According to Thurlow, he thought he got the medal for saving the other boat and the men on it. He jumped on an out-of-control boat and was thrown off it when it hit a sandbar. Then he climbed back on and continued rescuing men and saving the boat.
He didn’t get the citation for several months after he returned home from Vietnam, and according to him that was the first time he saw enemy fire mentioned, but he still thought the reason was his saving of the other boat.
At least, that’s his story.
I have a few questions:It has been reported that Kerry had one of his men photograph him with an 8-mm movie camera…how many of these movies were made? Do any survive?
Was Kerry’s medal record unusual? He got (I believe 3 purple hearts, one silver star, one bronze star in a 4-month period. Is this unusual?
The so-called swiftboat ads: have any of these guy’s claims been verified?
It seems to me that combat operations in Vietnam were reasonably well recorded…what do the archives say about kerry being in Cambodia? :o
It is my understanding that, during the time that John Kerry was in Southeast Asia, Cambodia was not considered to be a legitimate theatre of operations. Consequently, any troop incursions into Cambodian territory would likely not appear in any archived records.
I await contradiction and instruction from anyone who can authoritatively provide it.
Oh, what the hell. I guess now that the truth is out, there’s no longer any reason to hide. I too, was in Cambodia at the time, and I saw John Kerry there. He was wrestling alligators to save a village of children, and I challenge anyone to prove me wrong.
I call bullshit!
I was there, running opium and condoms from Thailand to Saigon. I saw you and Kerry all right, Lib – but those weren’t alligators, they were saltwater crocodiles, and Kerry was dragging them across the border into Vietnam before killing them – with his bare hands and a rusty can opener.
Furthermore, the village of children he was saving were imperiled to begin with by your dastardly attempts to subdivide their rice paddies for sale to condo developers. Deny that, if you will. I have proof, I tell you, proof positive! Here, look at these affidavits from my co-conspirators, Moe, Curly, and Shemp!
Reader’s Digest summary: The claims by the Swift Bullshitters for Bush have been thoroughly debunked and spanked six ways to Sunday.
The only people who still believe the Swifties are the terminally clueless.
Bush has not condemned the contents of the ad. He’s condemned the format, which makes it clear that he doesn’t condemn the contents. It’s as if Clinton said, “I did not have vaginal or anal intercourse or hand jobs with that woman.” It’s as if Bush said, “I haven’t done any drugs in the last thirty years.”
The whole point is that he should condemn the content of the ads, not the format, which isn’t an issue. He should say, “I think Kerry’s a flaming asshole, but these specific attacks against him are untrue, and I’ll have nothing to do with them.”
Similarly, if Moveon.org promotes ads that compare Bush to Hitler, I expect Kerry to specifically condemn their content. If George Soros finances a campaign of ads that say Bush spent his National Guard years running a cocaine cartel, I expect Kerry to specifically condemn their content.
This is not a difficult distinction. If someone from a Straight Dope administration email address sent me an email calling me a childraper, I would expect the administration to reject the charge, not just say that the administration shouldn’t be sending me emails.
Daniel
Furthermore, Bush is condemning all such ads, attempting to set up a false equivalence between Bush ads and Kerry ads. If people actually start noticing the total BS in the SBVT ads, but then they hear something along the lines of “oh, yeah, all political parties make ads like that”, they won’t blame it on Bush.
If anyone can come up with any evidence for an ad from, say, moveon.org which is even in the same league of dishonesty as SBVT, I’d like to see it. But Bush condemns ALL such ads. How big of him.
With the DNC being before the RNC, doesn’t it also make strategic sense for Bush to lament the existance of soft money ads?
-Joe, still thinks Rove should have been put in charge of Iraq
Ummm…look, I can’t stand Bush either, but (from Brutus’ link above:
In other words…
Bush, asked directly whether his Democratic rival for the presidency had lied, declined to provide a direct answer to the question.
Is it entirely too partisan to notice than when the Pubbies had twice as much money as the Dumbocrats, there wasn’t any kind of problem, every thing was pretty much hunky-dory? But now there is great weeping and gnashing of teeth because those dreadful Dems have spent millions of bucks attacking GeeBubbya (Praise the Leader!).
Gawd, I hope this is IT!
Fox’s ratings rise despite recent harsh criticism
Fox is killing the competition.
Hell, Sam I watch Fox News all the time. 'Cause I’m not looking for news, already got the news. Want to see how the Forces of Darkness will spin the news.
CNN: Videotape reveals Kerry walking on water!
FOX: Kerry can’t swim!
Alternatively…
Fox: Kerry’s Cambodia claim cannot be verified
CNN: crickets chirping
Since when were news organizations supposed to report on unverified stuff?
“Next on Fox News – Homeless man in Central Park makes unverified claims that John Kerry is actually a lizard man from the planet Xufuglus.”
Since day before yesterday. CNN finally said something about it.
I think the responsible way to handle unverified, potentially slanderous charges is to wait and gather more evidence. Here CNN has performed a valuable service. Earlier you implied it was outlandish for Kerry to make this claim of being in Cambodia (hahaha, the same as if YOU made such a claim) – perhaps you’re unaware our good friend Mr. O’Neill has made a similar assertion :
Has Fox reported this?
O’Neill is a sleazebag. As I said earlier (and have said often in these Demublican versus Republicrat pissing contests), both sides are full of shit. Has Fox aired the CNN exclusive that broadcast late last night just before midnight? Obviously not. Mary Beth Cahill called Joe Johns, not John Gibson. But on Fox’s front page, prominent top left, is a whole box of Anti-SBVT stuff:
‘Put Up or Shut Up’ Former Ga. Sen. Max Cleland urges Bush to condemn swift boat ads critical of Kerry
• Letter to Bush (pdf) Related Stories
•Lawyer Quits Bush Campaign
•Raw Data: Ginsberg’s LetterVideo
Incidentally, here’s the transcript from Sunday’s show: