SWIFTLY SINKING

In another flashcard displayed before the watching eyes: The Chicago SunTimes has an article stating that John Lehman didn’t know about the document with his signature, didn’t sign it, didn’t see it, wasn’t the author of the wording. It’s a 2,000,000 lb. weight dropped onto a dinghy. Swift Boat PCF-94 may be sinking with Kerry aboard.

Chicago SunTimes

Kerry citation a 'total mystery' to ex-Navy chief
August 28, 2004
BY THOMAS LIPSCOMB

Former Navy Secretary John Lehman has no idea where a Silver Star citation displayed on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign Web site came from, he said Friday. The citation appears over Lehman's signature.

"It is a total mystery to me. I never saw it. I never signed it. I never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not written by me," he said.

[COMMENT: If this is a mystery document, who would have created it, who could have created it? There are sounds that you can almost hear….the collective Democrats’ gasps, some Swiftees’ sighs.]

ANOTHER WOUND, KERRY?

[Tour of Duty, pages 328, 329:
Kerry left the area, spent a few days, 5-6; called Sanders, and Barker; caught a flight to Tacoma, WA; then a commercial flight to San Francisco—spent one night there;]
“then flew back to see Julia in New York.”

When John Kerry finally landed at Kennedy Airport in New York he was greeted by an ecstatic Julia Thorne. “I went to pick him up,” she recalled. “It was a packed airport, [but] in those days you could go to the gate. People were pouring off the plane in Hawaiian shirts and leis, some seemed drunk on mai tais.

[same paragraph…separated for emphasis]
Then, emerging from the crowd in his dress blues and his white hat, came John Kerry. He was bandaged, some of it was sticking out, and nobody was paying attention to him . . .”

Bandaged from what?? At the end of his last mission, he said, “All in all, it had been a long and profitless night but no shots had been fired and it was better to be tired than dead.”

The last known injury seems to have been the Rice ASSault. That injury should have healed. If it hadn’t healed, would anyone see the bandage . . .on his rump?

How did John Kerry get the purported wound, this time? Was it even a wound?

BLACKFIVE found today’s (Wall Street Journal) article:

We're Not GOP Shills

President Bush can't stop us from telling the truth about John Kerry.
BY JOHN O'NEILL
Friday, August 27, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT

Kerry’s campaign has done so much spinning that it’s (now) spinning in place--forming a vortex. The Swift Boat attack strategy is sinking Kerry’s boat.

Boats for Truth has blown away the stern, put holes in the bow, and they are attacking the mask (oh sorry, that’s MAST, isn’t it?)

REDHUNTER'S SALADBOWL

Redhunter has been very busy putting together a salad of information--combining many interesting topics:

A letter from a soldier in Iraq.

Tommy Franks.

Links to the “Unfit” excerpts.

Redhunter has been very busy!

CHRISTMAS IN CAMBODIA (s)

.
December, 1968:

Drudge mentions Kerry on the Senate floor in 1986 and quotes from O'Neill's book (which apparently contains Kerry's words):

"I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by the Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have the president of the United States telling the American people that I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia. I have that memory which is seared--seared--in me."

freep quotes the Boston Herald coverage:

"I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas. The absurdity of almost being killed by our own allies in a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops was very real."

O'Neill's book refutes this with:

Nixon wasn't in office.

Kerry ". . .was more than fifty miles away from Cambodia. Kerry was never ordered into Cambodia by anyone and would have been court-martialed had he gone there."

Free Republic says:

The authors say the Cambodia incursion story is not included in Douglas Brinkley's "Tour of Duty." Instead, Kerry told of a mortar attack on Christmas Eve 1968 "near the Cambodia border" in Sa Dec.

World Net Daily says:

"On the floor of the U.S. Senate, March 27, 1986, for example, Kerry attacked President Reagan's actions in Central America, charging they were leading the United States into another Vietnam. He claimed he could recognize the adminstration's errors because he had firsthand knowledge that the Nixon administration lied about American incursions into Cambodia."

And so, the arguments continue.

[Note: Nixon was elected in 1968, sworn 1969. Did President-Elect Nixon make a speech? If so, did he mention Cambodia?]

[ADDITIONAL, 8/26/04]

Diary refutes Kerry claim

By Stephen Dinan and Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published August 25, 2004

(…)A journal entry Mr. Kerry wrote Dec. 11, however, raises questions about what really happened nine days earlier.

"A cocky feeling of invincibility accompanied us up the Long Tau shipping channel because we hadn't been shot at yet, and Americans at war who haven't been shot at are allowed to be cocky," wrote Mr. Kerry, according the book "Tour of Duty" by friendly biographer Douglas Brinkley.

(…)A Kerry campaign official, speaking on background, told The Washington Times yesterday that the "we" in the passage from Mr. Kerry's journal refers to "the crew on Kerry's first swift boat, operating as a crew" rather than Mr. Kerry himself.

"John Kerry didn't yet have his own boat or crew on December 2," according to the aide. "Other members of the crew had been in Vietnam for some time and had been shot at and Kerry knew that at the time. However, the crew had not yet been fired on while they served together on PCF 44 under Lieutenant Kerry."

[COMMENT: The defense of the quote isn't credible, believable. Or, you could just say that I don't believe it. Tedd Peck said that Se Dac was the outer perimeter for Kerry's duty area at that time. The "Christmas in Cambodia" incident would have seemed more credible if Kerry had been at An Thoi, but he didn't get there (again) until January. "Christmas in Cambodia" did not happen. It's for the reader to decide between lie and embellishment; for me, it fits the "lie test."

[NOTE: Originally titled "A Kerry Christmas", brought forward and titled "Christmas in Cambodia" in order to list in sequence at right links.]

BARRY BOGART (s)

One Barry Bogart was listed as interviewed for ToD [p66]; and the Barry Bogart (below) was at An Thoi, as a diesel mechanic and gunner on a SWIFT BOAT AT AN THOI.

Salina Journal


The nonbeliever
Salinan questions Kerry's war 'fantasies'
By DAVID CLOUSTON Salina Journal

After 36 years, the U.S. flag is a bit tattered, a bit soiled, with a hint of gamey odor.

Salinan Barry Bogart snatched it as a souvenir after it flew aboard PCF-78 (patrol craft fast), as a reminder of his days as a diesel mechanic and gunner on a Swift boat at An Thoi, Vietnam.

[NOTE: Bogart is listed as a person interviewed; not listed in the index—as included in the book; and, nothing about him seemed to be included within the book. Why was he interviewed; what was left out?]

ALFRED FRENCH (s)

Alfred French was an Ensign in Coastal 11, An Thoi. Apparently he wasn’t on any of the mission in question. His knowledge would come from hearing information around the area, and from his friends.

No, his information would not hold up in a court of law. Yes, either side of the controversy would use him, if he overheard something important.

VOLUNTEER MYTHE

John Kerry volunteered. Yes, he did--and so did half the (draft-age) nation. There were not huge hoards of 18-23 year-olds taking trains, planes, and buses to Canada. If you remember, there were huge hoards of the draft-age group checking their numbers, calculating the odds. You had a good idea when your “number was up.”

It wasn’t the same as WWII, after Pearl Harbor; Vietnam was “if ya gotta go, ya gotta go.” If your country called, you would serve. Few went to Canada, few ran to sign up, most waited to see—like watching the roulette wheel spin. Was it your turn?

[ToD p60]
“Without question, the draft was on the minds of all high school and college seniors in 1965-66. As the need for more soldiers to serve in Viet-nam rose, the Selective Service System was tapping an unprecedented 30,000 draftees a month. Graduation meant the end of a young man’s educational deferment, and other deferments were harder to obtain. Some men paid a draft counselor or attorney for advice—a popular slogan that year was “If you got the dough, you don’t have to go”—and others applied to graduate school. Recognizing the changing nature of the draft, Kerry signed up in late 1965 for the U.S. Navy, with actual enlistment to come after graduation the following spring. As his last year at Yale passed, he was forced to live with that decision.”

[ToD p63]
”On his flight to Boston, Kerry realized he had crossed on of those life-changing Rubicons he had read about at St. Paul’s School. He was unset-tled but excited about what lay before him, and something in him warmed at the notion that when he came to his fork in the road he had shown the in-dependence to opt for the path not taken by most Ivy Leaguers his age: Viet-nam. As a child of considerable privilege he could certainly have gone for the easy out, be it joining the National Guard, getting married, or asking a well-placed family friend to finagle him a draft deferment. Although he never considered it, he could even have proclaimed himself a conscientious objector, fled to Canada, or found Quakerism. Instead he had done the honorable thing and enlisted in the Navy, and he was proud of it. While his college friends were still partying at the wedding reception, he was headed back to Boston, where he would quickly pack and drive to Officer Candi- date School in Newport, Rhode Island.”

[ToD p64]
“(…)We just all thought that was the right thing to do. President Kennedy has called on our generation to ‘pay any price’ for global freedom, so duty dictated that we enlist.”

[JFK2, p50]
“As graduation approached, Kerry believed he had three choices: be drafted, seek a deferment for graduate school, or join up and position himself to become an officer. ‘I called [the draft board] because I was thinking one of the options was, maybe I’ll go study abroad, which was a euphemism for screwing around a bit, but it was clear to me that I was going to be at risk. My draft board . . .said, ‘Look, the likelihood is you are probably going to be drafted.’ I said, ‘If I’m going to be drafted, I’d like to have responsibility and be an officer.”



[COMMENT: Neither condemning, nor praising, I’m saying this was the way it was. It wasn’t the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, or 9/11. It was a gradual, growing, in the back-of-your-mind, probable date with destiny. “Volunteering” was appreciated, but not outstanding. That was the way it was in the ‘60s. Outstanding was: once having been in the thick of battle, the choice to go again.......was outstanding.]

THAT COCKY FEELING (s)

Diary refutes Kerry claim

By Stephen Dinan and Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published August 25, 2004

(…)A journal entry Mr. Kerry wrote Dec. 11, however, raises questions about what really happened nine days earlier.

"A cocky feeling of invincibility accompanied us up the Long Tau shipping channel because we hadn't been shot at yet, and Americans at war who haven't been shot at are allowed to be cocky," wrote Mr. Kerry, according the book "Tour of Duty" by friendly biographer Douglas Brinkley.

(…)A Kerry campaign official, speaking on background, told The Washington Times yesterday that the "we" in the passage from Mr. Kerry's journal refers to "the crew on Kerry's first swift boat, operating as a crew" rather than Mr. Kerry himself.

"John Kerry didn't yet have his own boat or crew on December 2," according to the aide. "Other members of the crew had been in Vietnam for some time and had been shot at and Kerry knew that at the time. However, the crew had not yet been fired on while they served together on PCF 44 under Lieutenant Kerry."

Thanks to: Media Lies

[COMMENT: “We” are shocked . . .absolutely shocked. “We” cannot understand how “we” could have mistaken the cockiness. Or…….possibly Kerry was using the ROYAL “WE” and he really meant “I.” Sorry, Kerry supporters will believe it; many swing-voters will not believe it.

Further, the question was did the quote exists. If the quote had not existed, that would be the defense—that the quote was erroneous. When the Kerry campaign explains the quote, they are confirming the quote. And, the quote is a “killer.” ]

Once again, (bold for emphasis): "A cocky feeling of invincibility accompanied us up the Long Tau shipping channel because we hadn't been shot at yet, and Americans at war who haven't been shot at are allowed to be cocky," wrote Mr. Kerry, according the book "Tour of Duty" by friendly biographer Douglas Brinkley.


[NOTE: copy will be placed in appropriate section.]

[Also, the actual quote appears on page 189, ToD.]

LEGAL ADVICE & GLUE (s)

.

Reuters

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - A top lawyer for President Bush's re-election campaign, Benjamin Ginsberg, resigned on Wednesday after disclosing he provided legal advice to the group that has accused Democrat John Kerry of lying about his Vietnam record.

[Comment: Apparently, Reuters didn’t notice the connections between lawyers, the DNC, the 527s for Kerry--just the normal, daily, little “bit-o” bias for the readers.]

"I have decided to resign as national counsel to your campaign to ensure that the giving of legal advice to decorated military veterans, which was entirely within the boundaries of the law, doesn't distract from the real issues upon which you and the country should be focusing," Ginsberg wrote in a letter to President Bush.

[More Comments: Cheers, Ginsberg! The Swiftees will need you. Did I hear Kerry bought approx. 250 bottles of Super Glue; it was more, but he put 2 bottles of glue back on the shelf? (Wonder what he wants to do with that.)]

[Note: Thanks to Hugh Hewitt. See his blog today. Cleland comments (here) were made before reading Hewitt; but, thanks for the link to the Reuters (above.)]

CLELAND TO TEXAS

.
Sending Max Cleland to Texas--the questions:

Who could question sending Max Cleland to Texas?

It’s a terrific idea in the political intramural war. No one would dare speak out against a triple-amputee, Veteran and Politician.

Send Cleland with a letter to Bush requesting that he stop the other veterans from their free speech; a marvelous idea . . .or, is it?

Who thought of this one, Kerry . . .or, Rove?

RASSMANN (s)

.
JFK2:BG p105:

(Paragraph 2)“One day he walked into a club and found Kerry sitting there, having a beer, and the two men quickly hit it off. For the next month, they hung out together and went on at least one mission together, during which Rassmann saw a fellow officer nearly lose his eye as a result of enemy fire.”

(Paragraph 4)“On the morning of March 13, 1969, Rassman was on a swift boat, following Kerry’s craft, as they headed up the Bai Hap River. The horrors began early that day. (…)


106:“The flotilla of approximately five swift boats was cruising along a narrow canal, with Kerry’s boat toward the front, when a mine detonated, throwing one of the crafts two feet into the air and knocking out its engine. In the swift boat behind it, Rassmann was eating a chocolate chip cookie in the pilothouse when his craft was also rocked by an explosion.”

BRINKLEYp314---PCF 3: “Right where they had been hit on the earlier mission, a mine went off directly beneath PCF-3 just off Kerry’s port side.”PCF 35: “At that instant, Army Lieutenant Jim Rassmann, who was on PCF-35, was blown overboard, although nobody knew it.”

[COMMENTS:
It’s unlikely that Rassman was on PCF-3 as he would have been within reach when the other boats clustered around PCF-3 to rescue the crew. It has been established (fairly well) that Kerry (in PCF-94) went downstream, turned back, then rescued Rassmann.

All agree that Rassmann went into the water, and that Kerry fished him out—no disagreement on that. “On the morning of March 13, 1969, Rassman was on a swift boat, following Kerry’s craft, as they headed up the Bai Hap River.” It would be intelligent to remain on the same boat throughout the mission (but there might be reasons to change boats.)

We can depend on Rassmann’s statements only as much as you would depend (in court) upon a mother’s testimony concerning her son. Kerry rescued Rassmann; there is a huge amount of gratitude that results from the rescue. Did Kerry save Rassmann’s life? Probably not, but don’t try to tell that to someone who is desperate—they won’t listen. Others who had seen Rassmann were on their way to rescue him and Kerry was there first.

Kerry and Rassmann had formed a bond; then Kerry rescued Rassmann; and, although Rassmann may feel he is giving objective statements, it is difficult to maintain objectivity when you believe someone saved your life—most of us could not be objective because it is a human condition to value and support the guy who “saved” you. Therefore, Rassmann’s statements may not carry as much weight.

In addition, there has been confusion concerning where Rassmann was at the time he went into the water, and on which boat; he doesn’t seem able to clear this up. There are indications that Rassmann was on 35-boat; but, there doesn’t seem to be a 35-boat. The number could have been transposed from 53; but, there doesn’t seem to be a 53-boat in the action.

Page 300 (ToD) states: “By March 12, 1969, Thurlow was off Vietnamese teaching duty and *back* in command of *PCF-53, which was to participate in Mission 97 along with Lieutenants Droz, Kerry, and Bill Rood.” Was there a mistake and Thurlow was actually *back* on *PCF 51? Or, is the mistake in the after-action report of 3/13—is that supposed to be 53?

More information is revealed each day, and those who believe that we will never know the truth are destined to be stuck with a decision made before all the facts are in. Jurors seldom decide before they hear the evidence; and, although this is the court of public opinion, it is wise to hear the arguments.]

WP 3/13 GRAPHIC (s)

.
(Washington Post 3/13 GRAPHIC)

There was a graphic on the Washington Post site yesterday (8/22/04) showing the action of March 13, according to “sources: U.S. Navy archives; staff reports” and “Graphic by Gene Thorp, Lou Spirito and Chris Kirkman—The Washington Post.” Right or Wrong, the graphic displayed a blowup of the area, a depiction of the scene, positions on PCF 94, and included which boats were there and who was OinC for each.

Well, I can’t find it now; hope you saved it. It was a good one!

WP Listed:

PCF-94
Kerry
*Del Sandusky
*Michael Medioros
*Eugene Thorson
*Tom Belodeau d.1997
*Fred Short/Alston?--no records to indicate he had recovered/

PCF-43
Droz
*Wayne Langhoffer (per Rood: w/Droz when Droz KIA 4/12)

PCF-3
Pees
*Kenneth Tryner
*Earl Hollister
*Leslie Vorphal
*GMG3 Wolfe
*EN3? Arp

PCF-23 (***previously Rood's boat until 3/12 eye injury)
Chenoweth

PCF-51 (**or 53?)
Thurlow

***Likely Chenoweth took over Rood's PCF-23 because Rood was not recoved by 3/13.

**There was an earlier reference to Thurlow on PCF-53, it will continue to be listed as PCF-51 (or 53) until more information is obtained.

*Preliminary crew members added into the mix.

[NOTE: This March 13 mission is temporarily named "Mission 98." March 12 is "Mission 97" according to ToD page 300.]

RICE ASSAULT 2 (s)

.
JFK2:BG p105, 106 (top):

(Paragraph 2)“One day he walked into a club and found Kerry sitting there, having a beer, and the two men quickly hit it off. For the next month, they hung out together and went on at least one mission together, during which Rassmann saw a fellow officer nearly lose his eye as a result of enemy fire.”

(Paragraph 3)“At one point, Kerry and Rassmann threw grenades into a huge rice cache that had been captured from the Vietcong and was thus slated for destruction. After tossing the grenades, the two dove for cover. Rassman escaped the ensuing explosion of rice, but Kerry was not as lucky—thousands of grains stuck to him. The result was hilarious, and the two men formed a bond.”

(Paragraph 4)“On the morning of March 13, 1969, Rassman was on a swift boat, following Kerry’s craft, as they headed up the Bai Hap River. The horrors began early that day. A rocket attack killed a Chinese mercenary who was traveling with Rassman. ‘He was literally blown to pieces.’ Rassmann [page 106—top] recalled. ‘We bugged out of there with the remains under fire.’ But the action had only begun.”

[COMMENT: Paragraph 3 describes a “rice cache” incident, very similar to the one described below--brought forward from RICE ASSAULT(1). The paragraph is between Rassmann having seen a “fellow officer nearly lose his eye” and “On the morning of March 13, 1969 . . .” (Three paragraphs in a row on page 105 indicate the sequence of events—Rood’s eye, Rice cache, and then the morning of the 13th.)

There may be later claims of error, but the Boston Globe biographers put it together from interviews with eyewitnesses (they placed the incidents eye, rice, and March 13 in 1,2,3-sequence ) and/or Kerry’s journal (as did Brinkley) and Kerry cooperated. The incident concerning Rood’s eye was March 12, which puts the “rice cache” in that timeframe, and it was followed by the paragraph beginning “On the morning of March 13.” See Kerry’s comments below, in what is now called “Rice Assault 1 :]



Rice ASSault (1): (brought forward)

[Ref: ToD p313]
“I got a piece of small grenade in my ass from one of the rice-bin explosions and then we started to move back to the boats, firing to our rear as we went,” Kerry related. “Once on the boats we moved full speed out of the zone, as we had been there for a dangerously long time now and the chance of something greeting us on exit was pretty good. My eyes still smarted and my throat was dry because Miggins had let off a gas grenade into a hooch and the wind had shifted and blown it down on us. I don’t know how one of us wasn’t shot by his own men when I consider how randomly we had been walking around in there—shooting and blowing things up.”[Location: Dong Cung Canal] [Date Ref: p303—March 13 possibly March 12?]


[COMMENT: This is an important passage in Brinkley’s book—Kerry’s quotes. The rice-bin was being destroyed. Who were throwing the grenades? If Kerry, the injury was self-inflicted; and no, that doesn’t mean he purposely “shot himself in the foot.” It means through his own actions, unrelated to enemy fire, Kerry was responsible for causing the resulting injury to himself.

That is the problem. He was close enough to get “riced” all over. (Picture a minor injury from smoking a cigarette in a dynamite shack—no Purple Heart, and you’re lucky you are alive. Picture tossing grenades into the rice-bin; and, like the potato chip commercial, you might not be able to stop with one----or, let only one person toss a single grenade.)]

11:42 PM

[UPDATE COMMENT: It looks like Kerry injured himself by tossing grenades into the rice cache and he seems to admit it. So far, the rice incident is narrowed-down to Mar. 12-13. Bold is mine, used for emphasis.]

ROOD'S EYE (s)

.

Washington Post

In some ways, it was a day like any other. The previous day, Kerry had taken part in a Swift boat expedition that had come under fire, and several windows of Kerry's boat were blown out. A friend, Lt. j.g. William B. Rood, almost lost an eye in the ambush. [Now an editor with the Chicago Tribune, Rood yesterday broke three decades of public silence to support Kerry's version of how he won the Silver Star on Feb. 28. Rood has no firsthand knowledge of the Bronze Star incident.]

[COMMENT: Rood’s eye incident was March 12, 1969 according to: Washington Post (“previous day”—day before Bronze Star Incident); ToD page 300—which begins the sequence “By March 12, . . .” and describes Rood’s Eye on page 301; and, the sequence in JFK;BG page 105 (the 3 paragraphs.)]

FEBRUARY 28, 1969 (s)

.
ACCORING TO According to William ROOD:

On Feb. 28, 1969, there were 3 Swift Boats with 3 Officers, and 15 crew.

(Latest Preliminary List--brought forward again)
PCF-94----
John F. Kerry (LTJG)
Eugene Thorson
Frederic Short (Temp. replacement—JFK, Boston Globe, p99)
Delbert Sandusky
Michael Mederioros
Tom Belodeau d.1997
Charles Gibson (1 wk indoctrination) [Ref: JFK, Boston Globe,p103]
David Alston (Temp. replaced by Fred Short—JFK, Boston Globe, p99)

PCF-23----
William B. Rood (LTJG)
Jerry Leeds PO [KS]
Richard Lamberson [2nd mil.career]
Larry Lee (bow) M-60 [KY]
Kenneth Martin (tub).50-cal.
Benjamin Cueva (aft-gun mount) Engineman
[The above is list for PCF-23—according to Rood]

PCF-43----
Donald Droz (LTJG)
Wayne Langhoffer (aboard 4/12)—incl. in Rood’s Letter

WILLIAM ROOD (s)

.
ROOD

There are several items at the Chicago Tribune’s site (8/22): 2 articles about Rood, a copy of ROOD’s CITATION, an explanation of medals, Plus a video of Tribune’s Jim O’Shea on why Rood broke his silence.

The site requires registration, but it’s free.

William Rood was involved in the action of 2/28/69. In ToD, there is reference to Rood’s (possible) eye injury during action between and including 2/28-3/13. (Have not found information on the result of an injury. There was no reference in the CITATION concerning an injury.)

[COMMENT: Reports and Citations seem hyped; however, in trying to get to the truth of who did what, where, when, it must be said that the service of the individual Navy personnel is appreciated and we thank you for it.

This is about a man who is a Presidential Candidate and is running on his war record. It is wise to know what the actual record was, what the man did while in Vietnam--in order to determine the character of the person who could be the next President.

War is foggy and, sometimes, seeing the truth is difficult through the fog.]

FEBRUARY 20, 1969 (s)

.
[Ref: JFK,BOSTON GLOBE p95:]

On February 20, 1969, six swift boats, including one skip-pered by Kerry, were cruising down the Dam Doi River in South Vietnam. Sailors aboard one or more of the swift boats—the naval report doesn’t specify—started shooting at “targets of opportunity,” meaning suspected Vietcong buildings and boats.

Suddenly, a crew member on Kerry’s boat spotted three suspected Vietcong wearing traditional black garb on the port side. Kerry’s crew came under intense automatic-weapon and rocket fire. Thorson was hit, suffering shrapnel wounds in the right arm. Kerry was also hit by shrapnel in his left thigh, an injury that would merit a second Purple Heart. He was treated on an offshore ship and returned to duty hours later.

[(Also, February 20, 1969. ToD p287:]

Just as they moved out onto the Cua Lon, at a junction known for unfriendliness in the past, kaboom! PCF-94 had taken a rocket-propelled grenade round off the port side, fired at them from the far bank. Kerry felt a piece of hot shrapnel bore into his left leg. With blood running down the deck, the Swift managed to make an otherwise uneventful exit into the Gulf of Thailand, where they rendezvoused with a Coast Guard Cutter. The injury Kerry suffered in that action on February 20 earned him his second Purple Heart—and thus the second third of his ticket out of Vietnam (although not an ironclad rule, it was standard operating procedure for any U.S. serviceman who received three Purple Hearts to be moved out of the combat zone into a softer desk job.)

[ADDITIONAL: ToD p288-289, describes a personal log by Michael Medeiros, “between Febr-uary 8 and March 13” for “missions 81 through 98” and mentions (p289) “Mission 91 on February 28 stands out.” (p288) “All eighteen of these outings . . .”]

[COMMENTS: On (ToD) p286, beginning with “When they finally reached the tiny, dilapidated outpost . . . “They were all so malnourished,” Del Sandusky recalled. “Obesity was not the problem. They made us feel guilty leaving because they were clearly starv-ing.

Is this the same location described in JFK (Boston Globe) book (p95) as: “Afterward, a navy reporter challenged the decision of unnamed skippers to fire at other “targets of opportunity” in the area and suggested that “psychological operations” to win the hearts and minds of villagers—a “psyop” in mili-tary parlance—might have been more effective.”

(Next paragraph) “Area seemed extremely prosperous and open to psyops action, minimum number of defensive and no offensive bunkers detected,” the report said. The naval official who (p96) wrote the report concluded: “Future missions in this area should be oriented toward psyops rather than destruction.”

(Followed by the next paragraph) The destruction included forty sampans, ten hooches (a type of Vietnamese hut), three bunkers, and 5,000 pounds of rice. The crews had expended more than 14,000 rounds of .50-caliber ammunition. No enemy casualties were reported.

And then it states that “Kerry dismissed the report’s questioning of firing at targets of opportunity.”

Hmmmm.]