SwiftVets.com

[FlyLow]

By Bonnie Chernin Rogoff
August 10, 2004

http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/brogoff/2004/bcr_0810p.shtml

The political heat being turned up this summer results from the new Kerry campaign themes: service, love of country, flag and heroism. These words resonate as loudly as the buzz of the season's cicadas. A new book to be released next week, "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against Kerry," may dampen the volume on this new patriotic theme and possibly his hope for the White House.

While the candidate Kerry chooses to present himself as a war hero and patriot, he resents questions surrounding his war record and the medals awarded to him. His campaign has been successful in removing negative television ads sponsored by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Organization from some key battleground states by presenting to station management the alleged recantation by one the group's key members. The article printed in the Boston Globe purports to directly quote former Kerry commander, Captain George Elliott (USN Ret.), recanting negative allegations made about Kerry's three Purple Hearts and Bronze/Silver Stars. Captain Elliott has since denied making the quotes to the Globe and has reaffirmed his allegations.

Unlike his brave ex-Senate colleague, Bob Dole, Kerry returned to the U.S. after his Vietnam tour unscathed (despite 3 Purple Hearts for battle wounds) to denounce the war effort and brand his fellow servicemen as "war criminals". Today he wraps himself in the red, white and blue, which only highlights his hypocrisy.

The left takes peculiar pleasure in pointing out that the Swift Vet group has received funding by "the biggest Republican campaign donor in Texas." (FactCheck.org, August 6, 2004). In a hypercritical Salon piece entitled "Smear Boat Veterans for Bush" Joe Conason writes: "The "swift boat" veterans attacking John Kerry's war record are led by veteran right-wing operatives using the same vicious techniques they used against John McCain four years ago." Republicans do not lead the group; its members are non-partisan.

Swift Boat veteran William Franke's contributory chapter, "The Purple Heart Hunter" from the book "Unfit for Command" is now available online. Mr. Franke recounts discrepancies between John Kerry's story of that night in the skimmer when he fired the M79 grenade, the Boston Globe's account, and the recollections of Kerry's crewmates. In the Boston Globe biography of John Kerry, there were already questions about whether the extent of his injury merited a Purple Heart:

"The Kerry campaign showed the Boston Globe a one-page document listing Kerry's medical treatment during some of his service time. The notation said: #3 DEC 1968 U.S. NAVAL SUPPORT FACILITY CAM RANH BAY RVN FPO Shrapnel in left arm above elbow. Shrapnel removed and apply Bacitracin dressing. Ret to duty."

The Globe reporters note that "Kerry's commander, Grant Hibbard, was very skeptical about the injury," and William Schachte, who supervised the mission and later became an admiral said in 2003: "It was not a very serious wound at all." When Grant Hibbard learned about the injury that Dr. Louis Letson treated with a pair of tweezers, he turned Kerry down for the Purple Heart award "since there was no hostile fire." To date, no one knows how Kerry got his first Purple Heart because, as Mr. Franke asserts, "his (Kerry's) refusal to execute Standard Form 180 means that whatever documents exist are known only to Kerry, the Department of Defense, and God." If Mr. Kerry would only agree to release his Navy service records, much of this confusion might be resolved.

For an ex-veteran and "patriot," John Kerry's 19 years in the Senate have been quite unremarkable except to accumulate a more liberal voting record than the ultimate demagogue, Ted Kennedy. Can anyone name a single piece of important legislation attributed to Kerry? Kerry, however, never forgot to vote against funding critical weapon systems and our troops in Iraq.

Senator Kerry equates his war experiences 34 years ago with our current fight against terrorism today. He says he is a proven leader with the vision and demonstrated courage to deal with our enemies both here and abroad. However, he continues to rally against renewing the Patriot Act, a vital tool in the continuing War on Terror.

The recent arrests of suspected terrorists in Pakistan and Britain only underscore how deeply entrenched al-Qaeda and their ilk are. Allegations even surfaced that a member of the U.S. Navy was communicating with one the Pakistanis arrested regarding secret battle formations and possible attacks against our fleet in the Middle East.

Despite the rock star and Hollywood hyperbole of late, I believe that President Bush has done an exceptional job in keeping America safe from attack. Continued verbal assaults by Democratic spin-doctors regarding the political motives behind the heightened terror alerts in New York City, Newark, New Jersey and Washington DC have been proven false. The announced arrests in Pakistan this week has yielded proof that as late as January 2004, al Qaeda was updating attack plans against prime targets in these cities.

We require true leaders and patriots to continue to lead and protect America for the next four years. Senator Kerry should be kept outside of the White House fence to contemplate those medals and ribbons he tossed away so many years ago.
_________________
EX-Helicopter driver & accomplished liar.
Wars fought, revolutions started, uprisings quelled, revivals organized,
assassinations plotted, governments overthrown, lead gospel singing,
tigers tamed, bars emptied, virgins converted, orgies organized.