A Veterans response

[Gimpy]

to the lies and deception of the "Swift-Bums"

####

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts"

Senator Daniel P. Moynihan



My Response to Swift Veterans for "Truth"

I am a US Marine who served in Vietnam during 1969-1970. My older brothers Franklin (1968 -1970), and Stewart (1967) also served with the US Marines in Northern I Corps in Vietnam and as grunts. My oldest brother Edward served in the Air National Guard and was deployed to Germany during the Berlin Crisis for 15 months. My youngest son David is currently completing Basic Combat Training at Ft. Benning Georgia, whereupon he will then attend OCS.

I have seen your advertisement on television, and I have to ask you this. What kind of outfit where you guys running down there in the Delta? Your statements and your deeds today certainly do not reflect a cohesive combat unit with high morale. I assume that your commanding officer LTCMDR George Elliott must be responsible for a lot of this. He appears in your advertisement denigrating LTJG Kerry yet the very same man gave Kerry outstanding Fitness Reports and recommended him for the Bronze Star with Combat V for Valor, and the Silver Star. Recommendations that were ultimately approved and signed off by John Leahey, Secretary of the Navy, and Admiral Elmo Zumwalt. Tell me how can LTCMDR Elliott and all of you for that matter possibly be credible now?

Another question. I noticed in your television advertisement slandering Kerry, that all of you had your name, rank, and medals such as Purple Hearts, Bronze and Silver Stars superimposed on the television screen as each of you were talking. The question is were all of your medals won honorably too or do you all deserve them as much as Kerry supposedly deserved his? I would like to know because to hear all of you talk, it is as if LTCMDR Elliott was handing them out like popcorn.

If Kerry's medals were not deserved then why should we believe yours were? Why should we believe that all of you are any more honorable than John Kerry; a man who by your own admission you never directly served with? A man that has devoted a lifetime to serving his country including 20 years in the U.S. Senate.

This attempt at revisionist history which is demonstrated by your willingness to so blatantly create these false slanders, reinforces my personal belief that your group has little respect for the intelligence of your fellow Americans. There has been a lot of that going around lately and I feel it is an insult to your countrymen.

I understand that LTCMDR. Elliot has since retracted his statements about LTJG Kerry's character while he served with him in Vietnam. How does your group reconcile that? How do you reconcile that Senator Kerry?s own boat crew and the Green Beret officer he saved have impeached all of your stories?

You charge LTJG Kerry with lying to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971. That he was responsible for disgracing Vietnam Veteran including his shipmates. You blame him for "accusing" Vietnam Veterans of atrocities and yet if you read the actual transcript from that hearing during 1971 he was reporting (not accusing), what had already been testified to by 150 Vietnam combat veterans during the ?Winter Soldier? investigations held earlier in Detroit. Are you trying to suggest that there where no atrocities committed by our troops in Vietnam? No "Free Fire Zones"? No "County Fair" operations that resulted in burnt out villages and dead livestock? No deaths of civilians and prisoners? I personally witnessed the results of some of these atrocities myself.

You fail to mention however that Kerry and his group the "Vietnam Veterans Against the War" (VVAW) totaled over 30,000 combat veterans in 1972 and that VVAW were among the first activists and instrumental in getting the US Government to acknowledge the problems such as Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and Agent Orange. Because of those efforts many veterans today are being treated and receiving health and financial benefits from our government.

You also fail to mention that none of you, not one of you, served directly with John Kerry on his boat. Yet those who have served directly with LTJG Kerry (his crew), have all stood in support and by his side. Admiral Hoffman, the chairperson of your organization admitted that he never even knew John Kerry, yet he denigrates his service as well. O'Neill who wrote the book "Unfit for Command" also never personally knew John Kerry while he was in Vietnam. Yet he slanders a brother officer and Vietnam veteran with wild abandon.

You conveniently fail to mention that it was John Kerry and John McCain that went to Vietnam to work with the government in Vietnam to find answers to those heroes that were "Missing in Action". That as a result of their efforts many of their remains where brought back to their families where they belong, and in so doing help return our relationship with Vietnam to one where we earned their cooperation.

John O?Neill gets his 15 minutes of fame by debating John Kerry on the Merv Griffith Show back in June, 1971. Indeed you fail to mention that O'Neill did this on behalf of one of the most corrupt administrations in US History working through Charles Coulson (we all know who he is). An administration whose leader Richard Nixon became the only U.S. President to leave office in disgrace and who saw John Kerry and the "VVAW" as potent critics of his policies in Vietnam. Today, again we see that Mr. O'Neill is out there trying to extend his 15 minutes of fame to thirty minutes by doing the same thing on behalf of an administration whose ethics are being question by at least half the electorate. He writes a book with the dubious Mr. Jerome Corsi. I find this shameful. Another question. Do you think that it might be important to the American public to mention that the financing you received to produce and air these ads on television came from operatives that have long since supported the current administration?

I believe what you are doing is unprecedented in the history of U. S. Presidential campaigns. I do not believe any American veteran has ever allowed politics to transcend his service, or the respect he had for his brother's service. They may have disagreed with a candidate, they may not have like him when they served with him, but no one has ever stooped as low as you all have with these kind of personal attacks. Frankly you all insult the intelligence of normal people.

I and my brothers served honorably in Vietnam, and while I cannot speak for my brothers, I have felt my service was important and that the legacy of all of our service was not to necessarily stop the spread of communism, but to insure that senseless wars like Vietnam, where never fought again. I thought it was our duty to insure that we would never send our youth off to distant shores to spill their blood, over a war that was not necessary. Look where we are now.

And here you guys are. You allowed mere politics to transcend our honor, and our legacy. You slander and insult to the world another Vietnam Veteran. A veteran you served with no less. You bring shame and disgrace to your unit, your commanding officer, the U.S. Navy, and all the other Veterans who served in Vietnam many of whom, I might add, do not agree with you.

I join Senator John McCain and condemn your advertisement as ?dishonest and dishonorable? and I will not cheapen the sacrifice that my brothers, my friends, John Kerry, and other Vietnam veterans have made, good and bad, in the service of their country for any political agenda or ideology.

Finally I ask you this. What self respecting Vietnam veteran would ever take sides against and smear another decorated combat veteran (especially one he fought along side in combat), for a group where it is widely known for the most part to have used legal loopholes to avoid going to Vietnam? No matter how I try I find it personally difficult to reconcile this one glaring fact.

You are the ones that sold us out not John Kerry. By creating rumors and falsehoods, manipulating the truth, and maliciously slandering a brother veteran, you are trying sell out honorable veterans of the Vietnam War, and ultimately the American people. It is my opinion that you are by what you are doing, betraying the sacrifice and brotherhood forged on the battlefield by the rest of us who served honorably.

Barry DeLong, USMC (RVN 1969-70) (notsoswiftveterans.com)

[williams919]

I think a lot of us served honorably. I think the US Government made mistakes about Vietnam, they weren't revealed until we had already served. I think John Kerry is arrogant now as he was in 1971. He scares me then and he scares me now. I wish some point to all this was different and the American People could get just one person to step up and take the position of being human and not have to lie about their past, which is history. Past is past but to continue to lie about what you have done makes it present. John Kerry is a liar. He did join Hanoi Jane and you may be proud of that, I am not. I think he sold out a lot of GIs that didn't deserve it. I served, proud and never killed a kid, burned a village and never shot a VN in the back.
You vote where and for whom you please but, me I have a choice too.
I chose not to read any more crap about a wanna be President. President Bush has stepped up to the plate and no matter how the world feels he has made choices that your boy couldn't and God forbid will ever be given the chance to in the future. I have a son on active duty right now. I prefer him to serve the good old USA and not be deployed at the desire of the UN.
This all sucks.
Retired Sailor and Proud to have been there.

theemperor

[Arrow]

I continued to be amazed at the ridiculous statements used by the "talking heads talking points" Democratic spokespersons concerning eyewitness accounts of actions taken by John Kerry. Lanny Davis even went as far as to categorize such accounts as lies because the eyewitnesses were "not" on the same boat as John Kerry." As these images graphically illustrate, one did not have to physically be on the same boat during a Swift Boat operation to be intimately acquainted with both what was going on in an accompanying boat or also with the people aboard those boats:

In addition, when the boats returned from a mission, everyone lived and ate and bunked on/in the same living quarters: a berthing ship, LST or
small base. Swift Boat divisions were very small. Everybody knew all of the other people intimately and well. Whether they got along with them or not. The Swift Boat sailors that "served with John Kerry" definitely had as much or more contact with him as any of his assigned crewmen.

Bob Shirley ?. Officer-in-Charge PCF-45

[Arrow]

Not on the same boat....

part two...

[Arrow]

I understand that LTCMDR. Elliot has since retracted his statements about LTJG Kerry's character while he served with him in Vietnam.

CLEMENTS, O'NEILL, PIERCE, WILSON & FULKERSON
A Registered Limited Liability Partnership
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
WELLS FARGO PLAZA
1000 LOUISIANA STREET, SUITE 1800
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77002-5009 ______________________ (713) 654-7600 Facsimile (713) 654-7690 www.copwf.com JOHN E. O'NEILL
Partner
(713) 654-7604
oneilljohn@copwf.com

August 6, 2004 Re: Swift Boat Veterans For Truth

Dear Station Manager:

The Kerry Campaign has continued its effort to prevent our voice from being heard. You were presented with an article from Kerry's hometown newspaper, The Boston Globe, written by Michael Kranish, Kerry's biographer, claiming that Captain Elliott had withdrawn his affidavit and disavowed the ad. This is totally false.Enclosed is Captain Elliott's affidavit executed this morning after the false Globe story.

Captain Elliott affirms his original affidavit; affirms his ad statement; and adds additional detail. In the ad, Captain Elliott says that Kerry was not honest about his service in Vietnam. This is indisputably true.The use of a surprise false article to strike pending ads represents a new low in ambush journalism.

Very truly yours,John E. O'Neill

JEO/cas

[Arrow]

You conveniently fail to mention that it was John Kerry and John McCain that went to Vietnam to work with the government in Vietnam to find answers to those heroes that were "Missing in Action".

The Kerry committee's final report, issued in January 1993, delivered the ultimate insult to history. The 1,223-page document said there was "no compelling evidence that proves" there is anyone still in captivity. As for the primary investigative question - what happened to the men left behind in 1973?the report conceded only that there is "evidence . . . that indicates the possibility of survival, at least for a small number" of prisoners 31 years ago, after Hanoi released the 591 P.O.W.'s it had admitted to.

With these word games, the committee report buried the issue - and the men.

The huge document contained no findings about what happened to the supposedly "small number." If they were no longer alive, then how did they die? Were they executed when ransom offers were rejected by Washington?

Kerry now slides past all the radio messages, satellite photos, live sightings, and boxes of intelligence documents - all the evidence. In his comments for this piece, this candidate for the presidency said: "No nation has gone to the lengths that we did to account for their dead. None - ever in history."

Of the so-called "possibility" of a "small number" of men left behind, the committee report went on to say that if this did happen, the men were not "knowingly abandoned," just "shunted aside." How do you put that on a gravestone?

In the end, the fact that Senator Kerry covered up crucial evidence as committee chairman didn't seem to bother too many Massachusetts voters when he came up for re-election - or the recent voters in primary states. So I wouldn't predict it will be much of an issue in the presidential election come November. It seems there is no constituency in America for missing Vietnam P.O.W.'s except for their families and some veterans of that war.

A year after he issued the committee report, on the night of January 26, 1994, Kerry was on the Senate floor pushing through a resolution calling on President Clinton to lift the 19-year-old trade embargo against Vietnam. In the debate, Kerry belittled the opposition, saying that those who still believed in abandoned P.O.W.'s were perpetrating a hoax. "This process," he declaimed, "has been led by a certain number of charlatans and exploiters, and we should not allow fiction to cloud what we are trying to do here."

Kerry's resolution passed, by a vote of 62 to 38. Sadly for him, the passage of ten thousand resolutions cannot make up for wants in a man's character.

Lynn O'Shea
Director of Research
National Alliance of Families
for the Return of America's Missing Servicemen
World War II - Korea - Cold War - Vietnam - Gulf War


http://www.patriotfiles.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37338

http://www.nationalalliance.org/home1.htm

[Gimpy]

Speaks out!

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A FULL Rebuttal of the disgusting Hit Piece against John Kerry:
August 9, 2004

Today, CBS reporter Hank Plante (KPIX, Chanel 5 in the Bay Area), visited me in San Francisco, to show me the piece and get my reaction for the 6:30pm newscast. Since the 60-second ad is scheduled to appear only in Ohio, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, you?ll probably never see it, so allow me to describe it. First, remember, it is lightning fast. In 60 seconds, the producers of the piece manage to get ?sound bites? from some 13 different people?with the STRONG inference that they served DIRECTLY with John Kerry in Vietnam.

The ad starts with a clip of John Edwards, during his speech in Boston, saying: ?If you want to know about the Leadership Ability and Patriotism of John Kerry?all you have to do is spend Three Minutes with the men who served with him?.

So far, so good. Then the narrator continues, ??Here?s what THESE MEN think about John Kerry?. The ultra-slick transition leaves no doubt that we are going to hear from the men who served DIRECTLY with John Kerry, on either or both of the Swift Boats he commanded.

But wait?didn?t we hear from every one of the men who served on Kerry?s Swift Boats during the Convention? All but two (one has since died) stood tall behind John Kerry on the platform of the Boston Convention, and one by one proclaimed their unstinting praise and admiration for their Swiftboat Commander.

So who are these Other Guys? The ones that call themselves ?Swift Boat Veterans for Bush?. Imposters? No. In a word?shills. Fact is, not a SINGLE ONE of the 13 ?talking heads??..was EVER on a Swift Boat with JohKerry!

Let?s expose these Shills for Bush, one at a time. First we see AL FRENCH. He was NEVER a crewmate of John Kerry?s. He simply states: ?He is lying about his record?. What record? What Lying? It is a pathetic sound bite, and just silly, by itself, at face value. His Record is His Record. Kerry didn?t write ?his record?, and his Record was Exemplory. So why would he lie about it? If you wanted to ?damage him?, you could say: ?His Record is Inaccurate?, but that is not what we hear in the six words from Al French.

Next we see LOUIS LETSON, who says?. ? I know John Kerry is lying about his first Purple Heart, because I treated him for that injury?. Not true. According to Navy Sick Call Sheet, the man who treated the shrapnel wound on the upper arm of Lt. Kerry is J.C.Carreon. The record notes that Kerry pressed his hand on the upper arm wound, to stop the bleeding, and when he pulled it away, he held a piece of rocket shrapnel in his bloody hand. Actually a very ?lucky? wound. Clean it, bind him up, save the shrapnel for a souvenir, and put him back into service. Give him the Purple Heart he damn well earned a bit later. That?s how it Went Down. That?s what the ?record? states. As Verified by his ACTUAL CREWMATES.

So who is this LOUIS LETSON??and why is it that he never made his ?charge? until last year when Kerry came to Prominence? Well, he?s just one part of a Republican ?Smear Kerry? group financed by a millionaire Houston Homebuilder named BOB PERRY, one of the founders of the Critical Veterans Group.

Next we hear from Retired Navy Commander GEORGE ELLIOTT who says (in the ad), ??John Kerry has not been honest about what happened in Vietnam?. He should know something about it. He was Kerry?s Superior Officer in Vietnam. He gives NO specifics in his charge of Dishonesty. Again, it is a RECENT, and hollow claim. Why? Because back in 1969, when ELLIOTT wrote his EVALUATION into the Service Record of John Kerry, here is what he stated:

?The fact that he chased an armed enemy down was an act of courage. And the whole outfit served with honor?There was no question that it was above and beyond anything that we had seen down there? The ELLIOTT Evaluation continued??. ?In a combat environment often requiring independent, decisive action, Lt. Kerry was unsurpassed. He constantly reviewed tactics and lessons learned in river operations and applied his experience at every opportunity. On one occasion, while in tactical command of a three boat operation his units were taken under fire from ambush. Lt. Kerry rapidly assessed the situation and ordered his units to turn directly into the ambush. This decision resulted in routing the attackers with several KIA. Lt. Kerry emerges as the acknowledged leader in his peer group. His bearing and appearance are above reproach. During the period of this report Lt. Kerry has been awarded the Silver Star medal, the Bronze Star medal, the Purple Heart medal (2nd and 3rd awards).? [U.S. Navy, Officer Fitness Report signed by George Elliott; 18, Dec 1969]

That, I contend, is High Praise?coming from a man who now has changed his tune to play to the beat of the Bush Campaign Drum! There is simply no explanation by Commander Elliott, of how, exactly, John Kerry ?has not been honest about what happened in Vietnam?. We presume you WERE honest Mr. Elliott, when you wrote that Evaluation, (back in ?69), before you were bought off by the Bush Campaign Zealots.

THIIS JUST IN! (Regarding Lt. Commander ELLIOTT) According to a lead story in the August 6 edition of the Boston Globe, ?Yesterday, a key figure in the anti-Kerry campaign, Kerry's former commanding officer, backed off one of the key contentions. Lieutenant Commander George Elliott said in an interview that he had made a ''terrible mistake" in signing an affidavit that suggests Kerry did not deserve the Silver Star -- one of the main allegations in the book. The affidavit was given to The Boston Globe by the anti-Kerry group to justify assertions in their ad and book.?

Next we hear a few quick words from Swiftboat Veteran for Bush VAN O?DELL, who says: ??..John Kerry Lied to get his Bronze Star. I know. I was there. I saw what happened.? This is perhaps, the Unkindest Cut of all. Mr. O??Dell was NOT a crewmate of John Kerry?s.

The events of March 13, 1969 that eventually let to theaward of a Bronze Star (with a V for Valor) are best recounted by the words of the man whose life Kerry saved on that day?.James Rassmann. The 21 year old Green Beret Lieutenant was a passenger in the convoy of five Swiftboats, led by 25 year old Lt. John Kerry?s in ?PCF-94.? As the convoy moved downriver, they ran into an ambush.

The OFFICIAL NAVY ?After Action? Report for that date, recount the details of the subject Convoy; including Time, Boat Identifications, Personnel, Combat Action; even Maps. The report states that the boats involved ?Received HEAVY A/W (automatic weapons) AND S/A (small arms) FROM BOTH BANKS of the river.?

Given the fact that the Swiftboats are light and fast (because they carry no protective armor), it is not surprising that Kerry (and others) were hit by enemy fire during the ambush. The Official Report specific to Kerry?s injury from this event (from the Naval istorical Center in Washington DC), reads:

KERRY, JOHN F., USN - WOUNDED IN ACTION ? 13 March 969 vicinity of Song Bay Hap,South Vietnam. Received shrapnel wounds in the left uttocks and contusions on the right forearm when a mine detonated close to PCF-94 while engaged in operations on river. Injury is RESULT of HOSTILE ACTION.

According to Lt. Rassmann the boats had already lost ne man earlier that day, and were now ?hell-bent on he run? as the ambush continued. As they sped down the river, one boat was blown out of the water, and hen another. An explosion wounded Kerry in the arm nd threw Rassmann into the river. Rassmann dove to the bottom to avoid being run over by the other boats. hen he surfaced, he saw the convoy had gone ahead. Viet Cong snipers fired at him, and Rassmann submerged over and over to avoid being hit. The bullets came rom both banks, and Rassmann had nowhere to go. He egan thinking his time had come, but the fifth time he came up, he saw the convoy had turned around. Kerry had ordered the boats back to pick up the man verboard. Kerry's boat, under heavy fire, sidled up to the struggling soldier. Rassmann tried to scramble up a cargo net at the bow but was too exhausted to make it all the way. He clung to the net as bullets whizzed past. ?Next thing I knew, John came out in the middle of all this,? Rassmann says. ?I couldn't believe it. He was going to get killed. He ran to the edge, reached over with his good arm [Kerry had been wounded in his right arm] and pulled me over the lip.? Rassmann later recommended Kerry for the Silver Star, and was upset when the Army instead awarded Kerry a lesser Bronze Star with a ?V? for valor.? [Los Angeles Times, 3/13/04].

So this begs the question?if Accuser VAN O?DELL was not even on Kerry?s boat?where, exactly was he?and why is he now claiming that Kerry didn?t deserve a medal for his heroic action. Hell, they ought to interview the Viet Cong Gunners on the shore to get the ?real story?! I?ll bet THEY would award a Silver Star to the gritty American Lieutenant who defied their fire!

But the AD?continues on to the next Sound Bite. It?s from ADRIAN LONSDALE, who states: ??.He lacks the capacity to lead?. When was Mr. Lonsdale ?bought off???? Apparently some time AFTER October of ?96. Why? Because he was a strong SUPPORTER of John Kerry until that time. In a Kerry for SENATE Press conference, on 10/27/96, Lonsdale stated: ?As far as I was concerned, the war was won over there in that part for that period. And it was mainly won because of the bravado and the courage of the young officers that ran the boats, the SWIFT boats and the Coast Guard cutters and Senator Kerry was no exception.? [Kerry for Senate Press Conference, 10/27/96]. So much for THAT turncoat.

The ad continues with a statement from the NEXT talking head?.LARRY THURLOW, who says: ??.When the Chips were down, you could not count on John Kerry.? Mr. Thurlow ALSO, was never a crewmate of John Kerry, but he, and HIS BOAT were also entrapped in that ambush on that fateful date in March of 1969. The Official After-Action Report states: ?Larry Thurlow had maneuvered his PCF-51 over (to the disabled) PCF-3, and by and hopped aboard to offer assistance.

The boat was in shambles but they were still returning fire and could not therefore assess any damage? The Report continues?.?ALL BOATS RECEIVED HEAVY A/W [automatic weapons] & S/A [small arms] FROM BOTH BANKS?ALL BOATS RETURNED FIRE?PCF-94 [Kerry?s boat] PICKED UP SPECIAL FORCES ADVISOR WHO WENT OVERBOARD. PCF-94 TOWED PCF-3.? [U.S. Navy After Action Report)

Did you all catch that last part? Despite the withering gunfire, despite being wounded, and AFTER saving the life of the Special Forces Guy?Lt. Kerry?Commanding PCF-94, hooked up a tow line to the disabled PCF-3, and TOWED it to (eventual) safety! It does NOT state that Lt. Thurlow took on this task! Who is he ACTUALLY talking about?when he says ?when the chips were down, you could not count on John Kerry??

The ad goes on to Talking Head #7, BOB ELDER?who states: ?John Kerry is no war hero?. Really Bob? How about some quotations from the TWO major medals awarded to Lt. Kerry:

Kerry?s Silver Star Citation:

?For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with Coastal Division ELEVEN engaged in armed conflict with Viet Cong insurgents in An Xuyen Province, Republic of Vietnam, on 28 February 1969.?

Kerry?s Bronze Star Citation:

?For heroic achievement while serving with Coastal Division ELEVEN engaged in armed conflict with Viet Cong communist aggressors in An Xuyen Province, Republic of Vietnam, on 13 March 1969.?

Next, in quick succession come statements from THREE MORE Swiftboat Veterans for Bush. Once again, NONE of the three were crewmates of John Kerry. Presumably their statements refer to the SECOND period of Patriotic Service that John Kerry gave to his Country. That would be his Post-Vietnam Activity as a proud member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and his riveting 1971 Testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Mr. SHELTON WHITE states: ?John Kerry betrayed the men and women he served with in Vietnam.?

Mr. JOE PONDER states: ?He dishonored his country. He most certainly did.?

Mr. GRANT HIBBARD states: ?He betrayed all his shipmates. He lied before the Senate.?

John Kerry damn well EARNED his right to tell his story of HIS Vietnam experience, to the US Congress,to the media, and to the public. That?s the duty of a true patriot?.and ALL of his actual crewmates are fiercely loyal to, and supportive of, the service that John Kerry gave to his Country?.both IN VIETNAM, and AFTER VIETNAM. They ALL endorse the praise heaped upon their former commander as specified in:

Kerry?s Silver Star Citation:

?His actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.?

Kerry?s Bronze Star Citation :

?KERRY?s calmness, professionalism and great personal courage under fire were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.?

Talking Head Number 13 in the Hit Piece ad, is the baffling statement of JACK CHENOWITH, who ALSO was never a crewmate of John Kerry?s, nevertheless appears Out of Nowhere to state: ??His account of what happened and what actually happened are the difference between night and day.?

Sorry Mr. Chenowith, your disagreement is NOT with any account made by John Kerry. It is rather the Account of the U.S. Navy, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Commander U.S. Naval Forces in Vietnam and backed up by Presidential Historian Douglas Brinkley, Special Forces Lt. James Rassmann and the Crewmates of PCF-44 & PCF 94. It is THEIR account of the service of John Kerry in Vietnam that you choose to question. But WHERE WERE YOU, Mr. Chenowith, that your account differs ?like night and day????

Next we hear a short statement by Admiral ROY HOFFMAN, who, in 1969, was Captain Roy Hoffman, in charge of Operation Sealords, code name for all Swiftboat activities. In effect, he was John Kerry?s boss.

Recently Admiral Hoffman admitted to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he had no first-hand knowledge to discredit Kerry's claims to valor and said that although Kerry was under his command, he really didn't know Kerry much personally. Yet on four separate instances in February and March of 1969, Hoffmann cabled Kerry and his crew, praising them and other Swift boats after skirmishes. In the Milwaukee newspaper interview, Hoffmann acknowledged the cables, saying Kerry showed "some pretty sharp thinking. He had courage.? That did not stop him from appearing in the Kerry ?Hit piece?, and making the statement:

??Jon Kerry has not been honest?. How would he know? When was he ?bought out??? Presumably some time AFTER he accompanied Lt. Kerry to his Silver Star Ceremony!

Finally, we have Swiftboat Veteran for Bush #13, Mr. BOB HILDRETH. He states: ??I served with John Kerry. John Kerry cannot be trusted.?. Bob Hildreth WAS NOT A CREWMATE OF JOHN KERRY?S, so what would he know about ?trusting? John Kerry? A BETTER measure of Trust, would be the powerful statement made by JIM WASSER?who certainly was a Kerry Crewmate. Mr. Wasser emphatically states: ?If John Kerry came to us and said he had one more mission and we're going to hell, he'd have a full crew? ? (Jim Wasser [Dallas Morning News, 7/29/04)

And then it?s over! Sixty seconds of PURE TRASH as characterized by the men who truly WERE NOT the crewmates of John Kerry.

But WHO ARE these Swiftboat Veterans for Bush? These so called VETERANS FOR TRUTH??? And WHY are they (now) saying such nasty things about him? Simple and predictable. Politics. Ugly Politics. Far from being a grassroots organization of veterans, this group is a front for the right-wing Texas Republicans with extensive ties to George Bush and the GOP. The leaders are close colleagues and co-workers of Karl Rove and tied to the Bush White House. The Texas-based head of the group responsible for this smear campaign and several ads run against John McCain in 2000 is married to George Bush?s former running mate.

Their connections are in plain sight. Merrie Spaeth, the communications and media consultant for the Swiftboat Veterans for Bush was the spokesperson for the group which also unfairly attacked Republican challenger Former POW John McCain in the Republican Primary Campaigns of 2000. At THAT TIME, they tried to discredit John McCain's reputation in Vietnam service, and followed that disgrace by attacking the military service of (then) Georgia Senator Max Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam.? [CBS Evening News, Pitts, 5/4/04]

In 1994, Spaeth?s (late) husband, LEZAR HAROLD ran with George W. Bush as the Lieutenant Gubernatorial candidate. He lost while Bush won. Lezar had been a Nixon speechwriter, worked in Reagan?s Justice Department, and then settled back in Texas at John O?Neill?s law firm.

Bob Perry, a major supporter of President Bush and the Republican Party, is the biggest financial backer of this vitriolic group. According to federal records. Perry, a Houston homebuilder, gave $100,000 to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. That accounted for two-thirds of the organization's receipts to date. [DMN, Slater, 7/23/04]. Since January 2000, Mr. Perry has donated more than $5.2 million to Republican candidates and causes, making him by far the most prolific giver in Texas over that time, according to campaign records reviewed by The Dallas Morning News. Chunks of his money, coming sometimes in a flurry of $ 25,000 checks, have gone to support anti-lawsuit, pro-business groups ($ 320,000) and the state Republican Party ($ 980,000). Last year, he provided $ 600,000 to 23 GOP candidates for the Legislature, helping lift Republicans to their first takeover of the Texas House since Reconstruction. [DMN, 11/2/03] Perry has also been contributing to the Bush family across the country for more than two decades. Perry has donated more than $130,000 to the Bush family campaigns including George H.W. Bush, Prescott, S. Bush, Jr. George W. Bush and Jeb Bush. [Sources:FollowtheMoney.org, PoliticalMoneline.com; fec.gov; Dallas Morning News, 11/1/94; Florida Department of State, Elections Division]

Harlan Crow, the Dallas real estate magnate and big contributor to George Bush, was the second largest giver to the anti-Kerry group contributing $25,000 or 15.75% of all their contributions.

Even Fox News has their number! In a Fox news Special Report of 5/4/04, they said: ?Many Of Them Are Republicans Who Have Contributed To And Backed Various Bush Campaigns And Causes Over The Decades? The GOP says it's not involved with the veterans criticizing Kerry, but many of them are Republicans who have contributed to and backed various Bush campaigns and causes over the decades.? [Fox News, Special Report, Cameron, 5/4/04]

As if the ?buy-out? of numerous veterans who served in the same Vietnam areas as Kerry was not low enough, the Dallas Morning News recently broke a story titled: ?Private Investigator Digs Into Kerry?s War Past Group Defends Investigation; Veterans Say Comments Distorted.? ?Opponents of John Kerry have hired a Dallas-area private investigator to gather information aimed at discrediting his military service, say everal veterans who served with the Massachusetts Democrat in Vietnam. Several veterans who have been contacted in recent days accused the private investigator, Tom Rupprath of Rockwall, of twisting their words to produce misleading and inaccurate accounts that call into doubt the medals Kerry received for his service. ?They're just distorting things,? said Jim Wasser, who served with Mr. Kerry. ?They have nothing to go after John Kerry for, so now they're trying to discredit him?.? [DMN, Slater, 7/13/04]

Their singular goal is to undercut the credentials of John Kerry as a potential new Commander in chief. As was the case with the attacks on Sen. John McCain and Rep. Cleland four years ago, Mr. Rove and his boss will claim they have nothing to do with these "independent" efforts ? ?made by Patriotic Citizens and Vets?.

Who is gonna buy that transparent ruse. Certainly not Republican Senator John McCain. After hearing of the Hit Piece, he called the ad "dishonest and dishonorable" and urged the White House on Thursday to condemn it as well. "It was the same kind of deal that was pulled on me," McCain said in an interview with The Associated Press. Later, McCain said the Bush campaign has denied any involvement and added, "I can't believe the president would pull such a cheap stunt." The White House did not immediately address McCain's call that they repudiate the spot.

McCain continued: "I deplore this kind of politics. I think the ad is dishonest and dishonorable. As it is,none of these individuals served on the boat (Kerry) commanded. Many of his crew have testified to his courage under fire. I think John Kerry served honorably in Vietnam. So do I. Neither of us is fooled by the lies of these Political Shills, and YOU should not be either.

Stephen S. Noetzel, (Former) Green Beret in Vietnam and (present) San Francisco Coordinator, Veterans for Kerry ---

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