SwiftVets.com

[ord33]

To me, this is one of Kerry's worst stunts thus far. Being that Alston was selected to speak at the Convention and conveyed during his speech that he served with Kerry and knew him well Transcript Of Speech . Since this is such a current deception by Kerry, his campaign, & Alston, this should be a major point addressed to the mainstream media crying foul over the SWBVT having "not served" with Kerry. In fact, I think this is something that could bring Kerry down more so than his "Christmas in Cambodia" lies. Although, both of these lies serves a purpose to himself, Cambodia to further his agenda about Nicaragua, and an attempt to promote his Anti-War/atrocities BS. Putting Alston, a minister, in the national spotlight to lie (or at the very least severely mislead) to further his own perception as a war hero is quite a deception to the American people in itself. --- XMas in Cambodia, however, I must say was worse because it was jeopardizing the lives of our troops in VN. I'm rambling here, but I guess it comes down to this. Kerry, knowingly misrepresented Alston as someone who was on his own boat and served several missions with him in an ATTEMPT to solidify himself as a "War Hero" at what most would consider the most widely covered media event the Dems have. Its simply wrong, and the mainstream media should have it addressed to them, they should research it (come to the same conclusion you guys have), and then Kerry (edited-orginally had "they" instead of "then")should be torn apart by every media outlet....In my opinion! --Thanks to all of you for your incredible research of the facts to dig this up, I certainly never would have noticed it!

[The bandit]

[ASPB]

Historian Burkett: Kerry Must Disclose Full Record
Dave Eberhart, NewsMax.com
Monday, April 26, 2004

A leading historian of the Vietnam War doubts the Kerry campaign's denials that it is withholding parts of the senator's military records.

Since Kerry's presidential campaign made the belated decision to go public with the former Navy lieutenant's records on its Web site, questions about his file – and what he is actually releasing – have deepened.

As the Boston Globe reported last week, one former military commander said Kerry had posted his, not Kerry's, after-action report.

"All of Sen. Kerry’s U.S. Navy military records will be posted on his Web site," spokesman Michael Meehan has promised.

More than 120 pages from Kerry’s naval service records were posted on the candidate’s official Web site by Wednesday. Shortly afterward, the number of pages shot past 200 as the campaign added after-action combat reports (“spot” reports), the command history of Coastal Division 11 – 1969, and the Presidential Unit Citation for Task Force 115.

Though the release of such records might appear like full disclosure, the release has been clouded by claims that some of those newly released after-action combat reports might not be germane to Kerry’s own combat history.


On the campaign's site, Kerry was described as the skipper of Navy boat No. 94 during actions in late January 1969.

But Edward Peck, who was the skipper of the 94 before Kerry took over, told the Globe that after-action combat reports posted by the campaign for January 1969 involve combat when he, not Kerry, was the skipper. “Those are definitely mine,” Peck said. “There is no doubt about it.”

The reports at issue include references to an ambush of Patrol Craft Fast 94, or PCF 94.

In a posted summary of what happened on Jan. 26, 1969, the campaign said:


Kerry served on boat No. 94 alongside another boat, No. 66. “PCFs 94 and 66 escorted troops up the Ong Doc River early in the morning when they were ambushed by gun and rocket fire from approximately 40 men on both sides of the river. Two B-40 rounds hit close to Kerry’s boat, while PCF 66 received 2 B-40 rocket hits. Three men on PCF66 were wounded. A junk containing South Vietnamese troops was also sunk, killing 11 South Vietnamese troops. Intelligence reports after the mission indicated that the Viet Cong troops may have planned the ambush in advance.”

However, Peck said that he was the skipper of the 94 boat then, and that Kerry was definitely not even on board.


In another summary of combat action, the campaign summarizes action that took place on Jan. 29, 1969:

“While Kerry’s boat and another [PCF 72] were probing a canal along the river, Kerry’s boat came under heavy fire and was hit by a B-40 rocket in the cabin area. One member of Kerry’s crew – Forward Gunner David Alston – suffered shrapnel wounds in his head. His injuries were not considered serious and he was sent to the 29th Evac Hospital at Binh Thuy.”

But Peck said he was the skipper on this day too, recalling it well since he was severely wounded in the action.

Furthermore, the Navy combat report posted by Kerry's campaign states that Peck and Alston were injured in the same event. But there is no mention of Kerry in that report.

Burkett: How Kerry Can Give Full Disclosure


Closely following all these developments is B.G. Burkett, the co-author of “Stolen Valor,” a highly acclaimed book on the Vietnam War.

Burkett, who has advised the FBI and sometimes the media on cases involving fraudulent military records, said that what inflamed him about the Kerry case was that the American public was being spoon-fed the record.


“Kerry is not being forthright,” complained Burkett, who wants to see the unabridged, uncensored version of the record.

He is demanding that the candidate bite the bullet and sign off on a Standard Form (SF) 180, giving the media the power to examine and cull the full record, not just bits and pieces selected by the Kerry camp.

This is the only way the public and press can be assured they have and may review Kerry’s full military record, Burkett says.


Meanwhile, Burkett is digging below the surface of the official paperwork – revealed and yet unrevealed – hoping that the relatively small Vietnam Swift Boat community will come forth and reveal a more realistic picture of Kerry’s truncated tour in Vietnam.

That tour was cut short by Kerry invoking an informal regulation that permitted thrice-wounded Navy personnel to leave the combat zone early.


Retired Lt. Cmdr. Grant Hibbard, his commanding officer at the time, now says the wound for which Kerry was awarded his first Purple Heart "resembled a scrape from a fingernail."

Burkett, who has been receiving intelligence from the field, wonders why one particular fellow Kerry vet, who parked his boat next to Kerry’s for a good portion of the famous tour, “didn’t know that Kerry was ever wounded.”


Burkett finds that factoid amazing, citing that the sailor recounted that the first time he was ever aware of wounds suffered by Kerry was when he was told that the apparently hale and hearty young officer was departing station for being wounded three times.


Although Burkett told NewsMax that he had personally spoken to the serviceman in question, he declined to identify him because of the sailor’s request for anonymity.


“He’s not going to come forward,” Burkett explained. “He had a good relationship with Kerry in those days and wants to leave it at that.”


Burkett found it curious that the sailor could not recall a single anti-war remark by Kerry during their association in-country.

The crusading author and investigator would also like to find just one person who was a reliable on-the-scene witness to what happened when Kerry jumped ashore from his boat to confront a hostile in the jungle.

For that action Kerry was awarded the Silver Star. Included in the citation: “With utter disregard for his own safety and the enemy rockets, he again ordered a charge on the enemy, beached his own boat only ten feet from the VC rocket position, and personally led a landing party ashore in pursuit of the enemy.”


About Those 'Atrocities'


But facts can be elusive after so many years, admitted Burkett, who realistically believes that Kerry’s Achilles' heel in all the recent brouhaha might not come from nitpicking the facts but from a hue and cry from the Swift Boat community still reeling over charges that Kerry levied on Capitol Hill in 1971 that he and the Swift-Boaters, as well as many others in-theater, were chronically guilty of “war crimes.”

Burkett pointed to a simmering rebuke to Kerry now festering in the Swift Boat clan.

According to the author, a letter is being prepared by a group of Kerry former comrades-in-arms charging the candidate with lying about the scurrilous charges of war crimes for political gain.


The movement, ironically, is being spearheaded, Burkett said, by none other than fellow vet John O’Neil, who once debated Kerry on the issue decades ago on the old Dick Cavett show.

O’Neil, an attorney in Houston, is preparing a stinging letter to Kerry signed by as many former Swift boat personnel as possible and released to the public.

Debunking Kerry is not a new chore for Burkett.

His book “Stolen Valor” challenges Kerry’s facts and figures that were touted in the old “Winter Soldiers” campaign, which featured ostensible combat vets grieving at the horrors of what the U.S. perpetrated in Vietnam.

Burkett took special notice of Kerry's claim that the core of the war protesters contained 150 honorably discharged vets of the conflict. His own painstaking research indicates that scores of the membership did not, in fact, serve. In some cases, there was no record of some individuals having ever matriculated in the U.S. armed forces.

Like so many vets, says Burkett, he is affronted by Kerry’s about-face – first being shamed of his Vietnam service, but now touting it at every opportunity.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/4/26/131905.shtml

Bandit

Can you email me the Jan Spot reports for COSDIV 11 at velero108@comcast.net I can't seem to open more than the 29th in your link.

Thanks

Tom
_________________
On Sale! Order in lots of 100 now at velero@rcn.com Free for the cost of shipping All profits (if any, especially now) go to Swiftvets. The author of "Sink Kerry Swiftly" ---ASPB

[ASPB]

Thank to Jim Thomason,

Thanks for the tips. I'll be keeping the research updated at our Board at www.swiftvets.com Hell man, join the forum and post this in our research and resources section.

Get some credit! I'll post this one so Bandit sees it and give you the credit.

Thanks again,

RiverRaT Tom

[ASPB]

And another tip rolls in:

[The bandit]

Knew of Givens, that is one of the reasons I always insisted Short's first mission was the 28th and the other reason his press comments. But never could determine if Givens was Alston's replacement or just a replacement of a replacement of Alstons.

Here is a shot of Thorson's arms:

[The bandit]

BL, run his name by US Search, that usually gives age for the name and address and see if the age matches.


I need zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Me#1You#10]

Sorry guys...I've got to temporarily suspend and lock this thread.

Admin note:

Until furthur notice, pending a decision by SBVT, any furthur lines of inquiry into either Kerry/Alston or individual backgrounds are prohibited.