SwiftVets.com

[EODARMY]

Thanks to BeldarBlog for the following commentary on Butch Vorphal. I find it most interesting that the crew on PCF-3 recieved no wounds from the underwater mine but Kerry CLAIMS he got fragged from his near miss under water mine. Now once again, underwater mines as generally employed in SEA did not contain anything that would have generated fragmentation. Not one frag wound on PCF-3 but Kerry gets fragged for his near miss! BULL! Below is Butch Vorphal's account:
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Butch Vorphal joins eyewitnesses disputing enemy fire during Kerry's Rassmann rescue
Another eyewitness has spoken out on the subject of whether there was or wasn't enemy fire from the shores during the Bay Hap River action out of which Sen. Kerry received his Bronze Star for rescuing Jim Rassmann:

An Oconto Falls man says he was there when John Kerry earned his Purple Heart and his Bronze Star in Vietnam. And, Butch Vorphal has a very different account of what happened that day. Kerry says he earned bothmedals for pulling a fellow soldier out of a river while under heavy enemy fire. Vorphal was on board Swift Boat Number Three, which was hit by mines that day. While the blast knocked him out for a short time, Vorphal told [Green Bay, Wisconsin, radio station WTAQ's] Bill LuMaye the only gunfire he remembers was cover fire from the Swift Boats themselves. Vorphal says they lay down cover fire because they assume there's going to be enemy gunfire. He says when they stopped firing, there was no other gunfire. Vorphal says none of his shipmates remember seeing bullet holes from enemy fire in the Swift Boats. Vorphal says he doesn't remember anyone else being injured enough to get a purple heart.
Leslie L. "Butch" Vorphal is a verifiable Swiftee who served aboard PCF 3 from February through August 1969, and although he is not listed in Unfit for Command's Appendix A, he is listed on the SwiftVets' website as having joined in their letter to Sen. Kerry dated May 4, 2004, that called upon him to sign Standard Form 180 and to "provide a full, accurate accounting of [his] conduct in Vietnam."

Mainstream media references to "Vorphal" from Google News as of this moment: zero.

That Mr. Vorphal's version of events comes to us via a radio station in Green Bay, Wisconsin — rather than, say, through a press conference called by the SwiftVets — brings me to an essay (or perhaps a bit of a rant) that I'll post separately just above this one.

Admin note: Topic amended

note: BeldarBlog hyperlinked

[JROTC]

"I find it most interesting that the crew on PCF-3 recieved no wounds from the underwater mine but Kerry CLAIMS he got fragged from his near miss under water mine. Now once again, underwater mines as generally employed in SEA did not contain anything that would have generated fragmentation. Not one frag wound on PCF-3 but Kerry gets fragged for his near miss!"

I'm pretty sure that this is the "rice" would in the butt that he supposedly received when him and Mr. Rassmann blew up a rice mound. This occurred earlier in the day at a different location, but before the "mine" incident.
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"It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it" - General Douglas MacArthur

[RocketFett]

There NEEEDS to be a SBVT ad of just Vorphal laying this out. It could be a very damning 30 second ad when he lays out what you said in this post! That would be major. That plus Mr. Gardners ad within a couple weeks of each other would be impossible to respond to. Just flood WI, FL, OH, and PA with them and it would do a LOT of damage to kerry's credibility, and like I keep thinking, anyone who is serious and open minded who is exposes to this stuff will cahnge their mind about it. You can't discredit these guys! Eventually it becomes obvious that all these dozens of other people aren't lying. It's kerry who's lying. It's to the point now that it's a silly scenario where the world is lying and kerry is the sole beacon of truth. Yeah, right. And where's that shovel?

[EODARMY]

Anyone have the format for the Battle Damage Reprt format? I see on line Brano 1. C-4. Is this a reference to the cause of the damage?

[7rrfs]

There is enough conflicting evidence out there that the media and the VOTING PUBLIC (They are the ones who matter) sees this as a big "HE said, He said" affair. The SwiftVets - having a bone to pick with Kerry - are not reliable sources to the media. Not without INDISPUTABLE EVIDENCE. Offical Naval evidence.

These are very muddied waters now. We need something with some real teeth. Something that is official and would stand up in court. Nothing less is going to matter at this point.

Let me see if I got this straight.

Kerry submits pumped up reports. HE is the originator of the reports used to award many of his citations and HIS reports are also used in evidence for other citations/ medals also awarded. These later reports - now being called and dubbed "THE official Naval Record" support Kerrys version of events. I got that basically correct?

Where are the initial 'after action reports' "spot reports" etc? I have seen one doc that shows the #94 boat as the one damaged by the mine in the Rassmann incident while everyone knows it was the #3 boat. Is it not possible to DIRECTLY link Kerry as the originator of this report? OFFICIALLY and beyond any doubt? Kerrys boat was used to tow the #3 boat, correct? Is there "Official Naval documentation" to confirm this?

Now I hear that Kerry hightailed it out of the area AFTER the incident and hitched a ride on a Cutter, offshore, used to evac the wounded of the #3 boat. Is this accurate? Is there "official naval documentation" to prove this? But now I see that Butch Vorphal says that no one on the #3 boat was wounded. huh?

The closest anyone has been able to explain it to me is something like KJW = Kerry, John Wayne???????? While I can believe that this is some sort of semi-coded call sign (whatever) CAN THE OFFICIAL RECORD confirm this?


This is getting frustrating. Its like pissing up a rope now.
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"I served admirably in Vietnam" John Kerry
"Yes, I committed atrocities in Vietnam" John Kerry

[Bostonian]

[rparrott21]

I guess Kerry is one of those guys you never want to be standing by..accident prone...