesses readily available to be interviewed.

With over 250 fellow Veterans who served on Swift Boats in Vietnam questioning his record and fitness to be Commander in Chief I would think this would be a major story. Sadly, instead of the press "demanding" that Senator Kerry release all Medical and Deployment records to substantsiate or refute these statements they viciously attack the decorated and honorable veterans who make the charges.

Are these accusations true? I don't know, but it's not my job to find out, it is the job and the duty of the press. Since John Kerry has made his service record the cornerstone of his campaign an "unbiased media" would not dismiss the accusations and smear the messanger. An "unbiased media" would investigate and let us know who was telling the truth.

Troy Strodthoff
New Holstein, WI


Thank you for your consideration of my letter and if you need any more information please let me know.

[HardCorps]

Hardcorps' wife speaking

Here are some recent letters I have sent to several media organizations. I assume most won't be read by the comentators, but I at least want to be in the negative response stack when the reporter gets his updates.

To Amazon
Sir or Madam,

I have recently become aware of several "hacking" instances in your organization regarding your No.1 bestseller Unfit for Command. I find these events extremely troubling and have decided to not conduct business with you until a public accounting of these two hacking incidences are acknowledged and explained. I hate to admit that it appears deliberate. I will also tell everyone I know that their accounts and private information is not secure on your site and should not do further business with you until then. I used to respect your business ethic and pioneering spirit but now I question your competence and ethics.

Kate
Teacher (who buys lots of books)

To Hardball
Mr. Matthews,
After watching your program with John O'Neil tonight I am now sure of my suspicions about you. You know nothing about the men and women of the military. After asking Mr. O'Neil to use only "military terms" and to examine the "Navy Way" I knew you had no knowledge of why service men might be questioning Lt. Kerry's war record. You act as if it's never been done before, and there's no good reason to. May I draw your attention to some very recent instances when it has been done for good and bad.

1. This month prominent Navy CAPTAIN sentenced to brig for fraudulent Silver Star, Purple Hearts and more…
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-MARINEPAPER-294338.php

2. Admiral Borda
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/borda.htm

Whether they have been rightly or wrongly accused, the topic exposes the NAVY and the NAVY WAY as imperfect. There have been times when the system has been "gamed". You cannot refute this.

Now, why question Kerry's awards?
1. He threw those so prized medals back at The NAVY, then changed his story about it several times.
2. His Bronze Star and Silver Star citations have been rewritten several times while he was a sitting senator for Mass.
3. He has only selectively released the documentation related to his acquisition of those medals.

Might I suggest you read the book Stolen Valor to learn that this is not a new or dishonorable endeavor by Mr. O'Neil and the SBVT.
http://www.stolenvalor.com/

Try not to expose your ignorance and bias next time you cover this on Hardball, no doubt you will have to as this is a story that has neither died nor been vetted by any hard hitting news organization.

Kate
Teacher
Marine Wife

To Neal Bortz
Neal,
Terrific analysis of the liberal media bias and the Kerry SWBV controversy. I used to think that there were at least some measure of checks and balances within the capitalist media establishment, but I'm really afraid information is being screened through the Media Politburo filter at every turn. It's truly amazing to me that such tremendous facts are staring people in the face and no one on the alphabets wants to get a Pulitzer for investigative journalism or maintain some measure of journalistic integrity.

Love reading your stuff

To a scathing article at Washington Dispatch
August,

Your argument is all over the place and full of inaccuracies.
"Cleland left a few of his limbs on the battlefield of Vietnam,..."
Nope:
Max left them on a landing zone where he accidentally pulled the pin on a grenade-not a battlefield.

"John McCain’s service during Vietnam was questioned."
Nope:
John McCain's role in selling out the POW/MIA families was rightly questioned as those families still remember how he and Mr. Kerry were more interested in normalizing relations with the brutal, intolerant Communist Regime and setting Kerry's cousin ( C. Stewart Forbes CEO of Colliers International) up with a lucrative vacation hotel deal than looking for their missing loved ones.

Pattern forming? I think it's Kerry's lack of consistency
1. pro-war, anti-war, pro-war
2. anti-war hero, war hero
3. throws awards back / places them prominently on his wall
4. Christmas in Cambodia/Never in Cambodia/in Cambodia later doing "black missions"

If my child's explanations were this inconsistent I'd question his honesty and motives.

You’re loosing your journalistic integrity by attacking the messenger rather than examining the message.

To Dallas Morning News about media blackout
It's a sad day when Americans have to rely on foreign news to get on top of a devastating story about presidential candidates. Isn't the MEDIA embarrassed? The Gulag press had more accurate and unbiased information on its party leaders.

I've sent several more to Fox/Wolf Blitzer but didn't save them.

I've never written a letter to a news organization before but I'm starting to really enjoy it! SVBT might have created a letter writing monster.
_________________
__________________________
-USMC - Always Faithful
-Platoon Cmdr - Somalia
-ANGLICO FAC - Iraqi Freedom

[Navy wife]

Kate, Hardcore's wife, is wonderful! I wish I had such an articulate writing style.

I, too, have written McCain, O'Reilly, Foxnews, Hannity, Colmes, Tony Snow (the biggest disappointment of them all), and wonder if they ever read anything.

Great writing and keep it up!!

[Navy wife]

Sorry, I called Kate's husband "Hardcore" when it should have been "HardCorps"!

[llano]

Hardcorps and his wife are excellent in their writing and their knowledge. Keep up the good work.


Semper Fi

[Scott]

[TroyS]

Thank you HardCorps wife and I hope you don't mind if I use a few (or almost all) of your ideas for letters to editors. Also I believe Scott has a great point that if maybe I could get this local editor to stop repeating what the main stream media is saying and print her own piece it would be a fantastic starting point to get the message out. Since this is a grassroots effort maybe that's where I should begin.

Thank you for your input