SwiftVets.com

[cipher]

What the question should be is:

If Thurlow DOES have a BSM for that action, does Thurlow's BSM rate the Combat V, and if not, why not? If he has the BSM for the same action, it would seem in order that he should also rate the Combat V -- assuming there was enemy fire at the time of his heroic actions that qualified him for the BSM. If the BSM Thurlow received was for Meritorious Service (in the same action?), then it would NOT have the Combat V. Which would beg the question: Why not?

I've not seen Thurlow's citations. I am not sure if he received one for that action or at any other time. This may have been addressed in another thread.
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USMC 69-72, 7th Comm, 3rd MarDiv, FMFPAC
US Army 75-79, 97th Sig, SHAPE, NATO
Arkansas National Guard 79
Defense contractor for US Navy, SSPO, SP-20, SP-24, OP-12 84-92

[carpro]

A Bronze Star can be awarded for meritorious service and still have the "combat distinguishing device" e.g. "V" in Naval parlance.

That is the official name for it...not V for valor I guess.
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"If he believes his 1971 indictment of his country and his fellow veterans was true, then he couldn't possibly be proud of his Vietnam service."

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

I still get choked up about Mike Boorda. Good man, hounded literally to death.

Death before dishonor.
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~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother

[tvaughan]

Thurlow has said that if his Bronze Star was based on the idea that enemy fire was involved in the action, then he believes that his own award is fraudulent.

He says that there was no enemy fire that day. He does not possess his own citation for Bronze Star, but apparently it states that there was enemy fire involved.

He says otherwise.
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Talking point #1: Sign 180
Talking point #2: Sign 180
Talking point #3: Sign 180

[Ijon Tichy]

Thank you, tvaughan.
That's the type of post I was hoping for (I have no reason to doubt your report, though it would still be nice to have the statement in Thurlow's own words).

Evidently Thurlow does have a bronze star for his actions taking place during the same series of events that allowed Kerry to receive a bronze star, and Thurlow measures the appropriateness of the medals according to the same standard for himself or Mr. Kerry.
That type of consistency is laudable, IMO.

[Me#1You#10]

With all due respect ladies & gentlemen (and I'm probably guilty of this myself), may I suggest LCDR Thurlow?

[Ijon Tichy]

[Herb]

[Herb]

Another point about Thurlow, I believe that he TWICE (or more) jumped to take over the damaged #3 boat which was running wildly with on engined down and one jammed on -- all crew members unconscious, in the water, or incapacitated.

The first time, he ended up in the water -- the second he made it to the #3 boat and stopped it's wild run.

I know I remember this story from the book, but am only 80% sure it was Thurlow who committed this act of bravery.

UPDATED: Yes, it was Thurlow -- thrown into the water on his first attempt to board #3 and then able to board on a subsequent attempt and rescue those crew still aboard and wounded.
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Herb

[baldeagl]

MSNBC is reporting that Larry Thurlow has lied about the 3/13/69 incident. According to them, "But Thurlow's military records, portions of which were released yesterday to The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act, contain several references to 'enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire' directed at 'all units' of the five-boat flotilla. Thurlow won his own Bronze Star that day, and the citation praises him for providing assistance to a damaged Swift boat 'despite enemy bullets flying about him.'"

While I agree that MSNBC doesn't even bother to address the many other problems with Kerry's versions of events, this is a serious charge. Can anyone confirm or refute this? Did Thurlow receive a BSM that day? For the mine incident? Odell has stated unequivocably that there was no enemy fire. This is really getting confusing.
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antimedia
USN OST-6 68-74
http://antimedia.blogspot.com/

[Herb]

The real problem with Kerry's participating that day is his FRAUDULENTLY moving the self-inflicted RICE wound in his butt from earlier in the day and then claiming something special for helping Rassman out of the water on his (Kerry's) return to the scene.
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Herb

[Ijon Tichy]

[bithead]

At this point, all Kamp Kerry has been able to do, at best (for them) is to raise the discussion to a level of he said/he said. Given Kerry's propensity for the big lie (tm) on so many other issues, he loses on such a confrontation.

The Swiftee's anger with Mr. Kerry is at least in part due to his turning his back on them upon returning home. But it seems to me that this issue the swiftees bring up is of central concern to those being asked to elect Mr. Kerry to the highest office this country has to offer, in that it brings up character issues which cannot be avoided if one is to make a proper choice

What kind of issues? Well, for example, is Mr. Kerry one to keep faith with the American people? Not if we judge him by his record.

Consider him speaking before the VFW the other day. He stood there, speaking glibly about "not breaking faith with those who are serving or had served in the past", all the while apparently ignoring, or at least not mentioning, the way he'd broken faith with his fellows once he came back here. To Wit:


"They told stories that at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Ghengis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country."

Mr. Kerry has similar flipflops all thoughout his history. His on again/off again support for the Iraq action being only the most recent.

All of these, he passes off as "nuance". The American people, including vets, have other words. "Liar", "Opportunist" "Back stabber" In truth, it is apparent that the only thing Mr. Kerry ever learned well in the Military was "About Face"... turning around in his opinions and turning his back on those loyal to this country.

How can Mr. Kerry keep faith with America, if he can't keep faith with those who defend her?

[PatS]

I am not a vet, but I am very concerned about the character and veracity of a man trying to President. Can anyone invesitgate and find out everything the Kerry campaign changed on his web site today? I know that alot was changed regarding the March 13th action. He altered the Spot action official document (poor job--left a space and the letter D)and omitted the section on saving Rassmann. He also changed the wording of the of the account on the timeline. Both places now have no mention of the fact that he left the scene. Yesterday, they both stated that Kerry RETURNED to get Rassmann, clearly demonstrating that he had FLED! What else am I missing? I couldn't print a copy of the official document, but I did save the original March 13 timeline. Now I wish that I had saved the whole thing. He is the same person he was in the seventies. He dishonors our country and our military. Thanks for letting me vent.

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

Welcome aboard PatS.

After the last "site cleanup," many people learned the lesson and they have saved every scrap from the Kerry site on their hard drives.

I expect that comparisons will start popping up very soon, here in this forum and in weblogs all over the internet.
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~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother