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gilliam
Seaman Apprentice
Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 97
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 Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 3:33 pm Post subject: Swift boat skipper: Kerry critics wrong |
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Tribune editor breaks long silence on Kerry record; fought in disputed battle
By Tim Jones
Tribune national correspondent
Published August 21, 2004
The commander of a Navy swift boat who served alongside Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry during the Vietnam War stepped forward Saturday to dispute attacks challenging Kerry's integrity and war record.
William Rood, an editor on the Chicago Tribune's metropolitan desk, said he broke 35 years of silence about the Feb. 28, 1969, mission that resulted in Kerry's receiving a Silver Star because recent portrayals of Kerry's actions published in the best-selling book "Unfit for Command" are wrong and smear the reputations of veterans who served with Kerry.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-040821kerry,1,7582568.story?coll=chi-news-hed |
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gilliam
Seaman Apprentice
Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 97
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 3:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | In February 1969, Rood was a lieutenant junior grade commanding PCF-23, one of the three 50-foot aluminum swift boats that carried troops up the Dong Cung, a tributary of the Bay Hap River. Kerry commanded another boat, PCF-94 and Lt. j.g. Donald Droz, who was killed in action six weeks later, commanded PCF-43. Ambushes from Viet Cong fighters were common because the noise from boats, powered by twin diesel engines, practically invited gunfire. Ambushes, Rood said, "were a virtual certainty."
Before this day's mission, though, Kerry, the tactical commander of the mission, discussed with Rood and Droz a change in response to the anticipated ambushes: If possible, turn into the fire once it is identified and attack the ambushers, Rood recalled Kerry saying. The boats followed that new tactic with great success, Rood said, and the mission was highly praised.
In the book "Unfit for Command," Kerry's critics maintained otherwise. The book's authors, John O'Neill and Jerome Corsi, wrote that Kerry's attack on the Viet Cong ambush displayed "stupidity, not courage." The book was published by Regnery, a conservative publisher that has brought into print many books critical of Democratic politicians and policies.
"The only explanation for what Kerry did is the same justification that characterizes his entire short Vietnam adventure: the pursuit of medals and ribbons," wrote Corsi and O'Neill. Later in the war, O'Neill commanded the same Swift boat Kerry had led. O'Neill is now a leader of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
In the book, O'Neill and Corsi said Kerry chased down a "young Viet Cong in a loincloth … clutching a grenade launcher which may or may not have been loaded."
Rood recalled the fleeing Viet Cong was "a grown man, dressed in the kind of garb the VC usually wore." There were other attackers as well, he said, and his boat and Kerry's boat took significant fire.
After the attack, the task force commanding officer, then-Capt. Roy Hoffmann, sent a message of congratulations to the three swift boats, saying their charge of the ambushers was a "shining example of completely overwhelming the enemy" and that it "may be the most efficacious [method] of dealing with small numbers of ambushers," Rood said.
In the official after-action message, obtained by the Tribune, Hoffmann wrote that the tactics developed and executed by Kerry, Rood and Droz were "immensely effictive [sic]" and that "this operation did unreparable [sic] damage to the enemy in this area."
"Well done," Hoffmann concluded in his message.
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lolajl
Lt.Jg.
Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 136
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 3:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Who is this guy? |
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stealthy
Lieutenant
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 237
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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Hoffmans information on what happened was supplied by who, do you ask? Could it be Kerry? Why yes, it could.
Sign form 180.
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LewWaters
Admin
Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 4042
Location: Washington State
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 3:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | In the book, O'Neill and Corsi said Kerry chased down a "young Viet Cong in a loincloth … clutching a grenade launcher which may or may not have been loaded."
Rood recalled the fleeing Viet Cong was "a grown man, dressed in the kind of garb the VC usually wore." There were other attackers as well, he said, and his boat and Kerry's boat took significant fire. |
Semantics! "young Viet Cong in a loincloth," "a grown man, dressed in the kind of garb the VC usually wore."
VC had no official uniform, unlike the NVA. A "young" Vietnamese could very well have been "full grown." Vietnamese are known for being a slight people, small in physical nature.
As was stated in another article, fire was coming at them from both shores, it was a narrow canal and we are to believe that Kerry beached his boat under that fire, got off the boat, walked behind a hooch and shot the VC, and walked back to the boat, under all that fire, and no one was wounded by the extreme amount of fire and last I heard, the boat didn't even sustain damage.
In the Army, we kept maintenance and repair records on each helicopter. Every bullet hole we had to patched was documented in those records. Where are the maintenance records for Kerry's boat? Surely, he didn't keep operating the boat with significant combat damage to the hull?
And, with all the extreme fire they reportedly received, what skipper in his right mnd would beach the boat and put his entire crew in that much jepoardy, while he walked off to the beach to shoot a VC that may or may not have had a loaded grenade launcher? The first rule of any officer in the military is to care for your crew. If correct, his actions endangered not only the boat, but every man on his boat. And, not one of them was hit?
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carpro
Admin
Joined: 10 May 2004
Posts: 1176
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 3:52 pm Post subject: |
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Rood gave a description of the VC. Where was he that he could see him? I understand he was pretty far away.
I guess this lone VC was the "numerically superior force" Kerry attacked.
Even if this report is true, it doesn't look like he is saying anything to seriously refute allegations made by swiftvets. Chasing down one wounded VC and finishing him off is not the "stuff" a Silver Star is made of.
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"If he believes his 1971 indictment of his country and his fellow veterans was true, then he couldn't possibly be proud of his Vietnam service." |
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stealthy
Lieutenant
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 237
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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But but, this guy is in the media, we have to believe their version don't we? Think he "broke his silence" all on his lonesome?
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gilliam
Seaman Apprentice
Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 97
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 3:59 pm Post subject: |
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More information: hitting the wires now:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-21-2004/0002235783&EDATE=
| Quote: | CHICAGO, Aug. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- "There were three Swift Boats on the
river that day in Vietnam more than 35 years ago -- three officers and 15 crew
members. Only two of those officers remain to talk about what happened on
February 28, 1969.
"One is John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate who won a Silver
Star for what happened on that date. I am the other."
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-a
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-b
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-c
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-d )
So begins William Rood's compelling account of events that happened more
than 35 years ago. The article appears in the Sunday, August 22 edition of the
Chicago Tribune.
Rood, now night city editor for the Chicago Tribune, earned a Bronze Star
for his part in the operation. Rood has chosen to break more than three
decades of silence in defense of the men who served alongside him.
"It's gotten harder and harder for those of us who were there to listen to
accounts we know to be untrue, especially when they come from people who were
not there," Rood writes. "What matters most to me is that this is hurting crew
men who are not public figures and who deserved to be honored for what they
did.
"My intent is to tell the story here and to never again talk publicly
about it."
William Rood's complete account will appear in the Sunday, August 22
edition of the Chicago Tribune, available Saturday in Chicago and online at
chicagotribune.com.
Chicago Tribune Managing Editor James O'Shea said Rood has refused all
interview requests up to now, including some from the Tribune's reporters.
"Bill is a modest man and he didn't want his harrowing combat experiences to
become engulfed in a political campaign.
"As the coverage of Senator Kerry's war record has intensified, though,
Rood decided to come forward with his story, primarily, he says, because
Kerry's critics are telling stories that Rood knows to be untrue. The false
accounts are casting doubts on the actions of those men who served with and
under Rood, men who are not public figures running for president but brave,
ordinary Americans, war veterans whose courage, Rood believes, should not be
diminished by a heated political campaign."
NOTE: William Rood will not be available for further comment or
interviews. Deputy Managing Editor George de Lama and reporter Tim Jones are
available.
SOURCE Chicago Tribune
Web Site: http://chicagotribune.com
Photo Notes: NewsCom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-a
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-b
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-c
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040821/CGSA002-d AP
Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org AP PhotoExpress Network:
PRN1 PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com |
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RocketFett
PO3
Joined: 05 Aug 2004
Posts: 292
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 4:01 pm Post subject: Yeah, right. |
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If this guy had something factual to say, he would have come out and said it months ago soon as the SWIFT Vets came out with their open letter and their press conferences. Only reason it would have taken months for him to "break his silence" is because he had to get his story straight. One person, ESPECIALLY a politically biased media person like this "editor" is hardly enough to be taken at his word and seriously challenge the masses who have risen against kerry. Because of the fact that this person is in the media, I would content that it makes his ethics and reliability even more in question. If the past few years have proven anything, it is that what journalists say can no longer be taken at face value, and just trusted without scrutiny.
This guy likely would support and vote for kerry even if a video came out showing mr. kerry in a compromising position with a teenage staffer. Funny how his single account doesn't line up with what the clear majority of vets say about it. And again, the timing of it is funny. The Vets have said what they've said about this incident for months. Why'd it take that many months for this editor to get his "remberance" correct? I would think he'd have spoken up right away. This guy is just another lackey media whore troll for kerry. Plain and simple.
If the Vets were lying, and kerry was telling the truth, he would have sued the Swift Vets for libel and slander months ago. He hasn't, because he knows good and well that they CAN prove they're telling the truth, and he can't afford that before the election. He also knows that the extra attention they'd get would sink him too, because it would give more light to their accounts. Also, if he was telling the truth, he'd come out and publically challenge the Swift Vets. Hasn't done that either. He's gone totally out of his way NOT to directly comment on them, other than his stupid recycled "bring it on" mantra. Every time he says that, shortly thereafter he accuses those he said it to of attacking him. That's like calling a guy out to fight you and then pressing assault charges because he kicked your ass! kerry is such a sissy. He has a knife in a gun fight and he knows it.
And finally, if what kerry and this "for sale" editor were telling the truth, kerry would simply release his full and complete military records, because that would solve all this once and for all. But again, that will NOT happen because he knows good and well that there is NOTHING in his records to discredit the Vets and prove his claims about his three months in Vietnam. To the contrary, it likely has some evidence that the Vets are telling the truth, or else he would have released them a couple years ago like President Bush did when kerry called for Bush to release his full records. Another example of kerry demanding of others things that he himself is totally unwilling to do. |
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Chuck54
PO1
Joined: 14 Aug 2004
Posts: 466
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 4:03 pm Post subject: |
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"NOTE: William Rood will not be available for further comment or
interviews. Deputy Managing Editor George de Lama and reporter Tim Jones are
available. "
Nice, he takes a jab then runs. Real man of him 
_________________
"And no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often, than the two Senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry"
Zell Miller |
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carpro
Admin
Joined: 10 May 2004
Posts: 1176
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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| gilliam wrote: |
NOTE: William Rood will not be available for further comment or
interviews. Deputy Managing Editor George de Lama and reporter Tim Jones are
available.
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[/quote]
That's handy. 
_________________
"If he believes his 1971 indictment of his country and his fellow veterans was true, then he couldn't possibly be proud of his Vietnam service." |
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LewWaters
Admin
Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 4042
Location: Washington State
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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My thoughts exactly, Chuck. How convenient
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stealthy
Lieutenant
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 237
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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Wait a minute, I thought you had to be IN KERRY'S BOAT to have served with him.
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tvaughan
Seaman
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 182
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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Wow. This is not good. Like The New York Times article it doesn't have to actually check out.
It is just something they can refer to as, "See! They're lying!".
It's just more clutter to slow down the message.
I think I was being a little naive. I learned a long time ago that the truth is not as powerful as it should be. Truth does not always have the last word.
Very frustrating.
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Talking point #2: Sign 180
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stealthy
Lieutenant
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 237
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 4:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | William Rood's complete account will appear in the Sunday, August 22
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Nice maneuver, he'll get it out in time for the Sunday Democrat religious services, ie News show to use to blindside O Niell.
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