SwiftVets.com

Mary · Former Member Joined: 17 Sep 2004 Posts: 32

I just now was reading http://www.fair.org/press-releases/swift-boat.html and am wondering about the paragraph that claims O'Neill "is on tape" telling Nixon "that he himself had been in Cambodia." What is that about? That bit is new to me and I don't remember it from the book.

LewWaters · Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2004 4:40 pm Post subject:

Mary, O'Neill has addressed this several times. What most all fail to do is include the very next sentence he spoke, that he corrected his statement to Nixon by saying he was operating along the Cambodian border.

You also need to remember, O'Neill was there after Kerry and at that time was operating on a different river. This has been mentioned here many times and if you did a search, I'm sure you'd find some previous threads on it.
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Clark County Conservative

Mary · Former Member Joined: 17 Sep 2004 Posts: 32

An assertion that he was on a different river doesn't really mean to me that he would have been in Cambodia, so I don't see how that applies. However, I do appreciate hearing that there was another sentence where he said he corrected himself. I don't recall reading a lot about the different river but did read a lot about him supposedly commanding the same boat Kerry had previously commanded.

Is this information where O'Neill has addressed talking to Nixon about Cambodia several times from tv news interviews you've seen? I don't remember seeing it in the book.

The part of the book where O'Neill mentions talking to Nixon is on page 15 and doesn't mention Cambodia. I suppose the writers referring to this have apparently gotten the transcript of his taped meeting with Nixon but I don't know where to read a copy of the transcript.

Regarding your comment about his being on a different river, that is relevant to something else people have brought up to me about O'Neill not having been around Kerry during the war. I thought O'Neill took command of the same boat and continued to command it for 9 months? And if so, I'm wondering why he doesn't seem to know the crew who served under Kerry on his boat who apparently support him. I'm wondering how long after Kerry left the service that O'Neill took command of the boat.

LewWaters · Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2004 5:05 pm Post subject:

Mary, even O'Neill has openly acknowledged he never served alongside Kerry. Those trying to claim he can't be knowledgeable about him because of that are just throwing up a smokescreen, in my opinion.

O'Neill was assigned command of Kerry's boat right after Kerry left and must have served with some of the same crew members. However, other members of the Swift vets have served alongside of Kerry, even in different boats. These boats operated in groups and all could easily see what was going on in another boat. The Officers bunked together, ate together and I would imagine, partied together (we did in the Army, anyway).

Not really addressing the issue, but I find claims of they didn't serve on the same boat to be disingenious since Kerry himself initially claimed, by posting the picture of him and several of the Officers as men he served with. Additionally, Kerry supporters have made much mention of the former Boat Commander, I believe from Chicago, Rood or something like that, as supporting Kerry. He too didn't serve on the same boat, did he? It appears to me they wish to have it both ways.

As to O'Neills Cambodia claims, yes, I've heard him on News Shows several times explain this. I did a web search this morning and came up with the following;

Mary · Former Member Joined: 17 Sep 2004 Posts: 32

Thanks very much for the quotation clarifying O'Neill's position on his service near Cambodia.

As for the other stuff, I didn't say I have a problem with the fact he wasn't on the same boat with Kerry. I'm aware he wasn't serving on the same boat with Kerry and that O'Neill didn't ever say he was.

I mentioned that some people seem to make an issue of how he didn't know Kerry in Vietnam but I didn't intend that to be an important point.

I do wonder however why O'Neill didn't talk much about knowing the crew members from Kerry's boat, who mostly support Kerry, if O'Neill commanded the same boat. It makes me wish I could see a timeline that explains when O'Neill commanded the same boat as Kerry previously had. It's a minor point, not an important one, although I do think understanding O'Neill's expertise and where/when he served is of interest.

The Cambodia point was more important, and I thank you for having clarified that quotation.