SwiftVets.com

[Michael B. Smith]

My name is Michael Berryman Smith.

I'm 41 years old. By the time the war was over I was 12 or 13 years old. Unfortunately, I do not know a whole lot about Vietnam.

I have some questions. Allow me some background first.

I am an Independent and will likely vote for Michael Badnarik as I am not excited about either candidate in the main parties.

I went in the service in Sep. 1982 and ETS Sept 1988. My first permanent party station was Fort Bragg, HHB 3rd BAT/4th ADA, my MOS was 05B [combat radio operator].

I was among some of the last military members who trained and served under Vietnam vets. I distinctly remember my various platoon daddies and squad Sgts et al telling me stories of atrocities that occured in Vietnam.

I saw ex Congressman Pete McClosky last night, who also testified in 1971 and said pretty much the same thing as Kerry. McClosky is a highly decorated anchor cranker, recieving the Navy Cross.

Raussman verifies Kerry claims, even my Uncle who was in the Navy and served on some kind of boats in the rivers of Vietnam has told me horrible stories.

WHY ?

By saying Kerry is lying, yall are saying all these other men are lying!

Are all these men liars?

If swift vetsl are telling then truth - then all these other men must be lying - right?

confused in Texas.

Sincerely
Michael Berryman Smith
Fort Worth, Texas
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Michael B. Smith

[rb325th]

05B?!? Combat Radio Operator? Never heard of that MOS.(Thought commo was 30 Series)
I served in the same timespan as you, had Vietnam Veterans as Drill Sgt.s, Plattoon Sgts, and Sergeant Major was a Vietnam Vet.
Not a single one of them talked about atrocaties occuring on the scale Kerry claimed!None even claimed to have ever seen any period! Also most of Kerrys Testiomony came from men who were not there, some of whom never even served, and some who declare they were not at the Winter Soldier Meeting yet their names ended up as being "witnesses".
So, 250 men who served in Swift Boats state Kerry has lied and or exagerated the facts regarding his time in Vietnam, are they all liars?
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U.S. Army 1983-1995, 11C1P/11H2P NBTDT

[air_vet]

[roughfun]

Nice try mike. You cant be so informed and confused at the same time. Kerry has 250 guys pounding on his door saying he lied. Do you have 250 guys from Bragg calling you a liar about somthing? Why not? Is it because you didnt transform yourself into an instant war hero. Just add water no VC needed. He didnt serve the Navy he used the Navy to serve himself. You sound more like James Carvelle than a Vet. Semper Fi.
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USMC 67-71. Two tours two PHs both from Hue City, Tet 68. Didnt have to ask for them they just gave them to me. Great site. Its an uphill battle but truth wins in the end. Semper Fi

[Michael B. Smith]

and yes - 05B was a MOS. Brehms Barracks Fort Gordon. About midway through my tenure, the MOS changed to 31K (as I recall).

but my service is not in dispute - my DD form 214 says I served honorably.

NOR - am I supporting or defending Kerry - likewise, I am not supporting or defending the Swift Boat vets. I have and would again defend their right to speak their mind.

I am simply asking a question about something I do not understand! If yall wish to attack me, then I will ask my question elsewhere. Hopefully - the swift vets will answer my email of the same that I sent earlier.

Seems to this individual that there appears to be a controversy between those who served honorably in Vietnam and say atrociteis didn't happen, and those who served honorably and say they did, such as ex Rep. Pete McClosky (R)?????

Allow me to whisper a word of good council in both your ears - attacking someone for asking a question will not get you very far!

"All the way" Sirs!
MBS
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Michael B. Smith

[Bob_P]

[kevkersey]

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

Have you read "Unfit for Command?"

Have you read the messages in these forums that deal with your questions?

Have you read the main web site?

All of your questions can be answered. The search function usually works pretty well - located at the top of every page.

People are very good about answering questions, here, but they're not anyone's personal research librarian.

Dig in - there's more material here than you can absorb in a week.
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~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother

[Michael B. Smith]

Republican Pete McClosky must have been exaggerating his ass off last night on Hardball...

PS - I'm not arguing with you, and sincerely interested in this. You see - I feel that this debate is going to tear apart an otherwise already divided and hateful (torwards each other) country. And as they have their right to express their view - so to do I! and this is very worrisom to me - and I am not even voting for Kerry.


MATTHEWS:  But he did say in his testimony, we were people cutting off ears and cutting off heads.
MCCLOSKEY:  Well, there were people that said that.  And I...
MATTHEWS:  He did, too.
MCCLOSKEY:  Well, I‘ll tell you, we ran across General Patton‘s son, a colonel, who was flying around in a helicopter man collecting ears of Viet Cong, cutting off ears, shooting at them with his pistol out of a helicopter.  But that was the exception.
Most of the men served honorably.  And Vietnam veterans ought to be treated better than most veterans, because they fought in a war that was unpopular at a time.  But I think these men have been so carried away by their anger over that testimony that he gave that I think they have forgotten the truth. 
The men that served with him knew him as a leader and as a war hero.  I knew him as a principled, probably idealistic young man.  It took courage to speak out in ‘71 against a war.  We had Marines fighting over there.  I had friends fighting over there.  But the war was wrong.  It‘s just like Iraq today.  You can support the troops, but you don‘t necessarily need to support the policy that put them there or keeps them there. 
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Michael B. Smith

[PO2]

[blue9t3]

If swift vetsl are telling then truth - then all these other men must be lying - right?

confused in Texas.

Sincerely
Michael Berryman Smith
Fort Worth, Texas[/quote]

Dear confused, sometimes stories are just that, take john kerry for example. You should try to get your info as close to the source as possible,then ask questions. Let me suggest going to www.swiftvets.com, maybe even read it!!
Ive never heard of that guy your voting for, but Im sure hes alot better than kerry.
As for Mr. Rassmann, the only thing they really agree on is that kerrys boat plucked him out of the water,and I dont think there was a swifty out there that wouldnt do the same.
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MOPAR-BUYER

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

LOL! McCloskey is not exactly a credible reference if you're trying to get to the bottom of atrocities in Vietnam!

And Chris Mathews is not a credible source for anything. He could give me the date and I'd check the Naval Observatory for verification.

Really, before you dig yourself any deeper and make a worse impression than you might intend to make.... go do some reading. Study up on this. There are tons of threads here on everything you want to know.
_________________
~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother

[Michael B. Smith]

"Well, Mr. Smith, ... Therefor, I sincerely doubt that such things were said to you by the people you indicate."

So now I am a liar as well????

well - thank you very much Sir.

But I do appriciate the rest of your post, it was informative - and I do thank you for your service in Vietnam.

it is simply to bad however, when someone is looking for answers from those who were there to be called a liar for posing the question based on things told to me.
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Michael B. Smith

[Sgt-Keeper]

Michael, I am glad you are interested in looking for the truth. Too many people returned with "Good Stories" they heard about things that happened over there. One of my good friends just told me that he was on the famous "helicopter prisoner interrogation flight", the one with the three prisoners they threw out the door etc.... not true. That was going around when I was there, a full two years before he was in-country. It is sometimes fun to make up or repeat the war stories. Just ask JFK! I wish I had a nickle for everyone who was "there" and saw "that". The real combat vets hardly ever talked about the stuff they had been involved in, not because they were part of an atrocity, but because the real fighting was really bad and scary. Most of those arm-chair heros were clerks, or rear echelon. Not a put down because they were needed too. But, too often the biggest story tellers are still the biggest liars. I am sure my brother SBVs will concur. I know my fellow combat brothers I know personally today agree with the facts that most real combat vets are pretty mum about those times. Those times are still intensely personal. No, no one in my squad saw or committed any atrocities. Considering the times and the media back then, more than just Lt. Calley would have been in the brig if those things happened. Yes, Kerry lied. So did most of those "vets" who testified then. Read the book "Stolen Valor". It will help you answer your own questions. And make those "self confessed atrocity heros" look more stupid than they already are. If those heros persist with their lies, ask to see their DD214. It should at least show some combat experience. Then refer back to 'Stolen Valor".
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Fix the problem, not the blame.
USMC E5 Nam vet 65-66

[kevkersey]