SwiftVets.com

[McQ]

This review was posted on the Q and O blog as well as on the Amazon site.

http://qando.net/archives/003809.htm


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I’ve read “Unfit for Command”. That’s the easy part. Since then I’ve been struggling to find a way to explain why this is so important to many of us out here to those who don’t find it to be important.

“It was 35 years ago, for heaven sake!” or “So he exaggerated his war stories a little” are common explanations, or excuses, as to why many don’t take this seriously. Some will never take it seriously. They’re the same people who thought Bill Clinton’s problem had to do with sex instead of character. But that is the point here. This sort of exaggeration and lying does reflect on a man or woman’s character. And that is one of the reasons the Swift Boat Vets are engaged in telling their side of those stories. They have as much of a right to do so as John Kerry.

But there’s an even more important point that seems to be lost in all of this. It has to do with men who’ve been in combat, who’ve seen their comrades suffer horrible wounds and die. Who’ve watched acts of unselfish valor go unrewarded and who deeply resent those who attempt to take advantage of the system for self-glorification or political gain. Who cynically use their service as a stepping stone to political office and lie about the events of that service to condemn and pillory those who’ve served their country in combat and those still serving in combat.

In a word, this is about “honor”.

The money quote for me, the paragraph that said “this is why” came in the 4th chapter where an incident in March of 2004 involving Admiral Hoffmann and John Kerry. In 2003 Kerry had called Hoffmann to try to get his support in his run for President. Hoffmann was initially enthusiastic as he mistakenly thought the caller was Bob Kerrey, the Navy Medal of Honor winner and former Senator. When he realize the caller was John Kerry, his entire tone changed. He refused to give Kerry his support.

In the ensuing months, “Tour of Duty” was published, in which Kerry savaged Hoffmann.

“On March 15, 2004, Admiral Hoffmann’s telephone rang again. Once again, the caller was John Kerry. Kerry had clinched the Democratic nomination, and he knew that Hoffmann was organizing Swiftees to bring out the truth about him, his exaggerated military record and his antiwar lies that had slandered his fellow veterans. Kerry made the admiral an offer: If you will back off and drop your efforts, I will ensure that my biography, “Tour of Duty”, which I know is unfair to you, will be changed to make it accurate in a revised edition. Here is my secretary’s number – you can get me anytime.

The offer from the Democratic presidential candidate was an attempt to flatter Hoffmann, a warrior who’s coin is not power or wealth, but honor – an honor deeply impugned by Kerry’s book. ... Kerry knew that winning Hoffmann over to his side would thwart the Swiftees’ efforts to discredit him. Hoffmann told Kerry that he and the vast majority of his shipmates could never forgive him for his defamation of our Navy and other US Armed Forces by his slanderous and undocumented accusations of unspeakable atrocities in Vietnam before the US Congress in 1971, his leadership in the VVAW, and his association with the traitorous Jane Fonda and others of her ilk. Surprisingly, Kerry responded by simply saying that he “was expressing his conviction”.

So for Admiral Hoffmann and the rest of the Swiftees, this isn’t about Republican or Democrat. Its not about wealth or power. This is a matter of honor. The Swift Boat Veterans, as a group, and you’ll find this mostly true of most veterans and particularly Vietnam and Vietnam era veterans, the problem they have with Kerry is a matter of honor. They feel he dishonorably lied about them and their service after he left Vietnam, that he dishonored those who were a part of the very same operations he now claims for his awards through his exaggerations and fabrications and he dishonored the thousands who’ve given lives and limbs for the very same awards they allege he faked.

In the military, and among veterans and veteran’s groups, honor is a very important and even sacrosanct subject. The honor of serving, the honor of serving well, the honor of awards for valor, all are taken very seriously. The honor of legitimate heros is closely guarded and worshiped. It is not something taken lightly or waved off with “oh, he was just exaggerating a little”. That is especially true if the “exaggerations” were actually cynical attempts to portray the service of others in a dishonorable way for the self-promotion of the person telling the lies.

It is this concept of honor which drives the Swift Boat Veteran’s for Truth. And it is this concept which is so hard for civilians and politicos to comprehend and take seriously. Honor isn’t a constant thread in their daily lives as it is in the military. The greatest sin for any military man or woman is to dishonor his or her comrades, unit and service. It is that which the Swiftees contend John Kerry has done.

The book very compellingly and succinctly makes their case. This isn’t a book which deals with innuendo and rumor. It is meticulously researched and footnoted. It uses direct quotes which were obtained in signed and notarized affidavits. In short, it is a documented indictment of John Kerry’s perfidy. More importantly, it’s a documentation of his lack of honor.

In 1971, John Kerry accused American soldiers of daily atrocities of the most heinous kind. But he, and his comrades in the Vietnam Veterans Against the War provided nothing specific. No names, no places, nothing which could be checked. “Unfit for Command” however, provides us with some specifics to meet the charges. In 1971, in front of the US Congress, John Kerry had the following to say:

"We rationalized destroying villages in order to save them.”

“We learned the meaning of free-fire zones, shooting anything that moves, and we watched while America placed a cheapness on the lives of Orientals.”

“We watched the US falsification of body counts ...”

In “Unfit for Command” three incidents are described where Kerry destroyed a village and the animals in the village, fired without orders in a free-fire zone and falsified body counts in a report.

In the first incident, George Bates, another PCF commander in CosDiv11 and now a retired USN Captain, recalls where he and Kerry were on a mision together and came upon a small village.

“With Kerry in the lead, the boats approached a small hamlet with three to four grass huts. Pigs and chickens were milling around peacefully. As the boats drew closer the villagers fled. There were no political symbols or flags in evidence in the tiny village. It was obvious to Bates that existing policies, decency and good sense required the boats to simply move on.

Instead, Kerry beached his boat directly in the small settlement. Upon his command, the numerous small animals were slaughtered by heavy-caliber machine guns. Acting more like a pirate than a naval officer, Kerry disembarked and ran around with a Zippo lighter, burning up the entire hamlet.”

Bates has never forgotten Kerry’s actions and was appalled by the complete hypocrisy of Kerry’s quick shift to the role of peace activist condemning war crimes upon his return. Even today, Bates describes Kerry as a man without a conscience.”

Tom Wright, another PCF commander, talks about Kerry and “free-fire” zones.

“We believe that “free-fire” zones placed the greatest responsibilty on the OinC because he alone had to decide if he was going to shoot. In other areas, the ROE (Rules of Engagement) told you what to do. John Kerry thought that a “free-fire” zone meant “kill anyone you see....”. Not every person is a good combat commander. John Kerry was not a good combat commander.

In fact, Wright finally went to his boss, George Elliott and asked that Kerry not be assigned to any further missions Wright was put in charge of because of his unreliability.

“I had some very serious problems with Kerry one day and I told the DivCom that I did not want Kerry in my group anymore.”

The last incident involves a sampan, the ubiquitous little boats that Vietnamese use for transportation and commerce on the rivers of Vietnam. Vietnam had a dusk to dawn curfew which prohibited travel on the rivers at that time. On the day in question, Kerry and another Swift boat (PCF 21) were on patrol. The night, as described, was “pitch-black”. Out of the dark came a sampan, and Gunner’s mate Steve Gardner, in the absence of Kerry orders (Kerry was in the pilot house and not on deck) saw what looked like a man with a weapon drawing down on him and fired into the sampan. Technically, to this point, nothing wrong has been done. The sampan was out after dark, Gardner thought he saw a weapon and fired. What happened afterward is the problem.

When the lights of the PCF were turned on Kerry relates what he saw:

“The light revealed a woman standing in the stern of the sampan with a child of perhaps two years or less in her arms. Neither [was] harmed. We asked her where the men from the stern were, as one of the gunners was sure that he had seen someone moving back there. She gesticulated wildly and I could see traces of blood on the engine mounting. It was obvious they had been blown overboard. Then somebody said there as a body up front and we moved closer to se the limbs of a small child limp on th stacks of rice.”

All indications were that the boat had mistakenly shot into the sampan of a family, probably returning late from some destination. This wasn’t at all unusual, but usually ended much less dramatically and with no loss of life as the sampan was searched, the crew warned and let go. As stated, though, to this point, technically the Kerry’s crew had done nothing wrong. Until the report was filed.

According to The CTF 115 report (called the Commander Coastal Surveillance Force Vietnam (CTF 115) Quarterly Evaluation Report) of March 29, 1969, the following was reported by Kerry:

“...20 January PDFs 21 and 44 (Kerry’s boat - ed.) Operating in An Xuyen Province ... engaged the enemy with a resultant GDA of one VC KIA (BC) [body count], four VC KIA (EST) and two VC CIA (VQ810650/44)”

In other words, what Kerry reported was he’d killed a VC (the man blown off the boat), probably killed four other VC (purely fictional) and captured two VC (the mother and the two year old) in action. The child who was killed was simply ignored. The four estimated VC KIAs were simply made up out of whole cloth. The mother and child suddenly became VC who were captured.

These three incidents put an exclamation point to why the Swift Boat Vets for Truth specifically and may other veterans in general find Kerry to be a dishonorable man and “Unfit for Command”.

Regardless of your political leanings or feelings for either candidate (and in full disclosure, I feel and have felt precisely the same way the Swiftees do about John Kerry) you need to read this book. It's contents deserve a review before you cast your vote in November.

[BenJaxBchFL]

Wow, that was very well written.
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The war against terrorism is not that Americans might die rather that we would alter our way of living. If we get to a point where we choose not to go out because of fear, our economy will sink and in the end so will our nation. Vote Bush.

[ASPB]

Thanks McQ,

I've been reading your work for a few weeks now. You're doing a great job. Did you get my email yesterday regarding Alston/Kerry?

RiverRat Tom
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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

[McQ]

I did, thanks. I've been watching that develop over at the Captain's Quarters.

Thanks for reading the blog .... and thank you very much for your service!

McQ

[air_vet]

McQ - that was a really great review!

For far too long the left has gotten away with saying "the truth is what WE say it is". We can not let them do the same thing to honor.

[Son Of The Godfather]

McQ - Absolutely fantastic!

SOTG
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"Which candidate would enemies of the United States prefer to see in the White House?"

[4moreyears]

Unfortunately there are too many Americans who don't get it because they're incapable of understanding the importance of morality in an immoral world. Future generations will pay for the morality deficiet of kerry and clinton.

This all has been long in coming, it's time to set the record straight, even the score and send the bastar*s packing.
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kerry returned to the United States on July 22, 1971, held a press conference publicly calling on President Nixon... for the surrender of the United States to North Vietnam.