John Kerry’s Magical Mystery Tour
By Barbara Stock (08/19/04)
Questions continue to appear faster than answers these days about John Kerry’s ever-changing four months as a swift boat captain in Viet Nam.
The latest scuffle involves a cast of characters including the Reverend David Alston, Fred Short, Captain Ted Peck, and, of course, John Kerry.
David Alston stood before the crowd and recalled the many harrowing experiences he had shared with his good friend and former captain, John Kerry.
Alston kept the awed crowd in a rapt and hushed silence as he professed his undying love and devotion to his good friend. "I know him from a small boat in Vietnam where we fought and bled together serving our country. We usually patrolled the narrow waterways of the Mekong Delta, flanked on both sides by thick jungle. After combat engagements Lieutenant Kerry always took the time to calm us down, to bring us back to reality, to give us hope, to show us what we truly had within ourselves. I came to love and respect him as a man I could trust with life itself."
It sounds like a movie script. Doesn’t a vision of Tom Hanks leading his band of men in search of Pvt. Ryan across France spring to mind? Eating together, sleeping together, protecting each other in battle in the steamy jungles of Viet Nam, and the brave young captain comforting his crew in hard times. Yes, David Alston managed to cram all of these experiences into the six days he actually served on John Kerry’s swift boat PCF-94. Not only that, he became devoted to a man with whom he actually only saw combat a total of two times. That’s right--twice.
The history of PCF-94 is interesting. The skipper prior to John Kerry was a man named Ted Peck. Captain Peck and David Alston were both injured on January 29, 1969, and airlifted out for medical care.
On January 30, 1969, John Kerry took command of PCF-94. A man named Fred Short took David Alston’s place on Kerry’s new boat. Fred Short clearly remembers the day he joined Kerry’s crew because it was his birthday, February 18, 1969. Short remained on PCF-94 until March 4 and stated that Alston returned to the boat a “couple of days later.” John Kerry left PCF-94 after receiving his third purple heart just after March 13, 1969. Those dates are part of the official record showing Alston served a total of one week, maximum, under John Kerry’s command.
According to Kerry’s own written reports, he had no missions from March 1 to March 10. From March 10 to the time he wrote his last report on March 13, he wrote reports for four missions. The missions of March 10 and 11 reveal no enemy contact.
March 12, 1969 brought the first combat David Alston saw with John Kerry. Fighting was reported as heavy, but there were no casualties or injuries reported.
March 13 is the now infamous day that bought John Kerry his Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart. Four boats were involved in this particular mission. PCF-3 struck a mine and was disabled. There seems to be some confusion on the part of Jim Rassman, the man Kerry pulled from the water, as to which boat he was actually on. At the convention, he stated he was on Kerry’s boat but in other interviews, he claims he was on PCF-3 and was blown off when it struck the mine along with three other men. There are many conflicting reports on what happened after that mine exploded with the majority of those present saying there was no incoming enemy fire as remembered by Rassman but only outgoing cover-fire that he may have confused for enemy fire. Giving Mr. Rassman the benefit of the doubt, he had just been blown off some boat and may well have been dazed. It’s odd that man who can vividly describe how John Kerry saved him cannot remember what boat he was actually on at the time.
That was John Kerry and David Alston’s second and last shared combat experience.
Also interesting are the apparent foggy memories of John Kerry himself about his time with David Alston. Posted on John Kerry’s official website was this description of Kerry’s recollection of when Alston was wounded. Reported by the Boston Globe the following report was quickly removed after it became obvious that it was a total fabrication. "the campaign summarize[d] action that took place on Jan. 29, 1969, this way: 'While Kerry's boat and another (PCF-72) were probing a canal along the river, Kerry's boat came under heavy fire and was hit by a B-40 rocket in the cabin area. One member of Kerry's crew Forward Gunner David Alston suffered shrapnel wounds in his head....'" The campaign website also listed two other incidents that took place prior to January 29 as having occurred under Kerry's leadership.”
Ted Peck was not thrilled to read about John Kerry taking credit for missions that Kerry never participated in--on a boat he didn’t take command of until January 30, 1969. The Kerry website has now removed all of the military documentation it once bragged endlessly about being proud to post. John Kerry’s “band of brothers” has been gagged by the boss and may only give interviews after Kerry has approved them.
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