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http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40180
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ELECTION 2004
Admiral comes forward to dispute Kerry medal
Insists he was in boat with future senator, wound self-inflicted, not from enemy fire

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Posted: August 27, 2004
12:13 p.m. Eastern

Retired Rear Adm. William L. Schachte Jr. has come forward to dispute John Kerry's contention that his first Purple Heart resulted from enemy fire.

Schachte, who spoke to columnist Robert Novak, says he was in command of the small boat, a "skimmer," when the incident occurred on Kerry's first combat mission.

That assertion conflicts with the accounts of two enlisted men who appeared with the senator on the podium at the Democratic National Convention earlier this month.

Kerry defender Lanny Davis has used the versions of Patrick Runyon and William Zaladonis, who say they didn't know Schachte, to argue "Unfit for Command," the best-seller by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, is not credible.

But Schachte told Novak: "I was absolutely in the skimmer," code-named "Batman," in the early morning on Dec. 2, 1968, when Kerry was involved in the incident that led to the first Purple Heart.

"Kerry nicked himself with a M-79 [grenade launcher]," Schachte told the columnist in a telephone interview from his home in Charleston, S.C.

In his journal, quoted by "Tour of Duty" author Douglas Brinkley, Kerry said the incident took place near "the shore off a Viet Cong-infested peninsula north of Cam Ranh."


Kerry wrote he and his comrades were "scared s---less" that night, thinking fishermen in sampans might be Viet Cong.

When some of the sampan occupants began unloading something on the beach, Kerry lit a flare, causing the startled men on shore to run for cover. That's when Kerry says he and the other Americans began firing.

Said Kerry in "Tour of Duty":


My M-16 jammed, and as I bent down in the boat to grab another gun, a stinging piece of heat socked into my arm and just seemed to burn like hell. By this time one of the sailors had started the engine and we ran by the beach, strafing it. Then it was quiet.
Schachte said he was "astonished" by Kerry's version of the Dec. 2 event in "Tour of Duty."

He told Novak it "was not possible" for Kerry to have gone out alone so soon after joining the swiftboat command in late November 1968.

Two other former officers contacted by Novak confirmed that Schachte was always aboard the skimmer, a Boston Whaler, for these missions, designed by Schachte himself to flush out enemy forces on the banks of the Mekong River so the larger swiftboats could move in.

Lt. Cmdr. Grant Hibbard, Schachte's superior officer at the time, told Novak, "I don't think [Kerry] was alone" on his first assignment.

Hibbard told Kerry to "forget it" when he asked for a Purple Heart.

Tedd Peck, another swiftboat commander, told Novak he remembered Schachte telling him Kerry's claim of an enemy-inflicted wound "didn't happen."

It would be "impossible" for Kerry to have been in the skimmer without Schachte, Peck said.

The retired admiral said he initially didn't want to get involved in the effort to counter Kerry's war claims, but changed his mind when he saw his credibility challenged, beginning with Davis on CNN's "Crossfire" on Aug. 12.

He insists he has had no contact with any Republican organization and regards himself as a political independent.

Schachte told Novak he saw Kerry about 20 years after the 1968 incident on the U.S. Senate subway in the basement of the Russell Senate Office Building.

"I called, 'Hey, John.' He replied, 'Batman.' I was absolutely amazed by his memory."

Schachte told Novak they "talked about having lunch" but never did it.

After WorldNetDaily's report last week of a discrepancy in Kerry's personal account of his first Purple Heart, his presidential campaign says it's "possible" the wound resulted from enemy fire.

WND reported that nine days after Kerry claims he was hit by hostile fire in 1968, he wrote in his journal as he set out on a subsequent mission, "A cocky feeling of invincibility accompanied us up the Long Tau shipping channel because we hadn't been shot at yet, and Americans at war who haven't been shot at are allowed to be cocky."

With three Purple Hearts, Kerry was allowed according to Navy regulations to leave Vietnam after only four months of his 12-month tour.


© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com


SBD

[taz]

he can't be telling the truth. I just heard Judy Woodruff say that he donated money to the REPUBLICANS!!!! How can he have any credibility?

[jrsdad]

I caught this from one of O'Neill's interviews, and followed it up.

From the JAG site, under "Leaders" http://www.jag.navy.mil/AboutUs/RADMHistory3.htm:

RADM William Leon Schachte, Jr. 1992-1993

Top man at JAG. Man, this sailor has no credibility. He has nothing to lose by coming forward. He probably has no understanding of the consequences, legally, personally and professionally, of making a false sworn statement.

You won't see this in the MSM. I don't recall even Novak mentioning it. Maybe because no one trusts lawyers? Like O'Neill? And... Hurley... and Kerry... and Edwards... oh my.

This is not some (to borrow the left's characterization of Nam vets) rummy white trash conscript tallking. This man was the top military lawyer a few years back.

[ETEE]

I spent a great deal of my life as a Merchant Marine Officer. I have read a few of the tome's he has written regarding the Sea Bed Authority. Within the stories in the Newspapers and on T.V., I noticed that Journalists have not bothered to give any background on exactly who Rear Admiral William Schachte is. As a Seagoing man, I have seen his name before. His credentials are SPOTLESSLY IMPECABLE. And, he served in a position within the United States Navy that the American T.V. watching public will instantly recognize.

Aside from being the Navy Lt.jg. who invented the proceedure to flush out Viet Cong sampans in the Mekong Delta, and aside from training each Officer in the technique to do so, for all of the Coastal Divisions in Vietnam, including in this case, John Kerry, William Schachte stayed in the Navy.

He developed his Law Degree and not only became the Deputy Judge Advocate General (Chief of JAG) of the Navy but was also appointed Deputy Judge Advocate General(Chief of JAG) of the Department of Defense. He also was the designated United States Representative to the United Nations Conference on International Laws of the Sea. Rear Admiral Schachte is one of the most respected and knowledgeable men in the world regarding Sea Law. He is STILL in Practice as an Attorney with Blank Rome.

William Schachte's Resume':

http://www.blankrome.com/attorneys/attydetail.asp?AttNum=681

Click on Resume' to the right...............

[Navy wife]

You are right, Bill Schachte has an impecable record and in my opinion, is a very honorable man who is now being totally smeared by the national media. The Washington Times chose him as one of their Nobles in their Nobles and Knaves column!

[Powerboss]

What statements has Runyon made regarding hostile fire on the issue of the first PH incident?

Are there multiple conflicting statements?