WMD Mailbag

From the mailbag:

John Kerry has made his 4 months and 12 days in Vietnam the centerpiece of his campaign for President, apparently in attempt qualify himself as a “war time” President. He has avoided his traitorous flip-flop on the Vietnam war from 1970-72 and his dovish 19 year Senate record on defense and intelligence.

This effort at misdirection or “hiding the football’ of his true character requires those of us that lived and suffered the Vietnam experience, including the anti-war movement, to expend a significant effort in awakening the memories of those who lived through the period and to educate those younger than ourselves whose views are founded on press, academic, and Hollywood deceptions.

Many of you may not be familiar with Mr. Kerry’s contrived military record and post service treachery. Before making your voting decision I urge you to take the time to study our case.

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has been formed to counter the false "war crimes" charges John Kerry repeatedly made against Vietnam veterans who served in our units and elsewhere, and to accurately portray Kerry's brief tour in Vietnam as a junior grade Lieutenant. We speak from personal experience -- our group includes men who served beside Kerry in combat as well as his commanders. Though we come from different backgrounds and hold varying political opinions, we agree on one thing: John Kerry misrepresented his record and ours in Vietnam and therefore exhibits serious flaws in character and lacks the potential to lead.

We regret the need to do this. Most Swift boat veterans would like nothing better than to support one of our own for America's highest office, regardless of whether he was running as a Democrat or a Republican. However, Kerry's phony war crimes charges, his exaggerated claims about his own service in Vietnam, and his deliberate misrepresentation of the nature and effectiveness of Swift boat operations compels us to step forward.

For more than thirty years, most Vietnam veterans kept silent as we were maligned as misfits, addicts, and baby killers. Now that a key creator of that poisonous image is seeking the Presidency we have resolved to end our silence.

The time has come to set the record straight.
...
My qualifications for commenting on Mr Kerry’s service are as follows: BM1 USN September 1965 to November 1969. I extended my enlistment and volunteered for Mobile Riverine duty in Vietnam. I served as a Boat Captain and Patrol Officer in US Navy Task Forces CTF 117 and 116 from November of 1968 to November of 1969. River Division 92, Nov of 68 to March of 69 and was a Plankowner in RivDiv 595/153 and served there from March 69 to November 69. I logged about 20 multi-day assault missions and over 160 combat patrols, participating in about 50 firefights. I was a awarded a Silver Star, a Navy Commendation Medal w/ Combat “V”, and a Purple Heart as well as several unit citations including 3 Presidential Unit Citations. I also have a piece of self-inflicted “friendly fire” shrapnel in my stomach for which I was too embarrassed, apparently unlike Mr Kerry, to request a Purple Heart.

Many of us believe that his war diary and cinematic activities in Vietnam are the tip of the iceberg and that he recommended himself for 2 of his Purple Hearts for minor scratches that were probably self-inflicted and, more importantly, for the Silver Star. The events surrounds the award of the Bronze Star are also questionable as will be revealed in a soon to be released book, "Unfit to Command", currently #2 in sales at Amazon.com. That’s why we are demanding the release of his "complete" service records.

More about this period in our and Kerry’s history can be found [here.]
...
[Tom "]RiverRat[" Mortensen], Redwood City, California, 1 August, 2004.

I'm Matt Hurley. Reporting for duty.

John Kerry Delenda Est!