SwiftVets.com

[docford]

On the MSN Group “Vietnam War Questions and Answers,” a high school student left the following message –

Subject – Leave him alone.

Why is everyone attacking Kerry? I mean, ok, so hes know angel, but it was the freaking Vietnam War. There were a lot of things that happend that I'm sure ppl don't want to even think about. Bush isn't an angel himself. Personally, Bush's attack on Kerry seems kind of insulting cause it seems like Bush is using veitnam veterans to try to destroy Kerry (I don't mean that in an offensive way...). So can someone please explain to me what Kerry did that so scandelous, what one news reporter (I swear) said was woprse then My Lai.

I don't mean to ask political q's, but I just want to know what the hell is going on, why they're like, after him, beacuse no one is giving a straight answer, just explain it out for the naive 17 yr old lol
Thnxs


My answer –

A tour in Viet Nam was one year. There were three ways to leave once you were assigned – (1) complete the entire tour, (2) suffer a serious wound that prevented you from performing your duty, or (3) the hard way. Kerry left after 117 days based on a little used regulation that was designed to reward those who were awarded three purple hearts during a tour. The purpose of that regulation was to give something back to those warriors who suffered serious wounds but refused to rotate out – basically because they were dedicated to their duty and felt a responsibility to their fellow soldiers.

Kerry did not suffer any serious wounds – in fact, he did not lose more than one day of work from any of these “wounds.” Secondly, a purple heart is awarded for wounds suffered due to enemy action. His campaign finally admitted that at least the first purple heart was for self-inflicted wounds. This is consistent with what the Swift Vets have been saying since the beginning. So, in essence, Kerry abandoned his shipmates by manufacturing his own ticket home. Remember, he drafted his own recommendation for at least two of the awards.

This, alone, brings into question his sense of honor and duty. The thing that seals the deal is his act of coming home and accusing fellow soldiers, sailors and grunts of war atrocities. He lied and impugned the honor and service of good people. More importantly, he betrayed the very people he was stationed with by both abandoning them and then stabbing them in the back once he got home. His little speech made life very difficult for the POWs being held in North Vietnam.

Further, he manufactured his own “heroic record.” After supposedly throwing away his medals on April 23, 1971 in front of thousands of witnesses, he then turns around once he becomes a senator and somehow gets Secretary of the Navy John Lehman to reissue the award citations for his Silver Star and Bronze Star – with the citations reworded and amended to inflate his own actions.

After some of his “battle” actions, he went back later and re-created the battle for posterity, using a movie camera he purchased in the PX in Saigon. Look at the film shown at the Democratic Convention – he has M60 rounds draped over his shoulder, Rambo-like. They did not use M60s on a Swift Boats.

He lied about his little nonexistent adventure in Cambodia supposedly during Christmas 1968. He made a speech on the Senate floor talking about his trip into Cambodia in 1968 – pointing out that Nixon sent them in. Nixon was not in office at the time.

He told another tale on the Senate floor of his boat hitting a mine, and the mascot dog being blown over the side, into the air, and landing miraculously on the deck of another boat. Never happened.

Need I go on? There is more.

Doc Ford HMC (SW) USN


Does anyone want to add anything? I think some people who have no military experience are having a hard time understanding the real issues in this case.

[whuffo]

Does anyone have the resources to find out how many Vietnam vets used the 3 Purple Hearts and go home regulation? And importantly did ANY ONE (other than JK) of them do it with only scratches instead of serious wounds? I'd bet not but my hunch is not sufficient data.

[Twidget]

You should probably show him that it's not Bush doing the attacking.

[neverforget]

But, but, but, I said he's no angel. So what? I've gone through public school and we have been taught it is not nice to make judgements. Unless you are one of those other psychotic Vietnam veterans who are also racists.

Sarcasm off/

[taz]

I think everything in your reply is disgusting, what Kerry did is unforgivable. but I don't understand why no one (or at least not many) mention his aiding the enemy by meeting with them in Paris and then by pushing their agenda back home. to me, this is probably the worst, he is actually a traitor.

[docford]

Taz - I am confused. Why is my reply to this teenager disgusting? We are on the same side here, and I think I made some valid points. I posted this here so I could give this kid a complete picture. Thanks for reminding me of what Kerry did in Paris. Yous are right - everyone forgets this part of the story.

Doc Ford

[Scott]

Doc

I understood Taz to be saying that you documented disgusting things about John Kerry.

However, let's wait for him to reply
_________________
Bye bye, Boston Straggler!

[docford]

You are probably right. My apologies to everyone.

[taz]

your reply is not disgusting, Kerry is!!!! I'm so sorry I didn't make that clear enough.

[lrb111]

[Steve Z]

Does this mean that the ad about Kerry negotiating with Hanoi, and the disastrous results of the withdrawal from Vietnam, are coming later, after SBVT has destroyed Kerry's credibility by "nickel and diming" him to death with his fibs about medals?

I also wonder--the incident recounted in the book by George Bates, where Kerry shoots pigs and chickens and burns down a village could seriously tarnish Kerry's image as a "conscientious" objector, even to the anti-war crowd! Are there any plans to do an ad about that?
_________________
The traitor will crater!

[RMalloy]

Seriously question whether the it was a real "teenager" wondering why
everyone was picking on Kerry? I have seen it before where someone
poses as a "teenager" or "Christian" or just a simple minded idiot looking
for answers about why everyone is against Kerry. Has anyone ever heard
or read where a report has come out claiming what Kerry did in Vietnam
was worse than My Lai? Nope. Amazingly these blogs always contain
bad spelling, what's up with that?

Maybe someone could focus an ad on how Kerry was able to drop two
years of reserve from his records, or a member of our military was able to meet with the enemy?
Kerry got a ticket to ride from higher ups. Or the meeting in Kansas with
the VVAW were there was discussion of assassinating several Senators.
Now Kerry says he wasn't there. His "testimony" before the Senate.
Not one hard question from the panel, not any countering to Kerry's claims. Everything was taken verbatim. It was prearranged. It was purely political, Kerry was at that time running for office.

What is breathtaking about all this is....... For the first time, in my lifetime,
a candidate who committed treasonous acts in 1971, and has written about
them, and spoken about them, represents one of the two major parties in this country for the highest office in this country, the highest office in the world.
That this man lied before a Senate committee, that his "testimony" was
based on the Winter Soldier "investigation" now proven to be a sham.
This was even before the Swiftvets stepped forward. That he called our
military murderers, rapists, babykillers, and brought shame upon those
who served or still served in Vietnam, for purely political purposes. Kerry
had no feeling for any of the Veterans, they were just stepping stones
in his pursuit of power. I remember it well. That he admitted that he too had committed "atrocities" yet has backed away from those claims. That he did not throw "his" medals over the White House Wall as he claimed back then. Somehow he never thought that what
he did after his "tour" would have an impact on this election. That he had a documentary made last year about his “heroic exploits” during his Vietnam tour. How many Vets had permission to film themselves during their tour? Perhaps the fact that Clinton was able to worm his way in the Whitehouse gave Kerry false hope. Or that Kerry is truly a narcissistic, a "legend in his own mind."

Then the Swiftvets arrived, and have survived massive attacks by the
people who seek to put Kerry into office. What the Swiftvets have done
is to highlight more false claims from Mr. "Reporting for Duty" Kerry.
Thank you for stepping forward, Kerry's blatant efforts during the Demo
Convention to portray himself as a War Hero fit to run this country and
be Commander in Chief was incredulous to me, but not to the many people who did not live during the Vietnam Era, I find so many unable to
comprehend the suffering caused by Kerry and his ilk. The main news
media proclaimed that our memories of thirty plus years are now fuzzy.
If they had been there they would know what happened still remains in
sharp focus, and will be forever, just like the WWII veterans and the Korean War Vets and their families.

Kerry will probably come up with some kind of "apology" which will
be disingenuous on the whole. He has already demonstrated that
lying and embellishment has served him well and gotten him to where he is today, and that this is the first time anyone has called him on it in a very serious way, enough to damage his main goal in life, the office of the President. If he can’t handle a frontal assault from 240 Swiftvets, how can he handle dealing with terrorists or rogue nations?

[lucky]

I like that we are also going further than just his abbreviated tour. But there are also many people who never served and feel it is just between his brother in arms. I feel what he did also put a blemish on this great country. I say look at the scene in any vietnam movie that showed an atrocity and it seems to be scripted straight from his testimony. And now we know that much of that testimony was false.

These kids know no better. All they have ever seen of the war was what hollywood wanted us to see and it needs to be shown that his testimony was a part of the deceit. Am I going up A blind alley here? This man betrayed the whole country. Apologize for butting in.
_________________
life is great

[docford]

RMalloy-

This kid has been a regular in this Vietnam Q &A MSN group for several years - first when one of his history teachers was covering the War and was putting forth the liberal spin. The kid starting posting questions to the Vietnam veterans in this group, and getting the true story.

I agree there are a bunch of idiots out there, but this is not one of them (unless he is really good)

[docford]

Let me amend my last message. In this case I think it is highly likely that this kid, as my teenage daughter does often, was trying to get a reaction from an unsuspecting adult.