SwiftVets.com

[larrygj]

I haven't been able to figure out who among Kerry's crews who support him were on what boats, when, and for how long. I believe I heard that some were serving under him for just a couple of days...hardly the length of time needed to really know what this snake was up to. And it's pretty obvious that only some of his supporters were present for certain events leading to citations, while others weren't there. Has anybody figured this all out and mapped it? If not, that would be helpful to show just how spotty and unreliable some of the "accounts" offered in Kerry's favor are, and compare their tenure to Steve Gardner's.

Larry

[baldeagl]

I've written extensively about the Kerry story on my blog, including multiple posts about his "band of brothers". Here's the snort of it:

Jim Rassmann - not a Kerry crewmate, US Army Green Beret, spent one documented day with him
Pat Runyon - not a Kerry crewmate, served with Kerry for one documented night (now in question)
Skip Barker - not a Kerry crewmate, OinC of PCF 31, patroled 10 days with Kerry
Wade Sanders - not a Kerry crewmate, OinC of PCF 98, can't find any patrols they did together
Jim McDevitt - never served with Kerry, US Marine
Reverend David Alston - served no more than one week with Kerry, still not confirmed
Steve Hatch - PCF 44
Jim Wasser - PCF 44
Drew Whitlow - PCF 44
Bill Zaladonis - PCF 44
Del Sandusky - PCF 94
Fred Short - PCF 94
Gene Thorsen - PCF 94
Mike Medeiros - PCF 94
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antimedia
USN OST-6 68-74
http://antimedia.blogspot.com/

[larrygj]

baldeagl,

Thanks for the information. Did those on PCF 44 and PCF 94 serve identical time periods, or if you know, what were their dates of service under Kerry if they were'nt all the same? I know we're only talking about 3 months here, but it might be useful to know...

Larry

[baldeagl]

In general, the PCF-44 crew was with Kerry in December and January, the 94 crew was with him in February and the first 13 days of March. So the first crew served with him for 54 days, and the second crew served with him for 43 days.

However, Fred Short was the tub gunner on the 94 boat from 18 Feb 69 to 4 March 69. David Alston may have been the tub gunner on the 94 boat for Kerry's last week in March. The 44 crew were rotated out at the end of January and know nothing about any of Kerry's medals with the exception of his first Purple Heart.

Gardner states he was with Kerry for "two months and two weeks". For this to be true, he had to be with Kerry from 17 Nov 68, when Kerry first arrived in Cam Ranh Bay until 29 Jan 69, Kerry's last day on the boat. Records for who served where are not readily available on the web, and those that are aren't completely reliable, so I haven't been able to confirm Gardner's statement. I have no reason to doubt it, however, and I may have Gardner's dates all wrong. AAMOF, it just occurred to me that Gardner may have been the tub gunner on the 94 boat for the first two weeks of February, until Short replaced him.

Hmmm....I'd sure love to ask Gardner that question. Any Swiftees that can do that for me? That would fill in the two weeks from 29 Jan 69 to 18 Feb 69 when Short took over and fill in the missing tub gunner for that time frame.

Another man, John Givens, was with Kerry as a trainee, but I don't know for how long.
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antimedia
USN OST-6 68-74
http://antimedia.blogspot.com/

[7rrfs]

http://www.dispatch.com/election/election-president.php?story=dispatch/2004/08/06/20040806-A6-00.html

In part:
Although he did not appear in the ad, Gardner, 56, of Clover, S.C., agreed with those statements — while conceding he was not on the boat with Kerry during the incidents for which Kerry got his medals. Gardner criticized his leadership in battle, questioned his anti-war activities, and cited other instances in which he said Kerry falsified reports to make himself look good.

Is there a time line associated with Gardner and Kerry? How many mission were the two on together? How long DID he serve under Kerry?

Was Gardner on any of the missions were Kerry was awarded medals?
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"I served admirably in Vietnam" John Kerry
"Yes, I committed atrocities in Vietnam" John Kerry