SwiftVets.com

[houghton]

I've searched but can't find the thread where the afteraction reports are used to debunk Kerry's claim for his Bronze Star and third PH. Can someone point me to it? Thanks.

[granny23]

http://www2.swiftvets.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10771&highlight=action+report


This may be what you are looking for.

[houghton]

That's it, granny. Thanks.

[Bob Chamberlain]

Here is another discussion of the Bronze Star you miht want to look at.

http://www2.swiftvets.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2308

The main points are:

Kerry had a bruised right arm and shrapnel in his buttocks (Personnel Casualty Report)

Kerry admits that the shrapnel in the buttocks came from early in the day from a grenade used to destroy a rice cache (no enemy contact - would not qualify for a Purple Heart). There is no mention anywhere in any of the accounts or records - including John Kerry's own words - where any other source of the shrapnel wound in the buttocks is mentioned.

A Purple Heart would not have been awarded for the bruise. It must have been awarded for the shrapnel, which we know did not result from enemy action. The Purple Heart is fraudulent.

The Bronze Star citation and Kerry's friends mention a "bleeding" right arm. We know from the Personnel Casualty Report that this is false.

The Bronze Satr citation and Kerry's friends talk about "intense enemy automatic weapons and small arms fire". Every other witness says there was no enemy fire. There were no bullet holes in Kerry's boat and no crewmember was shot. The Swift boats were built of 1/4" thick aluminum plate - no armor. The flak jackets the men wore were just that - flak jackets that offered protection from shrapnel, not bullet proof body armor. Kerry's boat was still in the water, at most 100 feet from the canal bank. There is no way that Kerry was under intense automatic weapons and small arms fire. It just could not have happened. There would have been bullet holes in the boat and most likely bullet holes in a crewmember or two. Even if you don't believe John O'Neil and the other Swiftvets, you have to believe that the Vietnamese would have managed to hit the boat at least ONCE. I know the Vietnamese were not world class marksmen. I'm living proof of that. But damn, they weren't THAT bad. Not at 50 or 100 feet with a wide open field of fire. Whoever wrote the after action report (and every bit of evidence points to John Kerry) simply did not get it right. And any member of his Bogus Band of Brothers who claims there was enemy fire is just plain lying. There is no other way to put it.

Given that Kerry's arm was not really wounded and that there was no exposure to enemy fire, there is no reason to award Kerry a Bornze Star, with or without the V device. This medal is fraudulent.
_________________
Bob

Useful anti-Kerry campaign material at:
http://www.betrayed-vietnam-vet.info