John Kerry’s “War Of The Worlds”
By Barbara Stock (09/01/04)
John Kerry’s campaign seems to be in a total meltdown trying to repair the damage done to the huge and powerful Democratic machine by a small group of determined Viet Nam veterans. The whole thing reminds me of the Orson Wells classic “War of the Worlds” in which the most powerful weapons at Earth’s disposal were useless but once exposed to small bacteria, the powerful enemy fell. It’s the little things that will get you in the end.
A friend named “Sarge” sent along an interesting item on Kerry’s Silver Star. Sarge gave nearly 30 years of his life to this country in the Army. As Sarge studied John Kerry’s official DD-214, he noticed that Kerry had been awarded “A Silver Star with a Combat ‘V.’” To civilian eyes, this means nothing, however, to a military man, it was a red flag. There is no such medal. Of course, there is a Silver Star but the “Combat V” is never added to this already high award, since it is only given to those who have displayed exceptional courage and valor in combat. By definition, the “V” would be redundant.
The Silver Star is the third highest honor that is bestowed by the military. If this official document was typed up in error, John Kerry had every opportunity to correct it when he corrected other mistakes in a DD-215. Somehow, that mistake got past him. But a Silver Star with a “V” for valor sounds so much better, doesn’t it? The fact is that the citation given to Kerry for his Silver Star makes no mention of a “Combat V” yet it now appears on Kerry’s official records. The two questions that must be answered are these: How did it get there? And, why does it remain there?
In a speech that John Kerry gave on January 20, 2003, before a crowd of African-Americans commemorating the death of Martin Luther King, Kerry shared his feelings with them when he received word of this great man’s death. John Kerry said to the crowd, “I remember well April, 1968 -- I was serving in Vietnam -- a place of violence -- when the news reports brought home to me and my crewmates the violence back home - and the tragic news that one of the bullets flying that terrible spring took the life of that unabashedly maladjusted citizen.” John Kerry probably brought tears to the eyes of those in the crowd as he wove his heartfelt remembrance, all the while giving the impression that he was on his boat sweating in the steamy jungle heat of Viet Nam in April, 1968 when he received the tragic news. The only problem with this statement is that Kerry didn’t set foot in Viet Nam until November 1968. While Kerry was on the U.S.S. Gridley when Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, the Gridley was a ship that only occasionally ventured into the waters near Viet Nam. Kerry was not in Viet Nam in April 1968.
Of course, there is the well publicized and apparently not-so-seared-memory of being in Cambodia on Christmas Eve, 1968. Kerry has back-tracked from this statement and put forth the excuse that it must have been in January, 1969. However, Steve Gardner, a member of his crew through February of 1969, states emphatically they were never in Cambodia. Kerry, never being a man to pass up a chance to embellish something that is a lie to start with, goes on to relate how it felt to be shot at by the Khmer Rouge. Once again, Kerry’s penchant for the dramatic has gotten him into trouble. The Khmer Rouge in 1968 was nothing more than a nameless, small, rag-tag bunch of thugs. The name didn’t surface until 1970. Kerry was no longer in Viet Nam.
The controversy over Kerry’s final “battle” on March 13, 1969, continues to rage. John Kerry admits in his own report that he fled 5000 meters or 3.2 miles down river away from the action, leaving the severely damaged boat PCF 3 floundering, her crew injured and in the water and with Green Beret Rassman in the water. The other three undamaged boats remained at the scene to protect the damaged boat and her crew. After determining there was no incoming fire, they set about rescuing the injured men in the water and those still on the burning PCF 3. Kerry advanced to the rear and then claimed he was under fire for three solid miles, from both sides, with two more mines detonating in a river only 75 yards wide and yet his boat received not one bullet hole nor was any of his crew injured in any way.
However, questions remain about this incident. If Kerry fled down river, how does Kerry or any member of his crew know what happened around the damaged PCF 3? In a press release on John Kerry’s website it is stated that Rassman was not on Kerry’s boat as he and Rassman have both stated publicly. From Kerry’s website: “On March 13, 1969, Rassman, a Green Beret, was traveling down the Bay Hap river in a boat behind Kerry’s when both were ambushed by exploding land mines and enemy fire coming from the shore. Kerry was hit in the arm, while a mine blew Rassman’s boat out of the water.” How can we believe anything John Kerry and his men say when their own statements are conflicting? Kerry was not “hit in the arm.” Kerry did get thrown against the wall where he received a “contusion”--a bruise--according to the official medical report. But a contusion is not enough to earn a Purple Heart. Kerry needed something more.
This brings us to the infamous “rice in the buttocks” injury. Both Larry Thurlow and James Rassman have related that while blowing up bags of rice with a grenade, Kerry didn’t run fast enough and was rewarded by having some rice and bits of grenade find its way to his behind. The only thing that makes this event important is that it occurred not long before the 5 PCF boats became involved in what turned out to be Kerry’s last stand in Viet Nam. In John Kerry’s own journal, he laughs about the incident and it was repeated in his biography, “Tour of Duty.” "I got a piece of small grenade in my ass from one of the rice bin explosions." A few hours later, he made the claim that his “buttock” wound occurred when the mine exploded under PCF-3 and used that injury to obtain the final Purple Heart needed to request a transfer home.
Combine his admission that his first Purple Heart may have been given in error and it appears his third Purple Heart was a sham as well as his Bronze Star, combined with the mysterious Silver Star with a Combat “V” which doesn’t even exist, one has to wonder if John Kerry has any character at all. Can he be honest about anything? Did he with full knowledge falsify naval documents to make his service in Viet Nam something it was not? Is Kerry now attempting to use those false documents to portray himself as a great hero worthy of being the leader of the free world? It is no surprise that Kerry is so frantic to silence these pesky men who are attempting to set the record straight.
It seems John Kerry couldn’t even lead a boat with a crew of five without fictionalizing reports to cover his mistakes and portray himself as someone he is not.
Trying to imagine what Kerry would do in the Oval Office has gone from being depressing to frightening. I will be forever grateful for this small band of men who may well be the “bacteria” that brings down a vastly superior force to save the world.
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