Reep Attack: Kerry won Purple Hearts for self-inflicted wounds

[rastignac5]

http://www.drudgereport.com/dnc82.htm

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU JULY 29, 2004 10:24:25 ET XXXXX

KERRY WAR COMRADES PREPARE BATTLE -- AGAINST KERRY

Capped by Kerry's primetime speech to accept the Democratic Party's nomination, Thursday's program will include appearances and remarks by Kerry's Swift Boat crewmates, the Kerry-Ewards campaing announced in a press release this morning

But a group of veterans will try to convince a nation how what is presented on the convention stage tonight -- may not be the full story: "Only 2 of John Kerry's 23 fellow Swift boat commanders from Coastal Division 11 support his candidacy today."

A new bombshell book written by the man who took over John Kerry's Swift Boat charges: Two of John Kerry's three Purple Heart decorations (#1 and #3) resulted from self-inflicted wounds, not suffered under enemy fire.

[deutsey]

1. Have they no sense of decency?

At long last, have they no sense of decency?

The answer is abundantly clear with reports like this...

[havocmom]

12. Remember: they said Cleland blew himself up too.

More of their projection at work ~ what desperate acts they would do to avoid combat or grab attention, they assume everybody else would do to.

Once again, that 'failure of imagination' problem. They cannot envision the mindset of anyone but themselves. They cannot comprehend that others do not have bellies the same shade of yellow as their own.

[Xipe Totec]

28. So far, the only congressman who blew himself

is Mark Foley, drunk, talking to an underage congressional page, between votes.

[Robert Murphy]

26. Some Republicans Do, But...

...with each passing year any influence Republican moderates with class (e.g Hagel, McCain, Lugar, Leach, et al.) seems to wane ever further. The radical, utterly-unprincipled far-Right seems to have near complete control over the party. It appears that the efforts of the likes of Richard Mellon-Scaife and Adolph Coors--i.e. the staggering sums of cash provided by both men to in funding the creation the RW echo-chamber of today--have paid off.

Robert

[vi5]

2. How the hell does this guy know this? Really?

My understanding is that he never served "with" Kerry.

And when they say only 2 of his fellow swift boat commanders support him, that isn't meaning the guys he served with is it? Isn't there only one commander per boat?

[Connie_Corleone]

6. You're correct.

Most of these men barely knew Kerry and they weren't on the same boat with Kerry.

[Hobarticus]

15. One gave him a glowing report...

[niyad]

3. yawwwwnnnnnnnnnn-- does anybody notice that at least he was over there,

unlike the little dress-up toy soldier in the oval office?

[demnan]

4. Unbelievable!

Every time I think, "they can't surprise me with how low they'll go", they do.

It doesn't even make sense from a political standpoint that someone would do that.

[annxburns]

5. Drudge completely discredited ...

I get so sick of these posts ....


http://mediamatters.org/items/200407290002

[olddem43]

7. How does one self-inflict shrapnel wounds?

It would be interesting to see how they explain this unusual situation.

[MikeG]

8. It will backfire on them.

[JackintheGreen]

9. Don't the repugs watch MASH?

Remember the episode in which Hawkeye IMMEDIATELY recognizes a self-inflicted wound and spends the rest of the show tormenting himself on whether he should turn the guy in.

Alienating women, homosexuals, veterans, 9/11 families, and minorities aren't enough for them? Now they have to alienate doctors by implying they're too stupid to recognize two self-inflicted wounds. Or is it a conspiracy? A vast left-wing comspiracy to elect a shirker to the highest office? How dare we try to elect a shirker!

[Nimrod]

10. Still grasping at this straw

I wonder if this is a sign of desperation or just that the Drudge report is about a year behind everyone else. This has been brought up and debunked about a hundred times already.

[earthside]

11. From Rove to Drudge

I know DUers hate him for his smarminess (me included)... but Drudge is an open window into the warped brain of Karl Rove.

This headline smearing Kerry is a sign of the panicky desparation taking a death grip on the Bush campaign.

Rove, through Drudge, is showing his pattern of viciously attacking any REAL war veteran that dares question Bush. This smear will only remind voters of what Rove did to John McCain in South Carolina four years ago, it will remind everyone of the scummy campaign tactics that Rove approved for use against Max Cleland. Now, here we go again attacking John Kerry.

This from a guy (Rove) who hopped around several colleges to keep his student deferments. It reminds us that "Chickenhawk" Cheney had "other priorities" and five student deferments, and it reminds us that Bush checked the box NOT volunteering for Vietnam duty. (In some ways it is puzzling. With the 'chickenhawk' background of Bush and Cheney, why does he want to keep this controversy alive? Is it because he does not have ANYTHING in the Bush record to run on? That's my best guess.)

Thanks to Drudge, we know where the radical Republicans are going in their campaign against Kerry-Edwards ... down into the foulest sewer. It therefore validates the Kerry strategy of staying positive, visionary, and hopeful.

In my opinion, Rove's gutter politics is a formula for disaster for Bush - and they know it, too. But they are so hateful and self-righteous that they just cannot help themselves.

Because of Drudge, we now know what we are up against and can prepare the appropriate response. The 'politics of personal destruction' will wither in the face of the 'politics of hope' ... And in the end Drudge and Rove and Bush and Cheney will be gone, gone, gone ...

[havocmom]

13. rastignac5 (67 posts), you wanna weigh in here with an opinion on this?

Or did you just drop by to toss in a grenade then leave? Am curious, really. Cuz it sure seems there is a new form of 'fragging' going on of late. And it's transparency is pretty damned annoying.

[wabeewoman]

14. I know its drudge, I know

bush & co are sewer rats, I know most people won't buy it but it pisses me off that they can even say things like this without EVERYONE rising up and shouting them down. Everytime I hear something like this, I'm going to say, yeah but where was bush, where was cheney?

[DaveFL99]

16. And you tell me we shouldn't go negative on Bush

[havocmom]

17. Still no comment from rastignac5? Hmmmm

Quote a negative story (without quotation marks or <snip> references) from a know Roveian operative without comment or further posts? Gee, that's clever. :eyes: NOT

[rastignac5]

19. What do you think I'm trying to do -- brainwash DU into voting for Bush?

Just for you:

"I'm a Democrat. Bush sucks."

Better now?

[havocmom]

20. Just wondering why you drop in with a very not-surprising claim

from Drudge and offer no personal comments.

Yeah, very heartfelt. I feel so much better.

Come on and let us know how you feel about Drudge/Rove porpaganda stories.

[texastoast]

21. Hear, hear

I'm busy fighting propaganda all day. Do tell how you fight it.

[ItsThePeopleStupid]

18. same guy who debated Kerry in 1971 on Dick Cavett

John E. O'Neill has been making accusations against Kerry for years, but I think this is a new one. He's a useful idiot of the right wing.

Published by Regnery, another tool of the repukes.

He originally was angry about Kerry protesting Vietnam and saying that soldiers had committed atrocities.

edit to add:
Gee, that's strange. It's not even in the top 100 best sellers at Barnes & Noble. Could some organization be ordering the book in bulk at Amazon.com to falsely make it look popular? Naw...

[gardenista]

22. Rebuttal here:

http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=DEMS-VIETVETS-07-29-04&cat=PP

Jim Wasser, a 57-year-old Democratic National Convention delegate from Kankakee, Ill., who served as a radar man under Kerry in Vietnam, said the charges are outrageous and a blatant attempt to degrade a Vietnam veteran's exemplary service record.

Wasser said it's part of an effort to divert attention from the campaign's focus on the war in Iraq and a sluggish economy.

Wasser is volunteering to spearhead the counter-campaign. "We're just a band of brothers working together," he said. He said of the 12 enlisted men who worked under Kerry's command, one is actively opposed to his election as president.

John Hurley, national director of Veterans for Kerry, said no one before has ever challenged the medals the Massachusetts senator earned in Vietnam in any of his previous campaigns in the last 34 years. He found it curious the charges are emerging in the midst of a Democratic convention where the party is spotlighting Kerry's history.

Hurley said he welcomes this discussion because it contrasts for voters Kerry's war record in the Vietnam Delta with that of Bush, who joined the Army National Guard but was not sent to Vietnam. He said Kerry's military records are all posted on the Internet, while the Pentagon has been unable to unearth Bush's records or fitness reports.

"What medals does George Bush have to throw away? None," Hurley said.


****************************************

[Th1onein]

23. These people make me sick.

And, just think, we're going to have to counter this crap even after the election. I don't know about you, but I plan on fighting them to the end of the earth, if I have to.

:-s

[StoneMan]

24. Settle it now. Show the beef.

John can put the nay-sayers to rest immediately. Show the physician's report, show the scar, story over.

John has three purple hearts. If he rolled up his sleeve, unbuttoned his shirt or whatever and said "here is the proof" then the the repugs would have to shut up. Surely, after that many injuries he has one in a place suitable for television.

[gasperc]

25. 2 of 23????

those vets up there served with Kerry

[A_Possum]

27. I wish Kerry would sue him for malicious libel

Call witnesses, get out the records, the whole bit.

These are actual Navy Records. They are not easy to decipher, and are pdf files. I've transcribed to the best of my ability. Kerry was the officer in command of PCF 94 during this incident where they picked up Rassman (boldface mine):

After Action "Spot Report" for March 1969


GR. PCF 23 JOINED AT CAI NUOC. PCFS WITH MSF EMBARKED DEPARTED CAI NUOC AT 1445H PROCEEDING DOWN BAY HAP. AT VQ 995770 MINE DETONATED UNDER PCF 3 LIFTING BOAT ABOUT 2-3 FEET OUT OF WATER. VERY HEAVY BLK SMOT(smoke?) OBSERVED AT SAME TIME BOATS RCVD HEAVY A/W AND S/A FROM BOTH BANKS. FIRECONTINUED FOSNABOUT 5000 METERS. TWO OTHER MINE EXPLOSIONS OVC RVED. ALL BOATS AND MSF RETURNED FIRE A D ATTEMPTED ASSIST PCF 3. PCF 94 PICKED UP MSF ADVISOR WHO WENT OVERBOARD. 94 TOWED PCF 3 AS BUCKET BRIGADE CONTROLLED FLOODING. PCF 43 TOOK ALL WIA TO USCGC SPENCER DOR TREATMENT. PCF 94 AND 51 ASSISTED PCF 3. LCVP ITH D/C PARTY WAS IMMEDIATELY DISPATCHED FROM WASHTENAW COUNTY. BOAT DAMAGE SEPARATE MESSAGE.

********(description of wounded, including Kerry and others, some "medevac" and Kerry's and several others listed as "minor." Kerry's details:

DELTA: H13MAR 69, 1530H, HSONG BAY HAP, WQ010780.HWHILE SERVING AS OFFICER IN CHARGE ABOARD PCF-94 ENGAGED IN OPERATIONS IN THE ABOVE RIVER. LTJG KERRY SUFFERED SHAPNEL WOUNDS IN HIS LEFT BUTTOCKS AND CONTUSIONS ON HIS RIGHT FOREARM WHEN A MINE DETONATED CLOSE ABOARD PCF-94

ECHO: CONDITION GOOD, PROGNOSIS EXCELLENT, PRESENCE OF NOK IS NOT MEDICALLY WARRENTED

Actual pdf files at http://www.johnkerry.com/pdf/jkmilservice/SpotReports_March1969.pdf

*******

John Rassman's own account of the incident not only corroborates this, but amplifies the situation at the time:

On March 13, 1969, Rassman was a 21-year-old lieutenant in Army Special Forces when he was blown overboard from a boat next to Kerry’s on the Bay Hap River. Someone on Kerry’s boat saw Rassman in the water, dodging sniper fire from both banks.

In a recollection decades later, Kerry said: “Jim was exhausted from swimming, and my right arm hurt and I couldn’t pull very hard with it. Everyone else was firing a machine gun or something. … Christ knows how, but somehow we got him on board and I didn’t get the bullet in the head I expected.”

Rassman said he clung to the bow of Kerry’s boat in an awkward position, unable to pull himself onto the deck.

“I was just incredulous to see John run out of that pilothouse and up onto the deck,” he said. “I truly did expect him to get shot. One newspaper quoted me as saying, ‘What a dummy.’ It was not dumb — it was blind courage on his part.”

Except for a letter that went unanswered in 1984, just after Kerry was elected to the U.S. Senate, Rassman made no further attempt to contact Kerry.

Then in January, while in a bookstore in Los Angeles, Rassman saw copies of “Tour of Duty,” a book by historian Douglas Brinkley about Kerry’s military and antiwar experiences. It is based largely on Kerry’s letters and journals and interviews with him and the men who served with him.

Rassman read about his rescue.

“I turned to my wife and told her the story,” he said. “She read it. Then I took the book out of her hand, closed it, put it back on the counter, took her by the hand and left the store. I was overwhelmed and choked up.”

*****

My personal point of view...the swiftboatvets and the other vets who are now claiming Kerry is "unfit to command" really are as low as it gets.

Feel free to copy this to any other thread or use at will to counter the distortions.