SwiftVets.com

[skbarton13]

Going through the pdf file of Kerry's fitness reports on johnkerry.com we find (along with some message traffic relating to reports) the copies of the fitness reports marching along with page ones followed by page twos in succession until the report covering his key combat period, where there appears to be a glitch.

There is a page one for the period 14 Dec 68 to 26 Mar 69 with "Reporting Senior" listed at the bottom as LCDR George M. Elliot, COMCOSDIV Eleven.

Before and after that page one are two different page twos, neither of which lines up with any other page one in the file and both of which appear to talk about the Kerry's performance during combat operations during the period of the page one above.

One page two states that: Kerry was assigned "to this division" for only a short time; he was involved in enemy-initiated firefights during the Christmas truce; and he was cited for good performance in a message on 08 Jan 69. This page is signed in the reporting senior block by "J.W. Streuli" (spelling?), with no rank and no job title on 28 Jan 69. The block below ("Regular Reporting Senior on Concurrent or Special Report") is signed by LCDR G.M. Elliot, COMCOSDIV Eleven on 17 Mar 69.

Looks like this page two would be from a concurrent report, but where is the page one that goes with it?

The other page two looks to contain the write-up that goes with the period on the page one. It mentions that during the period of the report Kerry was awarded the SS, the BSM, and 2d and 3d awards of the PH. This fits in that Kerry's first PH came out of a patrol on 2 Dec 69, prior to the period covered by the page one we are looking at. This page two is signed by G.M. Elliot (no rank, no job title, but the page one tells us both of those) as the Reporting Senior on 18 Dec 69.

Why is LCDR Elliot signing this report 8 months after Kerry left country?

Did the Navy routinely go back to amend fitness reports when there were significant awards conferred for performance during a past period? By this I mean, Kerry's awards would not have been processed and finalized before he got out of country. So, did LCDR Elliot go back to re-write the report to include the awards (replacing words about the recommendations for award) of the medals?

Or what? This report on Kerry's combat performance was signed while Kerry was aide-de-camp to an admiral. Was there an earlier version and is there an innocent explanation?

Other and expert opinions requested.

[skbarton13]

Bump. Has anyone heard of this J.W. Streuli (sp?)? SBVT talked about having Kerry's commanders in their group, but I do not see a signature that would fit the name in the block.

Streuli is the Reporting Senior who writes that Kerry was unofficially credited with 20 KIA.

Again, there appears to be a page missing, the page one of the Streuli-signed report. Or maybe page one isn't used on a concurrent report.

And the main fitness report page for Kerry's combat tour was signed (18 Dec 69) 8 months after he left Vietnam (early Apr 69 per johnkerry.com) but two weeks before he requested discharge (3 Jan 70).

How did this come to happen? I offered an innocent explanation above. If you know something from service experience or personnel report experience, please fill me in while keeeping it innuendo- and smear-free!

Thanks.