SwiftVets.com

[cipher]

The ABC story is fraught with holes.

The holes are in the "Official Navy Records" (written by Kerry), Kerry's Silver Star Citations (based on the "Official Navy Records" written by Kerry), and the confirmation of events from the VC which do NOTHING to support the SS citatiions, and do MORE to damage Kerry than help him.

The VC said "20 troops, total". In the face of 100+ RFPF and additional PCF crew support, and VASTLY superior firepower, there is NO BASIS for any "numerically superior force" to support the premise of the award of the Silver Star. NONE.
_________________
USMC 69-72, 7th Comm, 3rd MarDiv, FMFPAC
US Army 75-79, 97th Sig, SHAPE, NATO
Arkansas National Guard 79
Defense contractor for US Navy, SSPO, SP-20, SP-24, OP-12 84-92

[GT]

Right out of the starting gate what struck me as suspicious was hearing the American "interpreter" who Koppel said "has lived in Vietnam for the last 25 years". What kind of American would go to Vietnam in 1979, a Vietnam under the control of the North Vietnamese? Why would the North Vietnamese even let him in? Something smells there.

[ranch hand]

Two items:

The first VC woman interviewed was told her husband had been killed. She stated that he was not in the area. Next scene, she goes to his grave, saying he was killed on that day.

Second is about the people who were there six months earlier.

Should be easy to find out. Don't they have to get a visa to go over there. ABC wanted us to believe that it was a Swift Boat vet. Good reporting would have tried to find out who was there. Bad/biased reporting wwould just leave the subject hanging.

[mangdawg]

a BIG thumbs up to O'Neil! he cleaned ol teddy poople a new ***

john hit on the same point i thought; how covenient ABC had those "un-biased" survivers to interview.
i mean Kerry's a HERO to them, so sure their gonna help him become prez.

what struck me... and it flew over teddy's head : if ABC had such a hard time getting in, how in the world did the "swiftboat" guy get in?

that little "swiftboat" add-on removed any credibility the topic may have had.

kudos to john, he REALLY made kople look stupid and petty

[LewWaters]

[Wynne]

Just sent this email to Night Line --


Even if I did not know the facts of this story, even had I not read John Kerry's 2 authorized biographies, Ted Koppel's report tonight is not credible. My husband and I kept asking, 'How do those villagers remember a single incident from 35 years ago? In a place where fire fights went on frequently? Like Lt.(jg) Kerry, did they keep diaries? Did they write after action reports?'

Who was the supposed 'Swift Boat' sailor who went over to Viet Nam with a cameraman and primed the interviewees to tell a false story? We're very curious about that. Did the camerman's camera have ABC printed on it?

John O'Neill said it well: 'You've been had, Ted.' Ted Koppel belongs in the Dan RaTHer hall of shame.
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TRUTH IS ALWAYS THE VICTOR

[stylin19]

ccr

Nguyen Van Khoai mentioned in the nightline article is the same
Nguyen Van Khoai mentioned in the http://www.planetsave.com/ViewStory.asp?ID=5254
which appearws to be an article by

MARGIE MASON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Tuesday, August 31, 2004


From Nightline
Back in Tran Thoi, villager Nguyen Van Khoai said that about six months ago he was visited by an American who described himself as a Swift boat veteran and told him another American from the Swift boats was running for president of the United States. Nguyen said the man was accompanied by a cameraman.

"They say he didn't do anything to deserve the medal," Nguyen said. "The other day, they came and asked me the questions and I said that the recognition for the medal is up to the U.S.A."

He said that, after they met, the Swift Boat veteran and the cameraman turned around and went back down the river. Nightline has not been able to identify the men.

So, was Margie Mason a swift boat vet </sarcasm off>
Maybe Koppel's got some splainin to do.

1. where did he get his info that it was a Swift boat vet that was there earlier ?
2. How, by chance does he interview the same guy as Margie Mason ?
_________________
U.S.M.C. - 1969-1971
RVN- 1970-1971

[cipher]

You guys are looking at the smoke screen. Forget Koppel. He's the distractor.

The REALITY is in what the VC said and what is in the MTSR. And they are in perfect agreement.

A "score" is 20. That was the exact word used in Kerry's SS citation. 20 enemy soldiers.

ONE RPG-2 with a B-40 grenade was found. One B-40 had been fired at the PCF 94 with hardly any effect other than springing a porthole from concussion.

The TRUTH is that Kerry scammed the medal. He wrote the MTSR, embellished the citation, and got a STAR for his efforts. Which was scrubbed and sanitized with THREE *different* versions over time.

Kerry is a con artist. He lies. Why is ANYONE surprised Koppel was sucked in by his prevarication?
_________________
USMC 69-72, 7th Comm, 3rd MarDiv, FMFPAC
US Army 75-79, 97th Sig, SHAPE, NATO
Arkansas National Guard 79
Defense contractor for US Navy, SSPO, SP-20, SP-24, OP-12 84-92

[dmackto]

[granny23]

At the very end of the show when he thought he was off camera, Ted no longer looked composed and rolled his eyes. Maybe he knows John's parting shot is true.

[Wescoot2]

After watching this show......only one question comes to mind.....did Kopel and Rather go to the same school of journalism???
_________________
If your Gonna Be One...Be a BIG RED ONE

No Mission To Difficult...No Sacrifice To Great...

DUTY FIRST

[azpatriot]

[Anker-Klanker]

This may sound arrogant on my part, but I think I know the answer to this. First two questions are very important:

1) Why did ABC go 10,000 miles to get this story when there was plenty of story right there in the BG book and in Kerry's own?
2) Why did ABC even know there was a story there in that village?

The last one is the most important. It's a lead pipe cinch they didn't know there was a story there from those villagers. Think about that just a moment, then...

Enter the answer. Recall the posting of Dr. Jack Wheeler on the subject of the Vietnam Human Rights Act?

http://www2.swiftvets.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=12324

Senator Kerry single-handedly prevented the Vietnam Human Acts Right from being put before the Senate (because it was opposed by the Vietnamese government?). Not once, but twice. The second time after 19 July of this year! The government of Vietnam, as late as this summer, owed sKerry a big favor. Payback time?

Again I'll ask the question: how did ABC even know there was a story to be had in that remote place? Because through channels the government of Vietnam arranged it?

[blackwatch]

I think his name was Kyle Lewis.

[openfish24]

Nightline sent someone to vietnam to the village where the silver star incident occured. They interviewed several people who were living at the time the incident occured and were present. The surviving villagers say that the village was a major supply station for the communists. Bigger than the americans thought. The Americans did not destroy all of the supplies. They were well hidden. Three hooches were burned and supplies destroyed by south vietnamese soldiers who accompanied the swift boats. The villagers said size of the communist force was 12-20.

Please someone verify how many men were on the swiftboats. Kerry's citation says there was a numerically superior force. If there were more than 12-20 on the boats then the citation is bogus.

The man who shot the rocket propelled grenade at Kerry's boat was sent to the village recently by either the communist govt. or the viet cong. I did not catch which.

The villagers say he was wearing Black pajamas not a loin cloth.

They say his body was in the open not behind a hooch.

I may be unclear on this point. They said he shot the rocket propelled grenade and was shot immediately thereafter. So, he was wounded.

Kerry's citation says there was a numerically superior force. Kerry's book and the other american witnesses say one man in a loincloth.

Oneill repeatedly pointed the discrepancies in the report and the book. Koppel was stuck on what the villagers said.

Oneill repeatedly pointed out that he would believe what was in Kerry's book and the american eyewitness testimony. He was surprised that koppel would put so much stock in the words of villagers who may or many not have been there at the time 30+ years ago (verification by ?) and none in the book by the boston globe and Kerry's own book.

Koppel seemed to take the line that the citation was right - numerically superior force - as verified by the villagers. Kerry's book and the book by the boston globe were just inconvenient little inconsistencies.