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Dane Lt.Jg.
Joined: 30 Jul 2004 Posts: 114 Location: Chile
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 1:54 pm Post subject: Court-martial or other action |
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Was there ever any action to rein in Kerry? Did his CO´s and the Admiral roll over upon hearing that Kerry was going to run for senator?
I could care less if the next president is an elephant or a mule - they are all asses to me (except, of course, the sitting President and Command-in-Chief - to say so would be a violation of the UCMJ and Navy Regs). However, I take umbrage to Kerry´s use of his Nam experience to try and portray himself as a "war hero".
I was a Special Boats officer - the modern name for the same thing that
Kerry did. I can tell you that what he did to earn his medals is enough to
be court-martialed for incompetence and dereliction of duty. I believe that
he decided, at the age of 12, to duplicate the life of J.F. Kennedy. To do
so, he needed to manufacture a heroic service record. Thus, he volunteered for the riverine warfare units, this being the only way for a Navy officer to be in-country and in combat. He used the tiniest "wounds" as an excuse to get the hell out as soon as possible. And he SOUGHT any chance to do something that might appear to be heroic.
What he did was criminal. First, he grounded his boat, losing all
maneuverability and, therefore, the defense of his boat and crew. Secondly, HE WENT ASHORE!! Instead of sending one of his crewman after the wounded, supposed rocket-launcher, he decided to do it himself! A BEACHED CRAFT WITH NO OFFICER ABOARD IN A COMBAT ZONE. Incredible. To get a handle on what I am trying to convey, imagine a destroyer C.O. beaching his ship and chasing some guy into the jungle - JUST TO MAKE A NAME FOR HIMSELF. A little far out, but the concept is the same.
He probably has his assassination already planned, IOT duplicate exactly the life of the _real_ JFK.
Dane
still raining in Chile |
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rbshirley Founder
Joined: 07 May 2004 Posts: 394
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 2:54 pm Post subject: Re: Court-martial or other action |
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Dane wrote: | To get a handle on what I am trying to convey, imagine a destroyer C.O.
beaching his ship and chasing some guy into the jungle - JUST TO MAKE A
NAME FOR HIMSELF. A little far out, but the concept is the same.
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Not quite so far out, Dane. There is an actual precedent.
Read the book The Arnheiter Affair about a destroyer escort CO who came
close to what you are suggesting - and more - while operating off the coast
of Vietnam in charge of the USS Vance (DER-387) in 1966
His peers and superiors made sure that he was relieved of command and
given a board of inquiry as the first step toward a court martial. Only his
skillful use of the press and the legal system saved him from that fate.
Those of us in VN were still feeling the effects of the resulting uproar in 1967.
Unfortunately, by 1969 the lessons learned from this incident had been lost
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